New to Forum - Fear of my biting Senegal

[onequietbreath]

Hello Everyone,

I'm not much of a forum person, but I've had a years long declining relationship with my Senegal, and, since they are such long lived companions, I would like to reverse it. He bites. It often seems random, though certainly when he's been out of the cage, and I need to put him back. And it just isn't a little nip either. He grabs hold of my finger and grinds his beak, resulting in pain and bloodshed. At one point, I was thinking of putting him up for adoption, but my teenage son took him up as a project, until he, too, was bitten one too many times. So, basically, my parrot is cage bound because no one wants to get their hands near him. We've had him for about ten years. He was a hand raised baby from a great local bird store, (that has since closed down, which is bad, because that's how I got his nails clipped, and they really need clipping now, but I don't know how to begin approaching picking him up to clip his nails - the cockatiels are no problem because I'm not terrified of them. Maybe we should have stopped with small birds). He used to be out all the time, but he hated my wife, so he was banished to his cage for that. He used to ride on my shoulder, even though I always read that was a bad idea. Then one day he bit me on the neck - displacement biting, I think the dog did something that startled him. So, I didn't have him on my shoulder any more, but then it was difficult to have him with me, because I generally need my hands for reading, cooking, washing dishes, etc. - all the things he used to hang out on my shoulder with me while I did them. If he is out on top of his cage, he tends to fly down to people, and often bites them upon landing - I think it is part of his reign of terror. So we don't leave his door open often anymore.

He still loves to be petted, but I literally shake any time I put my hand near him. I know they pick up on that, but I have been bitten badly so many times, I don't know how to get over that nervousness. I have a fleece jacket I wear in order to have him step up, and I have him step up on to the fleece, but putting on the jacket to handle the bird seems silly. So our relationship has become more of a verbal one, and I hand feed him bits of fruit, etc., so he's not being ignored, but I feel sad and guilty because I know he must be bored out of his tiny skull sitting in his cage. I need to force myself to make a project of working with him, and with myself, to get back to the point where I can handle him with my hands without fear of bloodshed. Part of it, I know, is making the time. Life is always so busy. Also, I never knew why he was biting or why it was so vicious when he did bite. I have generally been a pretty good owner of parakeets and cockatiels over my 52 years. I've always tended to be kind and calm and gentle, so I'm afraid I've taken the biting personally. Wherever should I start?

 

[JLcribber]

You need “tools”.

Pictures - The T stick. | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome to the forum! It's tough when you have a bird that bites, especially if there doesn't seem to be a reason. You can try as John suggested, a t-stick. You can also try target training with him to try to get him move from place to place etc without being handled.

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

welcome

 

[Hjarta5]

Thank you for reaching out @onequietbreath ! I also have a sennie, Luna, who I adopted last year and have been afraid of his bites, too. It is a work in progress with us, and I am embarrassed to admit that I wrap my hand in a towel sometimes when I have him step up. I do this so I can bring him closer to my chest and we spend 5-10 minutes every day or so so I can just make small talk with him in hopes that he becomes less afraid of me. Other times, instead of the T-stick @JLcribber recommended, I use a short thick rope perch (bent into an upside down U shape) to move Luna if I need to; he had been afraid of the wooden perches I used. Even though you have had your sennie since he was a baby, it may be beneficial to treat your relationship with him as if you two just met -- you will have to wipe the slate clean and re-start your relationship to gain your bird's trust, and not rushing into how things used to be -- good, bad, or indifferent. If you are on FB, I thought this was a good primer for starting again: THE CHAIR EXERCISE FOR TRAUMATIZED... - APR All Parrot Rescue | Facebook

He bites. It often seems random, though certainly when he's been out of the cage, and I need to put him back. And it just isn't a little nip either. He grabs hold of my finger and grinds his beak, resulting in pain and bloodshed. At one point, I was thinking of putting him up for adoption, but my teenage son took him up as a project, until he, too, was bitten one too many times.

