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Post by Izzy's mom on Aug 27, 2014 19:47:08 GMT -5
My izzy is so sweet but when she is on my hand or arm she acts like she is preening me but her quick sharp beak brakes the skin and it bleeds. It's like she doesn't want freckles or marks on me. But she is like a vampire drawing blood every time.
Any suggestions on how to keep her from doing this ? She has never really bitten me except when she is preening me .. She is a year old.
She is so sweet I can not ignore her by not picking her up. Not sure what to do
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Post by easttex on Aug 28, 2014 16:42:19 GMT -5
I think she needs to have her focus redirected a bit. As long as you are getting a little bit of warning period, when she starts preening you, divert her attention with something. As long as she is behaving nicely you can give her a treat or a scratch, or whatever it is she values most. Once she starts the biting, you don't want to reinforce that with rewards, so I would just calmly put her back on her perch or in her cage. No drama - they learn to enjoy that.  |
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Post by shaurik on Aug 31, 2014 5:41:43 GMT -5
I think she needs to have her focus redirected a bit. As long as you are getting a little bit of warning period, when she starts preening you, divert her attention with something. As long as she is behaving nicely you can give her a treat or a scratch, or whatever it is she values most. Once she starts the biting, you don't want to reinforce that with rewards, so I would just calmly put her back on her perch or in her cage. No drama - they learn to enjoy that. I would agree with easttex. Your quaker like most birds does not fully trust hands, and stepping up is far from easy for them to do if they do not trust your hands. Positive reinforcement is the best way to approach this. Think of your hands like the cops on the road. You know they're there to protect lives (or whatever) but getting pulled over isnt the best experience for most people. Your hands are like the cops for a parrot if they do not trust you. The other part of the problem is that you may have unintentionally positively reinforced the biting behavior. Never (or at least try not to) provide any positive reinforcement verbally, physically or through treats if your bird does an undesirable act/behavior. Good luck #Quakers4LYFE |
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Post by siobhan on Aug 31, 2014 23:52:33 GMT -5
They're all frustrated dermatologists, hairdressers, clothing designers, etc. I have a scar on one eyebrow and Clyde is obsessed with trying to remove it. He did remove a mole once. Ouch.
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Post by teagal on Sept 1, 2014 15:59:58 GMT -5
I found out that if I yelled "ouch" or any other thing when my little one nips, he nipped more.
NOW I let him nip and while he's nipping I offer him a toy. I didn't have any toys close by today so I gave him a piece of paper. That worked too. His nipping is minimal now. Eventually when he sees he isn't getting any reaction from me, he'll stop and concentrate more on playing.
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