More biting...

[PapillonDeNuit]

EN:

I don't know why he does this! I'm so good to him! We were eating breakfast together. We were done. Timmy was walking on the table for a minute or two. I let him. He walks, he chews up paper, he throws stuff on the floor. It's cute. He has fun. But I was finished, so I picked up Timmy to put him in his cage. And like usual, he doesn't want to let go of my hand. And that turns to biting. HARD. He bit me so hard that I bled profusely, and my finger went numb.

Why? I give him so much time outside of his cage. I feed him delicious food. I pet him. I love him! He doesn't bite my mom. Never. She doesn't know why he does this either.

FR:

Je ne sais pourquoi il ça fait ! Je suis tellement gentil avec lui ! On a eu le petit déjeuner ensemble. C'était terminé. Timmy a marché sur le table pour un minute ou deux. Je laisse le passe. Il marche, mâche des papiers, lance des trucs au étage. C'est mignon. Il s'amuse. Mais j'étais fini, donc j'ai relevée Timmy pour retourner dans sa cage. Et comme normal, il ne veux à lâcher de mon main. Et ça tour à la morsure. FORT. Il a me mordu si fort que j'ai saignée abondamment, et mon doigt a venu engourdi.

Pourquoi ? Je le donne des bonheurs devant sa cage. Je le donne à manger la bonne nourriture. Je le caresse. Je l'aime ! Il mord pas maman. Ne jamais pas. Elle ne sais pas pourquoi, non plus.

Edited October 3, 2019 by PapillonDeNuit

[SRSeedBurners]

That's a Grey for you.   Exact same behavior out of our Huey.   He's female preferential.   When I go to put him in in his cage at night to sleep he never wants to go and has bitten the hell out of me a few times when I was to lazy to take something to protect my thumb.  He will also bite me when he doesn't want to be put down.  I believe he thinks I am that hard-headed and need some forceful communication.   He never bites my wife this way as she can do no wrong.   Sometimes he's balking at being put down because he really likes to  be swing (standing up).   I don't mind swinging him but sometimes he wants it for 10-20 minutes and that's a really long time if I need to get going.

[LNCAG]

Same here. 

We adopted Snickers in 1997 and he took to me immediately -- hated/loathed my husband.  And he would even fool hubby by being sweet to him, luring him in -- then surprised hubby with a super-fast BITE.  Bad bites -- tissue damage bites.  

Snickers just doesn't bite me.  Even when Snickers is unhappy about something, and holding my finger a bit tighter than I wish he would -- he always stops short of an actual bite.

Biting: I don't know if it's true hate involved or just the sheer joy achieved in watching the drama that follows a bite.  

So sorry this happening to you.  Greys are just so smart and tend to do whatever they want -- no matter how much baby them, treat them, give in to their wants.  They are always capable of a bite.  Even I am at risk of a serious bite... and my grey adores me.    That's a grey for ya.  

[Greytness]

It's just what they do. Other species of birds, too. If they are displeased by something, how else can they relay that message to us?

My Scarlett takes it one step further. If I'm holding him and an unknown visitor comes to my home, he'll displace a bite of displeasure onto me. Ouch! Can't figure out if he's trying to warn me of perceived danger or that he's biting because he can't reach any of the visitor's appendages.

[LNCAG]

Greytness said >>My Scarlett takes it one step further. If I'm holding him and an unknown visitor comes to my home, he'll displace a bite of displeasure onto me. Ouch! <<

An old saying I heard in the 90s re: this biting behaviour with parrots" "If you can't bite the one want, honey, bite the one you're with" (hopefully someone on here is old enough to recognize the song this lyric was parodied from).  I am getting old.  lol  

So true with parrots around people they don't want to be around.

[PapillonDeNuit]

I agree with all of you, even you, Steven Stills! My stepdad said, and I agree, Timmy means no harm. He's sweet, and he loves me, but he still has the wild in him.

Dogs can be trained, and are expected to be trained to be tame and docile. They've been domesticated for a long, long time. I mean, look at a corgi. That's not a wild animal. Cats have been domesticated for much less time, in the big picture. And birds - birds are hardly domesticated at all. I mean, our birds wouldn't be able to handle the wild, but they're still wild animals!

