biting irn
Moderator: Mods
biting irn
Hey, I've had my indian ringneck for about 4 months now. When I first got him he was 10 weeks old, and hand raised he never bit me and was really tame, about a month after I got him he started biting all the time and still does now, and I don't know how to stop him? I still handle him all the time but his bites just keep getting harder? He seems to do it more when he's in or around his cage.
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ellieelectrons
- Posts: 2708
- Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
- Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Re: biting irn
The key to stopping biting is understanding why your bird is biting. Since they can't tell us, this isn't always easy. It can be because you are in their territory, you are trying to get them to do something they don't want to do, they are scared, etc.
Biting near the cage is quite natural. The cage is your bird's home and bird's have a natural instinct to protect it. Do you have a place that you can interact with your bird away from the cage? Eg. a gym, t-perch, etc. You will need to interact with your bird differently around its cage than you would in other settings. I recently had a problem with Janey biting in certain locations in our house (see http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=14905). I changed the way I interact with her in those locations - and I've been bite free for a few days now.
With Janey, too, once she starts biting, she gets all riled up and is more likely to bite again so once she starts biting I try to leave her alone until she is calm again.
I've also found that using food rewards to get my birds to do things they don't want to do is better than trying to force their behaviour. It provides the motivation to get them to do it and they are less likely to bite. Finding the right food for the task is sometimes a problem as it can change from day to day. Some days Janey will "go to bed" (go in her cage) for a bit of banana, other days it might need a bit from a muesli bar or something else.
The only other suggestion I have for you is to look at your bird's body language before you approach it. Try to limit your interactions with your bird to when your bird is calm - not excited or agitated. As you get to understand your bird's moods better, you don't always have to do this, but when you are having problems with biting, it's a good idea to go back to first principles.
To summarise, I suggest:
1. Interact with your bird away from its cage
2. Try to use food rewards (or other rewards) to get it to do the things you want it to do rather than forcing it to do things
3. Interact with your bird only when its calm - not excited or agitated.
I hope that helps.
Best wishes.
Ellie.
Biting near the cage is quite natural. The cage is your bird's home and bird's have a natural instinct to protect it. Do you have a place that you can interact with your bird away from the cage? Eg. a gym, t-perch, etc. You will need to interact with your bird differently around its cage than you would in other settings. I recently had a problem with Janey biting in certain locations in our house (see http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=14905). I changed the way I interact with her in those locations - and I've been bite free for a few days now.
With Janey, too, once she starts biting, she gets all riled up and is more likely to bite again so once she starts biting I try to leave her alone until she is calm again.
I've also found that using food rewards to get my birds to do things they don't want to do is better than trying to force their behaviour. It provides the motivation to get them to do it and they are less likely to bite. Finding the right food for the task is sometimes a problem as it can change from day to day. Some days Janey will "go to bed" (go in her cage) for a bit of banana, other days it might need a bit from a muesli bar or something else.
The only other suggestion I have for you is to look at your bird's body language before you approach it. Try to limit your interactions with your bird to when your bird is calm - not excited or agitated. As you get to understand your bird's moods better, you don't always have to do this, but when you are having problems with biting, it's a good idea to go back to first principles.
To summarise, I suggest:
1. Interact with your bird away from its cage
2. Try to use food rewards (or other rewards) to get it to do the things you want it to do rather than forcing it to do things
3. Interact with your bird only when its calm - not excited or agitated.
I hope that helps.
Best wishes.
Ellie.