Biting Rampage (HELP!)

[LoveBug12]

Junior has not been very nice today. I took him out of his cage and was playing with him and he was very happy, then all of a sudden he took a jump at me and bit my finger really hard and held on. I had to shake him off and he kept biting me so, I tapped his head and said, "NO!". I returned him to his cage and left the room for about 10 minutes. I came back to check if he was cooled down and I took him out again. He sat there and stared at me like a statue. He wouldn't move or do anything. I thought this was odd behavior so I returned him to his cage once again where he sat on his perch like a statue (once again) and didn't move. Is this strange behavior? Does anyone else have this problem? how to I get junior to stop biting? HELP! :(

[momo]

So as I read in your other thread, you went away for a while away from junior..
maybe start from the beginning again.. just sit beside him until he is used to having you around.. and then once he is completely fine with you being near him.. then look at taking him out of the cage..

him biting you, you saying no and putting him back now will only reinforce, that biting you = going home. home = where he feels safe..

did anyone play with him while you were away? if he has had no human interaction for a week and more.. and then all of a sudden you are back.. considering that junior is young.. it's scary.

[LoveBug12]

So as I read in your other thread, you went away for a while away from junior..
maybe start from the beginning again.. just sit beside him until he is used to having you around.. and then once he is completely fine with you being near him.. then look at taking him out of the cage..

him biting you, you saying no and putting him back now will only reinforce, that biting you = going home. home = where he feels safe..

did anyone play with him while you were away? if he has had no human interaction for a week and more.. and then all of a sudden you are back.. considering that junior is young.. it's scary.


I'm not sure if my dad played with him or not, but I don't think he would considering Junior liked to bite him. He wants out of his cage and flaps his wings rapidly until he gets out. He may be nicer today, but I haven't took him out of his cage to check.

[LovelySydney]

SOrry to hear about the biting - I let Gus and Oslo come out on there own & before I handle them I usually bribe them with some millet. It takes so much time to tame, believe me! Yesterday we had a bad day and they despised me, today they are happily sunbathing and loving it and allowing me to be near them. Take it day by day, you just may have to start from the beginning and earn the trust again. Good luck!

[momo]

Hes obviously reverted back to being a little wild. no human interaction does that considerng that junior is still very young.. take your time with you. its just patience. sit with him.. read to him.. just don't physically touch him yet..

you are lucky that junior was tame.. you just need to work without and DONT give up.. when elmo first came home she was completely wild.. i needed to earn her trust

i know its hard and frustrating when they don't want anything to do with them.. it hurts and you feel rejected. i know I did for the first 3-4 months. but I just kept slowly working with her so she would trust me..now I can't get her bloody off me!
and you will get there.. ignoring junior won't help the situation at all.

is junior clipped?

[Chickobee]

How old is Junior?

Our birds all went through a nippy stage at about what would be adolesence for a lovebird. Then they outgrew it after a couple of months.

We were careful to not reinforce the biting by calling attention to it. Instead we would distract them with a toy or something else. If you watch carefully they will let you know by body language when they are about to bite.

And, birds sometimes have bad days just like people do. There are times when they prefer to be left alone.

I try my best to not give them reasons to want to bite me. For instance, some of them like head scritches and some won't tolerate them and they will nip to show their displeasure.

I read in one of my lovebird books that baby lovebirds will revert to wild behavior very quickly during their first year if they are not socialized every day. Then after they mature a tame lovebird will go for longer periods of time without attention and still be tame. So, when pet shops sell handfed babies that are then left in cages with no attention for weeks they will quickly revert back to being wild.