BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Birds tip on parrot biteing?

hi all,

as you know mavis i have had an african grey for 3 yrs now,had him since he was 5months old. over a period of 6 months now rockyhas been biteing most of the time quite hard:( now i know there could be thousands of reasons why he could be biting but i dont see how it could be any of them? rocky is now 3yrs old. my a/g is not scared of me so i dont see that as a reason he could be biteing. but to me his mood seems to change quite often and that is what i think could be causing the problem.
i think it could be because it is his puberty age, im not sure:( but if you have any tips on how i can stop him biteing me i love him dearly and want to interact with him without being scared:(

please help mavis.

Mike

Have you read the articles I wrote on biting birds yet Mike?

A Biting Bird - Why Does My Bird Bite Me?

A Biting Bird - What To Do If Your Bird Bites

There is also Bird Behavior written by a friend of mine.

The causes & cures are varied, and there is no instant fix to this. Please read those articles over and give some of the suggestions a try.

Does your bird attack ur finger when he sees it or once you start touching him?

I have a Nanday conure that bites. I just got him about a month ago,at which time we couldn't touch him at all.I have been very patient with him,letting him get to know me on his own terms.In the last month he has learned to talk. He will come sit on my shoulder. Most of the time he doesn't bite,but sometimes he will, depending on his mood.He has come a long way,but he still has a long way to go. thanks. shirl.

In addition to following Mavis' suggestions, try eliminating sunflower seeds from the seed mix and just giving them as infrequent treats. That often helps curb aggressive behavior or biting in many different kinds of parrots.

Mike,

When I first researched getting my first CAG, I knew that birds bite for a variety of reasons. One BIG reason is that they are testing your hand or finger BEFORE they decide to step up. Your hand is essentially the next perch, and they want to see if it is a steady perch.

Remember birds have only their beak to grab onto things with...no hands. They grab a hold of the with the perch/hand with their beak/hand and ONLY when they feel it is secure do they then step over with a foot.

If the hand or person is new or fairly new and has pulled away before or dropped them or been scared they will often "test" the new person.

In other words before they will usually step up on a new hand that has let them down, they will give it a bit of a nip to see if it will stay there or pull away.

Why take a chance on stepping up if the perch might not be there and you will fall on your hiney.

I have learned over the years if a bird bites me it is something I am doing to cause the bird to bite. the bite is the birds way of telling me I am infringing on it's territory or boundaries or doing something wrong.

I am sorry I misread your initial post I thought he was three years old and you got him 6 months ago...

When is he biting you...in his cage out of his cage...has he been seen by an avian vet? This sudden aggressive biting could be a sign of underlying illness if he has never done this before.