It's almost been 2 months...

[Haniyya]

Well.. it's going on 2 months now that ROMIE has been with us. He is AMAZING!! His previous owners said he was 2 years old.. and I'm not sure how much they interacted with him, etc.. but he is such a good bird. He bonded with me pretty strong after only his first few days with us. I am a NEWBIE Macaw owner (my last bird was a Cockatiel).. and I was very very intimidated by his beak at first, but still would try to get him to step-up and it didn't take long at all. After his first month.. he did something I found to be AMAZING. I had him out of his cage (as he is most of the day) sitting on the arm of the couch... I was sitting next to him. He crawled down onto me and started doing SUMMERSAULTS on my lap!! He would grab onto my fingers with his feet while laying on his back and I started picking him up and letting him hang from them. It made me SO HAPPY that he trusted me so much already. He LOVES when I play with him. I try my hardest to direct my complete attention to time with him throughout the day... it'll be maybe a half n hour here or an hour there. I have a 2 year old and a 5 month old baby that need my attention as well, so I'm doing my best. When the kids go down for their naps and at bedtime is when ROMIE and I spend the most time. I do make sure he is always in the same room to include him as much as possible.

What I am a bit frustrated with is his PLAY BITES!! I mean, when we are playing as I described... he is ALWAYS putting my fingers in his mouth... he doesn't try to hurt me... but he does get VERY excited and eventually the play bites are too much for me. I always tell him NO... NO BITING.. NO NICE.. and I'll either put him in his cage or onto his stand and walk away from him and not even make eye contact with him for a few minutes. But it hasn't stopped him from continuing to do it. As I said.. he never tries to bite me to hurt me (that I can tell anyways) the only time he displays frustration is when I want to put him down.. either on his stand or in his cage. He is VERY attached to me. Everyday when I hold him he's always regurgitating his food for me... lol... "YUMMY".. lol. (I read that they will do this with their mates or young in the wild.. and not to encourage it for some reason.)

Sorry for the NOVEL... I guess what I'm asking is how I get him to stop biting me so hard while we're playing??? As I said.. he gets VERY excited when I show him attention.. eye pinning is also something he does often when we're playing. Can anyone offer any info?? Advise?? It would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Sincerely,
Haniyya

Salam (Peace).

[Doubleyolk]

As far as the play bites, I think you have a typical B&G. My Charlie likes to play rough and that's when he is fun to be with. He likes to hang with my index finger clamped in his beak and flap his wings,play tug-o-war with a piece of cotton rope and if he's not winning he will bite my hand so I will let go of the rope. Macaws have lots of energy and happiest when they have someone to play with............sometimes another parrot playmate just don't do it for them.

[Amie]

He's gorgeous!! The only thing I would suggest is to not play so rough with him if you don't want the bites. And I understand that sounds bad because you enjoy playing with him, but if he gets excited, he probably doesn't understand why you're reacting in such a negative way when he thinks he's playing.

Or, just wear gloves so it doesn't hurt. But that might encourage biting harder. . . .

But he IS beautiful.

[Oscars Mom]

Congrats on your new bird! A good way to stop birds mouthing you is to have a toy nearby and give it that tochew. Dont give it a food treat though or that will make him bite more.A great almost free toy for macaws is a long knotted rope .you can play tug of war ,catch the rope etc . they like to climb it too and eventually you can gently swing it they love it and its good exercise.

[kellywess]

Oscars mom has good advice... I have always been told that with Macaws you have to teach them how to use their beaks and what is too hard for playing. Im not sure how to exactly do it, I just know that I have successfully because mine know when its too hard. If they bite my index finger too hard my thimb finer is quick to push off on top of the upper mandible so I can pry my index finger out... when I do that it usually causes my birds to release. My severe was by far the hardest one to teach. Basically when it happens you just have to let them know "Not Nice" and maybe if it continues to be too hard return them to their cage. My severe understands when its too hard. He will say "Ooow" when he bites me too hard, so I know he knows. But when we are playing and he bites at an acceptable amount of pressure he doesnt say it. Macaws on the other hand do like to play rough so you may want to find some different ways to play with him. Oscars Mom has some good suggestions. Also, Marvin likes to play hide and seek. I can throw anything on top of him blankets, towels, shirts etc and ask "Wheres Marvin?" He'll pop out and say "Heres Marvin." If I am laying on the couch under a quilt he will climb down his cage hit the floor running climb up onto the catch and burrow himself under the quilt and initiate the game on his own. Its quite funny.

[Doubleyolk]

I don't want to come across as a sexist here,but a bite on the hand of a female vs a male might feel a lot different. Men don't look for a snuggly bird as much as a female does. Men want a mans parrot! JMHO Please......input from the male population in here.

[kellywess]

I dont know my husband hates to be bit... but does more often than I. I avoid the bite. He hasnt learn to read the signs yet, so he usually gets nailed. :+)

[Haniyya]

Well.. I know that when I'm done playing with ROMIE I usually have some nice marks/bruses on my arms/fingers. They never really break the skin. Sometimes just slightly like a scratch. My husband tries really hard to bond with him too... but he gets bit much differently than I do. Mine are during play (and occasionally a warning bite). The other day he but enough pressure on the nuckle of my pinky finger that it was numb for about 10 minutes. So... even tho it's all fun and games.. lol.. I'd like to REDUCE the pressure behind his LOVE BITES as much as possible.. *wink*.