Bitey

[sl8tr]

Hi everyone. As some of you may know I have a new addition to my flock. Maccardi is a red fronted macaw. He is 7 months.

He is so sweet and playful. He is very bitey (is that a word?). Anyway he does two things. he'll find a freckle or the smallest amount of skin and nibble-ouch!!!! He also bears down sometimes a little too hard. I try distracting him when he does this with a toy our something to chew on but once he drops his toy he's looking for skin or fingers. Is he testing me and how do I correct this?

Thanks

 

[Bokkapooh]

It's a baby macaw thing. I often suggest to play and touch your babies beak and teach them to be gentle

 

[TITANIS]

Like Mercedez posted, it's very typical of baby macaws and RFMs are very known for being nippy as youngsters. I'd expect this to lessen after the first year mark. Training and socialization help towards lessening nippiness in young birds as well.

 

[ashbirdlady]

You can teach him to be gentle. Reward him when he is.
Sometimes not having anesthetic is not acceptable
Christa

 

[zoo mom]

I am having this same problem with my RB2. Any specific suggestions. If you try to distract him be bites down harder.

 

[TITANIS]

For those people having problems with very nippy birds, read through the following thread starting from around post #28, there is a lot of advice about this topic: http://forums.avianavenue.com/macaw-motorway/46893-totally-ticked-off-ive-been-shammed.html

 

[zoo mom]

For those people having problems with very nippy birds, read through the following thread starting from around post #28, there is a lot of advice about this topic: http://forums.avianavenue.com/macaw-motorway/46893-totally-ticked-off-ive-been-shammed.html

Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm not very good at searches.

 

[TITANIS]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm not very good at searches.

No problem, I didn't search much because that thread in particular I had remembered because I posted in there and it was fairly recent.

 

[crzybrdldy]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm not very good at searches.

Elaine all you have to do is click on the link that Titanis gave you and scroll through the comments to the page where comment #28 is. Once you are done just close that box and it will bring back to where you were.

 

[sl8tr]

It's a baby macaw thing. I often suggest to play and touch your babies beak and teach them to be gentle

Hi Mercedez. Can you give me an example of how to teach them to be gentle? Thanks.

 

[sl8tr]

Like Mercedez posted, it's very typical of baby macaws and RFMs are very known for being nippy as youngsters. I'd expect this to lessen after the first year mark. Training and socialization help towards lessening nippiness in young birds as well.

He is a nipper. Good to know that he'll grow out of this stage. Any training techniques you can recommend that might help?

 

[sl8tr]

For those people having problems with very nippy birds, read through the following thread starting from around post #28, there is a lot of advice about this topic: http://forums.avianavenue.com/macaw-motorway/46893-totally-ticked-off-ive-been-shammed.html

Thanks I'll read this tonite

 

[waterfaller1]

Some things I do with Holly~
Make an excited, exaggerated exclamation! Like.. "HEY" follow with talking soothingly and lovingly. Or speak some phrases you would like the bird to learn.
Do not allow the bird to see you are upset by the nip.
Do not inadvertently reinforce the nipping-if they know it bothers you, they will do it more!
Some common mistakes~
Hesitation- do not go near the bird, with fear of being nipped. They will sense it, and you will get nipped.
Walk up- with confidence say "Step up!" Do not ask- " step up ?..."
Opening the cage door- again, do not hesitate. Walk over, open cage door, and with confidence say "step up!", while pushing gently into chest or upper legs.



Offer a treat, or reinforce positively with your voice for good behavior.
If they are in an over excited mood, or bad mood, wait until a few minutes has passed or later. Try again.
RFM's are extremely easy to read by the expression on their face. Learn it.
They love to play on the floor, or on your chest. Rolling over and doing the 'RFM melt'. Get some toys and toss them down on the floor to play.

 

[sl8tr]

Can anyone explain some good training exercises that I can start tonite?

Thanks everyone.

 

[sl8tr]

Some things I do with Holly~
Make an excited, exaggerated exclamation! Like.. "HEY" follow with talking soothingly and lovingly. Or speak some phrases you would like the bird to learn.
Do not allow the bird to see you are upset by the nip.
Do not inadvertently reinforce the nipping-if they know it bothers you, they will do it more!
Some common mistakes~
Hesitation- do not go near the bird, with fear of being nipped. They will sense it, and you will get nipped.
Walk up- with confidence say "Step up!" Do not ask- " step up ?..."
Opening the cage door- again, do not hesitate. Walk over, open cage door, and with confidence say "step up!", while pushing gently into chest or upper legs.



Offer a treat, or reinforce positively with your voice for good behavior.
If they are in an over excited mood, or bad mood, wait until a few minutes has passed or later. Try again.
RFM's are extremely easy to read by the expression on their face. Learn it.
They love to play on the floor, or on your chest. Rolling over and doing the 'RFM melt'. Get some toys and toss them down on the floor to play.

thanks for your help.

 

[waterfaller1]

Oh..I should say-the pushing into chest or legs is only for those that refuse..lol. Holly steps up with ease, so that's not needed for us. And the "hey" is always said in a laughing or fun way. I keep it light, keep talking, keep redirecting-pick them up and move them somewhere else-offer a treat or toy.
They do require a lot of love and one on one time. Holly hates being in her cage, so I allow her out as much as possible throughout the day.{I work from home} I also try to have at least 2-3 {sometimes more} play sessions, where it is just her and I. She loves to play, and has to be constantly doing something. Lots of different types of toys, foot toys, challenging or interactive toys, shredables, etc. Changing the toys around is important too.

 

[waterfaller1]

One game we play is peek-a-boo. She loves this. I put a few paper towels connected, or newspaper over her head and shout peek-a boo. She has learned to pop her head under and out, and we do that a few times until she tosses or drops the paper.

 

[sl8tr]

One game we play is peek-a-boo. She loves this. I put a few paper towels connected, or newspaper over her head and shout peek-a boo. She has learned to pop her head under and out, and we do that a few times until she tosses or drops the paper.

Carole,

I think he would respond very well to food/treat as a reward. Do you think putting him on a stand for training would help and can you give me some examples of different types of training that I can teach him?

 

[waterfaller1]

There is an entire section on the forum that is devoted to clicker training in steps. You might like that.
Clicker Training Classroom
Is he fully flighted?I teach Holly, since she is flighted, to stay on the stand, to fly to me and land on my arm. I don't really teach my birds tricks. I just work with what the bird does naturally...that differs. Like if a bird lifts it's foot you could turn that into a wave.
Another thing I learned from a behaviorist that has been very helpful with my birds is having a perch on the inside of the door. That might not seem like a big deal, but you would be surprised how easy this makes taking a bird out, or putting them back in their cage. Always use that perch, and they learn. It's particularly good for birds that are cage shy, cage aggressive, or just flat out do not want to come out or go back.

 

[waterfaller1]

Another thing I was taught, this comes from Steve Hartman of Parrot University The Articles Library     The Parrot University
He told me that while your bird is young{as yours is, really just a baby still} it is so important to work with him on his flying, his motor skills, nurturing, teaching...because there are neurons present at this time, which once they are gone they are gone forever. He was the one who told me to throw down a sheet or whatever, indoors and outdoors{with harness on and an eagle eye} and toss out different textured toys and various treats, foraging opportunities, and lie down or sit down and play with them. RFMs love to play on the floor.