steveg@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM (Steve Grant) (12/07/89)
I am looking for some advice on how to deal with my pet Conure who has decided to start biting. He (or she?) is about 6 mo. old and was a hand fed baby. Until recently he has been the perfect bird. Never bit me hard, likes to snuggle up to me, and is very friendly. We spend a lot of time together and I have tried to be consistent in my training. But now he has started biting me occasionally. These are not nibbles that I am worried about, he bites HARD! Usually he does it when he wants something (like my food or the cards in my hand), but at other times I see no reason at all for his actions. I usually react with an abrupt movement (it hurts), followed by "NO! Bad bird .....", then off to a cage in the back room. So far I can see no positive results from my scolding. If anything, I think I am making him less trusting of me. What should I do? I have tried to find info in books but they seem to skip the issue. I want to maintain the friendship that I have with him but I can't keep letting him hurt me like this. Also, can anyone recommend a GOOD book on keeping indoor birds? I have looked but am not satisfied with what I have found.
usenet@cps3xx.UUCP (Usenet file owner) (12/07/89)
From article <4950001@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM>, by steveg@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM (Steve Grant): $ I am looking for some advice on how to deal with my pet Conure who has $ decided to start biting. He (or she?) is about 6 mo. old and was a hand $ fed baby. Until recently he has been the perfect bird. Never bit me $ hard, likes to snuggle up to me, and is very friendly. We spend a lot of $ time together and I have tried to be consistent in my training. But now $ he has started biting me occasionally. These are not nibbles that I am $ worried about, he bites HARD! Usually he does it when he wants something $ (like my food or the cards in my hand), but at other times I see no reason $ at all for his actions. I usually react with an abrupt movement (it hurts), $ followed by "NO! Bad bird .....", then off to a cage in the back room. It may be hard to do, but take the pain and don't show him that he has been able to hurt you. From my experiences and from what I've heard from others, a bird will eventually stop biting you if he thinks it doesn't hurt you. If he is biting often, you want to consider picking up a pair of gloves. j |%|John Lawitzke, Dale Computer Corp., R&D |%|UUCP: uunet!frith!dale1!jhl Work |%| uunet!frith!ipecac!jhl Home Inquiring minds just wondering. |%|Internet: jhl@frith.egr.msu.edu
ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry) (12/08/89)
If the bird bites you when he's on your hand, bringing your hand down in a stunted karate chop motion (with the bird still on it) will teach him that his biting causes an earthquake where he is quite unsafe. Sounds silly, but it's a proven training technique. Also, pretending (or maybe not pretending if he bites hard enough) to whimper and show that he hurt you while putting him back in his cage and covering it for 10 minutes can sometimes help. Just be sure there is no interaction at all between you and the bird for the full 10 minutes. (but no more because the bird will just fall asleep) Bird Book - Home Health and Care (or something like that) by a vet from San Diego. Green cover with a picture of a small parrot surrounded by fruit. Great book! Mikki Barry
susans@cfi.COM (susans) (12/08/89)
In article <4950001@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM> steveg@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM (Steve Grant) writes: >I am looking for some advice on how to deal with my pet Conure who has >decided to start biting. He (or she?) is about 6 mo. old and was a hand >fed baby. There's a letter in December "Bird Talk" describing this sort of thing. The editors claim that this is the age when handfeds start to nibble. I imagine he's just checking you out. >I usually react with an abrupt movement (it hurts), >followed by "NO! Bad bird .....", then off to a cage in the back room. I read that if you ALWAYS react to a bite in the same way, you are inadvertantly training the bird to bite you to achieve a result. For example, your conure gets tired of you and wants his cage, so he bites you, knowing you'll put him away. I am troubled by a biting cockatiel (3 years old) and he has me at my wit's end, so please send me a summary of advice! > Also, can anyone recommend a GOOD book on keeping indoor birds? I have >looked but am not satisfied with what I have found. I've enjoyed "The Pet Bird Handbook" by Patricia Sutherland. I ordered it through "American Cage Bird" magazine. I also enjoy "Bird Talk" magazine. It isn't as technical as ACB mag. and has more advice I can relate to. -- Susan S. (susans@cfi.com) Another Friend of Bill's
heneghan@cbnewse.ATT.COM (joseph.t.heneghan) (12/09/89)
My 4 month old Nanday tries that occasionally. I think it's the "what can I get away with" attitude so prevelant in our society. So I tell my children to do what I do. Yell at him "NO!!!!!!" and push his head away briskly. This seems to do it. I suspect he forgets. My kids spend a moderate amount of time with him, but he has bonded to me pretty much. They're comfortable enough to let him taste their hands, which to the casual observer, looks like a bite. If they get too wild with him he just flies back up to the top of his cage and sits, probably thinking "those little people are nuts, I wish they'd be like the big people" Joe Heneghan
mm@cloud9.Stratus.COM (Mike Mahler) (12/09/89)
