TEETHING STAGE help me please

[sanzoni]

Hey everyone! I have a 9 month old CAG. He is an awesome bird but I don't know how to tame and train him. He knows step up command and sometimes he will try to bite my thumb while he is on me. Every time I go to touch him he always grabs my fingers with his beak and then grinds my finger in his mouth and it hurts. No matter where my finger is going near him he follows it and starts beaking hard on my finger. I guess a lot of people call this the "teething" stage. I put the blame on me because I do not know how to properly train him. He does let me scratch his neck sometimes but I want to be able to touch and rub his feet, chest, without him always trying to grab my fingers and munch on them lol. How do I change this nipping, grinding beak behavior so that I can interact with him more and eventually be able to cuddle with him and stuff? I was in the pet store the other day and all the greys there do not respond to your fingers and let you pet them almost wherever you want. That is the kind of relationship I want. Please help me how do I fix this with time? Thank You

[Cheshire Cat]

I've only had my bird for about six weeks, but one thing I will say, greys aren't really 'cuddling' birds. Sometimes my bird, Tui, will take my fingers and grind at them. She's very attached to my fiancee and will do the same with his fingers which I think is more affectionate than anything. I know you said that it hurts your fingers - my bird bore down so hard on my finger once that it was numb for a while afterwards. They're just very curious animals. My Tui has only really just started coming onto my hands by herself when usually she wouldn't do this. Most of the time I just leave the cage door open and let her come and go as she pleases.

 

It may be that you should sit down and talk to your bird, include him in your daily activities like eating breakfast, tidying up etc. Let him know you want to include him as part of your 'flock'.

 

One point which I saw on a YouTube video about biting birds, although I don't know if your bird actually bites...show the bird the back of your hand when he goes to take your fingers; if you show the back of your hand, he can't get to your fingers. That may help.

 

I'm only advising you on the six weeks experience I've had with Tui and also from the books I've read and videos I've watched. I'm sure in time your bird will come to sit on your hand and interact with you more. It takes time and patience. All the best.

[sanzoni]

I had mine for about 5 months now. It is not so much the cuddling that I want, more of my cag just letting me touch him more without following my finger wherever he goes and grinding on it. I want him to almost not react to my fingers as much and let me scratch his head, back and feet more. Do you or anybody have any suggestions for this? And when I mean there is almost NEVER a time where he does not let me touch him without grinding on my fingers, I mean NEVER lol.

[Cheshire Cat]

I'm sorry if I came over a little strange when I said about the cuddling. I didn't mean to. Is there anyone else who interacts with your bird, or is it just you? I'm just curious here. For a while my bird wouldn't let me do much with her and was bonding more with my fiancee; thankfully, she seems more comfortable around me now. It's just greys behave differently with different people.

[sanzoni]

Ohh no. You didn't come off like anything. No there is nobody else.

[Cheshire Cat]

To be honest I'm really not sure...Being a new comer to Greys myself, I'm also going through a learning process. I tried my best in my first response to explain how things may help. I hope I've been at least some help and you have luck with your Grey. I wish I could say more. It's a learning process for all of us. I'm still picking up new things about my bird as I go along.

 

You could always try and play with him with a toy; that may take the emphasis off your hands/fingers.

[Tweedle]

Hello, I'm a newbie here and not very experienced with birds, but have done a lot of clicker training with dogs. My immediate thought would to be mark and reward a lot, lot, earlier in the process - by the time his beak is on your fingers he's already practising his chomping behaviour.

 

I did a similar thing with a dog that chomped on my hand whilst taking treats - I can outline an approach for your parrot in the 'Clicker Training' section if you would like - if there isn't a thread there already!

[Dave007]

The teething stage-----Greys as well as other parrots have no teeth. Look upon your bird's beak as it's hand. Everything he touches is done by the beak/hand first. Everything he touches is bitten by using pressure so that the texture is known. Hard, soft, breakable, unbreakable. All of that is done very frequently while the bird is very young and lessens as time goes on as the bird gets older and is more familar with different items that have been tested. Greys aren't normally as cuddly as other species of parrots and that increases as the bird gets older. Practice a step up program and walk away with your bird frequently so that his attention is on other surrounding areas while he's on your hand. Start this stepping up training on the floor. Practice different things on the floor. Have tug of wars with strings and small toys that he's familar with. Don't put so much emphasis on putting your fingers in it's body until you learn of a way to make your bird step up quickly. Take him from the cage and put him on a playstand. Have treats available that you can hand him instead of your fingers. Interacting with your bird may be a bit of a process until you show him that you're the boss. More than likely, you're approching your bird ight now and you're a little leery about what he's gonna do and a grey can sense that very easily and will get nippy. If you're not sure of yourself yet, he won't be sure of you either and the first thing he'll do is take his beak/hand and get nippy.

Edited August 1, 2010 by Dave007

[danmcq]

Daves spot on as always.

 

At 9 months, he is still very much an infant. You may want to start paying close attention to his body language as you try to approach for a beak rub, head scratch etc. The beaking you describe is his way of telling you no thanks and a firm manner. It's not a bite, it's a warning. If you see eyes pinning, stance with head starting to go down or feathers fluff up a little, your move or request is being declined.

 

There is a great thread on body language in the training room as a sticky you may want to review.

[sanzoni]

lol i know they have no teeth, i just heard a lot of people call this the teething stage. And yes, TWEEDLE if you do not mind that would be cool if you can outline the clicker training approach.

[aeriga]

I'm not having this problem....yet anyways with oscar. Usually he will let me pet him or pick him up with no hassle.(He does not know step up yet, but usually will step up if you put hour hand infront of him - guess he wants to be picked up) Although if he does get testy usually he wants to be left alone. So we give him a time out, we leave the room for a few minutes and then come back and usually he is better.