Welcome, Lovebird Pincushions!

[BarbieH]

Biting is one of the most frustrating lovebird behaviors for an owner to deal with, and also one of the most painful and misunderstood. I know; my first lovebird was hard-biting Gracie. She used to have me so scared of her bites, I was afraid to work with her at all.

It is possible to change your relationship with your hard-biting bird, but it takes time, patience, and a change in your own expectations. We have helpful, realistic tips to help you and your wild critter become best friends -- as long as you are ready to recognize and respect their boundaries.

Welcome! http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/smile.gif And remember, no bird is hopeless.

[PrettyBird]

how do I get over my fear of working with my little guy. He bites really hard and draws blood. I am not sure what to do. I am scared to let him out of the cage

[Janie]

I think you just have to grin and bare it. I'd never had that first bite till I got Big Boi just over a year ago. I was surprised, shocked, stunned and it hurt! :( I'd been on the forum long enough to know that some biting is not unusual and most lovie owners have been bitten a time or two or many more than that. In my case, the fear of the first bite was worse than the actual bite. Yes, it hurt but I survived it and was determined to get a grip on it by trying to figure out what caused it to happen and how to avoid it in the future. In his case, it seems to be an over active beak that he uses for everything! Climbing, stepping up, stepping down and just exploring every single spot on my arms and legs. See a freckle? Bite it and see what happens. See a mole, bite it! Ear lobes....don't get me started! :eek: I have no idea why this is his way of exploring and not the way that Oliver and Shy do but that's just the way it goes and he really is the sweetest little bird and while it irritated the heck out of me, I got used to it and avoided it when ever possible. I always, without fail, told him "NO BITE!" and then held him and gently rubbed his head and beak, talking to him softly when I did that. Telling him how much I disliked the bites. Somehow, with him, it finally sunk in! :) He hasn't bitten me in over a month, maybe two. I'm sure it will happen again at some point and I think some of the biting has to do with new phases. Nesty hens are a whole 'nother story. Not all but most of them will get nippy when they are in a nesty mode.

I know that Barb worked very hard with Miss Gracie and maybe she can give you some tips on what worked for her.

[BarbieH]

I am very familiar with the fear of getting bit. :) I also have a hard biter, that little Gracie. As my first lovebird, she presented quite a challenge. Not only did she need to learn to trust me -- I needed to learn to trust her.

First of all, you need to prevent situations that seem to cause your little one to start biting. If the trigger is your finger, don't present your finger to him to step up on. Present a dowel instead. Teach him how to step up onto a dowel.

If he bites when you put your hand into the cage to clean or change dishes, distract him with something else so that you can get your hand in and out quickly, without getting bit.

When you bring him out of the cage, take him away from the view of the cage. It could be making him more territorial if he can see the cage. Take him out for short periods of time, like five minutes at first, and return him to the cage before he gets the idea of biting. Praise him for being such a good boy!

In fact, praise him every time he doesn't bite you, the noisier the better. Don't give him any feedback, even negative feedback, when he does bite. A reaction from you is a type of reward. You want to reward the behaviors that you want him to repeat. It would probably sound silly to an outsider, but I say "Thank you Gracie" every time I reach in to change a food dish from inside her cage, and she doesn't try to take my hand off. :lol Lately she just threatens to do it, if at all. She gets *no* thank you for that threat.

I hope this helps some. :) Go easy on yourself, and give yourself time to trust your bird not to bite you. Those short sessions can do wonders for the both of you.

If you do get bit, it's painful, but it's probably not much worse than a cat owner might get when kitty-wrestling. Well, that's true with my cat, anyway. ;) Clean the wound and move on.

Best wishes,

[michael]

Goofy was a biter from the start and got worse at about 4 months. Really I considered his bites alot less serious than other birds larger than him. None the less when he latched on it hurt until I got him to let loose, especially the lip!!!!.....EOW...WOW...WA...SHEEZE...O...MANFLING O!!! Finally I smacked my hand down on the table next to the hand he was torturing and he got scared and stopped. I think the loud noise startled him enough to make him know I was on the defense. I never chased him away nor did I punish him and would afterwards offer him my hand again and he would cautiously climb aboard. That started our mutual agreement. Occasionally we had little spats where he nipped and I would shake my finger at him telling him "you NO bite" and he opened his beak, and I'd keep my finger just far enough so he couldn't get me, and we'd go back and forth while he stood on my other hand arguing with me. Eventually he'd tuck his beak under and put his head down on my hand and I'd kiss him and we'd make up. I know there's no one way to teach birds or any other animal not to bite but I believe once they know you accept them they can be a lot easier to tame.

[sdgilley]

Hi Michael,
I'm glad you have an understanding with your lovie! Biting is a very frustrating behavior, but your point well made was that you accept them as they are. The fact you're able to move forward is greatly based on trust, and it sounds like you have trust.

