Hand raised kakariki female

[kyleighblu]

Hi everyone. One week ago today I purchased a female kakariki, hand raised, 3 months old. I've never owned one before (always had budgies) so I'm very new to it. I don't know if I'm rushing things or not but she bites my fingers really hard. I don't out my hands in her cage in order to get her out, I open the door and she comes out on her own. I will then offer my hand for her to climb on and she'll run up my arm and sit on my shoulder or back and generally flies off. I have had to buy a pair of leather gloves to out on my hand as her bites hurt really bad. Am I doing the wrong thing with the glove? She will eat sunflower seeds from my fingers but if I put them on the palm of my hand she will bite my fingers. Is she still learning to trust me? I've been told and have read conflicting things in regards to how to handle biting but I wanna do this the right way. Should I just be more patient? When I talk to her she'll jump to me in the cage and allow me to touch her claws a tiny bit and she makes the little.noise they make all the time, especially when I enter or leave the room. She has a lot of toys, good food, is in my lounge room and sleeps in the bathroom covered of a night. Please help me understand my baby.

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[Feathery]

Hi and welcome!


If you've only had her a week, you guys are both getting to know each other and learning how to interact.

Perhaps you should just be totally hands off for now until you build a relationship.

You shouldn't use any sort of positive punishment (eg yelling, putting back into cage, holding beak) for biting. Negative punishment (eg withdrawing your attention in that moment, stop giving treats if you're giving them at the time of bite) is a better method.

If she bites your hands when offering sunflower seeds from your palm, simply stop doing that with her.

What other situations is she biting? What happens directly before the bite? How do you react when she bites you?

You may consider using a T perch if you're moving her around, like getting back into cage. Also target training while on a perch with a dish to drop treats in is a good idea as well.

 

[kyleighblu]

Hi

I don't do any of the positive reinforcement stuff. I think it is just her getting to know me. I've stopped giving her treats out of my palm and instead I give the sunflower seeds out of my fingertips thru the cage. I've also now started offering my arm for her to get on if she wants too, I don't force it. She will climb my arm and sit on my shoulder and head for small amounts of time. I don't ever chase her around to try and get her. I lay on the floor and she happily bounces over to me. I've been using a perch to put her on to put her back in her cage or she will do it herself when she's ready. In terms of the biting, nuthing happens beforehand other than me simply offering my hand for her climb on (step up) and she simply bites. It's not an attack or she doesn't go for me as such, she just sees my hand and bites. I try super hard not to react other than gently and slowly pull my hand away and talk in a soft voice and say no biting. I try and avoid using my hands as much as possible because it really hurts and I know if I pull my hand away quickly or make a sound it's enforcing the attention. She is getting better with me, she will chiro really loudly if I leave the room or if she hears me coming into the room, I talk to her often, touch her claws thru the cage. She has allowed me to pay her tummy lightly a few times but I never force anything on her so I'm hoping it's just a still getting comfy thing with me.
I will look up target training. Thank U.

 

[kyleighblu]

Sorry I meant positive punishment not positive reinforcement