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how can i teach "gentle" biting? and is this preening

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how can i teach "gentle" biting? and is this preening

Postby Amywoloz » Tue Oct 29, 2019 2:36 pm

ravioli my GCC is trusting me for the first time ever and i'm fucking psyched

BUT she bites a little hard

i need my fingertips to not be sore from her love nibbles, so how do i teach her not to be so harsh?
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i praise her lots when she nibbles without biting down too hard, and she's been avoiding the meat of my fingers, and just focusing on the edges of my nails

she's also really, really, really into biting my nails! and really getting under them

is this her trying to preen my nails? and keep them from being too long?
Last edited by Amywoloz on Mon Nov 25, 2019 4:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Amywoloz
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Re: how can i teach "gentle" biting? and is this preening

Postby Michael » Tue Oct 29, 2019 4:14 pm

Best to offer the bird alternative things to occupy its time like chewing on bird toys, popsicle sticks, etc. They want to get their beak on everything so provide things other than your hands so that she can get it out of her system.
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Michael
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Re: how can i teach "gentle" biting? and is this preening

Postby Pajarita » Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:26 am

Yep, Michael's advice is solid: give the bird something else to bite. But I wanted to add something to that, and it is that young bird do a lot of what we call beaking (it's the equivalent of puppies chewing stuff and babies putting everything in their mouths) and, sometimes, the beaking feels more like nipping and biting than just a gentle exploration. This is a phase that they outgrow BUT, in order for them to outgrow it the right way, whenever she does this, simply move your hand away and softly say something that will tell her she needs to change the pressure. I say 'Be gentle... be gentle" and praise, praise, praise when they do it softly. They are very smart and learn to do it right but you need to be consistent AND persistent about it.

One more thing, sometimes, when they are very young, they do it out of need/hunger because petstores and breeders tell you they are weaned when, in reality, they are not and still need to comfort/extra nutrition of being fed in their beaks - could this be the case here?
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