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Oh me... (slaps forehead)

KatelynDeanne

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Sooo Lucy likes to sometimes randomly bite things or us, for no reason. She gets a kick out of it. She has been flying and landing on the top of my head , which she enjoys riding around on as I cross my fingers she doesnt poop in my hair. :wacky: So the past two days, she will start biting things, in this case my art canvas, the blanket, and unfortunately my head when shes on top of it. As she does it she sais "no bad!" or "no bite!" and she keeps doing it... We tell her "no bite" or sometimes "no bad" when she bites things.. SO it seems as if she thinks this is a game and she has picked up on the attention she gets when we tell her no.. SO unfortunately, we have accidently reinforced her biting.. now "no bad!" is apparently fun for her.. Resulting in a nice scratch on my forehead. How in the heck do I reverse this and how can we punish her for biting given this situation? She outsmarts me every day... Am I screwed?:shy:
 

sunnysmom

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It probably has turned into a game. Unfortunately, the same thing happened with my fiancé and my cockatoo. You can either try ignoring the bites completely. Since any reaction is the attention she's seeking or put her back in her cage when she bites you.
 

BertAllen

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Tinker must have caught the bite bug as well. He has drawn blood on the back of my hand four times this last week or so. No idea why as we have not encouraged him beaking us and he seems to know what no bite means. He has just run 2' and lunged right at my hand twice and bit hard.
Two days ago I put him in the cage every time he did it and made contact, the other times I walked away and ignored him.

Today he has been a little angel. For the most part. LOL
 

TikiMyn

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EkkieLu

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Thanks for the info. My Lucy draws blood nearly every day.
 

Sarahmoluccan

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Personally I've use time outs when Echo went through his biting phase. I know not everyone agrees with time outs but they worked well for me. I think it's ok to let your bird know you're not happy with them but you can't be dramatic with it. I use to Echo it wasn't nice when he bit me.

I'd also encourage you to work on your relationship as whole. Communication is key so work on how and what you are telling him through your actions. It does sound like it has become a game with him. Right now he values the game he has, so I would try replace with a better game for both of you. I think its important to come up with something he'll value more as part of the strategy to redirect his behaviour. I'd try to figure out different kind of game for him and you to play. Something where he'll value you as partner and not a target.

To me partnership is how I would best describe a good relationship with a pet parrot. Right now you are both learning about each other. You have to learn to read his cues and what they mean. And you want him to learn you're a trustworthy ally but not one to pushed around.

It's tricky when you've had a somewhat rocky start. But it's your job to figure him out and what he'll value. I wish I could help with basic African Grey body language but I know Toos much better. Pay attention to subtle movements of his feathers and how he moves them. Feathers can tell you alot. Does he tail wag when he's happy? That's pretty common gesture for he's happy about what just happened. Once you can figure out what he's trying to tell you, you'll have easier time with things :)
 

faislaq

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Personally I've use time outs when Echo went through his biting phase. I know not everyone agrees with time outs but they worked well for me. I think it's ok to let your bird know you're not happy with them but you can't be dramatic with it.
That makes sense, though. To a bird who wants to be with you or on you, a time out is a punishment. If they're biting you because they want to go back to their cage it would be a reward.
 

BertAllen

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Punishment does not really work with parrots though.
I don't make it sound like punishment. I don't talk rough or behave badly. It's a time out till he wants to be with me again and I never leave him alone by leaving the room. I continue to talk to him and when he talks back I go over and open the door and he steps up and then tastes my finger.
Friendly again. LOL
 

KatelynDeanne

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Thank you all so much for the wonderful replies! I agree with the time out thing that we should try and @Sarahmoluccan I agree with everything you say as well. We should think of a game we could do. I will try my best! She doesnt wag her tail that I notice, only when grooming. @BertAllen that Tinker is a mess! So cute though :)
 

Sarahmoluccan

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That makes sense, though. To a bird who wants to be with you or on you, a time out is a punishment. If they're biting you because they want to go back to their cage it would be a reward.
True, thou giving them space when they just been violent seems reasonable to me regardless of if they want to be with you. It's a fine line thou you don't want to be a reward. But that's why you have to focus on the relationship as whole.

I have a single Too so I'm use to him wanting to with me or around me alot. But I get not all birds want to be with their people so much. I think that's ok. If you learn when your bird wants to back to his cage and listen to his cues hopefully you can avoid bites. To me it's about teaching they don't have use force to get what they want. Obviously they can't always get want they when they want. But just like it's hard to reason with 4 year old it's hard to reason with a parrot ;) It can be really complicated because each situation is different. But I think the ultimate goal is to mutual respect and excepting your bird's personality but also not to be afraid of being bitten all time too.

This is going to sound crazy but part of the reason I think Echo doesn't bite me that often is he knows I don't like it. He'll now do the cockatoo beak clicking thing to let me know when I'm worried he might bite that he actually won't. I'm lucky I have a very honest bird. I'm not sure how I would handle those bait and switch birds that bite right after asking for pets. I guess you live and learn and figure out your bird's personality and how best to deal it. I guess that's why I figure why learning how to read your bird is so important. The better you read them more able to you will be to predict their behaviour and the better off you'll both will be.
 
