Letting A Bird Bite You

[Rebajoy]

I've heard several people tell me that if a bird has a tendency to bite (in regards to budgies, small beaks that don't do as much damage than larger parrots) to LET it bite you so they learn that it has no effect on your hands.... is this true? I haven't been following this advice - just wanted to know if any of you all on here have heard anything similar.

Thanks!

[Graeme]

Well with bigger birds they say not to react to the bite, just ignore it so I guess for a budgie it would really be the same thing.

[Pajarita]

LOL - No, it's not right. Parrots mostly bite to tell you you are doing something they don't like so my answer is always the same: Just don't make them bite you!

[KC Cameron]

Distract & avoid. If they do end up biting, limit your reaction.

They bite for a reason, figure out that reason. In the wild, parrots bite as a means of communication. "Hawk/snake" "Hey that's my mate!" "Stop that!" as well as dominance and other reasons. They use their beaks like we use our hands both to communicate and feel things. This is called "nipping". If you ignore this communication, you MAY be teaching them to bite harder - much the way people often raise their voice when not understood.

As pets, parrots often also bite out of fear. In the wild, they can just fly away from a situation that worries them. In captivity, they generally don't have that option, so they bite . . .often hard. The caregiver reacts, and thus teaching the parrot that is what to do to keep people away. If the caregiver reacts with a lot of drama, the parrot may find it fun, and do it more. The parrot also can learn that they can dominate the caregiver by biting.

Since a hard bite to a caregiver is usually first done out of fear, it is important not to scare your parrots. This means slowly acclimatizing them to situations they could find fearful. Parrots are prey animals - everything new or different scares them! It is easiest to do this when they are babies.

Since it is VERY hard not to react with some drama when most parrots bite hard, once the biting process starts it can quickly becomes a source of amusement and domination for the parrot as well - especially if they find their environment unstimulating or over stimulating.

Parrots can be fearful of anything new in the environment, from a leaf they see falling out the window to a new arrangement of furniture, to new people or new actions, etc. Be aware of the environment. Socialization with people and new environments will decrease their stress levels. Remember they generally do not have the instruction from parents and flock mates on what to be afraid of . . . they just sit in a confined space with little change in the environment. When a little change does happen, an environmentally un-socialized parrot can react in a big way.

Besides being bored or scared an adult parrot also has changing hormones. Just like in humans going through puberty and into adulthood, hormones can be raging. Proper diet, environment, light cycles and sometimes medicine can help reduce these, but hormones can still cause problems.

Always avoid a bite by understanding what your parrot is thinking. If you can't avoid it, try to distract it. A bit of food or an unstable perch (like your arm) can do the trick. If it ends up chomping on you, try not to react. Of course if this continues, be careful that you don't train it to just bite harder . . . Or you will scare it into thinking there is nothing it can do, it is totally defenceless and "break" the parrot. This was once recommended, but IS NOT recommended at all now.

Also, remember what you do following a bite teaches the parrot how to get that reaction. If you put the parrot back in it's cage, you can easily teach it to bite you when it wants to go back to it's cage.

It is also important to remember if a parrot threatens to bite, quickly pulling away teaches the parrot that you are scared of it's bite, and can also teach it to bite - Yet another reason to avoid or distract the bird.

On top of al this, many parrots are "selective biters" they may not bit one person, but bite others that they don't know or trust. If they had problems with men it the past, they may bite men, etc. Also, many parrots see there caregiver as a mate, so they bite anyone who may be a potential threat to the parrots "perceived mate" or a challenge to the parrots relationship with it's "perceived mate".

Every species is different, and every individual is unique, but some species are known to bite more than others. Early experiences and traumatic experiences can make a parrot more prone to bite too. This is something you should plan for.

There is no one simple answer (that is healthy for the parrot) when it comes to biting, and ANYTHING you do has a possibility of backfiring on you. There are things that you should NOT do, and they all have to do with your reaction.

All in all, the question is not so much what to do, but to figure out the reason(s) why the parrot is biting and overcome them; I.e. the problem is NOT with the parrot, but with the caregiver and/or past caregivers lack of understanding/implementing proper care.

Hope this helps a little.