Parrotlet bites hard

[Lumi]

I have a new baby male parrotlet. The breader told me that he is tames and does not nip. But he bites and I bleed. What to do?

 

[sunnysmom]

Can you give more information? What is happening when you get bit?

 

[Tommy95]

No matter how tame a bird is supposed to be, new things can be scary to a baby bird and they can still bite out of fear. Perhaps more information is needed for us to give better advice.

 

[Lumi]

He bites when I want to touch him, when I take him in my hand. I got him to eat out of my hand, but when I try to caress him, he bites. I cannot hold him in my hand. How do I stop him from biting so hard?

 

[Tommy95]

It is possible that he is still not that comfortable with you touching and caressing him. If this is the case, perhaps try to take it slow and respect his boundaries. He needs to slowly learn that your hand is ok.

However, it is also possible that he is nippy in a playful or curious way. If this is the case, try not to reinforce the biting by giving him attention or treats when he bites.

 

[sunnysmom]

He bites when I want to touch him, when I take him in my hand. I got him to eat out of my hand, but when I try to caress him, he bites. I cannot hold him in my hand. How do I stop him from biting so hard?

So, if he doesn't want you to touch him, don't touch him. That's his way of saying "no". Birds aren't like cats and dogs who usually want affection. And hands can be scary to a little bird. So, I think you just need to slow down, build his trust, and learn to read his body language. Birds bite to tell us something- they're scared, etc. Also, you only had him a really short time. It can take months before a bird is really comfortable in a new home. Just take things more slowly with him. Getting him to eat out of your hand is a good start. You can also look into target training and teaching him to step up and then expand from there.

 

[Lumi]

I managed to tame my Coco a little bit. I put the food dish on my chest and open the cage. He comes out and eats there. He allows me to hold my hand on his back and pet him, maybe even tickle him for a while. But he continues to bite. He walks on my upper body. When he reaches my skin, arms, hands, neck or chin, he bites hard. It's very painful. How do I stop this?

 

[Tommy95]

It really depends on why he is biting you. If is fear, just don’t force interaction too much, it will take a while for him to become fully comfortable. Forcing too much can undo the previous efforts a bit.

If he is biting because he is playfully nippy, he may not know the strength of his bite.

I’m not sure how fast parrotlets reach maturity, but gonna say that maybe hormones could play a role also.

If he is being playful or hormonal, you can distract by teaching him tricks. Cue tricks to distract him from a certain behaviour like biting.

 

[Zara]

It is a good idea to stop putting your hands over him or "tickle" him. If he wants scritches, let him ask you. If you carry on like this, it will become learned behaviour.
When dealing with nippy species like parrotlets, it is important to do the best we can to avoid pushing our birds to the point they bite. Every bite that gets you is more reinforcement.
It sounds like overstepping boundaries is the issue here.

If he is biting because he is playfully nippy, he may not know the strength of his bite.

This is a possibility, and in these instances, you can simply pull back from playing with your bird and ignore for a minute before resuming play to teach them that biting is not ok, or that they bit too hard during play.