Help with nipping behavior

[smiler]

Hi everyone, I'm needing advice. After I have Primer step-up, when I'm transporting him he tries to nip me. Right now it's nothing hard, and I'm not scared, but if I let this go I can tell it's going to escalate into biting. If I use my other hand and to gently grab his beak and tell him "gentle" he tries to go at my other hand. If I try to pet him he sometimes attempts to turn and nip. I'm not pulling back my hand, so it's not a game to him...

The vet also commented that the breeder had not handled him hardly at all. She told me to be working with his grey towel and peek-a-boo. At first he loved this, and was loving the cuddles and scritches with the towel. But now he's not liking it as much.

Anyways, any advice on how to handle this behavior would be appreciated. Should I just try and touch him as much as possible? I hate to just "let" him nip be because I don't want it to become "ok" for him to do, and it just eventually get worse into a hard bite. I KNOW that he has sweetness in him, and I'm sensing fear from just not being touched a lot. Should I just have something there for him to bite, like a popsicle stick or something?

Thanks for all the help in advance!!!

[Dayna]

I would do everything possible to distract him from biting. Like have a stick handy, praise him when not biting or using his beak gently. When he does bit down, say "no" and give him something else to do with his beak. This might just be normal beak exploration. Sometimes it gets out of hand though, so you have to keep up on it. I don't like grabbing the beak as I don't feel that really tells the bird what we want them to do instead of biting.

[tielfan]

Also do your best to remove the opportunity to nip until he gets past this phase. If he nips when you're transporting him, start using a different technique such as carrying him on a hand-held perch and/or covering your hand with the towel that he's familiar with. If you want, you can give him a toy or a small bit of food before you start moving to give him something else to chew on. But don't give him something nice as a distraction after he starts chewing on you, or he may figure out that nipping leads to treats!

[birdscomefirst]

Hi,
I have a section on biting on my web page. Go to:http://www.birdscomefirst.org then click on the BEHAVIOR button. You can scroll down a little and you'll see the area on Biting behaviors. Some of the parts may fit your situation. But Please read on first.
Being that your guy is young, it is normal for him to use his beak to check out everything. They especially will want to "beak" a perch before they step up onto it. If the perch is your hand or finger, he will nip that. You indicate that he nips when he is being transported. He may just be a little uncomfortable with the motion and he's trying to hang on. That would be normal.
I have a bad hip so until my guys got used to my "wobble" when I walk, they would hang on because they felt like they were losing their balance. Once they got used to my walk, they are fine with it and never nip.

If he is turning to nip when you are trying to give him little "scratches" on the head, he probably just doesn't feel like having his head rubbed. He has to be in the mood for that or he might turn and indicate his displeasure with a little nip. Many birds do that. My conures, for example are pretty quick to voice their displeasure by making noise and trying to move my hand away with their beaks. It is a normal thing for the bird to do. Some guys are really into it and some birds prefer not to be scratched on the head. Usually, once he figures out how good it feels, he won't be nippy.
He will let you know he wants to have a head rub by putting his head down a little and fluffing up the feathers around his neck and head. I know this sounds silly, but before I pet a bird on the neck, I literally ask the bird for permission. I ask "May I?" that acts as a way for the bird to learn what my intention is. Parrots are smart enough to make the choice. If he keeps his head down and stays fluffed up, he's ready for a little haed scratching or rubbing. Asking "may I?" Also gives you the chance to see how the bird will react. That will stop a bite before it gets a chance to start :-)

I really think that he is going through a normal phase for a grey and that you are handling it well by not giving him an incentive to bite. You have to work with him and do some things the way he wants them done. That will build up a great trust between the two of you.

Let us know how it goes.

Bill

[smiler]

Thank-you SO MUCH for the advice. I really appreciate it!

He DOES sometimes tilt his head down and puff out his feathers for scritches! I usually TELL him that I'm going to give him scritches but from now on I will ASK and follow his body language from there and respect him instead of "dominating" him. I totally didn't even realize that I was trying to "dominate" him... I thought he was just being a pill!

