Biting

[emz]

Greetings all!..

I hope someone could help me out with my biter, i have a h/reared male (i think) teil who is approximately 5-6months old and lately his gotten into the habit of biting Very VERY hard! It usually happens when he is sitting under my chin or even on my finger and with any movement he just attacks. When he is on the shoulder its worse any movement at all he slips into a big biting frenzy.. As a first time tiel owner im not sure on whether his naturally a grumpy lil bugger and to ignore it, or if its his age *shrugs*.. HOpe someone can help..Thannks.. emz ;D

[lovemytiels]

Hi Emz, from your other post I would say your tiel is grumpy & is starting to bite because he is unwell. This is sometimes there only way of telling you hands off something is wrong. It could be health related. Males can sometimes get very grumpy when their hormones kick in but at the moment I would get him checked by your avain vet first to help with the other problem before addressing the biting problem as the two could be related. Hope this helps. Cheers Anna

[emz]

Ok now that i have gotten my boy checked out by my avian vet, i have been informed that his health is "A Ok" now .. so the biting is purely behavioural, hope someone could help me out, as his bites are getting harder n harder, i tend to ignore the bites and just put him back in his cage when his being silly.. ..wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how i can stop this lil bugger from being so naughty!! also, am i right to assume that his biting behaviour could mean that his definately a boy ? .....thanks ..emz ;D

[AussieBirds]

As far as the biting is concerned emz there are some things that you should try. First of all dont allow him to sit on your shoulder as he is establishing a dominant possition and he asserting his dominance. The trouble with the biting of your arms anfingers is a little more of a problem, when the bird attempts to bite you should sya in a loud voice NO and tell him he is a naughty boy, if he continues to bite put him back in his cage, cover him up and just Ignore him dont even acknowledge that he is in the room.

On the other hand when he is out of his cage and behaving himself praise him and give him a lot of attention, they are intelleget birds and will soon learn what is right and what is wrong.

It is a case of perserverance with birds they are just like kids, as far as sexing your bird the fact that it is biting hard would suggest to me that it's a hen but that's just a guess on my behalf, but it has been my experiance with birds it's the hen that bites.

Hope this helps you out.

John

[emz]

hiya john, thanks for your tips,i have actually banned anyone and everyone from letting him sit on the shoulder ... though now i will enforce the NO and the "naughty boy" and put him in his cage and cover him up.. ive had quite a few ppl comment to me that his actions are more of a hen then a male....oh wells only time will tell i suppose.. .. thanks again.. emz ;D

[Bentayle]

emz, my h/r hen went through a stage like that. She tried to get away with anything.
As John says the word "no" and a good strong voice can work wonders.
I should say that this "mood" came over her when she reached 'physically capable" breeding age...@6 months
But now she is 41/2 and is the biggest sook.

Kazz

[KathS]

Emz we had a beautiful hen who never bit and a male who bites hard enough to draw blood constantly.

I always thought our hen was a male - until we got a male. ;D In my very limited experience, if you have a bird which is hard to sex visually, the behaviour may tell you.

Our hen bird squawked, didn't whistle and would do a little dance bobbing down and vibrating and making a little clicking noise. The dance routine started after six months of age and was pretty obviously a female thing rather than a male strut. She was also very affectionate. My male bird on the other hand ........

I'm not sure what to do with him. He sits sulking in his cage most of the day so lately I've been letting him out and he either sulks on the window sill or sulks on the clock and if anyone tries to go near him, he bites. Occasionally, he will look sorry when he has drawn blood but it doesn't seem to matter to him whether he is in the cage or not.

I am saving up for a flight aviary to put him outside. ;D

[lovemytiels]

It is such a shame to read that peoples pet tiels start biting. Sometimes it is hormonal, sometimes with males it is a dominance thing. But in may ways there is no clear cut way on how to stop them biting apart from not letting them on your shoulder, telling them no when they bite & putting them back in their cages & rewarding good behavior. I do personally find myself that males seem to be the biggest culprits. My females have never bitten me but my male tiels sometimes like to have a nip because maybe I was doing something they didn't like, like scratching them they wrong way. Biting is their way of telling you they don't like something. I am very glad to hear emz that your tiel is good health wise. So basically he is just being a brat. Again & this is just a maybe, that they did not have enough time spent on them when they were being h/reared. Sometimes when people h/rear they may have had too many to feed at one time & sometimes one doesn't get as much attention as the others & is not as friendly as it should be. Just a theory from my experience at h/rearing tiels, so no slur on anybody that h/rears, my opinion only. Cheers Anna

[emz]

Hiya's.. im kinda upset that his biting, i did the strong stern "NO" and back into the cage tonight and NOt Happy Jan!! he/she came back out of the cage after the time-out and triple bit me as if he was teaching me a lesson.. Ive had a few people mention to me that he might be a hen, just baffles me that he whistles allllll day looong.. constantly ringing like the telephone, wolf whistling, a siren and a lil spanish jingle my mum taught him/her....and non stop chattering to himself and something that sounds like his chuckling..his always up for head scratches and cuddles and if i dont hand them out he bites me..hehehe...Oh wells i guess only time will tell if its a boy or a girl....hopefully with some pics i put up maybe a few of you's will be able to visually see if its a boy or a girl, i just gotta find the cable for the dig cam .... emz ;D

[lovemytiels]

Hi Emz, the more I read about this little bugger of yours the more I am convinced it is a male. Males are definately more vocal than females especially imitating things & starting to mumble things. He is one very naughty tiel for biting his mom . Keep trying & try to keep your fingers & any other body parts away from him. Maybe have him on your hand only & leave the head scratches alone for a couple of days to see if that will work. I have one male tiel here & if he doesn't get his head scratches he will nip at you. I then tell him he is naughty & no more head scratches & put him back in his cage. The next day he is fine. He is trying to be the dominant one but we don't allow it. They are very inteligent birds so you really have to show him who is the real boss. Cheers Anna