[dovelady4]

Hey!!!! I don't bite! LOL(my family calls me Gracie)! Louie only bites me when I'm annoying him or he's trying to climb around, and even then he's only bitten me REALLY hard once. I don't punish Lou, I just ignore him for a while. Seems to work. He'll fly off for a while, and then come back down crawling all over me. I don't pick him up until I'm sure he's ready again. Other then that, he's never been a biter, just a climber....

[jayme]

my brother seems to know it all about taming and keeping animals. however, he has never owned a bird. Olive always wants to go inside his shirt. however, sometimes when he tries to pet Olive with his finger she reaches out for a bite. he seems to think that punishment will stop Olive from biting. these punishments include flicking her beak, or just holding it for a little while or any kind of flicking. i don't believe he is right. i keep telling him just not to do it if he doesn't want to be bitten and maybe just put up with it if he wants to pet her. my family thinks it is hilarious Olive wants to go in his shirt all the time because she just wants to bite his finger whenever she sees it. :) i think Olive can just sense his negative response thoughts muhaha

[ittyandrita]

no! tell him punishment does NOT work with birds!
this is a quote from an article about bird biting on parrotdise.com, use this to let your brother know why he shouldn't do it! there are a ton of articles on the internet about why physical punishment does not work on birds, just google it.

"Parrots, unlike dogs, do not understand punishment or dominance because it is not part of their nature. Aggressive techniques will only lead to a more aggressive bird. Training should therefore be based on rewarding positive behavior instead of punishing negative behavior. The bird should be thought of as a partner and not an object to be dominated. If you understand why the bird is acting as it is, your attempts to change its behavior will be much more successful."

[thebubbleking]

My half ficher half peachfaced is named baby boo and she bites like a pit pull she goes for blood takeing little divots of skin and meat from fingers, hands or whatever is handy, she bites and locks on to where i can pull her from the cage and shake my hand and wings flapping and all shell hold on.. Many painfull fingers later she is getting better mostly does it when protecting her territory but i had a great idea that has worked real well for me....I bought a diveing glove one of the white cotton kind with the black plastic dots for protection, It has two great effects one no more bites it doesent get through and two everytime i put on the glove baby boo doesnt bite or go crazy i think she knows bites dont hurt the glove.. the only thing is if i dont put away the glove and i leave it by the cage she sulks and gives it "the evil eye" till i put it away lol.

[beckyg]

Okay, I know this may be a silly question, but Luna my 3 mth old dutch blue, whom I have only had for 5 days will sit on my shoulder, but when I reach up to take her down or to pet her or whatever, she bites me. It doesn't hurt too terribly bad, but I have a feeling it will in the future. Is it that she isn't use to me or because she is so young?? I don't know if I am doing anything right. I work during the day and come home and take her out of the cage (that is if I can get her to come out). Immediately she sticks out her neck and jumps for my shoulder. She will sit on my shoulder for hours, but she doesn't like my hands and she doesn't like to be anywhere but my shoulders. Is this normal?? I don't know, I thought lovebirds were curious. I am probably jumping the gun because I know I just got her and she is a baby, but I just want to make sure. I have been trying to spend time with her every evening, but last night she was being so difficult I got scared and put her in her cage and then she didn't want to come back out for anything.

[Mummieeva]

I have had a hen who did same thing as your bird is doing. Some lovebirds hate hands and will always bite them. I would offer my arm and keep my hand closed as tight as I could. When she was on my shoulder and it was time to go back to cage this is what I would do. Walk toward her cage and the shoulder she was on I would lean toward her cage door(or top of the cage. She did stop biting less after a while but she never totally stopped biting hands if they came near her.



Steph

[~Erica~]

I have a female love bird, named Peachface , who bites hard. She'll hold on as long as she can and she often draws blood. I got her when she was 2 years old and I was told that she was handfed. Her previous owner never took her out of her cage, so when I first brought her home I couldnt even get near the cage without her freaking out. Ive had her for 8 months and she steps up onto my hand now. I've learned to avoid her bites but occasionally she'll get me. she even lets me pet her sometimes. I was wondering, will she ever be completely tame? Will I ever be able to hold her like my other lovebird, Pigeon? I'd like for my friends to be able to hold her too but I don't think that will happen anytime soon. Do you have any advice to discourage her bitting?

[michael]

Hi Erica. Welcome to our community!......:)......You know, I think you and Peachface have already established a wonderful relationship. That is to say, building the kind of trust she has in you already can take others much longer than 8 months. Will she ever be completely tame?.......Well, for some fid parents their efforts will unfortunately produce little behavioral compromise, especially with a hen who's mind is set on defending herself and/or her territory. For others, their once nippy minded lovie will eventually give way towards a mutual understanding that doesn't always include bloodwork. Needless to say, we learn to accept whats only natural while at the same time believing that anythings possible when it comes to parrot behavior.

