When does nibbling become biting?

[zlatushka]

Friday is becoming very comfortable being close up to us (as long as it's his idea still :roll: ) He'll often come and sit close to the mouse or keyboard (or on the keyboard and attack the keys as I type :lol ) and nibble or preen at my fingers and/or hands. Sometimes, though, the nibbles seem to be awfully ummm ....loving... He's never broken the skin, but I often have little beak indentations like a row of perforation marks. Is this becoming a biting problem? Or is he just a little overzealous at times?


rachel

[Janie]

Rachel, I don't know but I can't wait to hear what others say! Since Oliver doesn't bite and I have two new boys, Shy & Big Boi, who are nibblers and can really pick an earring, I'm also anxious to know when a nibble is considered a bite! :D

[sdgilley]

My experience has been the nibbling is fine & normal. When it starts to hurt, they are telling you something. Peepo's not broken my skin but once. When she's out she'll nibble me very friendly and I rub her head, it's all happy. When I handle food she wants - :omg: she'll bite hard. That means "give it to me NOW!". When she's tired... :omg: which means "put me to bed NOW!". I've learned 1. her "hot" points that drive her to bite AND her body language. Her body language changes a bit when it is biting. For one thing, it sometimes is frantic.

All birds are individuals. I don't like being bitten. Peepo knows that when she bites me she has my attention, and it almost always means being returned to her cage. Her cage is her castle, so that isn't a punishment and I don't yell or get upset. I simply return her home.

Biting hurts. Nibbling can be a little uncomfortable, but you should be able to calm them and tell them "easy".

I think babies (Peepo did this) will test to see your reaction. That is when you and the bird work out the communication. They bite harder and harder to see what you'll do. At some point you'll communicate to them that it's too much and they'll learn the boundary. I would take Peepo's beak off my skin and say "no bite" and if she went right back to it, it was time to get back to her castle. :)

That's my experience anyway. Good luck!!!!
Janie - Peepo loves my earrings. She goes for them for sport sometimes or sometimes she uses it to get me to move along quite a bit faster at serving her!!! SHE knows my "hot" buttons!

[mjm8321]

Rachel,
Honestly it sounds likes he's investigating...and yes, perhaps a bit excited while doing so. Please refresh my mind, but Friday has never really been handled, has he? He probably doesn't know the limits and as for the keyboard....that thing clicks like a noisy hen, so it deserves attacking. :rofl: Ours attack the keyboard and mouse too. He's been with you long enough to know the tones of your voice, so I'd imagine if you asked him in a firm tone to take it easy, he might ease up some. You might distract him too by offering something besides you to chew on, leather strips, beads, treats.
It does not sound like a biting issue to me.

[Janie]

So, it's never a good idea to spank them????? :lol.......I like the "no bite" idea and that's my plan, when the biting starts. My little guys use their beaks so much more than Oliver.....like a third foot, so I'm watching them carefully, trying to learn their individual body language so that I can respond to them appropriately and get 'em back to their cage when they're ready to go!

I'll probably take off my earrings with these two! :D Oliver had never pulled on one but these guys are curious about every thing. In just under a month, I've experienced more lovebird behavior with them than I have in two years with Oliver, the UNlovebird, lovebird! :D

[LoveBugs]

My fingers used to be always pockmarked from PP's biting. She used to bite me for reasons only known to her. However, she is now growing up, and is now about ten months, and can't remember when the last time she bite me hard. The only time she uses her beak now is when I give Lily a treat. (Since I actually have to HOLD their treats until their finished with it.) She'll nibble my hands until I give her Lily's treat. :omg: It's rather quite cute now.

Lily never really bit me unless I was giving her a wing trimming. However, she'll use her beak before she steps up onto my arm or "taste" my fingers when she thinks I'm not looking. lol

I think lovebirds each have their own unique personalities and will use their beak to communicate to you in their own individual ways.

[LauraO]

I also wanted to add that a lot of lovies have different pressures they use with their beaks and even when they are just nibbling or investigating it hurts when they use their beak. I have two birds, Squeaker and Bocephus, that have this problem. I flinch whenever Squeaker comes to sit on my shoulder because even when he wants to just nibble it HURTS. It's the same with Bocephus when he bites my ear. He's not the only lovie who does it but I always know it's him by the pressure he uses. When I asked my vet about this she said it's normal and it has to do with their socialization process. Some birds just don't learn how to regulate their beak pressure. So just because a nibble may hurt does not mean that's the lovies intention. For me, this is important to know because their intentions determine how I react, though for the most part I just take the bites no matter how hard they are.....

[kimsbirds]

Question:
When does nibbling become biting?

Answer:
When you see blood !!!


:p :lol

[zlatushka]

Thanks for all the input everyone. MJ, you're right in remembering that Friday hasn't been handled really... His socialization has been long, but he's really making great progress. This "hang out" phase has been going on probably about a year or so (I've had him about 2 now if I'm remembering all the dates right), with him getting progressively more at ease being closer and closer to us. He'll come out and sit nearby as soon as he can now, when before he'd come out of the cage, but perch somewhere high. He'll even settle down and fluff up next to my arm like he's going to take a nap, or even take a nap out, instead of going back to his house. He's landed on my head or arm several times now, but doesn't stay long. Still, this frequent nibbling has been giving me hope that perching isn't too far off now.

It doesn't seem that he's being malicious or trying to bite when he does get a bit overzealous. I usually will just say his name, or "easy" or something and he'll back off for a few seconds before coming back and nibbling softly again. So I do think that the learning his boundaries sounds pretty reasonable. Maybe he's just trying to give my fingers a really good preen, thinking that they're like his toesies. :rolleyes: My main concern was that this habit wasn't going to start into godzilla-like behaviour sometime. :lol

rachel