okay folks...ease my mind

[dtucker78]

I have been reading the different forums for a few days now. I have learned so much. However, now I am getting very nervous. I have read thread, after thread, after thread of sweet birds becoming holy terrors...biting, attacking and other horrible things. I am excited about Bradford coming home this weekend, but now I am terrified that he/she will become a menace and be difficult and not lovie...

Ease my mind...When Winston was with me I was never bitten. He was from PetSmart and not very social...however, I did work him and he was coming around...never bit...sweet, but not lovie. I am scared that Bradford my become a bad bird. Thoughts?

[linda040899]

Each bird is an individual so it's hard to predict what will happen. I have hens that are nippy and I have hens that are absolute sweethearts. If you have a nippy hen, you simply learn to deal with the behavior and you can still have a very loving companion.

[shylevon]

I have always believed that a bird will only bite if he is driven to that point. He will try other means of communicating first, but if his owner listens to no language other than biting, that is the language a lovie will learn to speak.

Pay close attention to your new birds body language. If you listen to him, he may nibble for added effect, but he will probably never learn to bite you hard.

Birds usually bite out of fear or discomfort or to guard their territory. All creatures react to protect themselves in the best way they can. Birdies are limited in their choices of reactions to negative stimuli, and we need to learn to accept and respect that.

[LauraO]

To be honest, there really is no way to ease your mind. As Linda said, each bird is an individual and there is no way of predicting how their behavior will be in the long run, which is why I laugh everytime I hear someone say that handfed babies will result in a cuddly baby that never bites:lol . There are a lot of lovies that will bite during the maturation process but grow out of it and others that will bite during nesting season and still others that are biters at heart. The main thing you must realize is that no matter what kind of lovie you get, with the right work and adjustments you can still have a long loving relationship.

[BarbieH]

Like Linda said, each bird has a different personality. And that personality can change over time. My Gracie was a holy terror when she first came to us, and we suspect it was her way of trying to establish a pecking order in the home, as well as to ensure her own survival. (She has been living outside.) Over time biting became a game.

We refused to play the game, by limiting her ability to bite us as much as possible. I'd like to think that we trained her, but we didn't. We trained ourselves, or rather, she trained us. But we also didn't give her the opportunities to be "bad" by biting us. That was our responsibility. Even now, if I put my finger up to her face, *I* would be bad, not her! :)

To ease your mind, try not to expect anything from dear Bradford, good or bad. Be patient and go slow. Remember, this is a little bird in a big, new home.

Best wishes,

[Janie]

IMHO, some birds do bite but it's merely learning, figuring out, the right beak pressure. Not biting because they are angry, scared or mad, just applying too much pressure when they are exploring. That can be corrected with time and patience and my one little biter did stop. :) Other birds do bite because they are driven to that point but I am positive that was not the case with my Big Boi.

I know that each bird is an individual and there is no way to know if you're going to end up with a biter but everything I've read here over the last three years leads me to believe (strongly) that you are less likely to get a bird that bites when you choose a male. Yes, I know there are exceptions and that some females are as sweet as can be but odds are that a male will be far less bitty.

[Susan27]

I have always believed that a bird will only bite if he is driven to that point. He will try other means of communicating first, but if his owner listens to no language other than biting, that is the language a lovie will learn to speak.


I have a lovie hen who is a BAD biter, blood and all. She is my first lovebird, and she literally went from being my sweetheart cuddle muffin, to a biter. Nesty, cage territorial is definitly her thing. I have changed her cage placement, rearranged the insides numerous times and it's still the same, at least for the past 4+ months.

She gave me NO warning, it was pretty much change overnight. I don't think I drove her to this behaviour, and I have adjusted to it...but there wasn't any other communication...I wish I had some warning behaviours...maybe one day she will not bite. (hey at least she no longer chases me when she is out of her cage, and I happen to be within a 5 foot radius, clipping her wings put a stop to that:x ).

My other lovies do not bite, except to 'test' things out, since they don't have any fingers to do that with. With the exception of Mr.Peepers, who doesn't like fingers or toes, but likes to be on me. It's all in adjusting to individual personalities...they ALL are different little characters.

[shylevon]

I have one bird, who was a master cuddle muffin, and would never even nibble at my hands or fingers. She was hand raised from the shell (not by myself) and she was totally tame. Then one day I was asleep upstairs and I heard an awful commotion in the cage downstairs. Poor little Nereus had hung herself by a toy and she was flapping about in total terror. I grabbed her and cut the toy from around her neck. Because she was so afraid, she was biting me HARD, and I released her immediately, thinking that I didn't want her to become even more frightened. I wanted her to know she was safe and had been freed. Wrong thing to do. I should have held her until she calmed down, biting or not. Now, she sees me as a link to the scariest moments of her life, and she still will not let me handle her. She is not a mean bird, but she will take my fingers off in an instant. I truly think that although I was not doing her harm, she still makes the connection that I was, and that is the behaviour she has learned, that hands equal terror.

The point I was trying to make was that birds actions can change, and they start to bite for a reason, if only they know what that reason is. All we can do is attempt to avoid the reasons that cause them to become birdies that learn to bite.

[Susan27]

That makes more sense to me. I think Kiko's nesty/territorial behaviour has been transferred to her protectiveness of her cage mate Touki. I have accepted that Touki has replaced me in Kiko's life as her mate. I still talk to Kiko, and she still mimics me. If she flies to the floor, I can put my finger to her and she will come on me...then I give her kisses. I respect that it's her and Touki's cage, and they don't want me in it. I am not as heartbroken over her biting behaviour....I understand why she does it. I also believe that there was nothing (aside from never introducing Touki), that I could have done to change this biting behaviour. I understand your point Shy, I think your Nereus and my Kiko have reasons for their biting behaviour. But of course we still love the little nippers.:happy:

[shylevon]

In time the biting may subside. Calais, my other ferocious biter will let me kiss her if she is sitting on my shoulder or chest as long as the hands are far far away, and Nereus does get onto my finger (so long as she is in the know as to what I am doing) when it is time for her to go back into the cage.

Time and patience will tell.