Why the biting?

[Jennabean2187]

Hey everyone!

Kiwi is still so willing to bite fingers/hands. Nothing traumatic has happened to her that involve hands. Anyone have any suggestions how to get her away from doing that? Its quite painful.

[Marrie]

Is there a cause for the bite? Are you asking her to step up when she bites, or trying to get her to do something she doesn't want? Or just randomly biting? Do you react when she bites?

When a bird bites there are a few ways people handle it. First off, you cannot react - no "OW", or flicking them off, etc. That just encourages them to bite more, birds LOVE drama and if they can cause it, they will. A firm "no" and a time out is my choice, where you put the bird in a cage or walk away from it and totally ignore it for a few minutes to show disapproval, then let it back out and if it is good praise it. When she is on your hand if she bites, earthquake (rocking your hand side to side a bit to slightly throw her off balance, taking her mind off the bite) can help, do it gently though to not freak her out. Some people find using bird language can help - hissing, etc, but it can also scare them so it depends on the bird. You don't want her to trust you less, so do what you think is best for her.

Another useful thing with biting is to read up on bird body language. They will usually give us plenty of hints on when we are annoying them, so we can avoid being bitten. Not liking hands is just normal for some birds, my tiel hates hands and he was hand raised from a breeder and has had nothing but positive treatment from hands in the two years he's been with me, it's just his nature. Takes a lot of slow, patient teaching and sometimes bribing to get them over it.

[Jennabean2187]

we are trying to teach her to step onto our hand/finger but NOPE she will not have it. She doesn't bite hard initially, and we try no to react, but if we don't then she'll gradually bite harder. I've done the putting her back in her cage and ignoring her, but she just yells at me while i'm ignoring her. lol. I've been told she might just be acting playful, but we don't find it too fun. what do you think?

[Birdmanca]

Most of the birds I have had did not bite. I have had one that did. Would bite hard also. made me bleed many times. Could be something you are doing bugs the bird. Also, could just be a bird that bites where other birds would not under similar situations. To be safe, just keep your fingers and hands away from the bird. You do have to clean and change the cage, so just be careful as you can.

[Galadriel]

Hi, I have the same problem. My lovebirds likes to play with my daughter, sit on her hand or shoulder, BUT at the same time he bites her very painful. My daughter got scared and doesn't want to let the bird out of the cage... He bites me as well (really painful). He bites my arms and ears. It is painful and disappointing as I have grown him from an egg. However, he does not bite my husband. Even on the contrary he likes to sit on him and caress him!!! The bird is only 3,5 months old, and I am not sure is it he or she. But I do not know what to do... I really scared when he sit on my shoulder.