teaching baby lovebird to stop biting

[Diveks]

hey everyone,
so my baby lovebird, lowy have grown up a lot since ive got em. i think he is very hyper active just like my other lovie. though he has issues on biting, im not sure if its just part of his growing up. he loves to bite everything, especially if its moving. he does this weird thing that looks like a cat stalking prey, where he just suddenly pounces on something that is moving. he loves to bite fingers. it hurts a lot, he doesnt know that he is hurting me sometimes. his play time gets too agressive sometimes. it used to be ok when he was a baby but since he is almost an adult it hurts a lot. he gets confused on when he goes in his cage for timeout. how do i teach him that it hurt me a lot when he bites? or how do i stop him from biting everyone's fingers?

 

[Shezbug]

 

[Zara]

Most of my birds went through this phase as a young bird, beaking things and little bites.
The best thing you can do is try to avoid those bites. For eg, if you know your bird like to bite your hand if you are using a mobile phone, then don´t use it near your bird. If your bird bites while trying to touch him, then don´t touch him. If your bird bites you while you play, or out of the blue, take two steps back away from your bird and ignore him for 30 seconds. Don´t put your bird in their cage if you got bit, this will teach him that when he wants to go back to play in the cage, if he bites you, you will take him there. Remember, his cage should be a fun place, a place of security which is also full of fun toys... why would it be punishment to put him back there - a 30 second timeout is enough

 

[Diveks]

Most of my birds went through this phase as a young bird, beaking things and little bites.
The best thing you can do is try to avoid those bites. For eg, if you know your bird like to bite your hand if you are using a mobile phone, then don´t use it near your bird. If your bird bites while trying to touch him, then don´t touch him. If your bird bites you while you play, or out of the blue, take two steps back away from your bird and ignore him for 30 seconds. Don´t put your bird in their cage if you got bit, this will teach him that when he wants to go back to play in the cage, if he bites you, you will take him there. Remember, his cage should be a fun place, a place of security which is also full of fun toys... why would it be punishment to put him back there - a 30 second timeout is enough

Thanks, ive tried that but what should i do if he keeps flying to me when i ignore him?

 

[Zara]

Thanks, ive tried that but what should i do if he keeps flying to me when i ignore him?

Let him land the first time. See if he is still biting. If he still bites, ignore him and don´t let him land. You have one male lovie, if you´re spending plenty of time with him, he´ll bounce back, it shouldn´t damage your relationship.
Just be sure you are not doing something to provoke the biting. This will only work with the random bites. If your bird is biting for a reason, you need to figure out what that is. Observe yourself and if you find some thing that may be causing this, make changes

 

[Diveks]

Let him land the first time. See if he is still biting. If he still bites, ignore him and don´t let him land. You have one male lovie, if you´re spending plenty of time with him, he´ll bounce back, it shouldn´t damage your relationship.
Just be sure you are not doing something to provoke the biting. This will only work with the random bites. If your bird is biting for a reason, you need to figure out what that is. Observe yourself and if you find some thing that may be causing this, make changes

Thanks, ill try that next time he randomly bites.

 

[Monica]

It might also help to have some foraging toys or fun toys to play with before he gets a chance to bite so you can redirect the behavior before it starts.

Add in some target training and station training to give him some different direction, too!