LadySerpent Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I imagine biting is a normal behavior? She would sometimes bite you when you are holding her. She acts like she's testing us. I guess she is trying to see if she can get away with biting? And I was also wondering about showers... What to do and what not to do??? Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 (edited) Yes, biting is normal when a grey gets to that young age of wanting to test the waters and see what he/she can get away with. It's also the time for people to show bad reactions to getting bitten. The bird needs to know that biting isn't the way to achieve anything. We have a section on the board called Body Language which you should look at if you're a first time owner. That lets you see what a bird will do before he actually does it. It stops a lot of biting incidents. Showering is simply taking your bird to a shower and letting him/her see what's going on without putting the bird in the shower. After a while a bird will get used to seeing that area and what's going on. My method before trying to put a bird on a shower perch is to simply put the bird on the bottom of the tub and letting him get used to feeling the water splash around. Next step--try to lightly mist the bird so he/she gets used to getting wet. After that is done for a while, the next step is to have your bird on your arm to get used to getting wet with the owner. Next step by some people is to perch a special perch that suctions onto the wall of the shower and putting your bird on it. If the bird wants to get wet, he/she will open his wings. You can repeat this many times until your bird gets used to it. On the other hand, many won't tolerate any type of shower or even getting bathed. Many greys are like that.In that case, misting is the best thing to do. If a bird is anti water, it will show displeasure with any type of getting wet. In that case the person needs to manually soak the bird and than let the bird drip dry. They may squawk or growl but when it's over, a bird will proceed to preen itself and there won't be any attitudes. Edited February 20, 2011 by Dave007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdsAreGrey8 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 That's good advice. Like Dave said, start slow and don't rush him into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Dave is right on with his advice on both subjects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySerpent Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 So how do we show him/her that it is not ok to bite? I've been flicking her beak when she bites and said "no bite". I do not flick hard tho... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 If she ontinually bites, you need to put her back in her cage adding on * thats no* and leave her alone. When she tries it again, same procedure. Many times, it has to be done over and over before they get the message. Flicking her beak hard or soft won't work at all. It'll only get her angrier the next time she's on you. By the way, how long have you had this bird? If you just got her, it may be that she has lots more to get used to before bathing PLUS bathing isn't very important right now. Don't believe everything you read. A small trick---if she's on your hand or arm and she bites, slightly move your hand or arm. She'll pay lots more attention to losing her tight grip on you and will settle down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySerpent Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 No, I'm not really worry at all about the bath. I was just curious to if they actually enjoy that bath time with the human. We have only had her for 2 days... She seems to really adjust well and love the attention. Anymore tips and pointers? We still haven't even name it! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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