Mika has stated biting - what do i do?

[shazia]

Hi All

 

Mika is now approx 8 months old. Recently he has started to bite both me and my hubby (more so myself).

The odd thing is that he allows for me to give him food and stroke him as well. But sometimes he will go into an attack mode and try to bite at my fingers. My hubby did not believe it at first until Mika went for him just recently. Hubby now raises voice and tells him to stop, or walks out the room which normally calms him down.

 

I am not sure why Mika has started doing this, and what we can do to stop him from this behaviour. Especially with a new baby coming etc I do not want any bite type of issues and want to resolve them as soon as possible before the problem becomes permanent.

 

Any advice would be really appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Shazia

[Luvparrots]

What are the situations when Mika bites? It is hard to help or give suggestions if the circumstances are not known. To stop the biting; the cause must be known and acted upon. Details please!

[Lyric]

I think Mika is at the age where he is starting to assert himself and pushing to see how far he can get. They begin to be more independent at this age and he may be telling you in his way that he doesn't like something. Telling him No Bite and calmly walking away and ignoring him is probably a good way to handle the situation. I also will usually put mine back inside it's cage for a time-out if they intentionally bite me and I don't think I was doing something to deserve it! You must keep in mind that most birds bite at some time or other and for certain reasons- because of this your baby (when it arrives!) should always be closely supervised around Mika. Also, read some of the forum posts about a bird's body language- bites can usually be avoided if you know what to watch out for.<br><br>Post edited by: Lyric, at: 2009/06/10 20:55

[Eckobird]

Its sounds like to me that the baby stage is starting to fade away and the more independent stage is setting in. He probably wants to be left alone and do his own thing. Your going to have to start reading his body language for signs that he doesn't want to be bothered so you can avoid the bites. Here is a thread that talks about some body language. Good luck!

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/training/109373-body-language-most-frequently-seen.html#109373

or this one:

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/training/49882-body-language.html#49882<br><br>Post edited by: caitb2007, at: 2009/06/10 20:58

[Tycos_mom]

Have you taken her to the vet from the smelly issue if she isn't well she may be biting because of that. If you have taken her to the vet then I agree with the others that she's just trying to figure out who's boss. Then don't scream don't make a scene of any kind they love drama and if your makeing a scene or screaming everytime she bites then she wil keep doing it jst to get the reaction. the best thing todo is show no emotion at all like so what you bit me its not going to work give them a time out and turn your back and leave the room. he will soon realize biting isn't going to get him anything except to get locked up.

[Char]

I read your other thread also concerning the smell and agree this could be ANOTHER sign of illness. If she is sick it could be making her grumpy. If she is in pain and you are handling her when she feels the pain she could associate you with the pain.

 

I have read that parrots bite for 2 reason. 1. Out of fear and 2. We teach them to bite. For instance, she wants to be left alone and you don't read the body language so she bites you. She learns that a bite will get the desired result. Or, if she wants to go back to her cage and you take her there after a bite then she will bite when she wants to go back. ect..

 

It would help to know exactly what is happening when she bites. If you are petting or scratching her when it happens then it could be you are touching pin feathers and that hurts.

 

I am no expert but I feel she is a little too young to be asserting her independence just yet. Whisper is 18 months and has just reached this stage. But they are all different.

 

The other day I walked up to Whisper's cage and she freaked out and ran from me for no apparent reason. I realized I had on a new blouse with a jungle print on it and the flowers on it kinda looked like eyes. It scared her. I changed the blouse and she was fine. Could it be something like this that is scaring her? Even a cap or glasses they have not seen before or something like that can scare them.

 

Is she getting 10-12 hours of total darkness and quiet at night? If they don't get enough sleep they can be grumpy.

 

Is it a hard bite or is she just beaking you?

 

Some more details would help.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/06/11 03:22

[Raposa]

You've already had lots of good advice here, but I want to join in encouraging you to get Mika to a vet. If you have a problem with her smell, and if she has suddenly started biting, something is wrong. She needs to be medically checked out first, and then you can start dealing with behavior . . .

[shazia]

Smell Issue – Happens every so often. I don’t think Mika is ill (he not a she by the way).

My husband thinks I can smell everything due to my heightened sense of smell during pregnancy, but I do not think that is the case. Do African greys or their cages smell normally?

If so what type of smell would you attribute it to?

 

Biting issue –

Mika was fine with me up to about 1month ago.

What are pin feathers?

 

Mika normally bites me when I am stroking him. It is odd since he will put down his head for a stroke and the sometimes lash out at you. Other times he is fine.

But sometimes when I want to stroke him he will fluff up into attack mode meaning do not come near me or I will bite, I tend to then stay away from him.

 

Yesterday I was stroking him while he was perched at the top on my door and then all of a sudden he bit my finger. I pulled away and there was some blood. I am not sure if he was trying to bite or just beak and I got scared. I find it so difficult to understand the difference.

My husband yelled at him and closed the door, on him and we ignored him for a good 20 minutes. We felt so bad doing that, but hubby says we have to in order to train him.

