being nibbled to death

[cheryl]

i am so sore, sweetypie is not biting exactly, but she is taking tiny bites that feel like when i use twezzers to pull hair out (preening me maybe?). i now have quite a few little scabs from it and she keeps going after them pulling the scabs off over and over, i try not to let her, im afraid she might swallow them and get sick but she is so fast. the scabs are small, in my ears, on my neck and arms. ive tried diverting her attention but over the course of a day she manages to get all of them at least once and sometimes more. she also goes after my freckles and moles too.
any suggestions? i thought of bandaids but i figurered she would just go after those and pull them off.

[bellarains]

Cheryl,

Best suggestion I have is long sleeved shirts, and don't allow Sweetypie to go to your ears for awhile. This is a behavior you want to stop, and if she can't get to your skin, maybe she will forget about the nipping/preening behavior.

[LauraO]

Cheryl: I think I remember you just got SweatiePie not too long ago. Is he/she young? If so, this may very well be a stage and something that will pass. My Won Ton was forever biting on my moles when he was young. It was so frustrating, and painful. He would bite them and make them bleed then bite the scabs:x :x . It seemed he woudn't stop no matter what I did. Luckily her grew out of it and is no longer interested in nibbling. Of course, my little 6 month old lutino Lucy is chewing on my ear as I type this and it really hurts. I just kind of move her away from the area and hope over time she becomes less interested8o .

[cheryl]

yes she is young 4 or 5 months or so and the mole thing you described is exactly what she is doing :x . i dont own many long sleeved things i am always too hot. when will she start outgrowing this, anybody know?

[Janie]

i am so sore, sweetypie is not biting exactly, but she is taking tiny bites that feel like when i use twezzers to pull hair out (preening me maybe?). i now have quite a few little scabs from it and she keeps going after them pulling the scabs off over and over

Cheryl, welcome to my world! Describes my Big Boi's bites to a "T". It has gotten better as he's gotten older (one year now) so don't give up hope! Long sleeves are a great idea! :D My arms were scab free for the first time in ages....till yesterday! Big Boi found something and he just had to pick it so now I'll have to keep it covered or he'll go for it again....and again....and again. :rolleyes:

[LauraO]

Honestly, sometimes it seems young lovies will never grow out of their nibbly stage. It can become totally annoying and frustrating, but it really does help to remember they will likely grow out of it. How long it takes depends on the individual birdy. I've had some grow out of it at 6 to 8 months and some a year. I had one lovie that never really grew out of it.

You might also try to keep other things on hand to give Sweetypie. Lovies love vegeteable tan leather, buttons, paper, or other beak interesting things.

[BarbieH]

I had forgotten that some of my summer shirts show a lot of moles. :x Our George is 10 years old, and he recently discovered the moles -- luckily I had the dowel nearby and was able to stop him before there was much bleeding. I'm sure they looked like something to eat.

Keep 'em covered! It's the easiest way to deal with it.