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Biting
- Thread starter BlueWing
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- Destiny
When does he bite your fingers/hands? What kind of interactions does he allow without biting? Are there any particular situations when he always bites or bites extra hard?
When I'm sticking a fingertip or an entire hand in the cage including changing his water/food bowls; swaping toys in the cage, cleaning poop off perches. He is ok with the wings being rubbed lightly. He always starts off with a gentle nibble and then he claps down really hard.
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You mentioned he is new - how long have you had him?
Sorry about all the questions. Just trying to establish the situation, because there are so many possibilities when dealing with a biting bird.
Sorry about all the questions. Just trying to establish the situation, because there are so many possibilities when dealing with a biting bird.
- Joined
- 6/6/20
- Messages
- 2,088
- Real Name
- Destiny
Alright, I think I have the general picture. Before I offer advice on how to reduce biting, I like to get an idea of what the bite triggers are and the general history of the bird so I can hopefully work out the source of the problem. Parrots definitely do bite, but they almost always have a reason. In many cases, biting is defensive in nature - it is a way for the parrot to protect themselves or something they value (like their cage, their food, or their mate) from a perceived threat. But there are many different things that can lead to biting, and the proper approach depends on the reason behind the behavior.
Cage aggression is pretty common among parrots, because they will often view the cage as their personal space and protect it from any intruders. I suspect that the biting isn't purely territorial in your case. It is also related to trust level. From what you've said so far, it sounds like your parrot is still relatively new to you and doesn't fully trust that you are safe. When your hands come into his cage (his territory), he probably feels threatened and wants your hands to leave. Since the bird can't fly away from your hands, his choices on how to respond are very limited. The biting is a reaction to that stressful situation. Because putting your hands into the cage can reliably trigger biting behavior, it can be considered a "bite trigger".
Ideally, you want avoid bite triggers completely and work on developing trust, so the parrot becomes increasingly more comfortable with your hands and normal handling. Sometimes it isn't possible to completely avoid a bite trigger - for example, you must reach into the cage to refresh food and water each day. And you don't want to do that while being repeatedly attacked. Not only is that not good for your hands, but it is also going to reinforce the undesirable pattern of behavior and could lead to escalating aggression as the bird gets frustrated by your repeated intrusions. There are various creative approaches to dealing with aggression inside the cage. For example, if your parrot attacks when you reach for his food bowl, you can try using a distraction. Set-up a treat bowl in a far corner of the cage. When it is time to change the food, place a desirable treat in the bowl and wait until the parrot is investigating the prize before retrieving the food bowl. If you time things right, he will never even notice that you were in the cage. And if not, at least he is farther away from your hands, so you have time to get out safely.
For cleaning the cage and other things that require more time inside the cage with a bird that is protective of his territory, the best approach is usually to allow your bird out-of-cage time and do cage maintenance when he is not in residence. The cage should be his safe spot and where he goes for food and sleep, but it shouldn't be his whole existence. Even untamed birds can be offered time outside the cage, although you will want to be sure to bird-proof the entire room and have a plan for how he will get back into the cage afterwards. You don't want to force him back inside, because chasing, toweling or grabbing the bird will scare him and increase his fear of your hands. Ideally, you want him to choose to return to the cage on his own. Most birds will go back to the cage eventually, because they are hungry or tired. Letting the bird out in the late afternoon or early evening, when you have no other obligations and nothing else that needs to be done for the rest of the night will allow you to wait for him to explore his freedom and hopefully figure out how to return to the cage at his own pace.
Continue to spend time with your bird and watch his body language closely to see how he responds to different interactions - is he relaxed and happy or upset and scared or something else entirely? Try to find things that he enjoys and identify things that frighten him. Do your best to make your interactions positive and avoid pushing his boundaries too much. If you find yourself getting nipped .. you are probably pushing too fast. Back off and give the bird more space. In fact, I would recommend against touching the bird's wings just yet. From what you've described, I think he may be tolerating the touching right now, but it doesn't sound like he trusts your hands enough to allow that kind of handling for long. I would be careful. You might get bitten if you continue. With a nervous nippy bird, it is better to wait for him to invite your touch, rather than trying to see what you can get away with.
From the sound of things, your relationship is still pretty new. I think that if you are patient and build trust, you will see steady improvement. The main thing is to try to learn from the biting and avoid repeating actions that trigger defensive behaviors. Move slowly and talk to your bird in a gentle reassuring voice. Explain what you are doing and stop if the parrot's body language is telling you he is getting ready to attack. Your goal should be to learn how to prevent bites by anticipating your parrot's behavior and reading his body language. Not only does this stop you from getting hurt, but it will help your parrot to trust you and communicate his needs to you without biting.
Good luck and I hope things get better with your new conure. They are such pretty birds. Do you happen to have any pictures to share?
