Nibbling?

[LemonLover]

My new sun conure Dimas keeps nibbling on my fingers and loves it too. Is this bad? Am i teaching him to bite at a young age? Hes only 4 months old.

[liz]

No - nibbling is not bad. Myrtle holds my finger with her beak and wiggles her toung against my skin.

Next time notice if the toung is wiggling.

t is just a learning experience.

[LemonLover]

Ok cause sometimes it hurts and once today it almost drew blood But thanksfully i removed his little beak before damage happend and I did not scold him either.

[liz]

You can try distracting him with a toy when he starts.

[gabbagabbawill]

I would not encourage the behaviour, as you may not ever get it to stop. My sun nibbled a lot more when I first got him, sometimes too hard... He does it less and less as the days go by.

It might seem obvious, but a good way to get them to stop is to give them something else to do. I have found that training is a good distraction. A bird will not really learn the word "no". So the best way to get them to not do something is to give them things TO do that are NOT biting/ nibbling hands. It sounds overly simple, and it is... You'll find that over time, they get used to doing the things you WANT them to do and forget about doing the things you don't. Using training and rewards for good behaviour will help your bird learn to do things that you want without forcing or telling him "no".

[laducockatiel]

Ladu used to nibble my fingers (not hard) and all I did to stop him doing it was just let him do it and give no reaction. If I didnt react, the he would not get the pleasure of watching me go "aargh" so he just got bored of it.

[LemonLover]

thanks ladu ill try that and if it doesnt work i dont knwo what to do casue he nibbled REALLY hard today it drew blood but he had his tounge wiggling trying to see what it was.

[GlassOnion]

I would teach it beak pressure, standing there still won't do anything. Birds need to learn that clamping down hard is unacceptable, and huge hyacinth macaws are taught that by the breeder before they leave to their new homes because a hyacinth 'nip' can fracture your bone. Gently grab his beak and pull away softly when he gets too rough. When he is being gentle, praise him. Standing there still is a stupid thing to do because birds often will never know that it's hurting a person.

[Shelby]

I agree with gabbagabbawill. If you keep letting him bite you, he will think it is acceptable behavior. Distract him by training or playing.

[Cage Cleaner]

I would teach it beak pressure, standing there still won't do anything. Birds need to learn that clamping down hard is unacceptable, and huge hyacinth macaws are taught that by the breeder before they leave to their new homes because a hyacinth 'nip' can fracture your bone. Gently grab his beak and pull away softly when he gets too rough. When he is being gentle, praise him. Standing there still is a stupid thing to do because birds often will never know that it's hurting a person.

I agree with this. It's not so much about the act of nibbling, but more about how hard the bird is nibbling.