My brothers grey wont stop bitting me!

[slurms]

My brother got a bird a few years ago, and she was very nice to my brother. he got bitten often at first but it seemed a month went by and she hardly bit him at all. I tried for weeks to get her to let me touch her, but every time i went to touch her she went for blood. i have finally been able to touch her head for a few month now, but if i try to get her to step up she gets very nervous and try's to bite. My brother says im just a wuss, but i find it very hard to put my hand somewhere where i have a 50-50 shot at getting a very painful bite. I talk to her every time im around her, and do all i can to get her to trust me, but im still scared of her beak. i want to hold her and play with her because she gets bored when hes at work and beeps when he gets home cause she wants to play. I was hoping if she had someone else to play with she wouldn't beep so much when he gets home. so if you guys have any tips on how to help me get over my fear of her beak or get her to bite less please help me.<br><br>Post edited by: slurms, at: 2008/10/18 22:42

[siobha9]

Hi Slurms,

Welcome to the grey forum! I'm afraid your brother is partly right in calling you a wuss;) If his grey knows you are afraid of her, and that you will pull your hand away when she bites, she will bite to get you to remove your hand! You do need to stick with it if you want her to step up. There are lots of threads here about teaching your grey to step up, and on biting. Just use the search box at the top of the screen to find them.

 

You can interact with her without actually picking her up though. Even talking to her, or playing with a foot toy with her will keep her amused.

[lovemyGreys]

Here is one for the step up Siobhan mentions....

 

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/training/92640-teach-the-step-up-command.html

 

If you pull your hand away and yell, then your parrot gets a reaction out of you and will try again to get the same reaction. They think it's a game, try & show no reaction to him,try to distract him when you can see that he's going to bite,you can gently wobble your hand if he is on you this works well for me.I also have a clicker ( like some people use for dog training! ) if mine go to nip i click on the clicker & say a firm No in a strong voice, the clicker distracts them,or have a toy handy they he can play with.

Some people use time out, if your parrot bites you simply return him to his cage for 5 minutes & walk away from him & say nothing.Never respond to the biting it only re-enforces negative behaviour.All parrots at some point will & do bite.

[slurms]

Talk about an adrinalin rush! lol I just put my hand under her and let her bite and didnt pull back and she didnt want to let go. she was sawing at my skin! My brother was there and he said i was doing it wrong (in the demeaning brotherly voice lol) he said to do the a latter so he has to step up continuously and doesn't have time to bite. It worked for the first 3 steps then she flew at my face! it was like a seen out of the movie birds! lol so now i have 7 bite marks from 5 minutes of training. Im not complaining just venting my pain. lol i got her all the way from my bros bed to her perch without a bite though.:woohoo:

[judygram]

Siobhan and Tracy have given you some excellent advice, you cannot show any fear or she will pick up on it.

 

Why don't you introduce yourself in the welcome room and tell us a little more about you and this grey.