Help

[Baz]

Hi i have now established that my bird is about 5 years old but he bites. When i thought he was 5 months i thought he was bluffing. He'll take food out of our hands come on us and ride around but we can't pet him. He just flies to where we can't reach him. i'm trying to learn him step up at the moment but it is not going well. I am patient but my arms ache after so long.

[julie]

have his wings clipped.They do still bluff when they are older, these birds are masters at getting people to back off and some simply don't like to be touched, some only like to be touched in certain places. It helps to tell them what you are about to do or what you want them to do eg stepping up say step up and then make him step up ,say scratch before you try and they eventually learn what you want them to do. Nine times out of ten if I say scratch scratch to indie he comes running over as close to me as he can get and puts his head down for a scratch and if I say step up he jumps onto my hand, but if Aaron tries to make him step onto his hand he almost always gets bitten because he just doesn't tell him what he is doing. good luck and dont let him freighten you off.

[leo]

hi baz

i think ushould let him know what themeaning of "no biting"

mine bite too, but will stop when i said "no biting"
but will bite again when he is reallynot in the mood...but it helps whenever he wana try to bluff

[Baz]

Thanks for the infomation but how can i get him to know 'stop biting' means stop biting?

[leo]

for me, i start rather young...

i prepare the treat...

when he bite, u say"no biting" in really stern voive, not so loud, but very firm+ your eyes is staring at him, as if u wana eat him...this very important...bird is pray animals...they look at their predators eyes to determine wether it is attacking...so, eye is very important...without the eyas, the bird can just take it as u praise him...

usually, the he will stop watever he do once realising big eye looking..prise him(u should know what is the favourite phrese) and treat...
sometimes, u need a litte shaking to make the bird realize that u r looking...i mean u shake the hand he pearch on abit...

then give your finger again...af he bite, do teh same...till he realize that no biting is stob biting and he will get the resoult...

tango shows the resoult after the 2nd training...but bird get moody, so, sometimes they just have to bite...for me, i just put them back...(putting them back, i always say 'go home' then give him sun flower seed, mine hate going back to cage)

this work for my friend's bird too, 6 year old quaker, n 2 yo macaw...

anybody...any suggestion for this...
it is what i do....hope it helps u too...good luck

[freaky]

the way i did it with an untamed 14month old was

when he bites carry on pushing your hand towards him, dont say anything, dont make a noise, dont react. your finger will hurt, lots, if he bites and wont let go, run your thumb down his beak.

if you do it while he is on a wall, perch etc he has nowhere to go, he will step up.

if you react he will find it funny and carry on biting.

i had a 14month old that was terrified of hands, the previous owners would stick hands near him in case he bit.
it only took a few days to get him to step up, now 4 months later, he come when i call him, steps up without a command and is a lot friendlier.
he still bites/nips when grumpy, or if i ignore him, but nit to the stage he did.

again do not react, keep moving your hand closer. as soon as he steps up reward him.

[Baz]

When i try and touch him in his cage he just goes looney and runs around his cage and i'd end up just scaing the hit out of him if i chased him.

[leo]

yea..i think thats also another method...but, do you able to withstand the bite? some people will just get jerk up when is biten, thats reward for the bird

hmm,...to me, i prefer that the bird understand command to stop whatever he is doing...including biting wire and other stuff...

[Lene]

I use treats... I say 'step up' and as soon as the bird leans towards me I put a treat in his mouth... That way he can't bite, and after a while he simply stops, because biting is no longer valuable to him.

[Kristen]

Rufus used to bite when he was about 3 or 4. He lets me pet him now, but not as much as Donovan, who will insist upon being petted for about fifteen minutes. Whenever Rufus bit me, I'd spray him in the face with a water bottle and he hated it. Now he only bites (and throws a tremendous tempertantrum if he thinks I'm looking) when I lock him away from his bestest friend.

[Pioneer]

Thanks for starting this thread Baz, I'm actually learning quite a bit from it because my bird has been very vicious lately :/ he used to bite softly, then get harder and harder.. but now he's lunging at me and going really hard first off.. for no reason at all! :/ He steps up fine, no worries about that! but he's very moody with his biting all of a sudden. I'm going to try what leo suggested tomorrow. Tonight though I will just nurse my bleeding war wounds =)

[leo]

sory for the bite and wound...

hope you are success full...

just remember that u have to have stern voice(firm, doesnot mean loud)
and really stare at him, as sharp as possible...if he dont realise u r staring, shake him abit, he will look at u and realise that u r staring...

the staring must be done well, if not like what freaky said, the bird can take it as reward...

so, again, stern and firm voice and EVIL EYES...

i practice my self before doing it to tango...its like stupid to do it infront of the morrir, but mistake(it take as reward can be fatal here...

all the best !!!

[leo]

hi baz, so how was it going?