It's happening

[LivingFiction]

Every new macaw owner hopes and prays it won't happen to them. But lately there have been signs, and today, it happened.

Feo has been more vocal than usual lately, alot more vocal. Screaming at odd times during the day for no apparent reason. I figure it's the season, so I just try to not respond to it and encourage him, I can live with that.

But today, in fact, just now, he bit me. He didn't nip me, he bit me. Hard. Scary hard.

I've never been afraid of Feo, and I'm trying really hard not to be afraid of him now. More afraid of him though is how I am afraid of the way I reacted to being bitten. I threw him to the ground. I didn't mean to, it was a knee jerk reaction and I hate that I did, it felt like he was going to pull my knuckle from my hand.

Now I'm at a loss. I don't know what to do, so I've come back to the place that helped me through his first few months in hopes that someone can offer some words of wisdom.

[MiniMama]

I feel like Ann Landers, because she always said this, but go see a 'counselor', i.e, an avian specialist. I pay around $30 an hour for my visits, sometimes more. They will come to your house, observe the birds surroundings and behavior, and work wiht you to deflect the problem. I know www.thegabrielfoundation.org has a link to behavioralists throughout the country. Let us know what happens.

[Luvmygrey]

Take a look at the thread titled 11 month old GW. There seems to be some good advice posted there.

[Tiki]

Welcome back, Michael! I'm sorry it took getting bit to bring you back to BB! Check out www.goodbirdinc.com, Barbara Heidenrich's book has good advice to train against biting.

[The Outlaw]

Michael:

Feo is at the stage in life where he is absolutely acting out. I've been bitten by Eenie twice, very hard. The first time she grabbed my arm and literally had my knees buckling. Luckily, Jeff got her off of me. The second time she grabbed my little finger at the joint closest to my hand and I actually thought she had amputated it. Fortunately, that didn't happen, but after 3 months, I still have no feeling in it. A GW can do some serious damage. I also know how hard it is to take the hit and not react. You and I both know that you can never respond like you did before. Its unacceptable.

Feo needs to be trained. He needs to have something to do, like clicker training, or whatever other special behaviors you'd like to promote. Otherwise, he'll act like a spoiled brat. I bet its been quite some time where you've handled him and actually tried to teach him something, with a reward at the end.

Sounds to me like he's trying to establish his place and finding out who he outranks. Try to remember exactly the series of events that led up to the bite. Were you returning him to cage, wrestling, handling another bird or interacting with your wife at the time? Did you attempt to take him from your wife while she was holding him? That will OFTEN get you nailed. GWs do bond hard and even though they will go to other family members, they usually won't tolerate being removed against their will from their special person. That's exactly how I got hammered the first time. Jeff was trying to pass Eenie to me and I stupidly extended my forearm. I thought she was going to come to me, but instead she bit me so hard I think she cracked the bone. And, she liked me. She just didn't want him to leave. Today, if he were here and tried to get her to go to him, he'd probably get the same treatment.

So, let's try the following: make sure to never take her from Jenny. Have Jenny put him on a neutral perch and then retrieve him. When you have him, always start with a series of stair steps to get his attention and to establish your dominance. Try to teach him a new behavior. Perhaps waving hello or tossing a rolled up pair of socks to you. Look into clicker training. Its relatively easy and fun. The birds love it.

Most importantly, don't over react. Certainly by now you can recognize the tell tale signs of an imminent hit. Choose your battles wisely and only interact when you are in full control and undistracted. You might want to keep a stuffed animal close by to deflect any aggressive behavior.

One of the reasons I recommend BGs over GWs to most people is because when you do get bitten, though it hurts, you get over it. With GWs, you can get HURT. However, they are less likely to bite in the first place.

It was suggested to me to read The Manual of Parrot Behavior. It explains a lot of the reasoning behind what they do and why they do it. I think I saw it on Amazon.com for about $80. With any luck, you may be able to borrow it from the library. Its on my next buy list.

I know how frightening it is to have to go back into the arena. I did it and I'm so happy that I did. Its worth it. We learn from each other every day. You must always remember that like any other wild creature, they use whatever natural defenses they have. And, for the record, had he REALLY wanted to hurt you, he would have. He'd have fought to the death if he was really frightened.

Another thing to remember: do not stroke his back or his tail. Reduce his hours of sunlight to no more than 9 per day. Reduce his seed intake. Though very young, he still has hormonal issues that he's dealing with. This is the height of breeding season. I just went round and round with my Dreamer (BG) the other day. Out of nowhere, he came at me. It always hurts my feelings more than anything else. So, as they say, you gotta just "get over it".

[Winged_Victory]

Good post Nancy!

Nancy made many good points! We all have been bitten by one or more of our birds. You have to put the encounter in the past and move on. The most important thing is showing no fear from that bite that hurt so much. We play with the beaks of most of our birds, like picking them up with their beak or letting them gently grab a finger, this teaches them trust and makes you feel better knowing they are playing most of the time.

Learn from what has happened and read the warning signs should it happen again.

Good Luck.

[Doubleyolk]

If I might add something that I have found with my B&G, I never approach with my hand unless he see's it coming. I found that no matter how much he trusts me he has to see a approaching hand or his first instinct is to stop it with a defensive move. Just a thought.

[Mike B]

Nancy, I agree w/ Gary great post. When being bit, not pinched. A full blown bite. Lift up, and into the bird. The bird will let go. Unless it's a RF then they think you just turned into a carnival ride.

Mike

[Lisa B]

Welcome back Michael. Many people have asked about you and Feo.
I dont have Macaw experience, but Have been nailed by hormonal Amazons, which left scars.
Best advice I can give, is not to show fear, and stay in that Arena.Listen to the other people who have been at the end of a macaw beak, and work together on the trust issue.
good luck

[Doug W]

Getting bit by a GW is one scary damn thing!! I speak from experience.

The best advice I can give is to stay persistant, do NOT show fear with Feo and be the boss!

Start doing training techniques and again as Nancy posted above limit the amount of daylight (this is a hormonal time for SO many fids).

Please keep us posted and hope you are ok.