earning trust..

[malcomb88]

ive figured out something....baby huey is i guess going through a phase....ill go to give him scratches....he will just snap at me. not bite hard but hard enough... how or in what ways do i earn his trust. hes is mad at me half the time and i dont know why... unless im feeding him or getting him out of the cage. he is a little goober. lol. help.

[malcomb88]

ENJOY!

[Tom Lawless]

I have no experience with a big Macaw so take this for what it is worth. When reading up on Macaws to better understand Davey I continually came upon the statement that Macaws will continually challenge you and try to bully you to be the Alpha bird (person) in the relationship. They do it when they greet other Macaws so its not just humans they like to dominate. The books and articles I've read advise you to never back down. Of course that's easy advice until you get bit.

[Clarionite]

He's not mad... He's trying to let you know he's boss.

Both our B&G and our Quaker went through the same thing.
The Quaker still goes through it with my wife. As far as
he's concerned she's his woman, and he has to try and put
her in line from time to time. Like Yesterday when he bit her.
Hard enough to sink his beak into her thumb. He rarely bites,
and even more rarely bites hard. But he's going through another
round of trying to be her dominate mate. She's not letting that
happen. LOL

[malcomb88]

what do you do to not let that happen? what actions do you take. what is the best POSITIVE reinforsment

[Clarionite]

I'm no expert at all. I've had Quakers, Conures, Love Birds, Parakeets, and a B&G. And with each of them the best thing we could do was not jerk back or show fear when they nip. Some of them actually think it's funny if they intimidate you. They become more agressive if they feel they can get away with it. We have started from day one with the birds rubbing their beaks and rubbing their heads. Getting them used to our hands around their beaks. The love birds, we never did get them to quit nipping. But that's probably because they had bonded before we got them (We rehomed them from an older couple who didn't handle them much) And their bites were the worst of any of the birds we've had. The quaker won't bite me. He accepts me as the Alpha in the flock. He will lean way off the cage and try to grab at my son as he walks past, but that's because he knows he intimidates my son. He's never bit him hard (Yet)

When he does bite, I pick him up by putting my hand over his back with his neck between my first finger and my thumb. I'm gentle with him, but I restrain him. I place my finger on the bridge of his beak and say "Don't Bite" in a firm voice. I don't yell, as that just excites me. Birds seem to pick up on your mood very quickly. If you're mad and excited, they'll get excited. I calm him down and tell him not to bite. When he's calmed down, Then I'll let him perch on my finger and he usually says "Bad Bird" and then "I Love you, Gimme Kisses"

The B&G is still a baby. But we've started her out doing the same thing. If she gets a little rough with her beak I tell her "Don't Bite" and rub her beak and her cheeks. That calms her down quickly. But luckily we haven't had to deal with too many nips from her. The worst few bites we've had were when she was learning to pull up and didn't understand how strong her beak was when she used it to grab ahold of our finger.
But then again she hasn't gone through her Teen period. We've got that ahead of us still. When she goes through her teen period and tries to figure out the pecking order we'll have to be firm with her and keep her calm.

[kellywess]

No he is not mad at you at all. He is testing you and guess what? ... He always will because that is just what all Macaws do. When he does this lunging thing, dont back away or pull your hand away it teaches them a "behavior" a bad one. They learn that if they lunge, the hand goes away. Be firm, when they lunge, insist that he "steps-up." You may get nipped a couple of times but eventually he will get the message that "you" are in charge. Always make sure that when you hold him or carry him that his eyes are well below yours. In your pics, I noticed that he is above you while he is on top of his cage, that is not good. He should not be allowed to rest on anything that is taller than you, that is why he is being a bully. Until your relationship is established he should never be allowed to climb or rest on your shoulder. If he tries to lunge at you or bite you while you are handling him... put him on the floor and turn your back on him for a minute. Then ask him to step up. Reward him for his good behavior when he does. Also, never make him do anything he is not willing to do. If you ask him to step up and he refuses ... walk away and ignore him completely (no eye contact) and come back a minute later and firmly ask him to step up again. Remember he is not going to know the difference between a positive reaction from you vs. a negative one. Its all exciting and its attention in the eyes of a macaw. Barbara Heindrich has a lot of wonderful books on Parrot behavior. Good Luck. When mine bite, I grab their beak and pull them towards my face and tell them "no bite." Then I say the word "kisses." I kiss their beak while I have ahold of it. It stops the agressive behavior. My Miligold, usually says "I'm Sorry" when I tell him "NO BITE." You can not let them know that you are afraid of them even if you are... you will lose. I would also suggest putting a blanket down on the floor, getting some foot toys and working on your relationship at that level. Playing and working on the step up thing... all positive reinforcement.

[papayamama]

Great pics! Whenever Papaya starts to explore my hands a little too rough I say "gentle". He stops everytime. Maybe get into the habit of using a word that will remind him your boss. A good book is Parrot Training by Bonnie Munro Doane. The author points out that if your bird plays on top of the cage and you want to approach him use a step stool so he wont be higher than you. Hope that helps :)

[KimM]

Kelly has good advice there. This is what I did with Newton... very affective . She is right about one thing. He will continue to test you. Wait until he goes through his "terrible twos"! Mine was a HANDFUL during this stage. Now he's in sexual maturity... oh joy, rapture! LOL

[malcomb88]

oh terrible twos.........what fun. i got great advice from all of you guys thanks so much!