when free flight training back fires

[Sthere]

I have been having problems with my bird. I took the advice to start training my bird free flight. It was all going good, I felt a real positive social interaction going, something to do with her... Well it seems to be an awful mistake! She has used it to her demonic advantage. Now trying to fly on me without command and biting. So this morning, I was making breakfast and she flew on me to bite my ear and neck. I pulled her off, place her back on her stand and walked away. Well she did it again later this morning and bit my thumb so hard there was blood every where and now my thumb is numb to match my numb neck from last week! Still can't feel my neck. Husband wants to take me to the e-room, but there is really no point, thumb is not broken and they can't repair a crushed nerve. Other than venting, what can I do about this horrific biting?

[liz]

Your bird is bigger than my Amazons.

My method is an open hand, fingers spread swat. I make a slight contact but she flys away before actually being hit. I say fly when I do it. She has learned to fly when I tell her too. I use the same method to get her away from something like my spider lamp.

Myrtle doesn't bite but sometimes grabs my ear with her feet.

[Khaiqha]

I was confused by your post at first because free flight is flying your bird outdoors unharnessed.

Part of flying is teaching your bird to station, that is, to stay stationary and not fly onto you. There's alot of YouTube videos out there that demonstrates this. Is this the only time your macaw bites, when it flies to you?

[Sthere]

Sorry for the confusion. No, she bites at other times, like when she is on the cage or when I want her to set up and she doesn't listen, so I grab her foot and make her step up. Two weeks ago I placed her down on a laundry bin and turned my back to feed the cat, so she hopped on my back and bit my neck so hard it's still numb. That was the first nasty bite, followed by the one this weekend that made my thumb go numb. I am honestly afraid of her now. She never bit so hard before. What other training things can I practice with her besides flight on command?

[GlassOnion]

What if you put a towel or a cloth around your neck so when she bites, she won't attack the skin?

[cml]

Sorry for the confusion. No, she bites at other times, like when she is on the cage or when I want her to set up and she doesn't listen, so I grab her foot and make her step up. Two weeks ago I placed her down on a laundry bin and turned my back to feed the cat, so she hopped on my back and bit my neck so hard it's still numb. That was the first nasty bite, followed by the one this weekend that made my thumb go numb. I am honestly afraid of her now. She never bit so hard before. What other training things can I practice with her besides flight on command?

My birds are smaller than yours, but Stitch, our amazon went from being the sweetest thing to starting to bite me. We are working on it though, and its gotten a whole lot better again , its definatly possible to work on! Its been more than a week, knock on wood, since I recieved a bleeding wound.

I have no idea how you are supposed to handle the bites from a 22inch/55cm giant of a Macaw. Their beaks are extemely powerful and can do a lot of damage. I cant possibly believe that you are supposed to ignore their bites, I would think that to be impossible.

The biting in itself is POSSIBLE to overcome though, in our we are almost back to the sweet bird, and the random bites are almost gone, now its predictable and infrequent biting.

Work with ALOT of basic taming again, everyday, even if its boring. We are doing step up, wing control, lying on his back in my hand etc, EVERYDAY in a formal training session, in addition to the normal day to day routine. It works.

In your particular case I would try to get in contact with either the breeder you got your macaw from, or someone more knowlegdable in how to handle the really large species of parrots, and their bad behavior.

Best of luck, the best advice I can give is; dont be afraid of your bird, you will overcome this!

[Sthere]

Thank you for being realistic about the biting! You can't ignore it! Easier said than done! I already got in contact with a parrot behaviorist. It is hard to understand everything because she is in TX and I am in NJ. Wish I could find someone in the area that could help in person... The behaviorist thought she might have giardia, I treated for that, call me crazy, but I definitely see a difference in her behavior when she's on the antibiotic!! She seems more quiet and less antsy. The only problem is giving her the meds, I inject it in her mouth and she shakes it out of her mouth, so I really don't know how much she is getting. By chance, I went to a pet psychic who happened to be a guest speaker at a club and I showed her my bird's picture when she was a baby (not plucking). She asked if she was still plucking and that something was internally going on in her body, she described it as bugs, and she told me to give her another round of the antibiotics. I swear it is helping she seems to be less itchy and that's what the pet psychic said she is complaining about being itchy. She is less irritated, but I don't exactly know how much of the meds she is actually getting for it to work. I hope it works this time around.

Can anyone send a link of a video to get them to stay on the perch? I can't find that specifically.

[Sthere]

The behavorist thought she had classic giardia symptoms. Pulling a feather out and screaming out in pain. The feather plucking started on her crop area and under the wings. One vet said she was hormonal and gave her a hormone injection which did nothing.

[Michael]

Can anyone send a link of a video to get them to stay on the perch? I can't find that specifically.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLp0a0-7eiQ

[cml]

Can anyone send a link of a video to get them to stay on the perch? I can't find that specifically.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLp0a0-7eiQ

Just so you dont get the wrong idea from Michael's post, DONT clip your bird but let it retain its flight, he is only joking ^^!

There are ways to work with biting, with all parrots, but unfortunatly there arent many Macaw-owners here, of the top of my head I can only think of two, Tarkus and Kitty. And I dont think they have any biting problems with their parrots, I seem to remember that Tarus did when he got his macaw though, so you might want to ask him.

Other than that, I would try to get in contact with your breeder, anyone can call themselvs a bird behaviourist, so I wouldnt trust that myself. Also talk to an avian vet, both about your birds behaviour but also about the possible medical issue. Get your parrot examined before treating for something!

Thank you for being realistic about the biting! You can't ignore it! Easier said than done!

I know what you mean, an amazon bite is damn painful and I wouldnt EVER want to get bitten by a macaw. Ive been snapped at by a blue and gold macaw, and though he didnt quite get my hand in his beak, it still hurt! I am sure there must be alternative ways of handling that kind of big birds, because ignoring will not work.

My personal belief is that you must avoid the situations altogether.

Keep us posted!

EDIT:
Fixed Tarkus' name, and clarified what I meant with the first paragraph ^^!