my new parrot started doing something weird and horrible

[CaitlinRice413]

[CaitlinRice413]

[Michael]

Don't put/allow the bird on your shoulder or access to your neck. Prevention, prevention, prevention.

Give him toys and stuff to do BEFORE he can even contemplate pinching. When he is out, give him a lot of attention. DON'T take him out when you're doing your own thing like on the computer or watching TV. Only take him out when you pay attention to him. Cage him the other time. The more "good time" you have with him while he is out, the more valuable it is and the more likely you will have good time spill into you doing other stuff time down the line. Point is, you should only have desirable behavior going on while the bird is out so that it becomes habit to have that style of behavior.

I do believe that having less time out of cage that is better spent time is superior to any amount of out of cage time that isn't personal. This is one reason I'm a huge proponent of training. It forces you to work with the bird instead of ignoring it by doing your own thing. They're gonna demand our attention either way. By focusing it on them in the first place, you prevent them from taking it into their own beaks to demand it. I'm not saying to start training a baby until it is matured enough to be able to do training. But what I am saying is to dedicate time to it rather than trying to have it out a lot without the specific attention.

[Pricey_boy]

It it out of anger or just playing, Lloyd is about 2 and pinches my neck but does it because he thinks its playing.also baby birds when you've only just gotten them always bite or nip at some stage it just takes time I've had Harry for about 3 months now and for the first 2 months he would nip me but not anymore.

[Dave & Karen]

I agree with the previous replies as well, putting a baby bird on your shoulder can be risky since they're very curious and still testing you to see what they can and can't get away with etc. The biting or pinching is most likely curiousity and they can be very persistant about getting to that part of skin they're just dying to take a cunk out of... Our little parrotlet started doing this to us about a week after we brought him home the same way where he would fly up and land on my arm then rush up to where my shirt sleeve was and bite my arm right there at the fold. When I tried to shoo him away from that part of my arm he would growl and squawk at me or whatever I was using to block him from getting to where my arm folded. This went on for about 3 weeks but he was doing it less and less. I basically made that part of my arm off limits to him and also he did want on my shoulder really badly but I didn't trust him not to nip at or bite my ear. As he tamed down tho he would love to fly and land on top of my head and slide down my hair to my shoulder... the same thing, squawking and growling at my hand when I put it between him and my ear etc.
Then when he began to nip and bite less and less, I would let him on my shoulder but watch him in a mirror to make sure he was behaving himself, if he got too close to my ear or too curious I'd remove him and put him on my chest, he would complain about it and frequently bite my fingers or my hand if I blocked him from running up there.
After about a month or so he was finally tame enough that I could perch him on my shoulder and he would play with my hair or the seam of my shirt, which I allowed, and I began letting him perch on my shoulder at night while watching tv with the lights off, if he began grinding his beak, I knew he would just get comfortable and fall asleep, this really helped with the bonding process as he loves to cuddle with my ear and my neck now and I've only been bitten on a few rare occasions. He even put his beak in my ear that kind of got me on edge for a while but I decided to trust him and he just started some grooming routine but never bit down.
Birds can detect when you are nervous or not trusting them and this can also trigger a nip or bite, so if you want him to be able to be on your shoulder to cuddle, you will eventually need to trust him again, maybe by using a large mirror where you can see him at first so you can stop him from doing anything you don't want him to before he does it, and he'll soon realize that he can't sneak in a bite since he won't know how you can tell when he's getting ready to do something, he'll also be a lot less likely to try and bite down.
But for now, I agree to make your neck off limits to him until he tames down a bit more, but slowly allow him a little more access as he tames down more and more, and having the lights off also really helps here too since he'll be more likely just to fall asleep, once you hear him grinding his beak, it's usually safe that he's more interested in sleeping than biting.

[Wayne361]

I concur with Micheal....training and quality time should extinguish this behaviour. From personal experience my was starting/or had some bad behaviours when I first got him as a re-home. i.e. nipping for attention, overly needy etc. Once i started training him this diverted attention away from these behaviours and also helped create stronger bird/owner bond. I rarely, if ever, get bitten since training began. It might be me but he also seems to be much more content/relaxed and confident as well.

Wayne

[CaitlinRice413]

[crackofdawn]

I definitely wouldn't let *ANY* bird I had only had for 8 days anywhere near my neck or shoulder. That's just asking for trouble - you don't know when/if your bird will decide to really hurt you at that stage and he's really close to your eyes, ears, etc.

I waited to let my Quaker on my shoulder/near my neck until I was as sure as I could be (nobody can ever be 100% sure about anything an animal will do) that he wouldn't hurt me (aside from minor things like when he tries to bite one of my tiny moles or a pimple or something).

[liz]

Myrtle does it. I thought she was just getting carried away while giving kisses. I tell her "owe". If she does it again I use an open hand to flip her off my shoulder. She can fly so I rarely make contact.