Our Galah bites

[devilishdeans]

Hi, we have just adopted a juvenile galah and she is quite a nipper. Can you please offer any advice on how we can stop her from doing this? Thanks

[KimBear]

See if you can figure out why she's biting. Some examples: Is it out of fear or nervousness, is she being willful and not wanting to do something you want her to do, or do you get the sense that she's playing around? The way you would respond depends on her motivation for biting.

Since you just got her, the biting may just be something that's temporary and as she gets settled in, it will stop on its own. New parrots sometimes aren't "themselves" for a while. It could also be that it's a bad habit she learned from her previous home, and it will need to be dealt with.

But I need more to go on before I can tell you much more than that.

[devilishdeans]

Hi Kim, I'm would imagine the nipping is more a fear/nervous thing as she does it without any provocation. ie she was on my shoulder (which I have stopped her doing until the nipping is sorted) and i just turned my head very slightly, no speech or hand movements etc and she bit me in the side of my face. She has also bit me on the back of the neck. She will sit on my lap and be really well behaved, then will walk up to my hand and bite. I appreciate she only came to us last Tuesday evening and is settling in but just wondered if I should be worried about this behaviour or if there is anything I can do to nip it in the bud? I am trying positive reinforcement, ie giving her favourite foods when she comes to me, hoping this will help. She is not nearly as aggressive with my husband, in fact is quite loving to him, even though he spends less time with her and doesn't give her treats! She will run her tongue all over his skin and nuzzle him with her head. Her previous owner was female, so I didn't think I would have too many problems.....

[KimBear]

Without talking to you, it's hard to say for sure, but here's what it sounds like: Sometimes this type of biting occurs when a bird is restless, cranky or out-of-sorts for some reason. It can stem from general nervousness (a new bird that's not quite trusting of you yet) from being startled by something, or just annoyed for a moment for reasons only birds can know. It can be worse when the bird is tired, like towards the end of the evening when they probably ought to be in bed. Like a crank kid.

Often the bird will seem impatient with you, like you just "don't get it". Unfortunately for us, we often don't get it because we're not sure why the bird just went nuts out of no where. It sometimes is worse for the person who spends more time with the bird because you have more chances for her to act this way. The good news is that a person can learn to "read" a bird and have a better chance at knowing what's going to set her off. The bad news is that not everyone is good at picking up on the subtle body language, or makes the effort to do so.

Sometimes the mood can pass as quickly as it came unless the response from the person eggs it on. An owner can do this without meaning to, since it's hard to get bitten without reacting. If possible, probably a good response is to calmly set her down away from you, or if she's been out for a while, put her back in her cage so she can just gather herself. A calm verbal reprimand is fine, but try not to scold too harshly. Just a stern facial expression and a tone that lets her know what she just did wasn't appreciated is enough. Any more than that and you risk her getting more defensive.

It's possible I'm way off in what is the right thing to do. She may be somewhat of a bratty bird, and need a firmer reaction, for example. She may simply be tesing you to see what she can get away with.

If you don't see things getting better, consider setting up a consultation with me so we can figure out what's what.

[devilishdeans]

Hi KimBear, thanks for your reply. She has really settled down in the last couple of days. Hopefully this means she was just nervous and unsure of her new family and hopefully we (me especially!) have now won her trust. The nipping is gone, replaced by gentle touching with her tongue and nuzzling. Just as you say aswell, we are all picking up on her body language and know when she wants attention and when she doesn't.

[sadiemom]

I only recently joined and found this old thread interesting. Sadie bites for his personal amusement. His best trick is fly-by-ear nipping. He takes spells where he doesn't bite for months and then....well, things change for some unknown reason.

[BanjoBuddyCookie]

Banjo also bites for her amusement I think. yesterday she was running around on the floor and i was patting her and she nipped me. then when she got caught up in the rug tassles and i was trying to help her, she bit me again. Banjo's the same as Sadie, sadiesmom. She can go a few days or a week without biting and then it starts all over again. Maybe its a galah thing