Please Help stop pionus from biting

[Drumrnj]

HI, all, I have a Meyers Parrott. He is about 8 months old. His name is Sydney. The biting has gotten out of control. We do handle him a few times a week. I dont even really know what to say other than he bites and it really hurts. There is really no rhyme or reason when he bites. It can be when he seems calm, when he is playing or any other time when we try to handle him. The other day, he flew on top of my head and was calm for about ten minutes, then suddlenly bit me in the face. I dont get it.
We have been told that maybe clipping the wings more often will calm them down. It has gotten to the point where we are afraid to take him out because we dont want him to fall as we will shake when he bites us. Can someone please help and let us know any training tips you may have. Thank You, We just want to be Sidney's friend.

[Valo's Moirana]

alright - this will be a long one.....

let me start with this - handling a few times a week is NOT even close to enough.... valo is out of his cage 3hrs per day MINIMUM, generally closer to 4-5hrs and on the weekends around 8hrs. so, more time with you out of the cage is something i'd definitely recommend.

the next is your thought about clipping - though i generally keep my mind open about clipping and even recommend it in some situations, i don't recommend it in this one. let me explain why: the most important thing right now for you is to figure out why sidney bites. and you'll have a big unknown parameter in your calculation if you clip his wings because he can't leave even if he wanted to and that might lead to fear biting and/or frustration aggression.

i'll stick with the things first you mentioned in your post: regarding the sudden bite after sitting on your head for 10min... simple answer, he was bored. there's not much to do on somebody's head for 10min if you have a nippy bird, a good start is to keep him occupied rather than have him sit on your arm/hand/shoulder and expect him to be calm. if valo would sit on me for 10min without anything to do and then bite me, i'd only be surprised that it took that long.

DO NOT SHAKE him when he bites, especially not to the extend that he falls off. your hand should be a place where he feels safe, not unstable and insecure. if he develops insecurity on your hand, you're gonna have a very, very hard time getting rid of the biting. i guess what you're meaning to do is a wobble correction - even that i don't recommend since it often leads to shaking. better is to change your hand's position as gently as you can BEFORE you get bitten. just lower or lift it, or walk to a different spot - the change in surroundings will catch his attention.

a few recommendations (i'll only list a few, otherwise my fingers'll fall off but please ask if i can be of further assistance):

*) you HAVE to learn reading your birds body language. that'll allow you to avoid bites BEFORE they happen. as an example, valo fluffs up his feathers around the neck (head feathers are flat) when he's in a biting mode. if i see this, i don't even consider bringing my hands close to him

*) teach him to step up with positive reinforcement. often people are against using treats for this type of training, in this case i'd recommend it. get a t-stand and teach him to step up (use "step up" or "come here" as a cue). if you practice with him 1-2 a day, he'll get it down pretty quickly. however, don't force it - if he's not interested, call it good and try again later. this will help you in 2 aspects - first you can get him off your shoulder or head, when he bites. second, if you see him displaying signs of aggression you can have him step up and the attention is re-directed.

*) also, a lot of biting situations result from humans wanting their parrots to behave a certain manner. in the end, parrots are very similar to teenagers - the more you want them to behave in a certain way and the more you push it, the less success you will have. valo can do whatever he wants... my life style is adjusted to it, and i learned how to deal with it. in response, he also picked up what he can in conjunction with me.

*) also, give him enough opportunities to get rid of his biting/shredding instinct. i don't know about his cage set-up, and if he has a play stand etc. but you will be more successful if you provide plenty of opportunities (toys and locations) for your bird to get rid of some energy before you handle him.


so, i hope these few things give you an idea of where to start.... regards, bee

[Bonesy]

Above post = pretty much what i was going to say.

He isn't handled enough, he's insecure, and he sounds like he's responding out of fear & lack of trust. Which I can understand.

Birds do NOT bite for no reason whatsoever. An Unhappy bird is a grumpy one, and a grumpy bird is likely to want to take it's anger & pent up energy out on something it WILL get a response from. YOU.