Sounds like you may already know that introducing friends may not be in the picture anytime soon. If at all, it would seem somewhat uncharacteristic by those who's lovebird has yet to fully accept them. However, because you can never really know, should you decide on an introduction of sorts (say one at a time), I would forewarn them of the possible consequences so as not to cause either party any harm. Short analysis here......:wink:.......Continue to be careful and provide lots of love, patience, and remain commited.

Have you checked out all the other forums yet? ......Also too, there's the "Lovebird Resource Library" that offers a wide variety of valuable information. Please, look around while feeling free to post any additional questions in the forum you think best fits your needs. In the meantime, we'd certainly love to hear more about Peachface and her family!............:)

[~Erica~]

Thanks a lot Michael :)

[kk and tango]

I've had Evie now for about 20 days, and while she was handraised and doesn't bite, she is scared of hands somewhat. We are still working on up-up, even though she will sit on the shoulder and lets us pet her if we cup her in our hands.

We were initially working with her with a dowel/perch. Once she got more comfortable with that we were able to pick her up with our hands. If she will sit on your shoulder, maybe try using a dowel to go between the cage and the shoulder as a transition. We go comically slow when we approach her with our hands, too. And sometimes she will step up on the back of a flat hand better than a finger.

[jk1944]

hi everyone! thanx so much for posting yr pincushion stories! It's been a comfort to me as i'm coping with a 3 yr old finger biter right now. We've learned to work around it, dowels, no fingers anywhere near her, etc., but thanx again for all the info especially the positive reinforcement encouragement. also time and patience, too!

[Pips mom]

Pip has always bitten.....maybe not as often at first because he wasn't on us as often.....now that he spends time on my shoulders, arms, and head, I get a bite or two at least once a day, BUT Pip never bites hard....his bites are fairly gentle most of the time. When he's on my shoulder, if my face gets too close! watch out! it will get bitten. I have gotten bitten on the lip more than once, on the nose, and on the face! Now those spots hurt.....even if he isn't biting hard! One time I swear it had left a mark on my face and I was going to be in a wedding the next day! makes for nice pictures....a lovie bite on the face! but luckily there was no mark left and the skin was not broken. One time Pip was on my shoulder and he started chewing my shirt......oh how he loves to chew shirts and put nice little lovie beak holes in them! Well, I said...HEY! stop that! and he bit me in the face! lil stinker! it was almost like he was showing me who was boss!
The thing with Pip though is his biting has always pretty much been the same.....it never got worse, but then....it never got any better either! :rotfl We have come to accept the fact that this is just how he is and part of his personality and what makes Pip, Pip! I have never been afraid of his bites though. We've always acted as if they don't make much of a difference to us....well....except maybe for those face bites! and we've been pretty consistent with our reaction to his bites.....yet Pip is still Pip and will bite when he FEELS like it! which is also pretty predictable, so avoiding bites is fairly easy too. I love my little biter boy just the way he is! We have it all worked out between us.....his bites are not bad and mostly gentle, so we just try to be happy for that!
Now we have the new little guy......who so far seems to NEVER bite! wow.....what a new concept.....a lovie that doesn't bite! really surprised me, but same as with Pip, this seems to be part of this birds personality and I really think their personalities play a part in it!

[mammabug]

I'm brand new to lovebird ownership, as I have always had parakeets. We know nothing of the parentage or raising of this bird, as she was 'rescued' from the outdoors, and given to us. BITE! OMG, we seem to have a little game...I put my finger near the cage, and 'pet' her beak if she doesn't bite me first. This I do to try to gain her trust...I make a little game. We can take her out of the cage, and hold her...and then she is usually tame, and will go around the house on my shoulder. But the biting is driving me nuts. I hope that by playing with her, I can gain her trust, and she will stop.

[shinbatsu]

My bird bites me all the time. Most of it is harmless beaking but once in a while she will get me a nice one. I just put her on the ground and walk away or while she is biting down I push her back and off balance.

The key that works for me is to make doing the negative action uncomfortable for the bird.

This is how I got her to stop landing on my head. She would land and I would tilt my head and she would get off balance. Birds hate being off balanced, and crow eventually put 1 + 1 that landing on heads means being off balance. (even with the minor clip she can easily get to my head but has yet to try it in almost a month)

Crow has drawn blood on me once. I was pretty pissed but it's not like the bites can hurt me. hahaha.

EDIT: Seems to me flighted or clipped, makes no difference. I gave crow a minor clip (she can still fly up about two feet and gain lateral motion as well) but it didn't change a **** thing. She just nips toes now once in a while.