water spritzes for bite punishment: is it mean?

[B.B.]

Hey Everyone,

I have one of those Jekyll and Hyde lovebirds that is generally sweet.
He never used to bite. Now he seems to try to find an excuse to bite me a few times a day. It seems to be part of his recreational therapy. I am pretty sure most of the time what will provoke a bite, (interupting his coitus with my foot for example) but sometimes I get the element of surprise. :omg:

His previous owner used to spray him with a water bottle when he misbehaved. Not very often, but for a really bad bite. Some lovebirds love to be sprayed and when I own my next one, I know I will make sure this will be kept as a bathtime only. (B.B. doesn't even want to take his bath daily and is somewhat of an ineffectual bather)

So do you think this is an excessive or mean punishment? Drying off does give him something to do, instead of pulling out his feathers. :roll:
One side note, sometimes I think he likes this kind of attention, even though it is negative. Also, I have heard lovebirds will not respect you if you are too much of a pushover and you sometimes need to establish your dominance. Lots of questions here. I'm a new owner, as you may be able to tell!


Thanks for your input!

A and B.B.

[michael]

Hi Angela. I'm not convinced water spritzing should be used to adjust certain behavioral problems. It may not necessarily be mean or cruel, in fact it in some cases it may just work, really I think it should be used in extreme circumstances only. This may compound the problem by initiating him to bite whenever he wants a bath, or cause him to fear what otherwise would be a healthy activity. I'm sure others have varying opinions here depending on preference or their birds individual characteristics. None the less, here's a link that gives a couple of good options. http://www.parrotparrot.com/articles/aa072000a.htm

Michael and Goofy lovebird

[B.B.]

Yes, I think you are right Michael. It seems like it is too intense of a punishment since for some reason it scares the bejebus out of my bird.

I must say though, it was remembered at least for that one afternoon. I took him out of his cage shortly afterwards because he looked so dejected. So, we made up. I must say though, he was mighty careful not to bite hard the rest of the day!

I wouldn't recommend it to people in general because it might just damage your relationship with your bird.

I haven't tried the separate time-out cage as described on that site, I usually put him back in his regular cage, which might be what he wants when he bites me sometimes.

[dani]

My thing is that I don't want my birds to grow to fear water or associate it with punishment. On hot days I always spritz my birds, and they love it, and to also associate this with punishment would be confusing for them. i don't think birds understand the concept of punishment, really. One day Ammy was screaming his lungs out at the dog, and I was frustrated as heck, and I raised my voice at him. It was almost funny, because Ammy got excited, and yelled back louder. Now i confront his screaming by being very very quiet and gentle to calm him down. I get close to him and blow gently and whisper comforting things to him, and both of us generally feel a lot better after.

In short, what i'm saying, is i don't really think the punishment thing works. i'm not accusing you of punishing your baby :D I know you totally want to do the best thing. Birds are just complicated creatures :lol.

[shylevon]

My method of attitude adjustment is the squirt bottle. I can get a zap clear across the room in an instant, and it is a great way to stop squabbles.

However, do not ever squirt a birdie before bedtime. A damp birdie can get a very bad cold if sent to sleep after a squirt.

[Jessica]

We use a mist bottle with Celestino but he's not afraid of it. Usually he just doesn't want his feathers wet and will comply. I will say that I don't think he's afraid of it because every once in a while he lets me soak him. It's more of a game or annoying. I personally try to never scare my birds because it can damage trust. I also have never found a punishment that works.

[esmay211]

i also use the "no bite" thing when my birds bite hard. this never seems to work though, so what i do is give them treats when they do behave and i just ignore them when they bite and then they don't get any attention from me for at least 5 minutes. this kind of upsets them a little so once i come back and say hi to them, they get happier and they don't bite for a while because there afraid that ill go away.

then they start doing there happy dances when i come back. there so cute!=]