An update on ozzy and some issues

[Ozzysmom]

So last night I was sitting watching tv and Ozzy got down from his cage and walked over to me and tried to climb my leg. This is very exciting to me because he came over on his own will and wanted to see me. Now to the problems.

 

He chews no stop holes I just have a towel or old sweatshirt covering my shirts.

 

He wants to be on my shoulder and will fight to get there. problem being he bites my ear and it hurts. last night he got up there and was playing with my hair then bent down and bit my forehead OUCH!

 

Anyone have these problems and been able to correct them?

 

he doesnt seem to be doing it to be mean, like with my hand he will nibble lightly then bite down. I think he just has not been handle so he doesnt know how to interact with people? Does this make sense?

[Spock]

Being on your shoulder is privilege not a right!!! Always invite Ozzy, perch him on your finger at chest level, and ask him if he would like to get on your shoulder! say "don't bite" lift him up and tell him to step down, if he nips or bites tell him, I don't like that and step him up and remove him, turn your head and ignore him for a moment... Maggie

[jessdecutie18]

We definatly had that problem Ozzy! Yoshi loves shoulders too, and really we both like having her up there, that way she can go where we go but we still have free hands. At first she tried that biting, same thing, not aggressive just curious. She would nibble a bit then bite down and it would hurt. We started telling her when she nibbled "Be gentle!" or "Be carefull!" and if she bit down we said 'No' and removed her to her cage and left the room. 5 minutes later I'd come back, get her out, talk to her, not let her on my shoulder for a little while, then put her up there and say "Be gentle!" and she would be all happy to be up there again. If after a couple minutes she bit again... then the process starts all over again.

 

Believe me it's frustrating at first, you do it several times a day and then you think they understand and then the next day it happens again. But she bit for less than a month and I have never had an ear or face bite since (that's like 8 months ago) so she has been trained. Of course you could always ban her from your shoulder if you need to, but for us this was the good option Especially if it's curiousness, they soon realize that their beaks upset you. If Yoshi ever gets moody when I remove her from my shoulder, she is done with the shoulder for the day, but that rarely happens anymore. She is a pretty gentle bird

 

Hope this helps!

[danmcq]

It does sound like Ozzie is exploring and perhaps wanting your attention.

 

The others have given good advice and comments.

 

Ozzie is not flighted, so you do have more control of where he can get to than a flighted bird that will just fly right back.

 

Will Ozzie step up from your shoulder if you try or does he bite when you do so? The reason I ask, is you can do as the others stated and remove him with a "No Bite" or "Be careful". I use "be careful" simply due to him knowing what it means and because I know our grey is not "Biting", he is requesting attention and I want him to learn to be a bit gentler with his requests. He has gotten much better at using proper beak pressure. I wil say though, if they get pissed off, upset at something that scared them, they will clamp down hard to get you to let you know they are pissed or want you to move away from the item scaring them.

 

As was stated previously, the shoulder is a previlege, not a right. IF they get out of control, no more shoulder previliges for an hour or two. They will learn quickly that when they do X, Y will happen and if they value the shoulder previlige, they will stop X, to avoid Y.

[JungleDreamz]

Yeah I would agree with the others, Great answers guys!

 

Calypso sometimes give playful but too hard of nips to me too, And when she does, Cuddle time is over...