I need advice on bathing and biting.

[Tule]

One. Tule needs baths. But he doesn't like them. Almost every time I refill his water dish, he will go over to it, fluff himself up like no other, and basically "attack" the water, and shake his beak like he wants to splash it around. In the end, everything is wet except him. I've read the bathing posts by Dave, and the second option sounds like it will probably be the best.

 

My problem is, I don't want to. I hate to see Tule unhappy! When he screeches or screams or growls my little heart breaks into a thousand pieces and I'm afraid he will hate me forever. :( I don't want to traumatize him, and I don't particularly want to plague my neighbors (apartment complex) with his noise.

 

What can I do, if anything, to make this a more pleasant experience? For anyone.

By the way, I have tried tons of things. I've brought him in the shower after I've showered, while I'm showering, I have filled up the sink and floated toys in the water and played with it myself. I filled up a brownie pan with water and put it on the floor, doing the same as the sink. I've tried spraying him. The furthest I got was with the pan, he stepped off my hand into the water (just getting his feet wet) and then got out right after.

 

Two. Biting. I understand that often (always?) getting bitten is my fault. He gives me all the signs and if I ignore them or don't notice them, well, too bad for me! However, he will bite in situations where I have no idea why or what to do. When I get him out to play, he likes to sit on my knee. The past month he has started biting my pants (and my legs...) while he's there. It hurts! I can't think of anything I am doing to provoke him, and I don't know how to show him it's bad. Spray bottle? Sharp sound (like another bird would), whaaaat? It's terrible, I want to have him out but after ten minutes it's unbearable, and we're both so flustered that it just goes crazy and I have to put him back to try again in another 10/20min.

 

What can I doooo? I want to be as Tule-friendly as I can, but he's driving me a little bit crazy and needs some guidance! The woman who bred him told me that Greys will go through a "terrible two's" phase, when they are around 2-3 years. Well, Tule is in that age range and he sure is being a little terrible. She told me "he will be extra persistent about what he wants, and if you don't want him to do it you have to be just as persistent". Well, okay, but how? I don't want him to hate and/or resent me. I've had birds for years, but never one as intelligent as Tule and it was so much simpler.

 

Any advice is super welcome. Thanks in advance.

[Dave007]

Simple--- lightly tap him on his upper beak with your finger nail. That will distract him. If he starts again, tap him again. Eventually, he'll temporarily stop until you put him in an area where it's easy for him to bite/investigate all the appealing things, you and what you're wearing. When he continues, then do it again and again. It's not the same as hurting or being aggressive with him. After all, he's not being aggressive with you. He likes to bite things including your clothes, bare skin. Very natural.

As far as bathing, both posts cover just about every scenario that could exist including growling, squawking, lunging, stubborness. You control everything. I also spoke about how a bird feels after bathing. At one time or another, you gotta believe in some of these methods and put up with things that he's doing even though he's making you think that it's a horrible, terrible experience. You're the one feeling that, not your bird. Gotta be brave. Gotta show who's the boss or his attitude will remain the same cause he'll know exactly what to do the next time. It's a matter of learning how to cope with a particular personality of a particular species of parrot and the biting and the bathing has nothing to do with the * terrible twos*. That term is used too loosely and shouldn't apply to so many things. Don't let your bird take over.

Edited September 12, 2011 by Dave007

[Tule]

Okay, thank you. The tip on biting sounds great. Maybe I should go get or put together a new fun toy for him. I got rawhide a little while ago but it only keeps him occupied for so long. That will help, I'm sure.

 

As for bathing, you pretty much just reaffirmed what I already thought - it's just me. I know he's gong to love it afterwards. Guess I better just tough it out. He's right in the middle of a molt, too, so it should be extra nice. Maybe he'll even decide he likes it. Thanks again, you're always super helpful.

[Mr. T]

What were you spraying him with and what was the water temperature? The best thing I have found for our birds is a hose spray attachment that has a "mist" option or I just bring them into the shower with me if they are in the mood and they will usually walk right into the stream, fluff up and walk out when they have had enough.

 

One thing I will say however is water temperature is very important, our macaw is the only one of our three birds that like both cold and warm water, where as our CAG and Too prefer being misted or showered with cold water so keep that in mind perhaps the temperature isn't to their liking or maybe the environment is throwing them off.

 

You say he puffs up and seems interested in the water in his cage, maybe he would prefer to bathe in there? maybe try placing a large enough dish for him to climb into and flap around in his cage as an option?