Cage aggression is pretty common among parrots, because they will often view the cage as their personal space and protect it from any intruders. I suspect that the biting isn't purely territorial in your case. It is also related to trust level. From what you've said so far, it sounds like your parrot is still relatively new to you and doesn't fully trust that you are safe. When your hands come into his cage (his territory), he probably feels threatened and wants your hands to leave. Since the bird can't fly away from your hands, his choices on how to respond are very limited. The biting is a reaction to that stressful situation. Because putting your hands into the cage can reliably trigger biting behavior, it can be considered a "bite trigger".
Ideally, you want avoid bite triggers completely and work on developing trust, so the parrot becomes increasingly more comfortable with your hands and normal handling. Sometimes it isn't possible to completely avoid a bite trigger - for example, you must reach into the cage to refresh food and water each day. And you don't want to do that while being repeatedly attacked. Not only is that not good for your hands, but it is also going to reinforce the undesirable pattern of behavior and could lead to escalating aggression as the bird gets frustrated by your repeated intrusions. There are various creative approaches to dealing with aggression inside the cage. For example, if your parrot attacks when you reach for his food bowl, you can try using a distraction. Set-up a treat bowl in a far corner of the cage. When it is time to change the food, place a desirable treat in the bowl and wait until the parrot is investigating the prize before retrieving the food bowl. If you time things right, he will never even notice that you were in the cage. And if not, at least he is farther away from your hands, so you have time to get out safely.
For cleaning the cage and other things that require more time inside the cage with a bird that is protective of his territory, the best approach is usually to allow your bird out-of-cage time and do cage maintenance when he is not in residence. The cage should be his safe spot and where he goes for food and sleep, but it shouldn't be his whole existence. Even untamed birds can be offered time outside the cage, although you will want to be sure to bird-proof the entire room and have a plan for how he will get back into the cage afterwards. You don't want to force him back inside, because chasing, toweling or grabbing the bird will scare him and increase his fear of your hands. Ideally, you want him to choose to return to the cage on his own. Most birds will go back to the cage eventually, because they are hungry or tired. Letting the bird out in the late afternoon or early evening, when you have no other obligations and nothing else that needs to be done for the rest of the night will allow you to wait for him to explore his freedom and hopefully figure out how to return to the cage at his own pace.
Continue to spend time with your bird and watch his body language closely to see how he responds to different interactions - is he relaxed and happy or upset and scared or something else entirely? Try to find things that he enjoys and identify things that frighten him. Do your best to make your interactions positive and avoid pushing his boundaries too much. If you find yourself getting nipped .. you are probably pushing too fast. Back off and give the bird more space. In fact, I would recommend against touching the bird's wings just yet. From what you've described, I think he may be tolerating the touching right now, but it doesn't sound like he trusts your hands enough to allow that kind of handling for long. I would be careful. You might get bitten if you continue. With a nervous nippy bird, it is better to wait for him to invite your touch, rather than trying to see what you can get away with.
From the sound of things, your relationship is still pretty new. I think that if you are patient and build trust, you will see steady improvement. The main thing is to try to learn from the biting and avoid repeating actions that trigger defensive behaviors. Move slowly and talk to your bird in a gentle reassuring voice. Explain what you are doing and stop if the parrot's body language is telling you he is getting ready to attack. Your goal should be to learn how to prevent bites by anticipating your parrot's behavior and reading his body language. Not only does this stop you from getting hurt, but it will help your parrot to trust you and communicate his needs to you without biting.
Good luck and I hope things get better with your new conure. They are such pretty birds. Do you happen to have any pictures to share?
Last edited:
Wardy
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I am completely new to keeping parrots but thought it might be worth sharing how i have approached things with my conure i will have had her for 14 days tomorrow.
I did but her from a breeder and she had been hand reared however due to lockdown she was returned to the aviary as there was no chance of selling her and the human interaction was less personal.
I got her into her cage on the first day withought much fuss and left her alone just changing her water and food giving her a chance to settle in to her new home and get to know the two new people who she was now going to spend the rest of her life with. I spent a lot of time talking to her in a low as soothing voice as i could i have got a quite deep voice and a quite abrassive accent.
I cleaned her cage daily from the start and initially there was a lot of wing flapping and panic i just went slowly talking all of the time trying to reassure her and made no attempt to go anywhere near her after a few days she was happy with my hands in the cage the flapping stopped she just stood on a perch and watched me clean.
Once i got to this point i started to offer her food through the bars off the cage all the time talking and reasuring her she too food through the bars from my hand after 6 days i done this for two days and then whilst cleaning the cage i thought i would try and offer food to her with my hand in the cage an she took it without a problem.
i then started to target train her this is hit and miss as her attention span isnt great and she grows bored of this quite quickly but she doesnt bite the wood just touches i click a clicker give her a treat and praise her, she also i have also started to lay the palm of my hand flat with food on she is very suspicios of this and has a little nibble on my hand testing the water as such before reaching right across my hand to get the food she is yet to stand on my palm yet she has quite a reash as i have quite big hands.
