My 1 year old African Grey has started biting?

Question

I go away quite a bit for business, and I recently came back from a 2 week stint. Now my african grey bites me as soon as I go near him. I have tried giving him a "time-out" but he just bites me again when I want to take him out. We had a fantastic relationship before I left this time. Any ideas on how I can gain his trust again? And of course, stop him from biting me. He doesn't bite my room mate who looked after him while I was gone.

Answer 1

"Time out" isn't effective for birds... punishment of any sort, isn't effective with them. I'll explain why... if the bird is taking it out on you that you ditched him on your vacation then he doesn't want to be with you. So, when you take him out, he bites. And when he bites, you put him away in "time out" but that is really what he wanted which is why he bit you at all. So now he knows all he has to do is bite you in order to go back in his cage.

It's a cruel process that isn't always obvious. Birds are smart.

I'd work on your relationship with him through making it positive and fun and do so without your roommate around (may cause a distraction).

You can try touch training (also known as target training) explained here;

http://jamiesparrothelp.wordpress.com/ca...

And trick training. Both are extremely mentally stimulating for your bird and training is fun so your bird will look forward to spending time with you.

I have a 8 month old african grey myself;

http://flickr.com/photos/davewomach/

=)

Answer 2

Tammy, there are so many variables here. I don't know how often you are gone or for how long (is it usually two weeks at a time?). Also, he is only one year old. How long have you owned him? He may not be as used to you as you think if you have been gone a lot during this first year. He is immature, his flock may be unformed as yet, at least to him. Parrots generally gravitate toward one person in a household. This can be a problem in a situation like yours. For example, my roommate and I both own Elmer, but he is my bird (he's 8). He knows it, I know it and my roommate knows it. If I ever move, he will be going with me. It has to be that way, all of us know it.

Since he is immature, I'm inclined to think that he sometimes forgets about you when you're gone, especially for a long trip.  When you ARE at home, you must interact with your bird as much as possible. You must do all feedings and cage cleanings, don't have your roomie do these things when you're at home to do them. Change out the water at a different time than the food, make the bird see that YOU are the provider of all of these things. Your room mate can interact with the bird, play with him and such, but you should be there also. I don't know what room you keep him in, what kind of interactions you and your room mate have with him, like I said, too many variables...

If he will step up for your roommate, but not for you right now, do that, then have him step from your roommates hand to yours, most birds will step from hand to hand. Switch him back and forth a couple times, then hold him for a few minutes and make sure he perches back into the cage from YOUR hand. You may have to allow him to bite you a few times. You must be stoic and not react! (except for the bleeding! lol) You must also remember that if he is NOT drawing blood, he is not REALLY biting you. There is a difference between a bite and a nip, Nips can hurt, but you'll get over it. He's young, and will eventually realize that he is hurting you with a nip or a bite, but maybe not right now, especially in this emotional state. The time out thing is both good and bad, it may be that he wants to be left alone as in that other reply. This is so difficult because I don't know many circumstances...

When you are home, you must interact with him as much as possible, but you can't be a pest, either. It's a fine line...

Before you leave on a trip, perhaps a new toy, something he can tear up like crazy, keeping him occupied while you're gone. Buy two of them, so when you come home, you can give him another one to mess with. Greys so love toys that they can completely DESTROY. He'll be glad to have another one and he'll know that YOU gave both to him.

You will have to experiment and it will take some time, especially since he's young and forgetful right now. Feel free to email me at anytime. You know, of course, that these birds are absolutely brilliant. You will find a way to communicate! Don't worry!

Regards,

Kookoo

Answer 3

Start by giving him treats.  I would also take him out of his cage as he could be a bit cage aggressive.  Start spending more time with him and more so when your room mate is away.

I am sure he will come around again.  

Nancy Daniels

www.parrotadoptontario.com

Parrot Adopt Southern Ontario

Answer 4

African Greys are very smart birds, which is both a blessing and a curse.  It means that they are quick on the uptake and changes in new situations, but they are also quick to adapt and accept those new situations as permanet.  

In order to stop the biting we have to understand, as humans, why your little one is biting. In the wild, birds, as you know, live in very large flocks, sometimes consisting of over 200 birds.  Every night and morning, around sunset and sunrise they do what we call flock calling, to check that everyone made it through the night, and then through the day.  If one of those birds doesn't answer for a few days, they are presumed lost.  African greys, do not have a mourning period, when a mate or flock mate is lost, they move on almost immdiatly.  

My guess here is that your little one thought you had died,  or left the flock, and now here you are, or someone who looks exactly like you wanting into the flock.  To him it's very much a "Who on earth is this stranger"  thing. Don't worry, you have the keen advantage of knowing your bird, and his body language.  

What you need to do:

1. Have patience, somtimes they fall back in love with you right away, other times it takes a little bit of working

2. Play the blinking game.  Birds don't show interest by talking to one another, they generally don't even show interest by moving.  The easiest way for them to show interest is by blinking.  So grab a chair, and pull it up to a feet within his cage.  look at him, as weel as you can, with one eye, and blink.  Just sit there and do that for a while.  If you see your grey blinking back try and blink right after he does.

3.  Just sit in the same room as your grey and don't give him any attention.  Just be a presence in the room.  You can sith there and read aloud, or whatever you like, just don't try and establish physical contact with the bird.  Think of it this way, when your out with your friends how oftern are you actively touching eachother?  It's the same with your bird.

4. Do you know what your grey's favorite food is?  Try and feed him that from your hand, if he won't take it from you, just place it in his food bowel and wait.  Feeding one another is something birds do to show affection, and interest.  Just don't do it too oftenor lse our grey will think your trying to mate with him. ^.^

Good luck!  If you need any more help feel free to e-mail me!

Answer 5

spend more time with it.give it treats and talk with it softly .it may take longer but it works