Beaking

[Baboo's Momma]

Well, my lovie likes to beak my fingers ALL THE TIME! Honestly it doesn't bother me much, but my b/f has a 7 year old girl who loves Baboo. Last time she was over this wasn't going on. It's not biting but does hurt a bit at times & I don't want Payton or my lovie to get hurt. I've been replacing my fingers with toys & setting her on the floor. Doesn't work:( it keeps getting progresivly harder too. Baboo is only 3 1/2 months old, I know she'll grow out of it. But what can I do now?

[momo]

By beaking.. is she nipping...? lovies sometimes will test things with beaks before they jump on them.. I know elmo does this alot. he will beak anything I put infront of him and then jump on it.

[bookworm0550]

i wish i could help you here. joey went through a very nippy stage as well...almost like he was testing me w/ how far he can go. I tried the earthquake idea. didn't work. the no reaction idea. didn't work. but eventually he just stopped. the breeder i got him from said that they all go through a nippy stage. i do get bitten though, but that's only when it's time to go back into his cage and he doesn't want to. good luck. I think you just have to be patient. he'll get over it.

[Baboo's Momma]

it happens the most when she's out playing on me. It's like my fingers are her favorite toy or something. She'll nibble on them, the nails, cuticles, tips, & then nibble harder. It's hurt my b/f & I a couple times. No blood.

I had the same idea that she was trying to push to see if I'll break or not. I've also tried the earthquake & ignoring her. Nada. I can deal with it. I just don't want Payton to get hurt, or think Baboo doesn't like her & get her feelings hurt. She loves her soo much! I also don't want Baboo to get squeezed or tossed. She's very mature for 7. She is teaching Baboo step-up, knows not to let her on her head. She also knows not to freak out when she uses her beak to steady herself. She'll even come up to me & ask like if she can paint her nails around the bird & such. We talked about what kind of things can hurt Baboo.

Basically, I don't want anything to happen to ruin their budding relationship. So, what should I do about that behavior & Payton?

[momo]

That's fantastic Payton is so mature and mindful around birds. Most 7 yo will just stick fingers in the cage..

It's not going to sound like alot of help, but do not go OUCH or react at all when she does bite you. I know when I go ouch, this excites my elmo... and I got nipped more.

I have found when elmo does begin to beak. I just say "No" in the deepest voice I have, and maybe it's jsut an elmo thing, but I know that she knows that no and he might try afterwards but I just keep repeating "no" and take elmo off my shoulder. Because she tries to nibble my neck.

You could also try to the distraction method, when she does begin to nibble, you just jingle a toy elsewhere and distract her from what she's doing and maybe place her on your arm instead of being on your fingers?

Otherwise if you are worried about Payton being bitten, maybe you could get payton to teach your lovie to step up on a rope, or a stick, while you are seeing whether this behaviour is temporary or permanent.

But as you said, she is very mature for her age and you can explain to her about the nibbling behaviour, that it maybe because your lovie is young and is a teenager so is pushing the boundaries.

I know my lovie loves it when I type.. when my fingers are going all around.. just would love to bite them all off more than usual!..

Otherwise.. another thought is.. you could just put a bandaid on Paytons finger nails?

[michael]

Well, my lovie likes to beak my fingers ALL THE TIME! Honestly it doesn't bother me much, but my b/f has a 7 year old girl who loves Baboo. Last time she was over this wasn't going on. It's not biting but does hurt a bit at times & I don't want Payton or my lovie to get hurt. I've been replacing my fingers with toys & setting her on the floor. Doesn't work:( it keeps getting progresivly harder too. Baboo is only 3 1/2 months old, I know she'll grow out of it. But what can I do now?

First, Keep your precious Baboo off the floor! Too many accidents can happen and most are deadly!.......Next, I think its wonderful your allowing Payton the experience of interacting with Baboo. Who knows, maybe one day she will make an excellent aviculturist, or perhaps an airline pilot. For now though, as with all children (and some adults :roll:), she really does require constant supervision when learning to handle any pet, especially small parrots. While its sounds very much that Payton is mature for her age, the instinctual reflex action between children and lovebirds can be very unpridictable. This may not be bad for children, but for small lovebirds it can be very harmful. At the least, I would keep both child and lovebird in an area that avoids the chance of a visual compromise.

So what can be done now? .....At only 3 1/2 months of age, along with the most current remedial practices, try to avoid giving Baboo the opportunity to further her education on your fingers. Simply don't let her have them. Well.....maybe for treats, scitchies and beak rubs :), but then thats it! You know, I really think lovies are just attracted to fingernails because they kind of look like beaks. If I were a lovebird (and didn't know any better) I would want to find out what those were all about. Honestly, what helped with my own Goofy lovebird was a years worth of firmly telling him "no bite" while gently pushing him away. When he chose to argue with me, I further pushed him gently all the way down my arm until he was off of it. Keep in mind here, because I decided to use this method based on his preference to remain in my hands, I can't really recommend this for everyone elses lovebird. Best you can do is try to use what you feel works best for your Baboo while avoiding those actions that appear to make matters worse.

What i've found with some training exercises is that they can often perpetuate the very response we were hoping to avoid. Because most parrots absolutely love to receive attention, depending on the methods we choose, some may view this as an outright disturbance, whereas another a boatload of fun :clap. This might explain why the "earth quake" method doesn't always work. Good luck, and keep us posted.............:)

[Baboo's Momma]

Haha, I never thought as disipline as attention. But, human kids look at it that way at times, so makes sense. I'll try a few of everyones suggestions & let you all know how it goes. And Payton is NEVER with Baboo unsupervised. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened. She's coming over today....I'll try to updated later this evening!