nibbling

[bazie]

Sorry I know another question from me!
So Tookie is our first bird and weve had him for about 2 weeks now. He has never bitten any of us but he often nibbles us. He will mouth our fingers and hands with his beak. He has even but my finger in his mouth but has never acually bitten. He has never hurt us. Is this a good thing or bad. Will it lead to future bitting? Or is he just playing (kinda what i think)? He mostly does this when hes hyper! I dont want to create a biting machine!

[jellybeanz]

By nature birds "beak" things and items to feel their sturdiness, texture, temperature etc etc. Our boy is almost 4 years old and still uses his beak to climb up onto our finger. He does it to make sure it is strong enough to hold him. We've had people come over and attempt to pick him up only to quickly withdraw when they see him coming beak first. Of course this confuses our boy as he is just "testing" to make sure the finger perch is OK to step on and means no harm and shows no aggression.

I would not worry, as long as he isnt biting but caiques are a bit nippy anyhow, you will develop a higher tolerance as you grow together :).

Hope that helps!!

Oh and if you feel they are biting too hard, I usually just hold my caique's beak for a few seconds and tell him gentle and it's enough to reinforce it...they will learn what is too much for us. If your bird is still young he may not know the amount of power his beak holds...

Another way to deter biting is to offer destructive toys for his busy beak so he won't be as likely to go after you! Even holding a piece of wood while you guys are playing to deter him from biting your finger to the wood would help too...

[Freedomoflight]

Jellybeanz offered great advice :)