Biting ?

[marions91]

Does anyone have an answer to this ? My Bobby is a little pet, he loves sitting on my shoulder watching t.v and getting his head scratched. But when my daughter comes into the room his personality changes completely! She's always treated him nice and trys everything to get on his good side, but nothing works. He even starts biting me when she's there. Whats happening ? We hand fed him from age 5 weeks and she never done anything on him.

[judygram]

Bobby is just being Bobby, he has obviously chosen you as his favorite and he views your daughter as a threat to your relationship. This is typical of a grey to choose one favorite and not want much of anything to do with anyone else and he is biting you to warn you about her getting too close.

 

There is not much you can do to change it, they pick their favorites and maybe with some time he might soften up and allow her more to do with him but she should just accept it that you are the chosen one.

 

She didn't have to have done anything to cause this, its just the way some greys are but maybe some of the more knowledgeable members will have some better ideas about this problem.

[Tycos_mom]

Allot of birds are like this not just Grey's. They decide your their chosen one and they don't want anybody or anything interfering with that. my new Macaw has decided that I'm his and when my daughter walks into the room and he wants me to get away from her so I have to put him down very quickly or he will nip me not enough to draw blood but he's a big bird and even a little love bite hurts. I always tell my daughter to keep her distance if I have him he's pretty good but if she gets within about 3 ft of me I'm done for. He doesn't try to bite her just me. talk about misplaced aggression I'm the one he loves for heaven sakes.

[ramsabi]

My wife is the one who feeds Rishi, cleans his perches and cage, constantly talks to him (the three or four words that he speaks, he has learnt from her) and generally panders to every whim of his. But he simply refuses to allow her to touch him. He used to become aggressive if she even approached me but lately he has grouchily accepted her presence.

[harmonicaman68]

How long have you had Rishi and how old is he?

 

By the way ... I like the photos you have posted to your profile page:)

[ramsabi]

Thanks Harmonicaman. He has had us since Feb 09 !!! He is about a year old now.

[danmcq]

Birds "Nip" when they feel uncomfortable, jealous or threatened to get their partner to move away from the perceived threat. They do this in the wild as well.

 

There is no way to resolve this 100 percent, however you can try to lessen it. I have had the same issue at times with our grey, conure and even dobermans that become jealous. My wife and I try to nip this in the bud the instant we realize it is starting to happen.

 

Please Note: What I am describing, is any pet that is already used to all the members of a household, is there on a daily basis and has interacted daily with the pet(s). This does not include people that come over and visit occasionally or has not interacted a lot with the pets.

 

What we do is hug, kiss and talk happily together, with the pets close and watching. Then once they accept it with no displayed aggression, we bring them into the mix for a "Group Hug" and include them in the lovey dovey session and afterwards reward them individually with praise and treats.

 

This has worked for us.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/09/01 15:31