It also would make sense of him to try to "hold on" when transporting him. Perhaps that's why he trys to "fly" off of my hand (and sometimes unfortunately succeeds) because he's trying to "catch his balance". So I should just let him "hold on" to my finger?

Another thing that I noticed tonight was some pin feathers coming in on his body, under his wings. He came from a coastal region of California (Monterey area), which is fairly cool weather...70s to 80s, and here, near Bakersfield, Ca it's been running 105-107. I'm not going to say he's officially "molting", but I've read that warmer temperatures and stress can throw them into a molt? I really hope he's not going into a molt during this stressful transition for him into a new home, but perhaps that could be the cause of his moodyness?

Thanks everyone for taking the time to help me out. I just want to get things right, and make sure that Primer has a happy life with us, and get things off to a good start.

[birdscomefirst]

Hi,
Some birds can take quite awhile to molt completely. It seems that some birds are always replacing feathers someplace or the other. I wouldn't be too concerned about that. You do need to be mindful of what feathers are molting. For example when and if you notice a lot of pin feathers on the head and neck, you have an opportunity to get your bird to really enjoy you helping him get those feathers opened up. gentle scratching and rolling of those feathers (between your thumb and forefinger) a little bit will open up the sheath that surrounds the pin feather as they come in. Most parrots love that. Anyway, his molting now will probably not make him too edgy if it is only a few areas.

Keep in mind not to place too much emphasis on the temperature where you are as opposed to the temperatures where he was hatched:-) The temperatures wont bother him as long as he has the opportunity for a bath when he is hot.

A parrot that is hot and overheating will "pant" . He may breath heavily with his mouth open while holding his wings out to the side. he may also fluff up a little. To the inexperienced, it may look to some degree like an "I want to be fed" attitude. If it is hot, take that into consideration as there is a likelihood that the bird is overheating. Having his mouth open, breathing heavily, and holding his wings out is a way for him to try to cool off.

Keep him comfy by spraying him with cool water several times a day. Use a clean, little spray mister, like the ones you can by at Wal-Mart for a dollar. Make sure you buy a new one so that you can be sure the only thing that was ever in it is water. Rinse the spray bottle out thouroughly before you use it.

As for the first part of your question, Instead of him holding on to your finger. I would suggest letting him balance himself against the back of your hand while you are carrying him. It's hard to desceibe but it is better to help with the balance issue by giving him something to lean on rather than to hold on to. As he gets more steady, he won't feel a need to hang on so much. As his balance improves, he wont feel a need to "hang on".

I think it's a time thing. The more the two of you work together, the better things will become. As long as he is using his beak for normal friendly "feelin" and not aggressive biting, things should work out OK.
You used the term "dominate" . We should never feel that we are making an effort to dominate the bird. It should feel like a give and take with the bird able to make some chioces. Of course, we have to be in control but the bird doesn't have to feel it. :-) Its like training a dog to come. The dog should learn to come because it wants to not because it was forced to. With Parrots, it is important to train him consistently to step-up. He should want to step-up. My guys know when to step up, and they never feel forced to step up. They know where to go when they get into trouble and that is my hand. :-) You need to take time to build up that trust and your little guy will respond very well to that.

All these things will limit the nipping as trust and confidence is built up between you and him.



Have Fun,
Bill

[smiler]

Thanks so much for all of the helpful info!

I give him baths daily, or at least everyother day, and then mist him down with an aloe/water solution after the shower. My house stays around 80 degrees, but outside it's hot!!! I have not seen any of the cooling off behavior that you described, so I'm assuming he's comfy.

Of course I would not purposely try to dominate him, but after you mentioned that HE will let me know if he wants scritches by lowering his head and puffing out his feathers, then I realized that I was subconsciously trying to dominate him by doing what "I" wanted him to do. So, I'm glad that you pointed that out to me! Because I do want it to be a give and take thing.

I will use this advice and as he begins to build more trust with me, and I will listen to "him" more and try to follow his body language and with time the nipping will hopefully just disappear.