orange winged amazon not quite a bite but what?

[ArchiesMumma]

about 2 weeks ago my o'h brought me an o/w amazon, supposedly a 'he', about 12-18mths old and called Archie.

Archie has favoured me but i think that is due to being brought up by a female and the fact that i am home more often (despite o'h being off work for the 2nd week Archie has been here)

he climbs down to see me, and gets as close to me as he can, leans to try and reach me and steps up as soon as i offer my arm, he already knew a few words and sounds before he came to me and he will repeat what i say (the words he knows obviously lol). also screams out to me when i leave him in the room alone and copies my whistles from the other room whilst i am washing up etc.

i presume he trusts me! the thing i am not sure on is, he has never lunged at me or bitten me, but the last few days when he steps onto my arm he bites slowly, its like hes testing my arm but he will slowly put more pressure until i say 'no, be gentle' but he will do it again unless i put him down, but then he wants to come straight back on so it cant be that he doesnt want to be 'held'. he doesnt draw blood, and the bruising only lasts a few hrs, but i bet he could do worse if i didnt tell him no and put him down.
What does this kind of bite mean? Am i doing something wrong? is he testing my patience? etc

thanks in advance
Kay

[Michael]

1) Don't say no.
2) Hold your bird in a way that reduces nipping
3) Ignore the nips and over time they should diminish

[Azure Hanyo]

The only thing I disagree with is the "don't say no" part. There is nothing wrong with telling a bird "no". Galileo listens to that word when she nips, to a firm voice, and to not pulling back. She knows what "no" means and listens.

[a.susz]

i agree, i think no is ok, if your bird bites, then drop them off somewhere they dont like to be(inside their cage if they are usually out all day) say NO and walk away. Nothing wrong with that. I think ignoring them is worse because they assume they are biting, then just being put away for no reason.

[ArchiesMumma]

thanks for ur quick replies, the previous owner taught him no with a firm voice and one finger pointed upwards, so i am just carrying on his previous training.

her steps were as follows:-
'no'
put in cage
if really naughty put in cage with dark teatowel on the side (he dont like it)
if persistent put in cat carrier in dark room for 1/2hr

i have never put him in a cat carrier, only briefly shown him a teatowel.

he stops his bite immediatley when i say no, but even if i carry on talking to him he'll try again so i put him in his cage and walk out the room for 10mins or so, i'll carry on with this method for now and see how it goes,
i could put him on the floor because he hates that, but he'd find his way back to his cage!

[Azure Hanyo]

thanks for ur quick replies, the previous owner taught him no with a firm voice and one finger pointed upwards, so i am just carrying on his previous training.

her steps were as follows:-
'no'
put in cage
if really naughty put in cage with dark teatowel on the side (he dont like it)
if persistent put in cat carrier in dark room for 1/2hr

i have never put him in a cat carrier, only briefly shown him a teatowel.

he stops his bite immediatley when i say no, but even if i carry on talking to him he'll try again so i put him in his cage and walk out the room for 10mins or so, i'll carry on with this method for now and see how it goes,
i could put him on the floor because he hates that, but he'd find his way back to his cage!

A dark room for half an hour???!!! That would really confuse the poor thing! I'm not even that mean when my toddler acts up! I think I let her sit in her fully-lit room for 2 minutes at best. Now, if Galileo is screaming in her cage and I cannot get her out, I ignore her and she will stop within a few minutes- but she normally only screams when everyone else in the house in screaming....goose frabba...

Really though...the 1/2 hour in a dark room seems like definite overkill. Ignoring the bird for a few minutes should suffice.

[Azure Hanyo]

...I just read your name as "Archimedes' momma" and I was thinking... Hey wow! She has a bird named Archimedes too??!!! And then I realized...it was "Archie"... Burhurhur.

[ArchiesMumma]

i'd never put him in a dark room or a cat carrier! i just walk out the room and leave him, he soon starts screaching for me to come back

[Azure Hanyo]

i'd never put him in a dark room or a cat carrier! i just walk out the room and leave him, he soon starts screaching for me to come back

YAY! I didn't think you did...I just wanted to be sure. It sounded scary!

[Michael]

he stops his bite immediatley when i say no, but even if i carry on talking to him he'll try again so i put him in his cage and walk out the room for 10mins or so, i'll carry on with this method for now and see how it goes,
i could put him on the floor because he hates that, but he'd find his way back to his cage!

Maybe he just wants to go back to the cage and you taught him that the way to say "may I please go back to my cage now" is BITE!