I usually move slowly around Luna so I would be able to detect body language signs that he is about to bite me. I have a perch installed on the inside of his cage door so that he can independently come out when I open his cage, and that there is also a place for him to perch when I want him to go back inside. There are always treats involved when he is on this perch; in fact, I think Luna has now learned that that door perch is the magical place to be if he wants one If I have my senses when Luna bites me, I do try to remember not to pull away but to move my hand into his beak. I have done that successfully on a couple of occasions where he was just mystified on what was going on and just let go without breaking skin.

I have a fleece jacket I wear in order to have him step up, and I have him step up on to the fleece, but putting on the jacket to handle the bird seems silly.

If it works for now, I dont think its silly. Birds bite, thats a fact. Something happened in your relationship where things went awry. You want to change that. I think its ok to take baby steps; no need to be hard on yourself.

So our relationship has become more of a verbal one, and I hand feed him bits of fruit, etc., so he's not being ignored, but I feel sad and guilty because I know he must be bored out of his tiny skull sitting in his cage.

Do you have things for him in and out of his cage? I keep a variety of toys for Luna, but I find that his favorite ones are virgin cork bark (I dont even buy him a "toy" made out of cork, I literally just give him a square for him to take apart) and balsa - he can spend hours shredding these to pieces. Luna also loves foraging in his cage; I will usually leave 2 nutriberries in his foraging elbow pipe toy and some extras tucked in other toys or his busy seagrass mat. I have not seen this in Luna, but some have said that sennies love to swing and I know that mine loves to climb onto and perch on the rope I have strung across the top dome of his cage. I also change up his food so that the ingredients in his daily veggie chop and pellet/dry food mix change on at least a weekly basis, so that there is some variety in his daily food offerings in addition to our pre-bedtime time together where I offer him a piece of fruit and other treats.

Part of it, I know, is making the time. Life is always so busy. Also, I never knew why he was biting or why it was so vicious when he did bite. I have generally been a pretty good owner of parakeets and cockatiels over my 52 years. I've always tended to be kind and calm and gentle, so I'm afraid I've taken the biting personally. Wherever should I start?

You need to harness your feelings of guilt into something positive to propel you forward I learned that doing trick training with my sennie has been super helpful, not only in us bonding but also in decreasing his boredom and maybe stress levels. It does not take more than 5-10 mins a day of direct training time, and I will sometimes cut it short if I know my bird is not paying attention. I am part of a Facebook group where they will post a video every month posting how to teach your sennie to do a trick, and I love both the how-to demonstration as well as the support of other similarly situated sennie owners. Its called Parrot Trick Training Orbit and is part of the FB group, Senegal Parrot Pets. Also, Phoenix Landing has some great resources on their website parrotcare - Phoenix Landing™ Helping Parrots including training videos, too, at https://monkeysee.com/how-to-train-a-parrot/. For me, they were great places to start and I will even go back and review them again when I get frustrated and need a reminder on handling avian behavior.

Also, other things to keep in mind is that parrots will change as they mature, much like human children. You didnt say how old your sennie is or how long this is going on, but I suspect he has just grown up and has different needs than when he was a baby. You may also want to see about taking him to get a check-up with a vet specializing in avian medicine to see if there are an underlying health issues that is causing your bird to act out.

By the way, what is his name? Do you have any photos to share (we love bird photos!)? I hope you keep us up to date on re-igniting your relationship; one thing I really love about this forum is how helpful ppl are in providing good advice from their own experience with captive birds

 

[cassiesdad]

Great post by @Hjarta5

You need to harness your feelings of guilt into something positive to propel you forward

This is so important...birds sense things in other members of their flock. (us) If you're attempting to handle your sennie while fearing bites, he'll sense it, for sure...causing him to be on edge, feeding into the cycle of biting.

Getting bit is a pain...and we all share your pain, believe me! I know it's difficult, but you must put the fear aside when you are around your bird. I like to say, "I respect the beak, I don't fear it."