Correct Technique when Parrot Bites

[Stephoklein]

My boyfriend and I just got a 2 1/2 year old male Eclectus. He is still getting used to his new surroundings so we are approaching things slowly. He seems to willingly step up and down in most scenarios. He will step up, give kisses, step down and easily come out of his cage. In some instances, however, he will bite and lunge. One instance was my boyfriend picked up his cellphone and started texting and the parrot walked over and bit him. Then when I tried to make him step up he snapped at me and he lunged at my face. Now I have read different things on how to approach this such as laddering, ignoring the bird, "no" with a stern eye, leaving him alone, not to leave him alone, etc. Which approach should I use, I'm confused with the overload of approaches I have read about?

[Michael]

First of all (and most importantly), prevent bites. Avoid doing the things that lead to bites, work on them slowly to reduce these things as a reason, protect yourself without creating trouble, and very importantly work on building a relationship that makes your bird want to be around you and do the things you want rather than biting you. Don't clip the wings, that is a big cause of biting and bad for the bird (learn more about how to keep a flighted parrot though). Do not punish the bird! Do not attempt to punish the bird. Don't punish the bird by accident.

Many people are just complete idiots about fear biting. The parrot is afraid of them (or whatever is gonna happen) so it bites. The person gets mad at the parrot for biting and tries to punish it in some way (squirting with water, putting away in cage, or worse). That makes the parrot more scared of the person in general and avoid the person. Next time the person comes over, the parrot wants to get away but can't (clipped wings) so it bites in self defense trying to prevent the abuse it is becoming accustomed to receiving from the human. This is a catastrophic slippery slope to entirely destroy a relationship with the parrot and more likely make it end up a lifelong rescue case with trust issues. So my point is that doing the things that make a parrot bite in response to biting is just completely wrong and will never help.

A lot of times parrots bite is because they can foresee you doing something that they don't like such as putting them away in the cage, so read up on this. Other times it could be jealousy, displaced aggression, fear, etc. Exposing them to their fears/jealousies in mild amount and progressively challenging them with more should over time desensitize to them.

The best approach is to make the parrot enjoy being around you. This is where resource management, positive reinforcement, taming, and training come in. You create a language between you and the bird and make it look forward to being around you. Further, you give the bird alternative things to do other than biting. Structuring food, treats, out of cage schedules, etc all lead to a well behaved companion parrot. Many people don't understand my advice because they pick and choose. My point is that the path to success with parrots is following the entire approach. Food management, resource management, scheduling, good habits, positive reinforcement training, negative reinforcement desensitization taming, socialization, challenge, flight, are all necessary in combination to have that easy no bite relationship. So I hope you can take some time to read articles on my blog and around this forum to study the complete approach to solve biting and most issues.

[marie83]

What Michael said...

You'll benefit from learning your birds body language as that will help prevent bites in new situations too. Keep a look out for the subtle changes. It does take time to learn but it's well worth doing as it will be the main way your bird can let you know what s/he is comfortable with and then you can adjust your training accordingly.

[Stephoklein]

Thanks so much for all the advice. I am trying to just get him use to us and then was going to begin training. I wasn't sure if it was too soon. I love all of your articles and am excited for the road ahead with our new feathered friend. We just bought clickers today and am starting step up formal training with him and target training. Any suggestions on what trick to work on after that? Thanks again, you are wonderful!

[Stephoklein]

MARIE, I did actually notice the behavior his eyes started flashing and he was putting his head down and reaching out with his beak. At this point would you suggest I leave him alone? Distract him with a toy? I notice the behavior, I just don't know what to do after I notice it... thanks!

[Michael]

Learn not to do what you did, someone else did, or came into view. Ignore what's going on. Leave the bird alone a bit to cool off. Don't give a toy cause that would be rewarding being in an agitated state. Don't punish it but don't do anything else either. Just learn from it and avoid getting the bird there in the future. This doesn't mean to be a slave to your bird and walk on egg shells either. Just slowly work on desensitizing those things over time.

[Stephoklein]

Awesome thank you so much! I will have lots of questions and appreciate your speedy responses!! I love this forum!

[pennyandrocky]

if he's flashing before a bite then yes that would be the time to step away.i'm with micheal too.alot of people get confused about the ignore don't ignore because it's both,meaning if you do get bit don't yell or pull away fast but step away allowing both of you to calm down but come right back to let him know you're not intimidated watch to see if still upset if not approach again. if he's wanting you away from him your teaching him that's not the way to get what he wants.

[marie83]

Glad to hear your already aware of his body language. As you get better at it you will soon learn if your birds trying it on cuz it can't be bothered or if theres something else going on. Definitely don't be a pushover like Michael said though, birds will quickly learn to train you if your not careful, but you can definitely modify your behaviour and learn a mutual respect. I'm a firm believer that training using positive reinforcement will overcome anything but of course some birds will take longer than others. Mistakes are ok too and you'll learn fast to recognise them and rectify them so don't worry about this, just work on improvement.