Whoa, maybe this should be uder biting? HELP!!

[jetanlori]

Ok maybe this is too soon to have happened, but I filled up the birdies food dish and Papaya started to dive in with his whole body and make a mess. I stuck my hand in the cage to take the food out and he tried to attack my hand. He won't let me touch him in the cage without fluffing up, spreading his wings and is in full attack mode. He was able to get me a little bit, just a pinch. So I took a wooden dowel and he stepped up on it and was a perfect little angel on my chest and shoulder. Does this mean he is already cage territorial? And Mango has caught on because when I went to put the food back in and put some cardboard toilet paper rolls in there for them to play with he tried to attack them.

[jetanlori]

And I might add, my feelings are a bit hurt. Papaya looked so vicious and I have to remember that he's only a baby. Boy I can't believe how much a baby bite can hurt. Do you think he isn't associating my hands with me? He just saw a hand come into his cage and he went for it?

[bellarains]

Lori,

We tend to forget sometimes that these really are wild animals, with wild animal instincts. Most are so sweet, especially away from their cage, we forget that in the wild they are very protective of their territory, and their food. So..... what Papaya did was very natural. Hurts like $%^#, but natural behavior

One thing to do when you are putting your hands inside their cage is to talk softly, and tell them what you are doing. After awhile, they will learn that you are there to feed them, and that's why you are messing around with "their stuff". I have to say though, that my Bela still doesn't like it whenever I try to attach something or take anything out of his cage, and he's the male Lacey is alright unless I touch "her" treat cup.

Anyway, what I'm saying is there will be times when things are off limits in their eyes, and you just have to finagle it out or in. Distraction works pretty well, so if you are trying to take a food dish out, or put one in, try and distract them with a toy, etc....

[BarbieH]

Sounds like it's part hormonal (the spread wings), part territorial. Nippy birds can surely test the speed of our reflexes!

I can tell you not to take it personally, but I did too, at first. It really isn't personal; Papaya would attack anyone who stuck their hand in the cage, not just you.

Do you need to put your hands in the cage to change the dishes, or does their cage have dish windows? If it has the windows, you can use one hand to distract the bird to the part of the cage furthest from the dishes; pull out the dish with the other hand. You can also avoid a bite by holding onto the dishes with the very tips of your fingers -- those beaks can only go so far through the bars.

Been there, done that, got the scars.

Good luck!

[butterfly1061]

Lori,

My male Molly does this in a cabinet where I store their food. I put out a few pellets each morning for him to eat in the cabinet and if I try and touch them or the shelf he fluffs up and runs like mad for my hands/fingers. I now know what he's doing so I leave it alone until he comes out of the cabinet. Now, Molly doesn't do this with his daytime cage, but he does the same thing with his nighttime cage. So, I put food in his nighttime cage BEFORE he goes night-night. Then I just let him come out on his own in the morning and he's fine with me then. Daisy & Piper have never done this to me and Daisy is my female. I just watch their body language.

[jetanlori]

Well one of the problems is that because they are still pretty new to me they don't come out on their own yet. I have been reaching in and taking them which I can no longer do. THey are in my office with me and I leave the cage door open all day while I'm with them. Now last night Mango came flying out and landed on the floor. I picked him up an Papaya was waiting at the entrance and I picked him up too and they sat on my shoulder and then we played for a while on my bed.

I keep their food/seed in shallow china bowls at the bottom of their cage not in the cups that sit on the sides of the cage. I thought it would be less messy but Papaya won't stop digging his body and head into the food and having it spill all over the place. I guess I'm lucky, he hasn't run after my hand, only attacked when I put my hand near him in the cage. I think I'd freak if he started to attack and actually ran for my hand.

[butterfly1061]

Molly dives into the container of "Just Veggies" I feed them when I remove the lid. I think he just likes the sound. He'll grab a piece of veggie and just crunch it to hear it. Silly birdie

[Mummieeva]

I would use the cups the cage came with because on bottom of cage there is a small chance they will dirty the food and water. Whisper is the clim into food bowl type and I let her as long as they are not fighting over the food. Sometimes when I go to change food Whisper rides out of the cage in the food bowl.lol.I let my birds come out on their own. The cage is their home and only in emergancies or cage cleaning would I stick hand in. It might take a few days but to me it builds trust in them with me. I have gotten alot of bits and nips since getting lovebirds. yes they hurt more then just physicaly. I have sat and cried many many times after a bit becasue I feel liek I must of did something wrong. hang in there dear it will get better.

Also I will caution you on the paper rolls. The glue used to hold them together sometimes contains Zinc which is not good for the birds. They can also get stuck inside the rolls.


Steph

[mjm8321]

Papaya won't stop digging his body and head into the food

I can only giggle about it right now because I just finished cleaning up after our little creamino who did this for a few weeks. She would get right into the dish to eat. I even tried using dishes with a cover. She'd still get in the dish. I've seen this behavior in two types of lovebirds, 1) nesty hens 2) youngsters looking for a tight little spot to sit in.
It's going to take some time for the little ones to get used to you, your home and their new surroundings. They are at the age that they will be nippy when tired or hungry (especially if they are handfed). You'll learn to look for the signals they give you as well as the body language so you can try to avoid bites in the future.

[Z28Taxman]

When my Dittobird first came to my house he'd bite if anyone put their hands in the cage too.

So I just made sure not to grab him out of the cage (he had no problem coming out on his own since he was a year old and already a velcro birdy) and I'd let him come out before removing anything or cleaning. He would be on top so he could see what I was doing and when I took the toys to wash them he went with me (still does).

Now however he has no problems with hands in his cage. Even my little nieces (6 and 9) can open the cage, put their hands in and he'll hop right on.