nate is biting

[moondancer1351]

my little nate has started getting protective of his cage i guess . when anyone gets near it he fluffs up his feathers and chatters alot, if i open the cage door to tell him step up he tries to bite me now, i havea put him in different cage and same thing . any help would be appreciated

[stepht25]

Hello. First thing is - I would try to make sure Nate is getting at least 12 full hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. I know several other parrotlet owners on the board (with lots more experience than me - I've only had Ziggy a little under a month!) say that parrotlets really need their sleep or they tend to get cranky.

2nd - I know when I first brought Ziggy home - he was fine once outside of his cage - but if I put my hand near his cage for any reason - he would come charging at me, beak open and ready to bite. I admit - I was chicken and he won his "game" every time because I would withdraw my hand. I started asking him to step up from inside of his cage with a hand-held perch. But I knew I didn't want to be "scared" of him biting me for forever! (those beaks may be small - but they pack a pretty mean bite when they want to!)
Finally one day I made the decision that I was going to put my hand in his cage, ask him to step up - and no matter what - I wasn't going to pull my hand away when he came charging! So I opened his door, gritted my teeth, (I may have even closed my eyes LOL) and put my hand in and asked him to step up. Of course - he came running, beak open and gave me several really good bites! But I kept my hand in and repeated for him to step up. He gave up biting me and stepped up. He hasn't bitten me hard once, since that day. Every once in awhile he'll give me a little pinch, but I just ignore it and he steps up.

Ziggy also bites anyone who he "knows" he can scare off. If my 12 yr. old puts her hand out for him to step up - he'll lunge at her - because she always pulls her hand back and decides maybe she'll try again later. With my 6 yr. old - the first time he bit her real good, she said "ouch" but kept her hand there and told him to step up again. He no longer lunges at the 6 yr. old. So I think a lot of times, if you just take the bite and show them they aren't going to scare you off - the biting looses it's purpose and they're less inclined to do it. Now of course - that doesn't work for all birds etc. - but so far that's been our experience with Ziggy. HTH!

Would love to hear more about Nate and see a picture of him!

[Tommaso]

How old is Nate? How does Nate act once you get him out of the cage? Tommaso has never been protective with his cage, but he does get puffy and starts chattering when my husband goes near his cage. He loves to be a tough guy. Sometimes Tommaso's actions are bigger than his bite. Tommaso use to get into his nippy mood, I just distracted him. For example, when he was out of his cage and got a little nippy, I would just give him some food while he was on my finger and then he forgot he was nippy. Giving him something to chew on helps too. I think some Parrotlets go through moods. There are members on this board that may have advice for you about their experience of their bird getting protective of the cage. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help.

But just like Stepht25 said in her post, 12 hours sleep is very important and could make all the difference in their mood.

[winkiebird]

Winkie was the same way at first. Does his cage have a small door that doesn't stay open? (like a up & down sliding door) Get a small size dowel & teach (read bribe) him to step up onto it. My brothers & i trained him in just a few days with millet. Use whatever is his favorite treat & only give it to him during training. It may or may not take a while to get him to step up on you without biting. For me & Winkie it took over a month & a half for him to step onto my finger willingly. Hope this helps