Recently, Cosmo has started to give little threats when he's not happy with something. For example, if I put my finger near him for him to step up on or to offer a scratch, he'll usually accept, but if he doesn't want it, he has started to grunt a little, and open his beak or bite air. He previously would have just run away from my hand if he didn't want it. He doesn't actually bite, it's very gentle but it's enough of a warning for me to know that he doesn't want me to touch him right now.

 

 

I kind of see this as a good thing in a way, that he's communicating what he doesn't want. But thinking it through, it could be interpreted in a number of ways which vary in how good or bad they are so I thought i'd see what you all think.

 

My theories:

 

1) He's finally comfortable enough to be assertive with me rather than fearful. I see this as a good thing if he's just expressing what he wants and I respect that.

 

2) He's unhappy and becoming cranky (a very bad thing)

 

3) He's trying to establish dominance over me, and I shouldn't be reinforcing the behaviour.

 

4) He's becoming an adolescent and is just moody.

 

Or, there could be other explanations entirely.

 

I've also noticed that he's starting nibbling and chewing on things in general a lot more than he did before... just whatever, the branches, toys in his cage, whatever he happens to find. Which to me is pretty normal but thought I'd mention it anyway in case it's related.

 

Happy analysing :hug:

:bump:

As no one has replied to this... I'll have a stab in the dark.

 

It could be any number of your thoughts or a combination of a few. I guess the one thing I'd be wary of would be re-enforcing the behavior. If he does bite, the worst thing you could do would be to react. This would teach him that when he bites, he gets a reaction, and he will then play on it. This can begin very unsocial/undesirable behaviors which can be difficult to banish. I have found, ignoring the bite/attempted bite works best for me and my birds... this can be hard and sometimes painful... but it's like the whole jumping dog sinario... if you pull your hands up and react, they will continue to do it... if you cross you arms, turn away and ignore, they wont... Hope that makes some sort of sense.

I'm wondering if he is starting a molt, if he is that could explain why he is being a bit of a grump.

If he is around 12-36 weeks old than he is in his adolescence and being moody - they get quite cranky in this period so just try and ignore the biting as you don't want him to lean that biting makes him get his own way.

Recently, Cosmo has started to give little threats when he's not happy with something. For example, if I put my finger near him for him to step up on or to offer a scratch, he'll usually accept, but if he doesn't want it, he has started to grunt a little, and open his beak or bite air. He previously would have just run away from my hand if he didn't want it. He doesn't actually bite, it's very gentle but it's enough of a warning for me to know that he doesn't want me to touch him right now.

 

 

I kind of see this as a good thing in a way, that he's communicating what he doesn't want. But thinking it through, it could be interpreted in a number of ways which vary in how good or bad they are so I thought i'd see what you all think.

 

My theories:

 

1) He's finally comfortable enough to be assertive with me rather than fearful. I see this as a good thing if he's just expressing what he wants and I respect that.

 

2) He's unhappy and becoming cranky (a very bad thing)

 

3) He's trying to establish dominance over me, and I shouldn't be reinforcing the behaviour.

 

4) He's becoming an adolescent and is just moody.

 

Or, there could be other explanations entirely.

 

I've also noticed that he's starting nibbling and chewing on things in general a lot more than he did before... just whatever, the branches, toys in his cage, whatever he happens to find. Which to me is pretty normal but thought I'd mention it anyway in case it's related.

 

Happy analysing

 

Biting in wild birds is not a usual behavior, it is a learned behavior in cage birds. Birds do not bite 'just because', there is always a payoff for the bird or they wouldn't do it. The best thing to do about the bite is to avoid any situation where the bird feels that is the last option he or she has to get their message across. If biting is escalating, look to what happens immediately before the bite, and what the consequence is immediately after for clues as to why the bird is doing it. Biting is not to be confused with beaking, which is normal and until your bird learns what is acceptable pressure to apply to your skin it sometimes can feel like a bite. Don't take a bite personally. I think you have stated the reason already that Cosmo is biting when you said "but if he doesn't want it, he has started to grunt a little, and open his beak or bite air." Those are his ways of trying to communicate to you that he does not want interaction at that time. That choice should be respected. If you push it and he bites, it is because you missed what he was trying to tell you non-violently. In this instance if Cosmo bites you because he does not want to interact right then, the immediate consequence is you withdraw your hand. This is what he wanted, so you are setting a pattern that if he wants to be left alone all he has to do is bite and that is what will happen. He can be unhappy or cranky but we cannot really know if that is the case since we can't get into his head and know what is going on with him. But if he were, that in itself wouldn't be why he would bite. I doubt he is trying to establish dominance over you, birds do not have dominance issues like a dog might. Dominance is pack mentality, and birds have a different social structure. I think you are spot on that Cosmo is trying to tell you something! You seem to be pretty observant of your birds' behavior, kudos to you for that. It will make developing an ongoing relationship with your bird far easier.

Edited October 15, 200816 yr by Rainbow

Thanks all for your comments. Thanks Neat for the bump

 

He actually hasn't bitten me at all yet. Or maybe once, but it was more of a tap, my skin didn't actually get between his beak. He's not aiming to hurt or anything... he just gives me a warning. It's just happening a few times a day now, when previously it didn't happen before at all (but he was more scared then, so would just fly away rather than threaten). At the moment, if I put my finger out for him to step up on, or offer him a head scratch, he usually accepts it, but just occasionally (maybe 10% of the time) grunts and bites air. Of course, I don't need to test my theory that he would be doing it 100% of the time if it was past his bedtime - he is very obvious about when he wants to go to bed

 

I think what you've said is good - I haven't reinforced it by yelling or moving quickly or making a fuss, I just ignore it but stop doing what I was doing at the first warning sign. Like if I offer a head scratch and he grunts, I just move my hand away without making a big deal out of it. I have never pushed it until he's bitten unless I had to (e.g. helping him get unstuck out of something) and even then he doesn't bite, he just makes a fuss. I'm glad to hear that it's not a dominance thing - I like to think he's just communicating and if I keep it small and not let it escalate it will be a positive thing overall.Yes he is not moulting yet but I wouldn't be surprised if he's over 3 months old. That seemed to be the general consensus when I put his photo up.

 

Thanks again!

 

 

Biting is not to be confused with beaking, which is normal and until your bird learns what is acceptable pressure to apply to your skin it sometimes can feel like a bite.

Sorry what do you mean by beaking?

Edited October 15, 200816 yr by krosp

No worries .... I see it as a natural thing for that babies to do when it isn't exactly biting but rather like teething .... With the older ones it is like a defence action You get the warning squawk and then the peck and then the bite But that is how i think of it

Biting is not to be confused with beaking, which is normal and until your bird learns what is acceptable pressure to apply to your skin it sometimes can feel like a bite.

Sorry what do you mean by beaking?

 

Since birds examine everything with the beak, your arm, fingers, a mole, earrings, etc. are fair game to be explored by it. It is a learning curve for them to figure out that the same pressure they exert trying to chew the bark off of a natural branch is not the same pressure they can apply to your skin. It's normal for a bird to want to 'taste' your fingers or hand or cheek as a way of learning about that part of their environment.

This behavior can be confused with biting, especially if your bird hasn't realized yet it hurts you if they bear down hard.

Thanks for that rainbow, it's good to know what beaking means! I was not getting biting and beaking confused. He is beaking a lot at the moment, but mostly with the collar of my shirt and with my hair (as well as pretty much everything in his cage and other environments he's placed in). The "biting" i was talking about (which isn't really biting anyway) was his little grunts and snapping at air. But I'm pretty happy with the conclusions on here about what I should do about that. Thanks for all your help!