Stange question, but...

[Cakepro]

This is probably a really strange question, but how to do you play with a baby lovebird without encouraging him to bite?

Some of you may recall that I purchased a small flock of lovebirds a month ago. We were pleasantly surprised to find a mostly-naked baby in one of the 9 nestboxes. We pulled the baby from the nest and I have been handfeeding him since that time. He is now fully fledged and constantly wants to play, but I'm not quite sure how to play with him without encouraging his play biting.

One of his favorite activities is hanging out on my shoulder and biting/tugging like crazy at my gold hoop earrings. They're hollow gold (2 pr) but now they look like crumpled gold foil. LOL He also wants to nibble on my fingers and fingernails. I'd love to play with him but don't want to encourage him to bite as part of playing. He also likes nibbling on the edges of my ears. He chases my fingers around with his tail up and his head down as I scratch them along the couch, just like a playful kitten.

Incidentally, I have "trained" him to poop on demand. When he perches on my finger and I hold him out over newspaper and repeat "poop" in a high-pitched voice, he actually goes! Of course, when he's on me and he has to go, he doesn't hold back, but he does go when I hold him out and say "poop." Woot! He's such a happy little fellow! I started calling him "Peeper" in the beginning because he seems to peep constantly, so I think the name is going to stick.

[sdgilley]

Hi Sherri,

Young lovebirds explore, just like small children, with their mouths (or beaks). I'd give up the earrings for a while when you're playing with him.

I'd suggest that you give him right things to beak & chew on, like carrots (I'm not sure how old he is - that would be a factor in what you offer) or an appropriate toy. I think with birds it's much easier to reward right behavior than discourage wrong behavior. He sounds adorable!

[linda040899]

Hi Sherri,
Since birds don't have hands/fingers, they preceive their world with their beaks and tongues. Nibbling is getting to feel/touch what they see and understanding what it is. The difference, IMHO, between nibbling and biting is the pressure exerted during the action. You have to let your bird know when the action is uncomfortable for you or it doesn't know. If the pressure gets a bit hard for you, you can use a word like "easy" and then loosen the grip of the beak a bit at the same time. Birds do not understand the concept of punishment so you have to communicate with them at their level. If the action is something you don't like, let the bird know as it's happening. Delayed reaction will not send a clear message so understanding may not come across to the bird.

The largest parrot here that I work with is my Military Macaw, Dao. Dao is 15 and has never bitten me. That's not to say he hasn't pinched me a few times but skin has never been broken. He loves to lay on his back in my arms and he will nibble on my fingers in this position. Well, Dao can pinch in this position and when he does, I give him his own toes to nibble on, which rescues my fingers.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's no real way to teach a bird not to bite but there are ways to avoid being bitten. Birds are simply wild creatures that we have tamed but they still retain natural instincts. Sometimes we have to train ourselves to read body language and know what to do and when to avoid the bite.

[Mummieeva]

It is a tough toss up what to when they are babies about the nibbling. For me if they are under 5 months old I just shrug it off as being a baby. Just like human babies birds teethe(not in same sense though). They are learning their world and their place in it. Birds use their beaks for many things. I will second the earrings put up during playtime though. I take mine out whenever birds are out. Manily because all it takes is 2 seconds for them to get a piece of it sometimes. Plus it hurts if they decide to hang from them.lol.


Steph

[Buy A Paper Doll]

I have to agree with the others. Young lovies are going to explore by putting their beaks on things, and that's fine. But I do understand what you mean. Some people come over and "play" with my lovebirds by waving their fingers in front of my birds' faces. As you can imagine, all this does is tick off the birds and then they start biting all the time. They don't understand when the game's over. So maybe playing with another object like a small ping pong ball or a foot toy or something would be better than using your fingers. Just a thought.

[LauraO]

I've personally only had the chewing/nibbling problems with the lovies I've handfed. In fact, the last couple of months has been crazy as we've been handfeeding five babies who were all going through the chewing phase . Most of them have found new homes over the last month and the one good thing is our toes and fingers are taking less "exploration". I would say this is definately a phase and your lovie will grow out of it eventually......I even have a lovebird named chewy because he was the WORST chewing/nibbling baby ever. We still have him and he doesn't nibble and he's not a biter .

I gave up on the whole earing thing. I have too many birds and am in and out of the house so many times a day that it's easier to only where them on special occasions .

[Cakepro]

Thanks for all the advice. This playful baby doesn't bite with malice or even bite hard at all, so I'm sure you're all right about it being exploratory beaking. Hopefully he won't test the fullness of his beak pressure on my ear though.