biting

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debrawynn
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 04, 2014 7:58 am

biting

Post by debrawynn »

I need help...my irn bits my face every time she fly's to my shoulder . please help
InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: biting

Post by InTheAir »

If you provide more details, someone on here may be able to advise you on strategies you can try.
Things like: age, how long you have had her, how tame she is, what exactly is happening when she files over and bites you, what are you doing right before this happens, is she showing signs of looking for a nesting site, how does she behave towards you the rest of the time, how does she behave towards anyone else who lives with you?

Also, I'd recommend reading over www.behaviorworks.org


Regards,
Claire
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: biting

Post by MissK »

Not to be Captain Obvious, but when she flies to your face, TURN YOUR FACE AWAY so she gets the back of your head (not your ear). Then either remove her from the shoulder or provide her something suitable to play with.

Best wishes for your efforts to get past this!
-MissK
zentoucan
Posts: 151
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 10:45 pm

Re: biting

Post by zentoucan »

First you need to stop her landing on your shoulder.
Had her behaviour changed recently ?
Does she bite your hand?
would you class her as "wild", "semi-tame" or "tame"?
Is she aggressive?
debrawynn
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 04, 2014 7:58 am

Re: biting

Post by debrawynn »

I just bought her from a lady ... She said she hasn't let her out in a while . she's semi tame. She will step up if u are above her . if she is above u forget it .. Oh and lmao...well yea I know not to turn my head when she lands . I just hate shooing her off my shoulder. I went and had her wings clipped today .. So far she is a lot nicer .. I don't do anything before she bites .I know she needs time to get used to me . I do know she likes my husband more than me .
zentoucan
Posts: 151
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 10:45 pm

Re: biting

Post by zentoucan »

debrawynn
I'm not a supporter of wing clipping as it can cause behavioural problems. The bird's first defense is to fly away. If that is taken away then the bird's next defense is to bite and your bird is already biting. To have a bird on your shoulder you must be able to trust it 110%. Because your bird is biting, don't allow it on your shoulder, it's not ready. yet.
The Idea is to have your Bird come to trust you and that is achieved by having Daily trust and bond building sessions.
By using the following method you are showing your bird you want to be their friend and have no intention to do harm and food is a great motivator.

Do not stick your hand into their cage. This is an invasion of their territory, big no no After all how would you feel if someone just walked into your house or room un-invited. Also watch the eyes, if the eyes are pinned then I would not put my hand near the bird as the bird could be over excited or aggressive, either way you will most likely be bitten.

If your bird bites you, do not yell, scream, cry, jump around or put on a show. The bird will see it as a great show and will be encouraged and reinforced to continue biting. This becomes unwanted reinforced behavior or learned biting. The best thing to do is ignore it no matter how much it hurts. Leaving the room can work. Showing your displeasure on your face and saying no in a tone of voice that also conveys your Displeasure. but you don't need to yell.

Anyway, first you need to find out what your bird's favorite food is. I suggest that you put around five different foods on a plate.
These can be a couple of sun flower seeds, pumpkin seeds, corn kernels, pine seeds and a couple balls of millet. watching, see which one he eats first. This will be their favorite food. Now that you know, you use this food as a training treat and you use it only for training.

I gather the bird is caged inside the house and probably in the living room. never leave a bird in a room by itself for long periods. This is the method I used on Bluey with great results. You will need a clicker. Once you have accomplish this method you will need to continue interacting daily with your bird.

Stage one: When the bird is in the cage, enter the room and go to the furthest point from the cage with the clicker in your hand.
Approach the cage until the bird shows signs of being alert and/or frighten.
Stop and just stand there and wait until the bird relaxes. Then click the clicker once and take two to three steps back.
Wait two to three minutes, then approach the cage again until the bird shows signs of being alert and/or frighten.
But make sure you get a little closer to the cage.
Stop and just stand there until the bird relaxes then click the clicker once and take two to three steps back.
Repeat this method until you are standing next to the cage. This can take about 15 minutes to do.

Then walk away.

Wait for around 20 to 30 minutes and repeat this method until you can walk up to the cage without the bird being scared.
This could take 7 to 9 times.

Once you have done this, you can start to Feed the bird through the cage. With the clicker, sit next to the cage and eat some food and have a spray of millet with you.
When the bird shows interest and approaches you. offer the millet and wait. When the bird takes some of the millet click the clicker once.
Once the bird gets use to taking the millet replace it with training treats. This can be done in one day. Remember to click the clicker once every time the bird take the training treat.

Stage two: Start by feeding the bird through cage. Do this for 10 to 15 minutes then wait 20 to 30 minutes. Open the cage door and offer training treats at the cage entrance. Be patient and remember to click the clicker once every time the bird take food. Do this for at least 7 to 9 times that day with 20 to 30 minutes breaks between.

