Don't Bite!
All birds at some time may try to bite you. It is their way of saying leave me alone, I'm scared, ouch that hurt or they are trying to taste you and don't realise they are hurting you. For us, we have found that both the girls and boys start to bite with pressure that can hurt, usually towards the end of their weaning period, around two and a half months. This is when we start teaching them the command "don't bite".
When the birds try to nip us, we don't pull our hand away in shock. We calmly and gently open their beak off our finger and place our fore-finger under the lower mandible and thumb on top of the beak to hold it closed while repeating "don't bite", we repeat it in a low firm voice, like you would when training a dog. A high excited voice excites birds and they can interpret it as a play voice. Birds don't like losing their biting ability and this method shows them that we're not afraid of being bitten, they learn quickly to recognise the command "don't bite" with their loss of biting ability! Plus it doesn't hurt them.
The babies have their first molt at around five months, they may start to nip again at this age, particularly if a new pin feather is tender and we accidentally touch it, molting is not fun for a lot of birds, they can withdraw and seem more quiet and reclusive, we socialise them gently through it. A bite at this age is usually a warning and not hard because we have already taught them the don't bite command. Some babies don't even try to bite and others release as soon as they hear us say "don't bite". This is a really useful command to teach your bird, particularly when they like to taste your ears or ear rings!
An example of how fabulous teaching them this is, happened recently. One of the boys in our family usually jumps around like crazy (he is eight). This one day we had our nine month old girl out on her harness, it had been a long morning and lot's of talking with strangers who admired her and patted her. Our eight year old jumped around close to her over and over again and then thrust his face at her to give her a peck on the cheek. She was really annoyed by him jumping around her so she nipped him on the nose! She left a lovely dent but didn't break the skin, he did not bleed and after an hour there wasn't even a mark.
Never throw or hit your bird away when they bite you, they don't understand this. If anything it makes them angry and want to bite you more, not act sorry and remorceful like a dog often would. Like children they do understand things that have close associations. They learn and know that when their beak puts too much pressure on your skin it will be held shut and they hear the words don't bite, the actions are gentle, firm and related.
Also check out bluffing under the "How does my baby grow?" tab.
(The don't bite command is useful for any large baby bird that you may purchase, so be ready to kindly show them that they can't scare you off with a bite and that there are gentle but firm consequences if they do try. Like people, sometimes your baby may be having an off day, so be sensitive to how they are feeling and give them some space to just hang out with you with minimal handling.)
When the birds try to nip us, we don't pull our hand away in shock. We calmly and gently open their beak off our finger and place our fore-finger under the lower mandible and thumb on top of the beak to hold it closed while repeating "don't bite", we repeat it in a low firm voice, like you would when training a dog. A high excited voice excites birds and they can interpret it as a play voice. Birds don't like losing their biting ability and this method shows them that we're not afraid of being bitten, they learn quickly to recognise the command "don't bite" with their loss of biting ability! Plus it doesn't hurt them.
The babies have their first molt at around five months, they may start to nip again at this age, particularly if a new pin feather is tender and we accidentally touch it, molting is not fun for a lot of birds, they can withdraw and seem more quiet and reclusive, we socialise them gently through it. A bite at this age is usually a warning and not hard because we have already taught them the don't bite command. Some babies don't even try to bite and others release as soon as they hear us say "don't bite". This is a really useful command to teach your bird, particularly when they like to taste your ears or ear rings!
An example of how fabulous teaching them this is, happened recently. One of the boys in our family usually jumps around like crazy (he is eight). This one day we had our nine month old girl out on her harness, it had been a long morning and lot's of talking with strangers who admired her and patted her. Our eight year old jumped around close to her over and over again and then thrust his face at her to give her a peck on the cheek. She was really annoyed by him jumping around her so she nipped him on the nose! She left a lovely dent but didn't break the skin, he did not bleed and after an hour there wasn't even a mark.
Never throw or hit your bird away when they bite you, they don't understand this. If anything it makes them angry and want to bite you more, not act sorry and remorceful like a dog often would. Like children they do understand things that have close associations. They learn and know that when their beak puts too much pressure on your skin it will be held shut and they hear the words don't bite, the actions are gentle, firm and related.
Also check out bluffing under the "How does my baby grow?" tab.
(The don't bite command is useful for any large baby bird that you may purchase, so be ready to kindly show them that they can't scare you off with a bite and that there are gentle but firm consequences if they do try. Like people, sometimes your baby may be having an off day, so be sensitive to how they are feeling and give them some space to just hang out with you with minimal handling.)
The first two photos show how to firmly but gently hold the birds beak closed once they have bitten you This photo shows how we open the beak to release a bite.
Once you have released the bite you can then close the beak and say "don't bite".
Once you have released the bite you can then close the beak and say "don't bite".
Bite or Taste?
You can sometimes test if your bird is going to bite by approaching the beak slowly with your finger. Is she going to taste me or apply a bite? At this stage because you have approached slowly, if it is a bite it is usually a small warning or they change their mind and just taste your fingers.
When they are being gentle we say "oh gentle, good girl" or "good boy". If they apply too much pressure we say more firmly "don't bite" and hold their beak, we repeat the phrase and caress them, or scoop them close to our chest and cuddle them, while still holding their beak, when they look like they have relaxed we release our hold, if they have stopped biting we say "good girl" or "good boy" and stroke them more. We repeat this process until they get to an age where when they hear "don't bite" they usually release straight away.
UP!
When you want a bird to climb up, slowly scoop your hand just above their feet while repeating "up", sometimes they will use their beak to hold on and give them balance, sometimes they will increase their pressure because they don't want to go "up". In picture three she is actually biting me before she gets up, that is why she has ruffled her feathers. Also notice how I have not reacted to the bite and she has released and climbed up. If you react to a bite and flick the bird off or scream out, it will excite the bird and encourage the behavior.