Attack of the Once Friendly Lovie

[mandy]

I dunno what happened! I came home one afternoon, here comes biscuit who was more eager to taste my fingers than the seed! Gaaah!:omg: I was desperate to get this to stop, so i clipped two more feathers from each wing, and everytime he bites, he goes to the floor. Did I do the right thing? He looks so pitiful on the floor.:x

[BarbieH]

I'm confused why you put him on the floor. It's not a very safe place for birds. Did you do it to distract him?

Clipping feathers will only work so long for behavior modification. It's not a long-term solution for biting. Was Biscuit in the cage or out of the cage when he tried to taste your fingers? Were you near the cage? And, was Biscuit hand fed when he was young?

[sdgilley]

Hi,

Lovies go through stages where they bite and hens can have hormonal times. You should look at your activity that draws the bite and avoid it. If I try and feed by hand my hen - I'll get bitten in her excitement. My male that bites will not usually bite me when I feed him by hand. But I know my birds personalities and what makes them bite.

You really don't want to allow your bird to drop to the floor. That can injure your bird. It also doesn't help build trust between you and your bird. While you don't want to get bitten - investigate what you're doing and either distract your bird or change what you're doing. A large part of not getting bitten is knowing what triggers your bird and watching for body language clues.

Good luck!

[BarbieH]

Thanks Suzanne. That's what I meant to say. :)

[Buy A Paper Doll]

How old is Biscuit? My darling Milo went from sweetheart to monster overnight, at about 4-5 months of age. It was like he was a little toddler trying to find his boundaries.

It took much patience, and learning not to react when I was bitten, and eventually he outgrew the biting phase.

[Janie]

I agree.....phases, phases and more phases! You go to sleep with the memory of one lovie and wake up to a whole 'nother bird! :D

I have one biter who has not bitten me in over a month! I don't think it has a thing to do with my behavior, just a new phase for him. It is nice though, being summer time and wearing sleeveless shirts w/o scabs all over my arms! :rofl:

[mandy]

Hey Barbie, The floor is the least place he likes, anyway, when i do put him there, it only lasts for a few seconds. Then he chirps and begs to be picked up. Biscuit was not handfed as a chick. Yes i was near the cage. Biscuit was outside on top of his cage.

Hi Suzanne, don't worry, I do not drop biscuit on the floor. I just get a perch to gently put him there.

Hi Jennifer, Biscuit is about 3-4 months old. He's been with me for about 7 weeks now.

Thanks to everyone for the support. I guess I'll go now to spend more time with him again.>o

[sdgilley]

Mandy,
3 to 4 months? Yeah, probably a phase for him. My Peepo did the same thing at that age. What worked for me was to take her out more often but for less time out. So, instead of 20 minutes out at a time, for example, I'd take her out for 10 minutes twice giving her a break. She seemed to get nippy about going back inside and then learned that I would be back in a few minutes to bring her out again.

You'll learn what works for your bird pretty quickly. They can teach us! I have three birds and they are all different. Janie has brothers (clutchmates!) and they are quite different from each other. >o

[mandy]

Hey Suzanne,

I really appreciate the tips. Biscuit still bites but not hard anymore. I will try bringing it out more often at shorter intervals then. Thanks again!

[KiwiMango]

I still don't understand why you clipped more of his wings? Preventing flying still won't prevent bitting. They need to at least be able to glide from place to place without hurting themselves. Mine went through the biting phase and you just need to ignore when they bit and soon they will grow out of it. Try not to do something that you know will result in a bit like interrupting playtime :rofl:

[sdgilley]

Mine went through the biting phase and you just need to ignore when they bit and soon they will grow out of it.
:) I've heard that theory more than once. My biter (Peter) bit harder and harder and harder until he was drawing blood (not just a little). I really don't like that. So, I abandoned that theory put him up. It's just my opinion, but I am better putting them in their cage and walking away for a time than to try and endure being bitten.

Now, that is my case with a bird that would bite until you bleed. Some young birds are just exploring. They explore with their beaks. When my cuddly bird (Peepo) went threw that phase at about 4 months: If it hurts me, I put them in their cage. She stopped biting me very quickly, as she wanted to play with me.

Anyway, that is just my opinion.

[Janie]

Some young birds are just exploring. They explore with their beaks

Yep, that describes Big Boi to a "T".....:D Unfortunately he explored pretty hard and often drew blood and then just had to go back to the spot to pick the scab a few days later! I finally just came to terms with the fact that he was always going to be a bitter and not because he was a bad bird or had a mean bone in his little body but simply because he got carried away with using his beak for everything. BUT, he has not bitten me or drawn blood a single time in over a month. :D I think that maybe our little "talks" finally got through to him. Every single time he applied to much pressure I'd hold him and tell him, "no bite, Big Boi!" and rub his beak. He loves to be held and rubbed and maybe he realized that Momma wouldn't let him crawl all over her if he was going to keep biting! Who knows? I'm just happy that he's in a new phase of not biting.....:happy: Stay tuned......:lol

[mandy]

well so far, since the bird became less mobile, it has been really more frindly. I really intend this to be a temporary arrangement while i'm trying to develop a relationship with Biscuit.

[mandy]

Hey Sarah,

Let me try again, I felt that he had too much freedom around my room. So he would nip and flee... so less a few more feathers and Biscuit depends on me more now. Somehow it did lessen his biting. Not to worry, Biscuit has enough to glide around the room.

[Mandolin]

I agree with you Mandy. Giving a wing clip definately does help with a biting baby you are tryng to build a relationship with. It even helps in a well established relationship. Some birds are great with full flight, others (like my Kameko) when they get a taste of that indepedence that comes with flight will start biting more. Just make sure Biscuit gets some time to fly when his wings come in just to develop the muscles and see if his behaviour is managable since he will be older and a little more mature by then. :D

[Rubygem]

Hey Mandy,

I just read this thread, and I have to bring up that the floor thing is really a bad way to go. Right now he might not like the floor, but you never know if he might one day decide that the floor isn’t such a bad place and he decides that he can find some cool things to get into. Then you will be calling a breeder, like I just had a call the other day to replace a beloved pet that was stepped on. :omg: So please if he bites you, put him in a cage for time out, or find a different way to punish him.

Jeanette

[Z28Taxman]

Hey Mandy,

I just read this thread, and I have to bring up that the floor thing is really a bad way to go. Right now he might not like the floor, but you never know if he might one day decide that the floor isn’t such a bad place and he decides that he can find some cool things to get into. Then you will be calling a breeder, like I just had a call the other day to replace a beloved pet that was stepped on. :omg: So please if he bites you, put him in a cage for time out, or find a different way to punish him.

Jeanette

I agree 100% with Jeanette here. Ditto's first night here started his "No Birdies on the FLoor training". Barb (his former owner) and I were in the kitchen making dinner and he was in the next room playing on top of his cage. He'd just had a horrible wing clip and couldn't even flutter to the ground (fell like a stone) so we figured he'd be ok there since he had some paper to shred and millet to eat and he could see us in the kitchen. Well how wrong we were. I turned my head to look in on him and no bird on or in the cage. :eek: Before I took a step I did a quick look and saw him right in the doorway to the kitchen walking out to us. If I had taken 2 steps......:eek: :(

Now after his training he won't go to the floor even if I try and put him there. Of course he's fully flighted and it's more fun to fly than hoof it across the floor.

[mandy]

Thanks for the tips. I will avoid putting him on the floor from now on.