biting and interaction

[arasay8600]

I have had my grey DJ for about 3 months now. He is 14 years old from a previous owner. He is a plucker and I've taken him to his new vet and started giving him foraging oportunities to keep him stimulated. But my main problem now is biting. I want to play with him using my hands badly and even have dreams about it! I have been talking with him and interacting in a positive manner. He does not offer his head for scratches but he does come over out of his cage to chat about good looking birds, make the "sip" sound when I take a sip of coffee, and ask if I want a cup of coffee, along with every squeak and beep in the house. He gently takes food items from my hand etc. This past week I have been pushing him a little to step up. I usually do this in the morning after I change out his food and water and before I give him his warm bird pasta. I know his last owner taught him to step up and I saw him do it. I have learned alot of his body language and know when he is going to bite. I leave the room whenever he displays agressive behavior to me. He is very clear with his body language and never bites out of the blue.

 

Here is the scenario lately: I set up a pearch stand by his cage so that he can get onto it. I stand by that pearch and if he comes over (he does most of the time) I start to try to get him to step up with some treats. He would raise his foot like he got the idea, but then he would put his foot to his mouth. Kindof like when you wave, realize its not ur friend, then act like you were smoothing your hair. Then he bites. Some of the time he charges me head down, beak snaping, so I back away and wait for him to calm down. Then if I introduce my hand and say "step up" he lowers his head in a charging position, snaps his beak and pin holes his eyes. If I don't get his obvious cues at this point he will bite. I leave the room again for awhile and try again when he is better. There has never been a time when I have interacted with him with my hand that he hasn't reacted in this way. Should I aproach him in a different way or at a different time? I am lost on how to proceed. Also, sometimes when he reaches out he does not bite but pinches hard, could this be him trying to get a grip on my hand and I interpret it as agressive?

[lheffer1]

I will be keeping an eye on any responses you get, as I have that same problem of biting with my 14 year old. It is very frustrating, and I have had mine since he was a baby. He won't bite my husband, but he will bite me sometimes. I use a welding glove to pick him up.

[judygram]

Both of you have older greys and they are kind of set in their ways, not that they cannot be taught some new things but it will be more difficult.

 

Arasay you have only had your grey for 3 months and that is not long enough for him to trust you, it takes much longer to gain the trust of an older grey. Do you know anything of his past? Maybe he was mistreated at one time and does not like handling much. Some greys do not like to be handled at all so if that is the case then you will have to respect that, some are cuddle muffins and their owners can touch them most anywhere but a lot of them are hands off for whatever reason.

 

Arasay, I would back off from trying to handle him for the time being, you need to work on trust and if you keep pushing him for something he obviously doesn't want right now you may never get it.

[Dave007]

""""" I use a welding glove to pick him up. """"""

 

That's probably one of the reasons you won't have much success as far as picking him up. No gloves of any type should be used in order to get the bird and that's especially true of much older birds who will seriously bite someone who approaches them with gloves.

[lovethatgrey]

Any type of "glove" will definitely not foster trust or confidence. Trust and confidence needs to be earned first and that takes alot of time, patience, gentle persistance and consistent behaviour on your end.

[danmcq]

As Dave and Lovethatgrey stated, gloves off, otherwise the fight is on. They scare the hell out of them.

 

In regards leaving the room simply because DJ is showing the body language that he does not want to step-up. I would stop that.

 

It's great that you have learned his body language. Now use it to your advantage by simply stopping your hand forward movement, back it off and as your doing so, tell him it's ok, your a good boy." In a happy and high pitched voice and mean it. YOu can not say this without a smile and feeling happier inside. rather than apprehensive.

 

After you have done this several times and noted his positive reaction as if he is saying "Now we are communicating". Start saying "Good Boy DJ!", in a happy voice, smile (They know what a human face looks like when smiling) and after he seems happy too, slowly start in for a step-up. Watch his body language and ensure it remains neutral. If it is, then continue. If not, then stop and back off again telling him he is a good boy.

 

They love positive reinforcement and you will see a big change in your bird faster using it than any other way. Leaving the room or placing back in a cage simply accomplishes their goal of just getting you to leave them alone. Nothing is accomplished this way because they got what they wanted. :-)

 

The do love being with or at least seeing the flock. As I said, capitalize on that by staying their and just being his happy friend. :-)