IndianRingNeck.com

Hello, I have recently taken in a 4-5 month old IRN, his previous owner used to play with him using his fingers as chew toys so as you can imagine hes a biter, he loves to go to you and be with people but only if he can sit on your head. I have done my best to ignore the biting but it is getting to the stage he is drawing blood and is rather sore, also he latches on but will let go if I blow at him gently.
He also seems to take a temper tantrum and dive bomb you when you don't let him bite you, unfortunately my macaw was also subjected to this as well and as you can imagine he was rather upset about it.

I know this is a really important stage of his life so I want to nip this in the bud immediately and ensure this behaviour stops now so he can be handled happily.


Thanks in advance!

is that finger biting isn't actually aggressive though right?.. he sees fingers as foot toys?

Donovan wrote:is that finger biting isn't actually aggressive though right?.. he sees fingers as foot toys?

yes, he latches down really hard and doesn't like to let go

Hi Kate,

That sounds most unpleasant! If I was in your situation I would get a consultation with a professional behaviourist. If you can't afford a consult, you could try contacting Susan Friedmans behavior group to ask for advice (info on this page http://www.behaviorworks.org/htm/llp_ca ... stics.html)
If you let us know your approximate location (I'm guessing uk by your username) we may be able to help you find a good professional near you, if you don't know of one already.

I don't think we have any active members on this board who have the same degree of expertise as you will find from professionals, as much as people on forums would like to help everyone.
I haven't had much experience with biting, the worst I have had was a bird decide my socks were a chew toy while my socks were on my foot, but I can offer some suggestions that may help.

First up, I honestly would not sit there letting him chew flesh off. Try to avoid situations that result in a bite and if you do get bitten, remove your hand or remove the bird from your hand (carefully and gently).
Biting chew toys can be self rewarding, so not reacting reinforces it. If the bird is biting you in an effort to get you to desist what you are doing, ignoring a bite teaches the bird that it has to bite even harder to get a result. It is best to back off at the first signs of warnings and reevaluate your approach.

Secondly, do you have much experience with positive reinforcement training and applied behavior analysis?

Thirdly, keep him away from your poor macaw for now. That could turn into a really bad situation, from your macaws point of view it probably is already.

Regards,

Claire

InTheAir wrote:Hi Kate,

That sounds most unpleasant! If I was in your situation I would get a consultation with a professional behaviourist. If you can't afford a consult, you could try contacting Susan Friedmans behavior group to ask for advice (info on this page http://www.behaviorworks.org/htm/llp_ca ... stics.html)
If you let us know your approximate location (I'm guessing uk by your username) we may be able to help you find a good professional near you, if you don't know of one already.

I don't think we have any active members on this board who have the same degree of expertise as you will find from professionals, as much as people on forums would like to help everyone.
I haven't had much experience with biting, the worst I have had was a bird decide my socks were a chew toy while my socks were on my foot, but I can offer some suggestions that may help.

First up, I honestly would not sit there letting him chew flesh off. Try to avoid situations that result in a bite and if you do get bitten, remove your hand or remove the bird from your hand (carefully and gently).
Biting chew toys can be self rewarding, so not reacting reinforces it. If the bird is biting you in an effort to get you to desist what you are doing, ignoring a bite teaches the bird that it has to bite even harder to get a result. It is best to back off at the first signs of warnings and reevaluate your approach.

Secondly, do you have much experience with positive reinforcement training and applied behavior analysis?

Thirdly, keep him away from your poor macaw for now. That could turn into a really bad situation, from your macaws point of view it probably is already.

Regards,

Claire

Thank you for the help! I am based by Glasgow in Scotland UK, I will certainly have a look at this website you have recommended and hopefully it will help.
I am going to be getting him a few foot toys to try and distract him and hopefully he will see that these are much more fun than fingers!!

Chewy wooden toys are good, shredding rolls, and jingly cat balls, Sanjay really gives his "wot for"!. Learned behaviours really suck.