How do i stop my parakeet from biting?

Question

I have a parakeet that when i put my finger near her she sometimes runs or when my finger is near her she makes a quick lunge at my finger how do i stop that?

Answer 1

she is probably just being teritorial. my tiel does this all the time, and running from your finger is an instinct. dont react by taking your finger away when she bits. this jut tells her than biting means being left alone. when bitten just say NO but dont move your hand at all or move away. the biting should stop if you spend more time with her. being with your bird strengthens your bond with her.

Answer 2

don't point at it......

Answer 3

Tell her Don't Bite and put her back in the cage. After a few minutes, let her out and try again. If she bites put her back again. It takes a long time for them to learn, but hopefully she will.

Answer 4

Dont Put our finger by the cage, feed it, and put some lead between its ears.

Answer 5

hmmm...It seems your problem stems from putting your finger too close to the bird. Try not putting your finger up to the bird's mouth anymore, that should do the trick.

Answer 6

first of all, you should know that your bird is biting to protect it's territory.

You do not under ANY circumstance, use violence against the bird. If you do, even if you don't physically harm him, you will do permanent damage to your relationship with him -- like I said earlier, violence does not appear to be a routine flock behavior, and your parrot simply will not understand your use of violence against him -- so odds are, he will never be able to trust you again.

There is a lot of outdated and incorrect advice being given about biting parrots. People are often told to grab the bird's beak and shake it and yell NO!! This doesn't work for two reasons. First, we have now realized that grabbing a parrot's beak [what experts call "Beak Wrestling"], is considered to be play behavior between parrots. Secondly, as mentioned before, parrots love the drama of a person yelling. So once again, in our effort to give negative feed-back to parrots, we have only succeeded in rewarding them.

It also doesn't usually work to punish by putting the bird in its cage, because by the time you get him there he's probably completely forgotten the connection between biting you and being locked up. Obviously, he can't bite you again because you've removed him from your vicinity, but you haven't taught him anything about NOT BITING.



So What SHOULD You Do?

Enough of this stuff about all the things that don't work -- what exactly does? Actually, it is quite simple. If you have already established a relationship of Nurturing Dominance with your parrot, then he already perceives you as head of the flock and he is already trained to step onto your hand when you say, "Up". To then thoroughly reprimand that bird, you need only do the following things immediately.

First, show the bird your displeasure by giving it a REALLY DIRTY LOOK ("The Evil Eye"). I'm really serious about this -- you have to look at it as if it were the lowest of the low, or pond scum, or something you might find stuck to the bottom of your shoe. Parrots are extremely empathic creatures who watch our facial expressions closely. He will understand your displeasure if you give him a tremendously dirty look.

Then, make him step from one hand to the other over and over while you keep saying

"Up" in a very firm but not loud voice (remember the Drama Reward). Do this several times in a row (i.e., 3-4 times) and you will be amazed at the difference. This is a non-aggressive, nurturing technique with which to give the parrot negative feedback because parrots really understand this as a reprimand. We call this technique "Laddering" and it is an exercise in control -- reminding him that YOU are the alpha in the flock, NOT him. If you are firm and consistent, reminding him of this will put him back under control. And without the positive feed-back that he inadvertently received before, the biting should end.

When dealing with a bappy in the Teething Stage, it is also quite simple. When the baby bites too hard, say No in a firm voice and give the baby a very dirty look. The bappy will understand that you are unhappy and will try very hard not to do it again. Under NO circumstances should you yell.

My favorite story about laddering parrots came from a client of mine named Debbie who has a three year old Yellow Naped Amazon named Charlie. Charlie had been getting overly rambunctious and to regain control, Betsy laddered him over and over with the Up command until he calmed down, then she put him on his perch with the Down command and went on about her business, leaving the room. A few minutes later she returned and found Charlie stomping back and forth on his perch, saying Up! Up! Up! in an EXTREMELY disgusted voice!

Some parakeets will bite to protect their cage.  Many parakeets will do this instinctively and just a natural protection mechanism. Your parakeet believes the cage is a nesting site.  Like most parrots, a nesting site can cause them to act aggressively to defend it.  Just sticking your hands into the cage will cause a nasty bite.

You can deal with this situation by always ensuring that the parakeet is not let out of the cage unless you allow it.  Many owners make the mistake of letting there parakeets crawl out of the cage as soon as they start exhibiting this behavior.  If you allow this behavior you are enforcing your parakeet to become territorial.  If your parakeet wants to come out of its cage, you need to allow it to physically step up onto your fingers and only then let it out of its home.  You should never allow your bird to make his own decision to come out of the cage.  Many owners usually allow their birds to come in and out of their cages at their leisure; however, it is not advisable because most of the time it leads to territorial biting.

Answer 7

well i admit that i am not an expert when it comes to birdcare, but i suggest that you use a control word like "STOP!" or "ENOUGH!" when your bird starts up on her little bitting spreee say that.  this will take a little bit to work. but if you really give it time it WILL and you will have a great nonbiting bird.  as long as you dont mind the bites before she stops :^)

(it works with dogs and guinea pigs why not on birds?)

Answer 8

ugh i hate parakeet bites. when a parakeet bites you it means its scared. seeing that you've had it for 3 years, its probably territorial. it doesnt want you disturbing its safe home!

when it bites you dont go like NOOO! or BAD! shouting scares him even more. you can:

1. blow in his face gently and look him straight in the eye and say no i did not like that

2. say no! not too loud but firmly and put a blanket over the cage and leave him there to be lonely and guilty.

3. try getting it used to your hand being friendly inside its cage:

http://www.lisashea.com/petinfo/budgie.h...

is the BEST budgie site ever. this lady has like lifetime experience.