Nibbling

[Ben]

Hi,

Right, sorry about yet another topic about this. I did post in another topic but I fear it may have been overlooked (or over discussed - )

Anyway, Jabba has started coming out lots and is loving it. He flies about, lands on heads and likes to sit with both me and my partner. He is a little wary of the kids but thats understandable for now.

Anyway, he has started to nibble. He will sit on my hand and nibble my knuckles, my fingers, the back of my hands - anything he can get to. I must stress, it doesnt hurt at all. No blood, bruses, nothing. I have tried ignoring it or pushing towards him, neither of which seems to help.

I'm guessing its a phase but I really dont want to encourage it. Any ideas?

[pchela]

It is absolutely a phase just like a toddler that puts everything in their mouths. Try keeping some foot toys nearby and when he starts chewing on you, slyly sneak the foot toy in front of him and perhaps he will be distracted by it and chew on it instead. Baby birds are beaky and don't always know their own strength but they aren't purposely doing anything bad. Distraction is probably the best route.

[Kim S]

Look at it as grooming. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.
As long as he doesnt nip or bite, I wouldnt look at it as a problem.

[Ben]

Thanks ladies.

[Ben]

His bites are getting more vicious now and I dont understand why he is doing it. Still no blood but he is actually starting to hurt me a bit now.

I've tried distraction, doesn't seem to work.

[Kim S]

Put him away when he gets too nippy. He loves your attention so by putting him away you are denying that. Eventually he will learn that "if I bite too hard I will get no attention".

Works with Kika.

[Michael]

There are short term and long term solutions.

The short term solutions are to avoid and prevent bites from happening. This may mean wearing a glove for a wildly vicious bird. For a mildly nippy bird it might just be a matter of keeping loose skin and fingers away and just handling the bird properly. Also reading the parrot and not sticking your hands in at the wrong time can help (when it's a normally sweat bird just being moody).

Long term solutions include trick training, ignoring bites, and creating alternate methods for the parrot to release its vicious energy. See training articles for this.

[Ben]

Just been experimenting. He bit me 20 mins ago, so I put him away. 5 mins later I took him out, he again bit me. I put him straight back.

I then tried again a few minutes later but this time I had some dried banana and almonds on hand. He sat on my finer eating quite happily then seemed back to normal.

I dont think it was hunger as he ate before he came out, could he feel comforted by taking food from my hand? Was his biting trying to get me to give him food?

Odd. Thanks for the responses so far.

[Kim S]

Was his biting trying to get me to give him food?

Hahaha, and what did you do? You taught him that nipping got him food

No seriously. There are 10 thousand ways of not getting bitten. And one way will suit you and Jabba. You just have to experiment and see what works.

[Michael]

Don't give him anything (attention, food, or toys) in response to biting. However, if you see that he is about to bite and can distract/stop him by giving him a toy, then he will learn not to. Also make sure you don't let him use biting to get what he wants (like those treats). Teach him tricks so when he wants to bite you ask him to do a trick instead and he will learn that doing tricks earns him treats/good things and not biting. So if Kili wants attention she says "hello" rather than biting.