Hi! It's been a while...

 

Over the last few months my family and i have noticed Casper has become somewhat of a biter! Previously he was just a nibbler, but more recently has been having a real go at fingers and faces. It started with kisses on the nose becoming chunks out of the nose, and he progressed to biting the finger and hand he sat on and then into biting the face next to the shoulder he perched on.

 

I have been really conscious of not putting up too much of a fuss when he does it so he doesn't think its all fun and games, and as mine is really the only shoulder he sits on and face he kisses, that part's not caused problems with him biting other people. But he does sit on the fingers of my family and friends when they are over, and now seeks out the fleshy bits, grabs hold and has a real good bite!

 

He is getting better in the finger department as i have been doing a lot of work getting him to step off one finger and onto another etc trying to re-aquaint him with the basic etiquette of sitting on somebody's finger, and when he bites, i just put him back on his perch and leave him alone for a minute or two (a bit like "time out" with the naughty kiddies i work with!). I also stopped doing kisses up close, just so he wouldn't begin to associate my face with something to chew on! He doesn't bite mum and dad as often as he used to, but he still does it more often than i'd like and still goes for my face when he's on my shoulder!

 

Is there anything else you guys recon i could try, or should i just persist with what i have been doing? It has been going on for about three months, and i have been working wiht him for about two of them to try to elimitate the behaviour. He is otherwise healthy, sociable, talking, flying around the loungeroom and dancing for his play gym pole as i write so i can't think of anything that might be distressing him (i can usually tell when its a grumpy bite and these are not grumpy bites)

Edited September 19, 200618 yr by CaspersRose

This is just my view on it...anytime a bird does something that is unacceptable behavior such as biting--put the bird in time out for 30 mins in a different cage, separate room, cover with blanket, and shut the door. No toys, food, water OR companion. Birds hate being by themselves, but it helps to control undesirable behavior. For example, Cloud was being a bully last night to Woodie (which is usually under control), but he did it more than a few times. I kept hearing Woodie squawking in protest or warbling. So I knew he needed to be in time out. It's a way to show who is boss.

Then, put him back with you or in his cage again. Try again with him and see if he doesn't bite again. If so, repeat the process until he gets it. Unacceptable behavior means--bird detention!

It works for my birds. It's worth a shot if you can do it. They hate being alone and mine already know where they go if they get in trouble. So they don't get in trouble like they used to.

seems or starting the right track but putting him as woodie does with the cover and all so there is nothing 'fun' to do make the time alone conected to no fun. Even using another cage for the time out will help so he doesn't come to hate his home.

 

You can try the sudden act of blowing in their faces while they bite or dipping your hand so they have to focus on balance and stop the chewing.

I don't think there is any need to "show a bird who is boss." When a budgie bites you, the first course of action is to figure out why. Is he becoming territorial over an area, cage, toy, etc.? Does he like the reaction he's getting? Is he just playing a little too roughly? After you figure out the answer WHY the bites are happening, you can THEN discern how to stop them.

 

It sounds like he's just being too rough. With my conure (whose favorite pastime used to be making me bleed) time outs just didn't work. It is so much better to deal with it in the most immediate way possible. Budgies are smart, but by the time you get angry, restrain (or recapture) the bird, and put it in the cage for time out, it's probably completely lost track of where the situation went awry.

 

Some advice from an online friend and behaviorist fixed my problem with my conure so I'll share it with you. For biting that is too rough, designate a word to use that will show your bird when he's biting too hard. This is not going to be a word we scream or shout dramatically, just one we will use to teach him when he's going too far. You might even choose a sound instead of an actual word.

 

I used "Ah!" because it's a quick, sharp sound.

 

The next thing you must do is condition the bird to this word. It doesn't know english so when you say something like Ow! he has no clue that this means he's caused you pain. Any time your bird falls or something happens to him that isn't pleasant, immediately use the "ow" type word. With my conure, I would say it and then give my hand a bit of a shake to throw her off balance. After a while, all I had to do was say it and she'd stop biting to avoid the shaking of my hand. Eventually, she learned that if she beaked my hand gently, nothing bad would happen. She learned that only the rough bites resulted in being thrown off balance and so she stopped.

 

Unless she's just being a brat and WANTS me to be hurt but there's no getting around that with a conure.

 

When your budgie gets too rough, wobble your hand until he has to put all his energy into hanging on or finding somewhere else to go. I would also be sure to give him LOTS of positive attention when he sits with you without biting hard. Feed him millet from your fingers and talk to him softly when he's being a good bird. The last thing we want him to do is think that sitting with you is no fun!

 

A lot of people use time outs but personally I don't want my birds to ever associate going back to their cages as a punishment. If you DO use this method, I suggest that you leave the toys, perches, and especially the food and water there. The cage should ALWAYS be a haven with food, water, comfortable perches, and fun toys. Just because a bird has been "bad" doesn't mean he should go without these things. If he wanted to come out of the cage to begin with, he'll sulk about wanting out now too, even with all the luxuries of his cage.

 

But again, I'd be careful with this. Not every trip back to the cage means he's been a bad bird but if you use this technique to "punish" him he may very well get confused and think the last thing he did while out was bad in some way. Or more likely, he'll just plain detest having to go back to his cage and give you a load of trouble when you try to get him in there.

Thanks for your suggestions. I can see how a time out may not neccesarily be effective. I initially figured that if he was having fun on my hand, cutting his play time short by leaving to play by himself, rather then interacting was punishment enough - he would run to the edge of the cage for me to pick him up again, and i'd just ignore him (like you do i kid i suppose!).

 

I will try what you suggested, eterri, using a word or a sound. In retrospect, i think i have kind of been doing this as every time he bites my face i shrug my shoulder and say "nice" - telling him to be nice! I will try to be a bit more conscious of doing it properly and see if it helps.

 

He isn't at all agressive, just a bit too rough, so i don't want him to stop being the happy, playful budgie he is, just to know how rough is rough enough so to speak.

Woo, may have to try that advice with little Scuttle. He decided to be a little biter, Nerwen told me about blowing in face and dropping me finger so he gets off balance but sometimes that doesn't work and i have to shake him off.

 

Plus he's developed a kind of angry 'click' that he likes to do when its bed time, or just coz he doesn't like me anymore I dunno, that started a few days ago so i'm still working on that one. But he still jumps on my hand comes out the cage so I dunno

I might try the time out thing with Moon too... Moon keeps on bighting because I put my hand in the cage! Even out of the cage she bites! i dont have another cage to put her in so moving her whole cage to a dark, quiet place might scare her. I think I will end up trying this if the treat aproach dosnt work. Ive never done this before so when all of a sudden I do this when she bites Moon might get a mixed message. Dunno.