Your bird should be out of his cage regular. At LEAST a good 5 hours, preferably 8 to 10. Plenty of flight room, plenty of toys & things to chew & nibble, and NO clipping. I abhor it.

As much as I respect it is the only solution for some people I personally do not agree with it. I wouldn't tie my cats legs together to stop him jumping up on my table. The same as I wouldn't affect the way my bird flies by clipping his flight feathers.

Do you know the reason why clipping is supposed to "calm" some birds...?

Because it subjugates them. It makes them feel forced and with no other choice as they now have lost the control they once had on their flight. I don't know about you, but I feel that's no way to get your bird to love & trust you.

Birds have the mentality of the average 5 year old child. They do alot fo things without really understanding why they do them. They need supervision, playtimes, love, affection. To them, it's like being a toddler locked in the same room every day of the week on their own. They don't understand why, but the first thing they're going to take it out on is the next person they see.

Do some research on training, especially clicker training. Do some work with him, he will appreciate not only the attention & bonding, but it will give him some enrichment, and some time to be WITH you, but not exactly close enough to bite at you.

As much as half of my clients hate me for saying it (I'm a bird trainer), but they all know it's the truth, half of problem birds issues are infact caused by the owner themselves. And as we all know, you can't start curing a problem until you've removed the cause, otherwise you wont get anywhere.

And lastly, he's already angry enough so having him on your HEAD is the worst idea imaginable. He's going to be physically higher than you up there & feel dominant over you, and will go for you if he is unhappy.

[Drumrnj]

Thank You both sooo much for your help. I have really learned sooo much. I will deffinitely be taking Sydney out more often. It is hard with both of us working two jobs, but we are going to do our best and it not unreasonable for us to take him out four hours a night. I guess it has been hard because, as all of us, we have other things going on in our lives, but Sydney needs or attention more than we have been giving him.
It sort of makes me sad because we really do want to be good parents...
Anyway, before i get too emotional ..thank you both again and I will let you know how the progress is going.

[tielfan]

If you're motivated enough to try clicker training, it can do a lot to eliminate behavior problems. You can't directly teach a bird not to bite, but the positive-reinforcement process helps build a closer, more trustful relationship between owner and bird and also gives the bird some intellectual stimulation. The urge to bite is likely to fade under those circumstances.

[Monica]

Some things to be sure of, make sure your pionus gets at least 12-14 undisturbed hours of darkness for sleep. If possible, also try and see if you can distract him by having various toys with you for him to play with..... such as foot toys or small hanging toys. Make a toy shirt/sweater (various toys hanging off the shirt at various levels) or even a toy necklace! Also, try and make sure he gets exercise! If he's flighted, have him do a few laps around the room until he tires. Do this each day and the more you do it the more it will increase his stamina. Once he gets the idea that flying is fun and will do so on his own, train him to fly to various areas within the room! Train him to fly to you, to his cage, maybe a gym, etc! If he's clipped, you'll have to "fly" him yourself... i.e. have him sit on your hand as you move your arm/body about the room forcing him to flap.

Here's a couple articles on biting.
http://www.birdboard.com/forum/avian...iz-wilson.html
http://www.birdboard.com/forum/bird-...mcfarlane.html

[Pepper's Pa]

You've already received a lot of great advice and suggestions to follow. I too have a Poicephalus Parrot, but a Senegal not a Meyer's. Learning to read body language is very important to prevent most bites. Keeping your Meyer's entertained is also important. Have you done any trick training with him? I know people who have stopped a lot of aggressive behavior by their birds by prompting the trick behavior once aggression is displayed and before biting occurs.
One last suggestion is concerning bathing. How often does your Meyer's get the opportunity to bathe? The energy a bird uses to dry and preen is energy that can't be used as aggression. Sometimes something as simple as a daily bath will stop a lot of biting.
Good luck in teaching your Meyer's to be a less aggressive bird.