Re: Biting Getting Worse... What she is doing is absolutely, 100% normal behavior. At two years of age and during breeding season she is resenting the fact that she cannot leave her parents (you and your husband) and find a boyfriend. Greys and other parrots of their size usually leave the parents and start play-courting at 1.5 years of age.
What you need to take into consideration is that those bites are not really meant to hurt you, if she wanted to do this, she would outright attack you, come after you growling and with her wings curved and halfway open and literally bite chunks out of you. These are more lovebites brought on by frustration than real aggression bites. We can take baby parrots out of their parents nest and handraise them to force them to imprint with humans but we can't take the instincts or alter the natural biological cycles out of them. She will most likely outgrow this stage and calm down but, I might as well tell you that a) it could take a long time and
b) there are some that never do revert to the same loving relationship with their owner and need to be rehomed. When this happens, the bird bonds with the new owner the way they would do with a mate in the wild and the problem solves itself.
Try entertaining her and allowing her more hours out of her cage. Young birds don't do well caged all day long same as a teenager does not do well when grounded for days and days. Also, don't put your hand out to her, just open her cage and walk away. You can talk to her, give her treats but in a casual, nonchalant, off-hand kind of way, as in passing. Do not ask her to come to you, do not ask her to step up, do not pay her a lot of attention and do not put your hand out when she flies in your direction, simply duck and allow her to pass over your head. These birds are highly social and need the loving interaction of flock members, by your 'ignoring' her, you will force her to 'reconsider' her situation and take the first step. And, when she does and she is 'nice', reward her with verbal praise, attention and a treat; if she bites you, put her in her cage and walk away from her for about ten minutes, then start again: open the door of the cage and just 'ignore' her until she comes to you and behaves nicely. Parrots are highly intelligent and grasp the concept of 'action - consequence' very quickly, once they realize that the only way to get attention and treats is by been nice, they usually stop.
Last edited by Beatriz Cazeneuve; 05-25-2008 at 06:23 AM.
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