[PapillonDeNuit]

But i still can't feel my finger...

[Greytness]

If you have prolonged numbness in your finger, he could have inadvertently hit a nerve. You might want to have it looked at.

[PapillonDeNuit]

Yeah, he wrecked something in my finger. I went to the doctor. Her response was basically, "Welp."

She was also overcome by cuteness when I described Timmy and the things he does.

[neoow]

Oof sorry to hear that. It's tough to know what goes through their heads sometimes.

[Timbersmom]

Yikes, I've had some pretty serious bites from Timber as well, but none that did permanent damage. Some have taken a few weeks to heal completely, but they did heal. I pray yours does also.

[PapillonDeNuit]

It happened AGAIN. We were having breakfast and a good time to go with it. I would pick Timmy up here and there - just so he doesn't associate me picking him up with playtime being over - and I'd tell him what a good boy he is before putting him back down.

Breakfast was over, and it was time to clean up. I got Timmy back in his cage, surprisingly with no fuss! As a reward I gave Timmy a head scratch. He liked it for a moment, and then CHOMP! My little guy took a solid piece of meat off of my pinky - the same one in the same spot.

My finger bled profusely, and I screamed bloody murder as I rummaged through the house looking for bandages, all the while leaving a trail of blood everywhere I went. It was like some gory version of Hansel and Grettle. This wound was deep, and something was really, really wrong. And I couldn't do anything, because I had to leave to go to class! (I take art school very seriously) I was in such a rotten mood on my way to class, that while driving I cursed my bird. This made me feel ten times worse. As upset as I was, I still love him to the moon and back.

If there was any hope of reganing the feeling in my finger, I guess it's lost now.

Anyway, my mom has been putting Timmy back in his cage after breakfast for me. I really think he just doesn't know his own strength. Maybe he's territorial over his cage?

[Greytness]

Oh no! 

Timmy is sending you one painful signal of his displeasure, It is possible that he could be territorial over his cage or simply not wanting to go back in at that time. Moving forward I would put him back in minus any scritches. Perhaps a treat and make it a day. Or have your mom continue to do the honors.

 

 

[PapillonDeNuit]

I'm thinking a treat, too. I don't want him to associate going back in his cage with playtime being over. Even though that's what it is, I suppose. My mom put Timmy back in this morning, and I gave him a treat.

Timmy doesn't get territorial when I take him out of his cage. If he doesn't want to come out right away, he'll gently push my hand away. I'm okay with this. I want Timmy to have his own free will. I love my little guy.

[Luvparrots]

The best thing to do is to tell your grey " No, that's not nice; shame on you" in a stern tone.  Then walk away.  You should be in charge, not your grey.

[Timbersmom]

Hard as it is to do, the advice I've always been given is to show no reaction when Timber bites. I really don't think he understands how damaging his bites are to me. Several have told me that the more reaction you give them, the more likely they are to repeat the behavior to get a reaction (reminiscent of small children). So, when Timber does give me a bite, I do what Luvparrots suggested. I say "no bite" to him sternly then clean up the blood trail and my sorry self without further fuss.

[LNCAG]

Parrots do love drama.  And it's hard not to cry out when being bit, I guess I just bite my own lip so I don't reward the parrot with the desired drama (making their human yell, scream, rant, etc.).  I suppose my worst biter was an Amazon who was boisterous, cuddly, funny, clever yet could change moods so fast -- those eyes pinned and signaled the change but it was so fast you had no time to react/prevent the coming bite. 

So sad this bird is biting you so hard.  Hope the feeling comes back, it may take a while to know if damage is permanent or not.  But man -- a bite in same spot again sounds extremely painful indeed. 

[SRSeedBurners]

Out of all my birds, nobirdy holds a candle to my bitey-ass conures.   But their so dang cute I can't resist going in for more punishment.

 

[neoow]

So sorry to hear about the second bite.

I would echo what others have said about offering a treat rather than scritches. This is what I do with Alfie. He gets a banana chip for going back into his cage. I've pretty much nailed the routine of him getting back in the cage with minimal fuss and not giving me as much of the run around as he used to- but he still gets a treat every time.

I really don't know what else to suggest. It's sometimes very difficult to work out what the trigger it and therefore how to avoid it or change the behaviour.