Ear Biting

[Brandon Bl]

We have two baby fischers -- they were hand-fed -- and we have had around three weeks. Both will fly to the back of our hands, shoulders or heads, when it suits them, and will eat gently from our fingers, but they will not let us touch them.

Additionally, one of the two , we assume she is female, can be quite aggressive, nipping fingers HARD whenever it suits her, and often having a pretty viscious go at my ears when on my shoulder. The other is nibbly, but not aggressive.

They are great fun, but would appreciate any advice as to how to civilise these two little beasties.

Thank you,
Brandon and Rachel (for Lemon and Lime)

[marlowsix]

Thanks for posting this question. I'll be watching to see what kind of suggestions you get - I'm sure I can use them for my little chompers.

[DebSpace]

Yeah, they can become ear-piercers. :lol They love drama, so if you squeal it can actually cause them to do it again just for the response. When they are yound, though, it is normal for them to nip on things. It's their way of touching, so try not to scream when it happens and just gently but firmly tell them "no bite." Eventually, with consistence, they will learn what that means and/or may even grow out of that behavior. Training of such things really can take awhile, so be patient, loving and consistent, consistent, consistent.>o

[BarbieH]

Some birds don't seem to be very good judges of how hard they are biting. I have a hen who can't preen me at all; when she tries, she draws blood. We simply have a relationship that does not include a lot of contact -- she is quite happy to sit on me, even sleep on me, and that suits us fine.

If I were you, I would discourage your little hen by covering your ears somehow, or keeping her away from them. Some birds respond to "no bite," other birds don't.

[Susan27]

Ear Muffs :rofl:

[Islandbirdies]

LOL, never thought of that! And you could attach toys to them, lol.

[mcgr4680]

I have learned with my new lovie to keep it away from my ears/fingers/neck and hair (it seems to want to nest in my hair...so im guessing it is female). I am working on "no biting" and it seems to help most times except when he/she just wants to explore on its own.

[Brandon Bl]

Thank you for all of the advice -- and look forward to other ideas. We've been considering earmuffs, but the sun is (finally) shining today in London, so that does not seem too appealing!

Today's strategy is this -- I am using a mirror to track birds' movements when on my shoulders, and saying "no bite" to preempt contact when I can see the little vampire getting in position. :wink: So far so good...but we'll see.

Also need to get them generally to be responsive to commands -- at present they rule the roost, and will not let us pet them at all without flying off or nipping. Won't even step up to leave the cage. They are, however, happy to fly our of the cage on their own accoard and, literally walk all over us.

Any suggestions as to next steps in their taming would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Brandon

[mjm8321]

What is it with hens and ear biting? :rofl: I am entitled to laugh about it because I've had my earlobes abused severely in the past.

With a tamer bird, a wing clip and no shoulder time allowed for a while can work; however sometimes with less tame birds it can take more work. I think you are doing a good thing with the preemptive measures. Have you considered a wing clip? Not necessarily anything drastic, but just enough so they can't fly off too far when you want to work with them.

Distraction can also help in some cases. Perhaps making a necklace of sorts with things lovebirds can't resist, small wooden blocks or beads? This way, the attention can be drawn away from earlobes.

[Mummieeva]

I have been there before. What I did is every time I got a bite of nibble on ears I would remove bird from shoulder, say no, and move bird to top of their cage. I also would cover my ears with my hair. She took to preening me instead and it all worked out. She decided she preferred hair dressing to trying to re-pierce my ears.


Steph

[Brandon Bl]

Sounds like a good idea but we don't have that much control over them. Any attempts to move them off are likely to either a) restult in hand biting, or 2) involve millett as a bribe. Not sure what you would suggest for people at this stage.

Thanks again,
Brandon

[Buy A Paper Doll]

I have a similar pair. One is more laid back and generally doesn't bite hard. The other is a hard biting hen. When she gets too close to my face (or whatever body part is in danger) for my comfort, I move her. If she's being particularly nasty, then she's just not allowed on my shoulders at all.

She has taught me that while she is well socialized and very much likes to be on my person at all times, she is still not all that comfortable around hands. So I cover my hand in a washcloth or hand towel before asking her to step up. The benefit of this is, when she is particularly p***ed about being asked to step up, and decides to attack, it's the washcloth that gets the brunt of her anger and not my fingers.

If the washcloth trick doesn't work for you, I see absolutely no problem in using bribery to get them to do what you want them to. 8)