Biting

[Gazbhoy]

Hello everyone, im having a little problem with my 2 year old COG Finlay. Hes started biting me quite often, ive tryed the method of not letting him know it was sore but that hasnt worked. He doesnt bite my mum hes like putty in her hands. So im mistified why he bites me, ive spent hundreds of time with him and had him out quite a lot and he has hundreds of toys. What can i do to stop the biting ?<br><br>Post edited by: Gazbhoy, at: 2008/12/11 23:04

[Dave007]

When does he bite you? What's going on when he bites you. Is he in his cage or out when this happens? Are you doing certain things near him when he bites you? Does he go out of his way to try and bite you? has this been going on just recently or has it been a long term reaction to you? Did you get along peacefully with him in the past? You may need a totally different approach than your mother has. You have to explain in more detail cause there's loads of reasons why birds do that.

He's also 2 yrs old and may have a temporary attitude change going on and that change doesn't have to be aimed at every single person in the house.

[Gazbhoy]

I can take him out his cage fine but when he is on top of it he bites me, and when he climbes up on my shoulder he will have a hard bite at my ear ive tryed acting like it doesnt bother me to no avail. The other day i was trying to get him back in his cage as i was going to sleep and he just bit right onto my arm and left 2 scratches. He just bites me when im trying to have a conversation with him. He can be a good bird the sometimes its like he just doesnt like me. My mum can scratch his head and stroke him but if i was to try he would have one of my fingers for lunch. Im very confident round about him so i havent been showing him any fear. When i just got him he was fine and didnt bite me but the more friendly my mum is with him its like the less friendly he wants to get with me ? I dont know how to let him know "IM BOSS" and that i wont stand for his biting. I bought a book parrot lopaedia but thats not really helped. What should i do ?

[Dave007]

First off..SHOULDER. Your grey is one of those types that right now is attracted to your earlobes. Pretty soon, when he gets more agile and learns how to move around confidently when on your shoulder his interest will eventually extend to your clothes, any jewelry you may wear, your neck, your hair. Many greys are like this. There's other greys that won't do any of these things. One grey who doesn't do this is no better than the grey who does do this. It's their personality and their natural attraction to things that causes this to happen. You happen to own a bird that should never be allowed on your shoulder. Others here have the same type of bird and they too now know that shoulders are a no no. Another thing concerning shoulders.when he doesn't wanna come off, he'll be able to avoid your fingers when you try to take him off simply because he's gonna be on the back of your shoulders where you can't reach him. If you go out of your way to get him off, he'll eventually bite the item that's chasing him. Your fingers.

If your mom is around the bird for longer periods of time than you it stands to reason that shes also doing other things that make the bird happy so it will take longer to get him to ease up with you. He sometimes doesn't like you? That happens frequently with parrots, not just greys. They have their moods and many times they don't want physical contact, ESPECIALLY GREYS. As a grey gets older, many become somewhat independent and wanna be alone. It's something that many people don't know about greys. That sweet cuddly little baby bird starts to grow and their natural personality appears. Greys aren't in general cuddly birds when they get older. For now, restart your relationship with him by giving him things that he'll enjoy like unshelled almonds. Eventually, they get the idea that a good thing is coming their way when you give the nuts. The big thing here are the shoulders though. If your bird will bite you up there, your natural instinct is to get yourself or the bird away. That may be uncomfortable for the bird because he doesn't wanna go. So, what does he do? he bites you, remembers that you gave him an unpleasent time and in the future reacts to that person who gave him a hard time and he does it by biting. I'm sure you'll have better progress if you stop the shoulder thing. It will take time but make sure you can see your bird in front of you all the time. Need some ideas about what your bird is doing in front of you? Go to Training secdtion here and read about BODY LANGUAGE of the bird. You'll be able to understand what he's up to and it'll make it easier to avoid the bird when he's in a bad mood.

[Gazbhoy]

Thanks dave for your great information i will let you know how i get on with him.