Depressed Macaw With Biting Problem! Somone Please Give Me Answers!!!

[BeccaB00]

Haha thanks

I do have a question, do you think it's cause he's depressed? Or do you think it's another reason? Hes had a history of nipping but never biting like he is now.

He can be your best friend at one point, and then I guess I don't see his warnings and he just keeps going at you..
thanks
Becca

 

[the-bird-man]

imo he is not depressed. i think since his buddy's are gone and he is not geting attention from them he wants extra attention from you so by biteing you he is geting it. treat him kinda like a two year old. hahns macaws are well know to be nippy too. also remember the difference between beaking where he holds onto you so he can balance and biteing. is he molting now? they get grumpy when they molt. and the change of season makes some birds go nuts. also how old is he? they go through a terrible twos stage that can start early and can last longer than a year.

 

[BeccaB00]

He about 1 1/2 years old. He is not molting he just came out of molt about 3 weeks ago. And boy was he grumpy then!

He very often beaks me, just to step-up or when I'm scratching his head he puts his beak around my thumb, but never bites down. When he bites, he almost ALWAYS brings blood, and/or takes chunks of skin out of my hands

 

[the-bird-man]

yeah he is in the "terrible twos" stage imo. think about it as he is going through puberty, his body is changing and he has lots of hormones. it should get better one day soon. the terrible twos stage is why you see a lot of birds rehomed at around the age of two. hang in there and remember i will always talk parrots with anyone

 

[redhen]

I think that because the other birds are gone hes trying to find his "place" in the flock...
He may be challenging you right now...

 

[PineappleMama]

Quote:
This.

There are all sorts of toys/food holder/puzzles for birds, but for example... this one is $8...

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3039780&lmdn=Pet+Type

I LOVE puzzles myself, so I can totally appreciate a bird wanting something to solve too.

 

[the-bird-man]

an old phone book makes a great toy, i hide treats in them. geting bit is never fun but at least his beak is on the small side, i know a guy who lost a finger to a large bird....

 

[jarodw45]

I have four macaws and two cockatoos and the best advice I could give you is to spend ALOT more time with him... find a treat he/she really loves and then you touch him if he doesnt bite give him/her a small peice of the treat. If he/she bites in a stern voice but not yelling say no and walk away from him but do not leave more than 30 seconds or he/she will miss the point. try again repeat repeat... once he understands that he gets a reward for only good behavior he will quikly learn not to do the bad stuff... Positive reinforcement is the best training for birds never yell at them or they will scream and NEVER hit or punish them they are like two year olds and will retaliate. My scarlet Rory hates for me to leave his side so if he is bad and I leave he gets really upset. Also spend LOTS of time with the bird and give plenty of toys that can be destroyed then new ones put up also you can wrap some food in paper and make little balls that he has to open to find the food that is good forraging and makes them use their brain. Dont get another bird all it does is multiply the amount of attention you have to give beleive me with my flock i know and none of mine are breeders they are all my flying two year olds. Hope that some of this helps best of luck!

 

[BeccaB00]

Hi! I'm really enjoying the answers! I'm def trying out training more with him. For the phone book idea: Isn't the ink toxic? Seems like I heard that somwhere... And he has lots of foraging places, and desructible toys. I fill a bucket up with balls of paper and hide treats beneath them, and he also has a few things which he has to find a way to open, or destroy them for the treat. I also make a few little home made ones. At first, before I got my lil hahns, I had picked out a severe macaw that I wanted to adopt (ofcoarse now my hahns is my BABY, not my bird) The severe had a bad biting problem, his beak still is not a full sized macaw beak, but it's bigger than my hahn's beak. I don't think I could take that! I used to think this website had mostly chicken people, and I didn't think I'd get answers if I started a parrot thread but I'll DEFINATLY come here for help more often!

Oh btw! WHILE I am on this I figured I'd ask, I'm not changing the subject or anything but the feathers on his chest look very frazzled, almost like hes chewed on them. I have not seen any signs of feather plucking, or him over preening himself but to me they don't quite look right. And I can honastly say, that it DOES look like hes chewed on them. Any suggestions?

 

[the-bird-man]

all the info on phone books i have found says they are made with soy ink and are safe.

if you can post pictures of his chest i could tell better if he is plucking. but if i were to guess i would not think he is plucking or chewing his feathers. he may just be having a bad hair day because of the molt he had.