How to teach my Umbrella Cockatoo not to bite me ?

Question

While holding him ,all of a sudden he will have a burst of anger and bite me hard..If he is on the floor, he will sneak up behind me and bite my feet.

I have been bitten so many times.I fear he needs to be in his cage all the time, or to find him a new home . .Is there a way to teach him not to bite ?

Answer 1

The only tried and tested way to TEACH your bird not to bite is to ignore it. It's really hard with big birds because they hurt. All parrots have a need to chew and bite, maybe this isn't being met with his toys? Behavior is always reflective of consequence. If the bird bites you and you react, that's attention, and what he is looking for. Ignore the behavior, pick him up, put him somewhere he can chew or give him something he can chew and then positively reinforce this message. Maybe through a scratch on the head or a treat, or anything he likes. Have patience and work on it.

Answer 2

Very good training advice from the Alexandrine owner. You can't freak out when this bird is after you, he is looking for a way to control his environment. You need to step up and show him acceptable behavior. Toy chewing, eating, raising his crest, are all things you should look to reward. Before he attacks feet, distract him with the "raise your wings" command you've been practicing so hard on, and reward him for that. Now you have his mind on something else other than the biting game!

Also, the "burst of anger" you mention makes me think that this intelligent bird has alot of pent up energy. A seed diet is high-energy and a diet change to pellets is in order. Also, try other excersizes like wing flapping, practice flying, radio dancing and swinging with you, every morning/day. Parrots become "behavioral wrecks" if they have too much energy (like children) and nothing to do. Keep your bird busy, let him get sunshine.

A last thought; clicker train! join a yahoo clicker group to get started. And look up birds on youtube learning clicker training. This training gives both you and your bird to focus on all the GOOD behavior, not the bad. Once both of you start thinking positive, magic starts.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Well hes gonna bite if he is scared. Im not sure if it would work with cokatoos but when my parakeets bite me i just put my finger up to his beak to give him the thought that i like him biting me and that his stratagy isnt working. He never bit me again

Answer 4

im appaled about what "ladycockatiel" said because the absolute worst thing to do with a temperamental bird is to ignore it. but to look up the internet and do some research. there is ALWAYS a reason a bird bites, usually because of mistrust, feat or frustration. what "ladycockatiel" is complete rubbish and i beg you to ignore such idiocy from a person that clearly does not no anything about larger birds, ESPECIALLY cockatoos. and you should be prepared to get bitten if you buy a larger bird. i own an african grey,quite young but has developed a nipping habit, ignore any biting to start with, find the cause of the biting and build trust with you bird again. to me it sounds like your bird is frustrated but YOU must find out why. if you must "put him in his cage all the time or find him a new home" find him a new home. because keeping such a large and social bird in a cage with no interaction in VERY cruel and will make any bad habits worse. So, train him or re-home him. btw any training will do as it builds trust, training also stimulates the bird and lack of stimulation may be the cause of the biting. Hope i helped but do not take him out of his cage only when he is "good", if you intend to do that find him a good, new home.

Answer 5

Maybe he needs some time inside his cage and maybe you should not be trying to handle this bird at all anymore period.Nothing is worth suffering injury from a pet thought you could trust. When a bird bites like that, the bird delevopes a history of biting. The best thing you can do is leave him inside his cage no matter how loud he screams and ignore him. Only letting him out on days where he seems to be in good a mood. As soon as he bites you or trys again, put him back into his cage and close the door then leave the room telling him no bite and bad bite. And if this type of thing keeps up, go ahead and do your best to rehome him. I understand completely how a bird can BITE THE LOVE RIGHT OUT OF YOU. Don't keep putting up with it, there are too many nice birds out there who would not bite you for you to keep one who becomes more than you care to handle because of this type of thing. He may simply have made up his mind to not like you anymore and may be a very nice bird in another household with someone else who knows how to stop this type of anger bitting.