How did you stop birdy bites? :(

[AtomBombBaby]

I have a 4 month old GCC named Jäger. Shop owners warned me that birds go through a sort of "teething phase" just like other animals. He lets me handle him almost perfectly. Hes starting to learn the idea of stepping up onto my hand (associates it with the idea of coming out of the cage), i can scratch his head and neck, touch his feet, i can put my hands in his cage with out worry, all except being able to touch and open his wings but we'll go through things one step at a time

Trouble is, once hes stepped up, he'll bite at my fingers. Sometimes even before stepping onto my finger(s) he'll grab my finger with one foot and bite. I understand some birds are testing for a stable perch but i can tell when he nibbles for a good grip/testing the stability, and a bite just to mess around with no intention of stepping up.

He doesnt do it aggressively! Not once has he bit me aggressively or drawn blood. He goes at my fingers like hes....trying to pry something open. He bites like my fingers are toys. Sometimes its hard and he wont let go, but again no signs of aggression. Its like a dog with a rope toy playing tug of war with you. When i sit him on my shoulder hes so gentle. He'll clean and preen, softly nibble my ear, gently kiss my cheek, nose and eyes but for some reason its the FINGERS!!!!

What are some ways you guys have taught your birds to stop biting? Right now im sort of just putting him back in his cage when he gets too fidgety with my fingers. Is that even effective??

 

[Farlie]

After 6 months Farlie still bites. I usually scream, "Ack!", and jerk which stops him immediately and that has helped immensely. Now that he can fly I'm tossing him in the air toward his cage while I scream, "Ack!". When he flys back to me I shoe him away and say, "Don't bite daddy!, Ack Ack". It's teaching him that I don't want him around when he bites and that is 'painful' to be separated from the flock.
It is working slowly.
That's what I'm doing anyway.

 

[Leih]

I like to use the "earthquake" approach. When they bite and they're on my hand I shake my hand a little, just to make them focus on balance. My baby bird right now, I actually take ahold of his beak if he's attached to my skin, or I redirect his attention while saying no bite. He's definitely going through the "teething."

 

[Kodigirl210]

In the case of most birds no. GCC’s are social creatures though, so yes they do respond. Preventing him from biting should always be a priority. Even if it’s meant as “friendly” gesture it’s inappropriate. Remember that birds often beak each other and you want to avoid anything that might stimulate hormonal behavior.

It took about a month of consistently correcting the bite issue for it go away. Now if there’s a bite, it’s because we did something wrong-not our birb. Being able to read your fid’s body language is The Most important thing ever to prevent bites from ever happening.

Start by eliminating the first place that he tends to bite. That means if you have him step up try using a flat upraised hand or a fist so your fingers aren’t visible or in the last case a T-stick. Praise him greatly when he steps up without fishing for your fingers.

Next pick a phrase specific to biting and that only. I used “No bite.” I didn’t yell or scream it or anything like that. When I got bit I would just say quietly but firmly, no bite. If Isen stopped there I would praise her and offer a treat for doing the right thing.

I also made sure to have her toys handy. If I could she was getting that gleam in her eye I would offer her a toy to bite instead of me. Because overall preemptive actions will save you from bites a lot more than scolding.

If she refused to let go after a couple no bites. I would gently detach tell her no bite once more and put her in her cage for about ten minutes. She was always happy to come after we never had any issues after she had a timeout.

A lot of people differ on their approach. Some people say timeouts do nothing. Some say words don’t mean anything. I say those people haven’t had a GCC. I would never deal with my CAG the way deal with a GCC. They seem to be all around unique. However, I did exactly as I stated above and in about a month the biting was no longer an issue.

Good luck

 

[Snowghost]

Great advice! I too have used the work Ack, it gets most animals attention. What is a GCC?

 

[EkkieLu]

Green Cheek Conure, I think! LOL

 

[Fuzzy]

If you think he's playing with you, I usually freeze for a moment until the playful biting has stopped (ie. removing the reinforcement). Then I will ask for another behaviour the bird already knows how to do not only as a distraction but also so I can highly reinforce the new behaviour instead. As per the matching law, the bird will choose to do the more highly reinforced behaviour.

If stepping up is the problem, try reinforcing the step up with something like a treat or access to a favourite toy, etc. He will be earning reinforcement for the step up (and pairing you with the good experience - YAY!) plus whilst eating the treat or playing with the toy, there is no time to bite your fingers.

I don't really agree with a time out. If it worked you wouldn't have posted about the problem!

 

[AtomBombBaby]

Thank you so much guys!!!!!! I really appreciate the insight!