I talk to her all of the time whilst doing this in a low reassuring voice and i let her dictate the pace if she looks unhappy and moves away i remove my hand or move it away slightly i am really slow and meassured when i am doing this talk to her all of the time using her name and i let her dictate the pace if she is hesitant i take a step back.
When i clean her cage i talk to her but there is no messing about both hands in paper out remove perches replace them quick as if she is goint o be in the way i ask her to move and point to where i would lie her to move to i do this daily after i finish work and i am very functional doing this once done there is target training some treats to go with it i then feed her fresh vegatables for her tea.
I think the routine has helped massively as she knows what is coming so to speak.
She hasnt been out of her cage yet has a good few toys that she is now playing with happily i work from home and whilst on my dinner i eat first then open her door and target train spend at least 40 mins of my dinner first with training and then just sitting and talking to her again its a routine.
I change her water a couple of times a day as it gets a bit dirty with seed going in there or feathers as she started to bathe in her bowl but tell her i am chanigng your water before i do i also tell her if i am going to be taking uneaten food out or putting new food in again there is no drama as she knows what i am doing as i am telling her and she is recognising the routine so she knows what is coming.
I felt very much like her training stalled today she really couldnt be bothered this evening showed no interest turned her back on me so i stopped i couldnt see the point in pressing on for me she will dictate the progress ( if this becomes a recurring thing i will have to take a different approach and will ask for advice but for now i think things are going pretty well ).
As i said i am no expert in any way shape or form but the length of time you have owned your bird and i have owned Mojo is very similair she will be 17 weeks old Sunday coming at the moment for me it is all about us getting to know each other and me gaining her trust and not putting her under any preassure.
I did but her from a breeder and she had been hand reared however due to lockdown she was returned to the aviary as there was no chance of selling her and the human interaction was less personal.
I got her into her cage on the first day withought much fuss and left her alone just changing her water and food giving her a chance to settle in to her new home and get to know the two new people who she was now going to spend the rest of her life with. I spent a lot of time talking to her in a low as soothing voice as i could i have got a quite deep voice and a quite abrassive accent.
I cleaned her cage daily from the start and initially there was a lot of wing flapping and panic i just went slowly talking all of the time trying to reassure her and made no attempt to go anywhere near her after a few days she was happy with my hands in the cage the flapping stopped she just stood on a perch and watched me clean.
Once i got to this point i started to offer her food through the bars off the cage all the time talking and reasuring her she too food through the bars from my hand after 6 days i done this for two days and then whilst cleaning the cage i thought i would try and offer food to her with my hand in the cage an she took it without a problem.
i then started to target train her this is hit and miss as her attention span isnt great and she grows bored of this quite quickly but she doesnt bite the wood just touches i click a clicker give her a treat and praise her, she also i have also started to lay the palm of my hand flat with food on she is very suspicios of this and has a little nibble on my hand testing the water as such before reaching right across my hand to get the food she is yet to stand on my palm yet she has quite a reash as i have quite big hands.
I talk to her all of the time whilst doing this in a low reassuring voice and i let her dictate the pace if she looks unhappy and moves away i remove my hand or move it away slightly i am really slow and meassured when i am doing this talk to her all of the time using her name and i let her dictate the pace if she is hesitant i take a step back.
When i clean her cage i talk to her but there is no messing about both hands in paper out remove perches replace them quick as if she is goint o be in the way i ask her to move and point to where i would lie her to move to i do this daily after i finish work and i am very functional doing this once done there is target training some treats to go with it i then feed her fresh vegatables for her tea.
I think the routine has helped massively as she knows what is coming so to speak.
She hasnt been out of her cage yet has a good few toys that she is now playing with happily i work from home and whilst on my dinner i eat first then open her door and target train spend at least 40 mins of my dinner first with training and then just sitting and talking to her again its a routine.
I change her water a couple of times a day as it gets a bit dirty with seed going in there or feathers as she started to bathe in her bowl but tell her i am chanigng your water before i do i also tell her if i am going to be taking uneaten food out or putting new food in again there is no drama as she knows what i am doing as i am telling her and she is recognising the routine so she knows what is coming.
I felt very much like her training stalled today she really couldnt be bothered this evening showed no interest turned her back on me so i stopped i couldnt see the point in pressing on for me she will dictate the progress ( if this becomes a recurring thing i will have to take a different approach and will ask for advice but for now i think things are going pretty well ).
As i said i am no expert in any way shape or form but the length of time you have owned your bird and i have owned Mojo is very similair she will be 17 weeks old Sunday coming at the moment for me it is all about us getting to know each other and me gaining her trust and not putting her under any preassure.