 

Lastly biting, is something that is natural however some cases it cannot be tolerated example being a friend is holding the bird and about to get a finger chomped off intervene! However I personally don't think punishment works with birds at least not your typical punishment. If your bird prefers to be on your knee and has began to develop a biting habit while spending time with you in that manor perhaps you make spending time on your knee a privilege and next time he bites you simply tell him no! remove him from your knee and put him back in his cage for 20-30 minutes. Hopefully repetition of this process will eventually extinct this behavior if not we can go from there. But you certainly dont want to go squirting him with a bottle and damaging the bond you have.

 

good luck!

[Tule]

I used a spray bottle with an adjustable nozzle. I tried halfway between mist an spray so it wouldn't be too much or too little. It was cold water, and so is what I put into his water dish which is why I thought he would prefer that. I thought about putting a dish in his cage just the other day, actually. It was close to bedtime though so I didn't, and then I forgot. I may try that tomorrow.

 

The biting wouldn't bother me except he bites my pants and unknowingly my legs underneath, and if I try to reach to stop him in any way he gets angry and will lunge at my hand. So I can't tap his beak or take him off my knee. I thought for a while he might have been biting my pants from aggression, but he is the one who climbs up on my knee and is perfectly able to climb back off. Last night I had him on my leg and he sat there calm as could be while I rubbed and scratched him, and I can't figure out what the difference was. He also goes for feet, he attacks them! My toes mostly, he'll grab them and bite them. He has no such interest in fingers though. If I reach towards him, like my knee, he gets angry. But if I don't do anything, he keeps biting. I'm all for putting him away so he understands it isn't okay, but it's nearly impossible to pick him up unless I want some firm chomps on my fingers first. So it's either knee/toes, or hand...

[Barbara2]

I used a spray bottle with an adjustable nozzle. I tried halfway between mist an spray so it wouldn't be too much or too little. It was cold water, and so is what I put into his water dish which is why I thought he would prefer that. I thought about putting a dish in his cage just the other day, actually. It was close to bedtime though so I didn't, and then I forgot. I may try that tomorrow.

 

The biting wouldn't bother me except he bites my pants and unknowingly my legs underneath, and if I try to reach to stop him in any way he gets angry and will lunge at my hand. So I can't tap his beak or take him off my knee. I thought for a while he might have been biting my pants from aggression, but he is the one who climbs up on my knee and is perfectly able to climb back off. Last night I had him on my leg and he sat there calm as could be while I rubbed and scratched him, and I can't figure out what the difference was. He also goes for feet, he attacks them! My toes mostly, he'll grab them and bite them. He has no such interest in fingers though. If I reach towards him, like my knee, he gets angry. But if I don't do anything, he keeps biting. I'm all for putting him away so he understands it isn't okay, but it's nearly impossible to pick him up unless I want some firm chomps on my fingers first. So it's either knee/toes, or hand...

 

I went to the pet store and went to the dog dish aisle. I got a shallow water bowl with a weighted base and put it in the bottom of the cage. It has been there for a week and Egan finally got on the edge today and explored it with his beak. He didn't bathe but he at least acknowledged that it is there. I have to change the water out every day (sometimes more often because of poop) but I think it's going to work. The plus side for me is that he does seem to enjoy being sprayed if the bath doesn't work.

[Kaldi0143]

If I reach towards him, like my knee, he gets angry. But if I don't do anything, he keeps biting. I'm all for putting him away so he understands it isn't okay, but it's nearly impossible to pick him up unless I want some firm chomps on my fingers first. So it's either knee/toes, or hand...

 

I kind of have the same issue with Willie at times. His mood changes so fast. One second he's all fine and happy with me doing whatever, then he just randomly lunges and bites me. I've taken some pretty rough pinches from that beak of his. I know it comes down to "if I don't trust him, he won't trust me", but dang, it hurts and I can't help but to yank my arm away >.< He usually gets me on my wrist. I broke down and ordered some Kevlar arm protectors from Amazon. Between his beak and his nails, my poor arm has been through hell. When I wear the arm protectors, I have more confidence that its not gonna hurt like hell and I don't draw back. After a couple of biting attempts, he realizes I'm not going to pull away and his whole mood changes and he's cooperative and content.

 

I still handle him without the sleeves sometimes, and I still take bites, but he's not as bad. As far as the pants chewing thing, Willie does that too, so I've gotten to where I wear pants that I don't mind him gnawing on and if he gets too deep I blow on him and he stops and looks at me like "uhm?"