We've got a biter on our hands!

[Brittanyv326]

So I've read a lot and mostly what I've found is that if your bird bites you, it is your fault. So I don't know what is making her bite me. It just started yesterday. It appears to be for absolutely no reason. I've read a lot of articles, but some started to get crazy, one said "spray your bird with water", another said "drop your bird to the floor"... Not sure I'm okay with those. I ignored biting for a very long time, but now it seems like it is fun, a game. She will watch me while she rips apart my hands and I will remain calm (most times) and just put her back on her perch, where she doesn't really want to go. She seems like she WANTS to be on my hand, but then bites, and I really don't know what to do. I tried time-out, I really didn't know what else to do and after a few time outs, she came out and did not bite me! She's not motivated by treats, I already tried giving her treats for not biting me. If she does accept the treats, she will bite me the moment she finishes. I don't know. I'm at wits end, here's a video. I sound defeated, well I do feel defeated, but I'm just trying to stay happy. I can't tell why she's biting me. So I recorded it for some insight from more experienced people.



You can see in the video, I deliberately put my hand a couple steps away from her so you could see she eagerly gets on my hand just to bite me. I haven't found anything about this type of bite.

[pchela]

How old is she again?

[Brittanyv326]

Just 6 months. She also will still ask me to pet her and she lets me pet her too.

[pchela]

I can't tell how hard she is biting of course but when I brought Pippin home he was 6 months old and he was very nippy. He did just what it looks like yours is doing. I do know that most of them go through a nippy phase where they are exploring and probably testing their boundaries as well around that age. It's normal but I know it can be painful as well. Pippin especially liked to chew on our ears and that hurts! I would say continue to ignore the biting and reward good behavior and you'll both get through this phase, hopefully quite soon. Another trick is to keep a toy she likes nearby and when she bites, distract her with it.

[Michael]

Welcome to owning a Senegal Parrot?

[Brittanyv326]

Thank you, pchela, you are probably correct! I hope it's a quick phase. I feel a lot better knowing it's normal, or at least not unheard of.

lol Michael, well thanks! I guess I should just suck it up and be thankful their beaks aren't bigger. I got bit by a Goffin Cockatoo today (which WAS my fault, I didn't read the signs) and so now I know it could be worse.

[Michael]

Can you please clarify, are we dealing with biting or nipping? Cause seriously by the looks of the video it just looks like some relatively painless nipping. Have you actually gotten bit by a Senegal Parrot? You know blood, pain, the likes?

[Brittanyv326]

She isn't being aggressive, it must just be that she's testing. She clamps down though and just grinds my skin between her beak and pinches. Not hard enough for blood (well, blood a couple times but not much) but hard enough that my hands are marked up all red and that it hurts. Is that nipping? I didn't know terminology was so important lol a bite is a bite to me, if I feel pain, I consider it a bite.

[Michael]

Nip and bite might not make a difference to you but it does to parrot and solving the issue. Biting is usually self defense or outright aggression. Whereas nipping is either a warning, playing, or testing.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I couldn't see the video very well, it was very dark on my computer, but to me it looked as if she might be trying to preen you. In which case, you just need to teach her how you want her to do that! At least it worked for me with Scooter. Check out what I wrote on the recent biting thread.