My beaky little boy

[JudiNh]

Hi all,
I know this topic has been discussed before, but there is just SO much conflicting information, I dont know which to believe.
My lovie, Jitterbug, is SO sweet...extremely friendly and tame, very hyper, and adorable. However, he is very beaky. He nibbles, nearly constantly, when I hold him. It does not hurt, and does not appear to be at all aggressive in nature, but, it is constant. Nibbles on my fingers, hands, neck, ears, anything he can. I have heard so many different methods for this: ignore it, distract him with a toy, give a loud "NO" and put him back in his cage....show NO reaction at all. So many different approaches. Which one is right? Some say it is a stage and he will outgrow it, so leave him alone (He is nearly nine months old now). Some say never allow nibbling because it will inevitably lead to biting. I just dont know what to do. As I say, it doesnt hurt, but it is a bit annoying, and it is so constant, it is hard to ignore. He is a very hyper bird too, and doesnt sit still for a second. Distracting with a toy doesnt seem to work. He ignores the toy and goes right back to nibbling on me. I must taste better! LOL Just wondering how others have handled this. I love my Jitter and want to raise him right....dont want him to turn into a biter. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[LovelySydney]

wish i had some good advice for you Judi! my little Gus doesnt bite or nibble, then again he's never let himself get that close to my hands!

Im sure someone on here will have wonderful advice for you. I figure if & when Gus does decide to bite im going to try and ignore it the best I can, or provide a distraction. Hes gotten me a few times but I usually am good about saying "no bite" without pulling my hand away or causing too much of a scene.


good luck!

[Enko_chan]

I think the reason for the conflicting information is because it varies so much from bird to bird- I have been a believer and preacher of one method and then had a bird that stopped me in my tracks and taught me otherwise. I'm sorry I don't have too much more to add, aside from I try my best not to punish but instead teach with positive reinforcement. Hopefully someone with more experience than I have can tell us how to apply that principle to this situation. It IS confusing when it is said to both allow your birds to explore you with their beak AND to NOT even allow then to nibble because its early biting behavior... but if he is nibbling so much that its bothering you, it needs to be curbed.

[nacho135]

Im glad you brought this up because Nacho is the same way. Sweetest bird, and hes not being mean, but he nibbles on everything! Hes not even 4 months yet so I dont know if that has anything to do with it or not.

[HaleBoppPeachyluv]

I found with my sunnybird and maka, when their nibbling became too persistant, i offered paper or a chopstick...some chewy alternative. Sometimes I just had to put them backin the cage. you will find what works best for hte two of you.

[Mydoona]

it's weird, I had 4 friends around and they all wanted to look at the birds and Keiko would only let me and one of my friends handle him and he climbed all over us, the other 2 he kept biting when they put their hands out for him to come.

[momo]

Elmo is a finger biter.. but thats a different issue..

She started to nibble on my ears.. sometimes she climbs all over them to nibble them.. she really enjoys nibbling the cartilage.. or using my ear ring as a beak toy..

But the nibbling got further down my neck and she enjoys pinching my skin.. I shake her off when she does this.. but with my ear. I honestly believe she is preening it.. sounds gross.. but I think she enjoys picking off the dead skin.. I see her chewing on it.

I guess where I am going is, could Jitter be preening in certain circumstances?

[LauraO]

This behavior is very NORMAL and really is just a stage. I know it's annoying and I have dealt with an incessesant nibbler a time or two. I've found this stage occurs around the 4 to 6 month stage, but for some baby females this can happen a little later. I liken this growth stage to a baby human that is teething and must put everything in their mouth.......All the birds I have been with who nibbled grew out of it. If you ignore it or don't overeact, it won't become a biting habit when they grow older. My suggestion is to keep a large button, wooden chopsticks, veggie tan leather strips, or something else around to give your fid when they start to nibble too much. You can also gently move their beak away and say "easy" or something of the like. This rarely works but over time it may work.

Here's one of my old posts about this very subject. I cannot believe Chewie is almost four years old, but he is still around. He is the sweetest bird and really NEVER bites.

http://www.lovebirdsplus.com/community/showthread.php?t=1057&highlight=chewie

:):)

[JudiNh]

Thank you everyone, and Laura, for the encouragement. I sure hope this is just a stage that he will eventually outgrow (however, he IS nine months old now, and a dna'd male...) But, since it is not aggressive, I will just continue to ignore it, as I have been, and try offering some of the chewy things you all suggest, and see if he gets over it. Thanks for the advice!