 

Also recently over last few weeks he has started pecking/beaking harder at my husbands fingers and ears. My hubby normally yells at him and says NO, which stops Mika. He is closer to my hubby so maybe that is why he listens to him.

 

We got an African Grey thinking he would be tamer and gentler that other parrots, especially since our baby is due in a few months. Do you think Mika will be a danger to our baby. What precautions would you advise us to take.

 

Thanks

 

Shazia

[Natasha]

They are like us if they don't want to be touched they wil bite not that I bite lol but you know what I mean Boesman bites me if he gets down from the perch and I pick him up so after the third time of talking nice ect. I close him in his cage for about 5 minutes and tell him in a nice way he is naughty I don't yell!!!!! When I let him out his much calmer somedays they just want to play and don't realise they bite hard he also bites when his molting because of the new feathers and the pins are sensitive(when u touch him) but your baby is too young to be molting?? Dave can answer that question!!!!

[danmcq]

The others have all given GreYt advice.

 

#1 There is no smell normally in a clean cage or of the poo. That will only occur if you have old spoiling food in the tray or your birds poo smells, which is a sign of illness.

 

#2 When giving scratches etc. or Grey will also turn his head and clamp down hard at times. I am uncertain of what it means sometimes. He will turn his head clamp down hard then put it back down for more scratching. To him, I think he's letting us know it feels good and to keep it up. If however, he turns and bites VERY hard, we either hit a pin feather growing in or he wants us to stop. If he wishes us to stop, he does not put his head back down again and his body language definitely says thanks, now let me just sit here and chill.

 

#3 Sitting up on anything and you reaching up to scratch or retrieve. This is where you are going to need to watch his body language and eyes for pinning. If you see head leaning down, any feathers starting to ruffle or eyes pinning STOP. He does not want to be touched or moved. You will get a nip as you have been if you continue.

 

#4 Nipping at ears, finger nails etc. I normally read this as I have quit paying attention to him for too long and he gets me focused back on him. It seems to be their little nudge, just like they do to their friends or mates when they want attention or for them to move in case of danger in the air.

 

Your Grey is now at the age he is establishing a sense of self and independence. You will see these types of behaviour become more frequent and you will become very in tune with his body language as this continues. The best way to stop biting is to NOT put yourself or him in a situation that it becomes necessary in his mind. read his body language, learn where the places are that are his "hang out" and chill and he does not like being removed from except by his own accord. There will come times of course that you must cage him, thus making it necessary to have him step up whether he wishes to or not. In those cases, ball your hand into a fist and go in with the back of you hand drawn tightly moving it at his lower belly and just keep pushing forward so he has no choice other than to step up. He may try to bite your tightly drawn skin, but will quickly learn it is to no avail and your not withdrawing. After a while, he will learn that the hand coming in this fashion means, just give up and do it cause your not going away. Mine just lifts his foot when he see's this coming knowing that he has no choice.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/06/12 15:22

[shazia]

Thanks for all the advice.

 

What are pinning feathers, and where are they normally.

I was stroking his head gently this morning and have noticed that whenever we stroke him he finishes off with scratching himself.

I also noticed that his scalp is light pink and whitish dry (is that normal). I was pushing some of the feathers apart to look at his scalp in more detail, he has some feathers which look like grey nettles, are these just new feathers.

 

Thanks

[danmcq]

Yes, those little "nettles" you see are pin feathers coming in. If you hit one while scratching, they can hurt them a little and they will let you know. They normally do scratch themselves during and after when you are giving scratches.

 

If you are not already doing so, you should be misting, bathing or showering your grey atleast 2x a week with water and preferably Aloe Juice 100% strength which will help relieve the itchiness and make the skin more supple.

[shazia]

Hi

 

Me and my husband tried spraying mist over Mika 2 days ago, while he was in the cage.

How hot or cold should the water be?

Also how much should we spray him, should he be fairly wet or drenched?

Mika did not like the mist spray and became fairly angry afterwards gave my hubby a nasty bite, but was okay a few mins later once we had stopped.

I was thinking of getting my hubby to spray him 2-3 times a week, is this a good idea. Also after the spraying giving Mika a treat so he gets used to it.

Is there anything else we can do so he does not get upset when we spray him?

 

Thanks

[Tycos_mom]

Most Greys like very cold water i usually just use room tempature. 2or3 times a week is a good amoumt to bath them and the wetter you can get them the better. A treat will probubly help if he's mad to calm him down a bit. if your consistant with the bathing he will get used to it and may even end up likeing it or at very least tolerate it. keep doing what your doing your a good parront.

[Acappella]

Many greys don't like being misted or showered, but some grow to like it, others just become resigned to it. I've found it helps with Dorian to act like it's a game. Use an excited tone of voice and facial expression, laugh if he tries to attack the water bottle, clap, tell him he's a good boy, and then make a big deal of putting a treat in his dish when it's done (I put the treat in a dish instead of giving it to him because if he's really ticked off my fingers can look tastier than a peanut!) I look and sound like a fool doing it but who's going to tell, the cat?