Agressive and Nipping

[seankly]

I have had Tui now for 3 weeks, he is 14 weeks. He settled in fine, is eating well etc...

 

On a couple of occasions i have noticed him, especially on the ground on the rug, going for my daughter who is six. He will lift his wings and make squaking noises, jumping around at her, trying to what looks like, bite her?

 

Last night i sat him on his T stand, just after we arrived home from work. My daughter went to get him to stwp up and he went for her again. She was obviously upset as she loves playing with him and is always gentle with Tui.

 

I dont understand this? I spoke to the breeder who says Tui might be trying to show dominance over my daughter. Could his be the case? His advice was to have my daughter stand her ground and not show that she is scared of Tui, to be honest she isnt scared of him and these experiences hasnt put her off but i dont want her bitten sore.

 

What is your advice? Any help is appreciated.

 

Thanks

[casper]

Hiya Seankly.

 

Congratulations on your new baby grey Tui.

 

I have three greys and two children, my daughter is 12 and my son is 9. Out of the two children, my son took a big shine to the greys and showed a lot of interest in them. Our greys were very well socialized and would go to any of my family when we first brought them home.

 

My middle grey Keeko is 8 months now, after a few weeks of being home he started trying to nip my son and the last time he tried he actually gave Brad a bite on his arm.

 

Bradley had never done anything wrong with Keeko, but I have noticed with the Greys they dont like it when the kids will rush around and play ( as kids do) and I have had to keep a close eye on the relationship between them.

 

Brad was upset but I had to stop him from having physical contact anymore as after that bite I didnt trust Keeko with him anymore. I can have them out in the same room supervised but will not allow contact.

 

I know you want to involve your Daughter which is great but I would just be very careful. One bite from that powerful beak could scar her for life.

 

Your breeder may be right, maybe it is a dominance thing going on! Have they heard of this happening before? Is Tui bonded only to you? Could this be a jelousy issue from an early age?

 

Just monitor whats going on, I personally wouldnt allow your Daughter to let Tui step up if he is nippy just in case he decides to bite and injure her finger.

 

I hope you resolve this problem and hopefully its a one off incident, when Tui goes to nip tell him "No bite" And place him back into his cage for a while.

Give him time out. I dont know if this will help with him being so young but he has got to learn this behaviour is wrong, and now is the time to start.

 

Hopefully, others on here will tell you their experiences, as many have young children and have not experienced any problems.

 

Hope things will work out. Enjoy your new baby grey;)

 

Caroline.

[judygram]

I have to agree with Caroline, 6 year old children shouldn't be handling greys, they tend to be loud and fast moving which tends to make greys nervous and then they bite, better to let her grow up some and then slowly introduce them again. She may not be afraid of Tui but she is making her nervous and I would hate for her to suffer a bite that would leave a scar.

[seankly]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I certainly dont want to put my duaghter in any danger but its a shame to stop any contact with Tui and her.

 

I will keep an eye on the situation and make sure all contact is supervised.

 

Thanks

[casper]

Hiya Seankly,

 

Hope your baby Tui and Daughter are fine.

 

They can still have some form of relationship, my two children spend time talking and singing with the greys, they are even able to offer them treats. This has been built up over time. Its just the stepping up I would maybe stop for now if Tui gets nippy.

 

Sometimes the grey doesn't feel secure when handled by a young child due to the size of their fingers. They sometimes wobble their fingers and dont offer the support needed for "step up."

 

Keep us updated with their friendship, I am sure there will be a good relationship in the future, its nice your Daughter shows an interest in your grey.

 

Caroline.