Stage three: Open the cage door and get the bird to the entrance with training treats and remember to click the clicker once every time the bird takes food.
Now instead of using training treats you go back to the spray of millet.

With the clicker and millet in the same hand and with your other hand, make it into a pistol.
Focus the bird attention onto the millet and then bring the pistol hand up very slowly to the feet of the bird.
Your finger must be parallel to the perch and level with the bird's feet. Don't touch the bird.
Don't remove your pistol hand from this position.
Now move the millet so it out of reach of the bird. The bird will have to step forward to get to the millet. Therefore stepping up onto finger.
At first don't expect the bird to step up onto and/or stay on your finger at first and there is a possibility you could get bitten then again you might not.
Do this for 10 to 15 minutes then wait 20 to 30 minutes and repeat this method again at least 7 to 8 times that day.
You will need to continue doing this daily to reinforce the behavior of stepping up.

TIP if the bird doesn't take the training treat within 15 to 20 seconds. don't click the clicker and remove the treat from the bird's sight for 5 to 10 seconds, then re-offer the bird the training treat.

Of course there is the possibility that you might not achieve the results for each stage session just continue that part of this method . I achieved results in three days with Bluey but I spent a lot of time with Bluey to achieve these results.

Remember not to force the bird. The idea is to train the bird to do what you want without force. Every interaction you have with your bird is a trust and bond building session and always finish any interaction on a positive.

Of course it's up to you how you train your bird but over the years I have used many methods some good, some bad. but found this method achieves excellent results in a short time. But like anything worth achieving, you need to apply time.
If you want to build trust and bond with your bird then you must use some type of reward system whether it's food or vocal praise.
alternative methods which don't use reward system take a very long time, lack in clear communications between you and your bird, giving results that will be mediocre at best.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: biting

Post by MissK »

I agree you don't want to shoo the bird - that would be discouraging him from coming to you. I've been re-examining my bird's behaviour of exploring my arm with his beak and it really seems he is easily distracted. I'm starting to consider he does it because it's the only activity immediately available, so I am trying to have something else to offer him. You might do the same. Some people wear a necklace of toys for their bird, but you could also just try pinning a toy to your shoulder, on your shirt.

I've chosen to not have my bird on the shoulder, but it's as much about poop on my shirt as it is about ear nipping. Also, I can't see him very well up there. He does fly to my shoulder anyway, sometimes, and then I just try to slide my hand under him so he can transfer to a more desirable location. So far, he just flies off, but he is not so comfortable with my fingers as my wrist. Another strategy that sometimes works it just to hold a treat and put the arm out like a ramp so he goes to get it.

Birds nip sometimes to explore the environment and you, and sometimes they nip because they are just not confident in their situation. I suspect for your bird it is the latter, and that he will come in line as he gets more comfortable. It's up to you to prevent him developing a habit meanwhile.
-MissK
zentoucan
Posts: 151
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 10:45 pm

Re: biting

Post by zentoucan »

Debrawynn
you don't shoo the bird away from your shoulder but you should immediately remove the bird. First the bird needs to be trained to step up and down from your hand without biting. once the bird is competent in that. I would then start training your bird to fly to your hand and back to the perch. This good in case your bird escapes into the big blue and is sitting at the top of the neighbor's tree.
I have trained Delfin my Male Nepalese Alexandrine.
to step up and down.
to fly to my hand when called and to return back to his perch when told.
to turn around.
to hand shake.
to pick up an item and put it into a bin.
I can open the cage door and hold my hand at the entrance and say "come on" and Delfin will hop onto my hand.
I have starting harness training Delfin.
Delfin is physically handled every day and throughout the day by all members of the family. This is good training for vet visits.
although, I have an advantage in that Delfin was hand raised in a family environment. This made it easier to train him has he was use to humans. when I'm training Delfin and he stops doing what I ask then, like a 3yr old child, Delfin has decided 'I have had enough'. When that happens I give Delfin a Sunflower seed, click the clicker once and praise him for being a good boy.
Doodlebug
Posts: 319
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 7:14 am
Location: Suffolk, UK

Re: biting

Post by Doodlebug »

I am having the same thing at the mo. My baby is a biter, he will bite hands and any skin he sees. But he is flying to my shoulder quite a bit now. I know he is really wanting to spend time with me but he isn't at the stage where I can comfortably have him there! So I do what has been suggested to you, turn my face and lean him towards something else he can step on. He hasn't yet cottoned on to the fact he can just as easily try and outsmart me by running along to the other shoulder but I'm sure that day isn't far away!
Loo :)
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