In article <4950001@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM>, steveg@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM (Steve Grant) writes: > I am looking for some advice on how to deal with my pet Conure who has > decided to start biting. He (or she?) is about 6 mo. old and was a hand > fed baby. Until recently he has been the perfect bird. Never bit me > hard, likes to snuggle up to me, and is very friendly. We spend a lot of > time together and I have tried to be consistent in my training. But now > he has started biting me occasionally. Your bird is in little-bird-puberty. It's going through it's sexual maturity and you have to deal with it. It's difficult to reprimand parrots since they are often enticed by moving objects so tapping the bird on the beak is often followed by MORE biting. Putting the bird in the cage is a good reaction but only if the bird prefers to be out. Hand fed babies often love their cage so it may not help as a form of punishment. Sometimes, if I can get it, I grab the birds beak with my thumb and index finger tight enough so he can't pull it out and say "NO!" quickly and firmly. This often leads to me grabbing the beak and the birds yells "NO!" and then bites me. You can't win. It often passes after they get over the sexual changes, sometimes it doesn't. Conures are nippers anyway so it's often tough to break a habit that isn't really a habit in the first place. You could also try raising your hand QUICKLY behind the bird when it goes to bite you. > Also, can anyone recommend a GOOD book on keeping indoor birds? I have > looked but am not satisfied with what I have found. Dr. Decateau (sp?) nearby me is an excellent source for training video's and books. I'll post the address when I find it myself (he usually advertises in the birdy rags like Bird Talk [where you can read about yet another bird-that saved-Chicago]). --
mm@cloud9.Stratus.COM (Mike Mahler) (12/09/89)
In article <5701@cps3xx.UUCP>, usenet@cps3xx.UUCP (Usenet file owner) writes: > From article <4950001@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM>, by steveg@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM (Steve Grant): > been able to hurt you. From my experiences and from what I've heard from > others, a bird will eventually stop biting you if he thinks it doesn't > hurt you. If he is biting often, you want to consider picking up a pair > of gloves. Sorry, I disagree. The bird must learn to NOT bite hands and gloves don't help foster this training. (By the way, conures bite HARD). --
mary@dinorah.wustl.edu (Mary E. Leibach) (12/09/89)
steveg@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM (Steve Grant) writes: >I am looking for some advice on how to deal with my pet Conure who has >decided to start biting. He (or she?) is about 6 mo. old and was a hand >fed baby. Until recently he has been the perfect bird. Never bit me >hard, likes to snuggle up to me, and is very friendly. We spend a lot of >time together and I have tried to be consistent in my training. But now >he has started biting me occasionally. These are not nibbles that I am >worried about, he bites HARD! Vila, my 11 mo. old Conure has the same problem. Any part of me within reach gets "clamped". Saying no and cage discipline do not work. Vila is, I believe, a male who thinks I am his mate. If someone has been through this, please post the answer. Any help on how (besides covering Blakey's cage) I can get him to stop attempting to attack my parakeet Blakey. Mind you, Blakey is in his cage at the time. Vila tries to bite through the bars. > Also, can anyone recommend a GOOD book on keeping indoor birds? I have >looked but am not satisfied with what I have found. The best resource I have found on indoor birds is Bird Talk magazine. They cover all kinds of birds and all kinds of problems, with color pics and ads and cartoons. They have vets who write some of the articles, and a "Living with Birds" column that is the absolutely hilarious antics of an African Gray, an Amazon, and a Macaw. Lots of info and lots of fun. Plus, what book has pull out cards for your birds to chew? -Mary
mm@cloud9.Stratus.COM (Mike Mahler) (12/09/89)
In article <1612@intercon.com>, ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry) writes: > If the bird bites you when he's on your hand, bringing your hand down > in a stunted karate chop motion (with the bird still on it) will teach > him that his biting causes an earthquake where he is quite unsafe. > Sounds silly, but it's a proven training technique. It doesn't sound silly but it does sound particular (in that it may not work with all birds). Although I know some people reccomend this method, it isn't very good if the bird is unclipped (and many conures are not AND they are almost as adept at flying clipped as cockatiels) since the bird might take flight and head for a window in a startled state. The type of bird must be taken into account here. Conures are "nippers" and this one is at "that age". Some of it is beyond the birds control. Sometimes you can tell when the bird is in a biting mood and not touch it. It will learn that you will only play with it when it doesn't nip. --
bjb@ncrorl.Orlando.NCR.COM (Barbara Bowen) (12/11/89)
Try a squirt gun or squirt bottle, accompanied by the word, "NO!!!" Don't squirt the bird in the nostrils, aim for the chest. Also, you absolutely MUST reward the bird when it does NOT bite. (Most people forget to do this.) I also agree that using gloves won't work. Try using a towel to grab the bird instead. Once they realize you won't flinch when they bite, they do give up. You bleed, you heal, it works. I always remind mine to be nice. I warn them in advance, and it seems to work. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- EMAIL: barbara.bowen@Orlando.NCR.COM (...ncrlnk!ncrorl!bjb) "Bird-brain is a misnomer!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------
mm@cloud9.Stratus.COM (Mike Mahler) (12/12/89)
Careful, Mary, some of those subscription cards have colored ink
which can be dangerous to birds.
-- mary@dinorah.wustl.edu (Mary E. Leibach) (12/14/89)
bjb@ncrorl.Orlando.NCR.COM (Barbara Bowen) writes: >Try a squirt gun or squirt bottle, accompanied by the word, "NO!!!" Don't >squirt the bird in the nostrils, aim for the chest. Also, you absolutely >MUST reward the bird when it does NOT bite. (Most people forget to do this.) Some good ideas. However, I would add two caveats. First, be careful of drafts and cool temperatures. I believe the goal is to deter the bird, not give it a chill. Second, if other conures have half the water fetish Vila has, such treatment will only train the bird to bite to get a bath! Even Cally loves a good spray shower. You are right though, positive reinforcement of proper behaviour goes a long way. -Mary Have you bathed your bird today?
mm@cloud9.Stratus.COM (Mike Mahler) (12/15/89)
In article <631@ncrorl.Orlando.NCR.COM>, bjb@ncrorl.Orlando.NCR.COM (Barbara Bowen) writes: > Try a squirt gun or squirt bottle, accompanied by the word, "NO!!!" Although this is very effective on cats, I don't think you'd want to use a stream of water on a parrot. Parrots love baths and if you use water to scare them, they might not like to bath any longer and their plumage will suffer. Also, although you did mention NOT to get the water near the cere, you can't guarantee if won't happen and you could give the bird a nasty sinus infection. --