What to do When Your Bird Doth Chew; Yea When He/She Seeks to Chew Upon You

[yehudasf]

BS"D
I have seen many people in the past ask how to deal with their juvenile psittazens as they begin the mouthing phase of their development. Herewith my advice distilled over the > 40 years that I have had the pleasure of being a companion to many varieties of the great Macaws.
The mandible, maxilla, tongue & to a very limited degree the feet, are the only real sources of tactile information that our psittazen companions have with which to explore the world. The "mouthiness" of juvenile psittaformes is also tied to their building of a "taste - texture - reaction" catalouge as they try out new foods, things & interactions.
Scolding, or any other form of "drama" around a young Macaw's nibble - squeeze - pinching of their human companion may well result in the opposite effect from that which is desired. Operant conditioning in it's most pure form -- " I pinch a bit & they make loud noises & do a bit of a dance; how fun, let's see what happens if I do it again,(or harder, or somewhere else)".
When my young ones get a bit "bionic" in their exploratory nibbles, I have found that gently grasping the maxilla near the nares & concommitantly applying a bit of pressure to the commisures will cause an instant release & activate the "feeding response", which clears all other thoughts from their beloved feathered heads -- other than the FEED ME! thought. When, after a few time of being unfed (negative reward) when they do the baby begging routine, (only when caused by you pressing their commisures related to beak behaviour), they will associate the unacceptable pressure with unfulfilled feeding desire & it will dwindle & finally cease.

[LivingFiction]

Your advice makes sense, but I personally would benefit from a photo illustrating exactly where you are referring to on the beak. I'm not as well verced as I'd like to be in avian anatomy.

[Beaks]

Fingertips pressing lightly on the base between both mandables hand above the upper (that will stop an adult from biting too but you have to be quick about it and apply a little more pressure, not enough to cause pain just enough to activate the feeding response)

John