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Baby IRN bitting...
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 11:47 pm
by Hermionestwin
Hi
my 78 day old IRN has been biting all memebers of the family, and she has been more and more vicous with us now, making us bleed taking big chunks of skin out...is this just a phase or is she just a vicous bird? We are trying to ignore the behaviour, but with her biting so hard its very hard not to make a reaction from her bites?
What should we do?
Re: Baby IRN bitting...
Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:37 pm
by Melika
Whew that would be rough! She might be in her 'bluffing' stage, unfortunately for you she's not just bluffing through it.
What do you do when she bites?
Re: Baby IRN bitting...
Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 2:44 pm
by Hermionestwin
We dont yell at her, he just leave our hand there and ignore her, and say step up and if she bits again, we move or and and turn our backs on her.....and then we leave her be and then go back after like 15mins or so and try again...this morning she bit me reallly had in the nail bed of my thumb...then i had a tissue around my thumb and she didnt attack and i kinda got her to step up......but she is still learning of that process...i think the breeder we got her, only held her in his hands to restrain her.........
Re: Baby IRN bitting...
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 12:50 am
by smallworld
I'm reasonably new to IRNs too but what I've done with all my other birds as well as with my IRN and it really helped, was to hold them in a warm towel, pulling the towel above the back of their neck n just covering the lower beak. They tend to nip on the towel n forget about you. I roll them up in the towel by the way. Then I'd just sit back n watch tv and hold them for awhile. In the begining stages I do this for only a few minutes but later on they get really comfy and can stay for up to half n hour. They do poop in the towel which you'll have to clean. While holding them in the towel, i try to slowly approach them and touch their beak or scratch their head. But I wouldnt do this for the first 2 or 3 days. Talking to them helps too. I always just say 'I'm not here to hurt you' or something like ' who's a good boy today huh'. After that I usually try to give them a small piece of their favourite food from my hand. Do this like when you return them to their cage or something. At first they'll turn sharply around with their beaks open but slowly they'll warm up to you. Pretty soon you can feed them while in their towels. This is just a technique I've used that I find works for alot of birds not just IRNs that I've had. Just warm the towel up on the heater for awhile or under an Infrared light. I think they take comfort from the warmth. Your grip should not be too tight around the towel too, just firm enough so he cant wriggle out. Of course, if she is not clipped, trying to get her in the towel would be a little more stressful.