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TikiMyn

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I don't make it sound like punishment. I don't talk rough or behave badly. It's a time out till he wants to be with me again and I never leave him alone by leaving the room. I continue to talk to him and when he talks back I go over and open the door and he steps up and then tastes my finger.
Friendly again. LOL
Yeah you can definitly do that! when Henkie my lovie was biting because he wanted my attention, I refused to look at him. But to me that is not really punishment(it is actually, negative punishment because I take my attention away), and with time outs in a cage you run the risk of them starting to hate the cage for it if you don’t do it right. If you know the reasons behind biting a time out can work, especially if it biting by over excitement for example. If that is the case I would just leave the room/go the other side of the room for a couple minutes and try again later. But in general, punishment is not best approach and I meet so Many people who do use it as the ONE AND ONLY approach that I always discourage it when I can:shy::lol:
 

Nikomania

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I give my greys the stink eye if they do something undesired, and then I return them to a perch or whatever. They do get the message after awhile.
 

KatelynDeanne

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True, thou giving them space when they just been violent seems reasonable to me regardless of if they want to be with you. It's a fine line thou you don't want to be a reward. But that's why you have to focus on the relationship as whole.

I have a single Too so I'm use to him wanting to with me or around me alot. But I get not all birds want to be with their people so much. I think that's ok. If you learn when your bird wants to back to his cage and listen to his cues hopefully you can avoid bites. To me it's about teaching they don't have use force to get what they want. Obviously they can't always get want they when they want. But just like it's hard to reason with 4 year old it's hard to reason with a parrot ;) It can be really complicated because each situation is different. But I think the ultimate goal is to mutual respect and excepting your bird's personality but also not to be afraid of being bitten all time too.

This is going to sound crazy but part of the reason I think Echo doesn't bite me that often is he knows I don't like it. He'll now do the cockatoo beak clicking thing to let me know when I'm worried he might bite that he actually won't. I'm lucky I have a very honest bird. I'm not sure how I would handle those bait and switch birds that bite right after asking for pets. I guess you live and learn and figure out your bird's personality and how best to deal it. I guess that's why I figure why learning how to read your bird is so important. The better you read them more able to you will be to predict their behaviour and the better off you'll both will be.
Sounds like you and Echo have a good mutual relationship. Makes me miss my magoo bird. He was a sweetheart. A little goffins. He used to do this thing where he would spread his wings and bob his head up and down. Im not sure what it meant because I wasnt real educated when I had him. I was a teen at the time. He used to make this little noise that sounded like a cat meowing. With Lucy, I am learning new things every day about how she acts and its starting to become predictable sometimes.
 

KatelynDeanne

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I give my greys the stink eye if they do something undesired, and then I return them to a perch or whatever. They do get the message after awhile.
Sounds like this works for a lot of people. Im not sure what Lucy has been taught in the past with punishment. Her previous owners made it sound like she was the sweetest thing and they never had problems, although when we got her she started saying No Bite! soo we thought thats how they punished her so we would say it if she would bite. Now, she thinks its a fun little game. :D
 

KatelynDeanne

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Yeah you can definitly do that! when Henkie my lovie was biting because he wanted my attention, I refused to look at him. But to me that is not really punishment(it is actually, negative punishment because I take my attention away), and with time outs in a cage you run the risk of them starting to hate the cage for it if you don’t do it right. If you know the reasons behind biting a time out can work, especially if it biting by over excitement for example. If that is the case I would just leave the room/go the other side of the room for a couple minutes and try again later. But in general, punishment is not best approach and I meet so Many people who do use it as the ONE AND ONLY approach that I always discourage it when I can:shy::lol:
Ive also heard this approach is to leave the room. I think the guy on youtube talks ab out it . He has a grey named smoky.. (wings and paws) is the channel. I wish I could do without punishment. With all these approaches im not even sure what to do or try with Lucy. I dont want to upset her. As for the leaving the room or time out in a cage. Im not sure if it will work, worth a try but with Lucy shes new to us (a little over a month) so I am unsure if she enjoys being around me or what shes up to. She seems happy either way honestly. She hasnt yet formed a true bond with neither I or my husband. When its just me, shes around me, when hes here, shes around us both. I have no idea when she will completely open up. :shrug:
 

faislaq

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When Luv Bug gets to be too much we set her down. She can come back to us & we start over or she can wander off to something else. If she keeps it up we put her in her cage with the door open and we close it if she needs to go back again. (If her bead bowl is low we refill it, not as a reward, but to redirect her.) After a few minutes she calms down and will usually eat a bit, play with her toys or take a nap. And we let her out when she tells us she wants to come out (after she's had a chance to stop fussing). Like a cranky child who "isn't tired", you know that's not like them. Sometimes they're just tired or over stimulated.

I don't think it's negative to correct bad behavior if it can't be redirected. The goal is for everyone to live peacefully for the next few decades.

We haven't tried leaving the room, while she's in time out. I do feel like that would just stress her; we just go back to whatever we were doing so we aren't making a big deal of it.
 
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Nikomania

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I tend to view how we shape our birds away from bad behaviors as redirecting and rewarding. We're not punishing them; just redirecting and helping them to form new acceptable behaviors.
 

KatelynDeanne

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When Luv Bug gets to be too much we set her down. She can come back to us & we start over or she can wander off to something else. If she keeps it up we put her in her cage with the door open and we close it if she needs to go back again. (If her bead bowl is low we refill it, not as a reward, but to redirect her.) After a few minutes she calms down and will usually eat a bit, play with her toys or take a nap. And we let her out when she tells us she wants to come out (after she's had a chance to stop fussing). Like a cranky child who "isn't tired", you know that's not like them. Sometimes they're just tired or over stimulated.

I don't think it's negative to correct bad behavior if it can't be redirected. The goal is for everyone to live peacefully for the next few decades.

We haven't tried leaving the room, while she's in time out. I do feel like that would just stress her; we just go back to whatever we were doing so we aren't making a big deal of it.
Sounds good to me. Thats actually what I often do with Lucy is redirect her to something else. She always tries to steal stuff from my hands so I just hand her paper and she has fun shredding that.
 
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