Nippy teenager and her older friend

[Amandastander]

Hi guys, I've had Buster for a year and Piper since November 2012, she approx 5 months old now, she has gone froma loveable kissy crazy baby to a nippy miss. She is refusing to step up and will only take treats from my youngest son and give a few nips inbetween as well. She does allow me to pick her up when absolutely necessary, but just tolerates it. When she's on our hand she runs straight for the head or flutters off, I constantly have to tell her to drop her wings lol! She had her 1st full shower saturday, and was so angry at me that she lunged and nipped at me several times before calming down sufficiently for me to remove her from the shower. Curbing ideas please? Then there's Buster boy, petstore bought by a friend, aviary raised, they plucked his tail feathers out trying to catch him in the cage : ( he's a pleasant babbler who for the obvious reasons above doesn't like touch. Since his molt he's grown a lovely tail again, he's also warmed up to me in the extent that he runs towards me in anticipation of a treat and actually grabs them from me. He will also put his face right up against mine and chatter softly. He has eyed my shoulder more often, and even banters with me when I change food and water, grabbing the bowls from me and getting on top or inside for a free lift out of the cage lol! How do I take it further with him in such a way that he doesn't regress? I think he mostly trusts me because he knows I don't touch them without their body language giving me permission to do so. He's only ever allowed scritches when he needed a helping hand during molting. He's also got a very sharp beak, I don't want a nip from him lol! Any tips please?

[Melika]

Sounds like you're doing great with Buster. Sounds like he would be a great candidate for trick training- he already loves treats! Ellie has a lot of info on that so I'll let her explain some details.

Piper sounds like she's bluffing. From what I have read, bluffing can happen anywhere between 4-12months of age. Some birds don't bluff, some do, some are worse, some go back to normal within a few weeks or less. Every bird is different. http://www.indianringneck.com/bluffing/