Bit me just like a dog

[b.a.]

Spazz and I are still working on our relationship... but I've quickly discovered he is a biter! Ouch!!! We've been having some good days so far, after I've learned when to leave him alone. But one time he REALLY got a good chunk of me-- thank God no blood drawn-- on either side. I was pretty mad at him.

I was wondering if anyone has had their little & adorable birdie bare down on a body part of yours and actually shake their little head from side to side? Just like a dog!

He's only done that once so far. I admit I didn't handle it well because my first reaction was anger. I acted like he was a dog-- I grabbed him, looked him in the eye, and told him NO BITING, very firmly. I like to think he actually listened to me, and that's the reason he hasn't done it again, but I doubt it. If anything, I've modified my behavior more.

[Emery]

To me, that sounds like a "scared" bite. Maybe something made him nervous or scared and he reacted by biting you... or maybe he was just letting you know he was uncomfortable or scared.

[Mummieeva]

Baggy has never shaken her tail or head. But she has done a bite that she did not let go even when I moved hand. Does Spazz bite a certain part of your body only? I learned that Baggy will bite hands but not my arm(she likes ears too). So when i get her from cage I use my arm.



Steph

[Angelwing]

The worst mine have done are making small hissing noises before they bite (if I want to remove them from a happy, dark place). Maybe you are moving too quickly with Spazz. Is he always biting you? Offer him a toy or a treat before he gets the chance to nip.

[b.a.]

The worst mine have done are making small hissing noises before they bite (if I want to remove them from a happy, dark place). Maybe you are moving too quickly with Spazz. Is he always biting you? Offer him a toy or a treat before he gets the chance to nip.

I haven't heard mine hiss...yet. Nice of them to warn you, Steph :) I wish mine would learn that! But Spazz is getting better. Of course, the last time I thought that, he bit me! Not as hard though. He just seems like a very nippy bird.

Yeah, you're right Emery. This particular bad bite was when I was trying to convince him to get into his sleeping cage and it was a little later than their usual bedtime. So we were both tired. Bad to begin with.

I'm slowly starting to recognize their body language and can recognize some of Spazz's nips: impatient, curious and upset. I still haven't figured out what they say about me though :)

[BarbieH]

Gracie used to do this to us all the time. It is self defense, and it took a long time for Gracie to get over it. We had to mind our p's and q's, keep our hands out of her sight, couldn't even rub my nose if she was on me. I couldn't feed her anything while she was out of the cage. It initiated her biting response, made her territorial of the food.

I've had her shake her head while biting. She has also try to shred my wrist, the time I tried to "let" her get desensitized to my hands. :rolleyes: She has frequently drawn blood. She's nipped my neck, attacked my neck, nipped my armpits, bitten my *****, and given me a welt on my leg.

We are best friends. She is stick-trained, which was a major help. It allowed me to move her away, hold her at arm's length, and not say anything to her. She hated being deprived of all stimulus. I've also done the earthquake, rocking the offending body part slowly, side to side, to distract her from biting. It was effective for the armpit bites.

When she does something good, she gets noisy praise and hand clapping. When she does something I don't like, she gets no response at all. Any response is a reward, and I don't want to reward some behaviors.