Why Is My Bird Biting Me?

[Eggnog101]

We have had our Golden Manteled Eastern Rosella, Apollo, for about two years, and he has always bitten us whenever we take him out of his cage,but now, it's getting worse, every time we open his cage to try to feed and water him, he tries to attack us! We don't know what has gotten into him recently, and are afraid he's getting dangerous. We would greatly appreciate some help figuring out how to get him to stop biting. And does anybody else have an Eastern Rosella, and if so, does yours act like this?

 

[TwoCrows]

Birds bite for many reasons. A bad diet can make them cranky, fear, frustration, or even health problems can make them mean. And some just come out of the egg cranky.

I have a Cockateil that was that way nearly all his life and nothing I did fixed the problem. But I found that getting him out of his environment MORE will pipe this behavior down. Your bird knows his cage is his domain and will be more cranky inside the cage. But get him out, and he does not feel as territorial.

So get him on a play stand more often, let him sit on the window sill and look outside. Let him sit on a perch away from his cage somewhere. Include him in on breakfast, lunch and or dinner with some cereal, pasta, veggies of some sort or even a seed treat, out of the cage. You have to convince him that you mean him no harm. Make sure he knows the step up command as well. If you have too, use a piece of wood like a perch to get him out of the cage if he is biting too much.

It takes a long time to deal with these types of cranky birds. They can and do get better as time goes on. But most importantly, you need to work with him outside of his cage. In the mental state he is in, he will never come around inside. Get him out as much as possible.

Good luck!

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I had a cherry head conure that would try to bite 12 years of having it to find out it was cranky because it was a female. Maybe yours is a female?

 

[Eggnog101]

I had a cherry head conure that would try to bite 12 years of having it to find out it was cranky because it was a female. Maybe yours is a female?

That is indeed a possibility.

 

[Eggnog101]

Birds bite for many reasons. A bad diet can make them cranky, fear, frustration, or even health problems can make them mean. And some just come out of the egg cranky.

I have a Cockateil that was that way nearly all his life and nothing I did fixed the problem. But I found that getting him out of his environment MORE will pipe this behavior down. Your bird knows his cage is his domain and will be more cranky inside the cage. But get him out, and he does not feel as territorial.

So get him on a play stand more often, let him sit on the window sill and look outside. Let him sit on a perch away from his cage somewhere. Include him in on breakfast, lunch and or dinner with some cereal, pasta, veggies of some sort or even a seed treat, out of the cage. You have to convince him that you mean him no harm. Make sure he knows the step up command as well. If you have too, use a piece of wood like a perch to get him out of the cage if he is biting too much.

It takes a long time to deal with these types of cranky birds. They can and do get better as time goes on. But most importantly, you need to work with him outside of his cage. In the mental state he is in, he will never come around inside. Get him out as much as possible.

Good luck!

Your advice is already doing wonders for Apollo, he's/she's still aggresive inside his cage, but if I take him/her to a place where he/she can't see his/her cage, he/she is so much nicer, stepping onto my fingers and climbing onto my shoulders. Thank you so much for your help!

 

[Magic Birdie]

There are a LOT of reasons he might bite, being territorial, something new, sensing danger and wanting to warn you, etc.

Maybe you can find some articles on it and determine why.

 

[Going Bhonkers]

PS. Apollo is so pretty!

 

[Eggnog101]

Apollo update: Doing much better with me, I'm taking him out everyday, and he's becoming slightly calmer. We had a horrible problem a while ago, whenever we let him out, he would fly around the house, ramming into the windows and falling down, going asolutely crazy. we solved the problem by clipping his wings. He used to whistle all the time, and still whistles, but is mostly making happy chattering noises whenever I walk into the room. I don't let him on my shoulder, because he'll grab my earings, my ear, my eye, anything he can. whenever I want to take him out, he runs around his cage, trying to attack. So I just walk away and let him come out on his own. Then we play ring around the rosie around the dining room table. (He runs under the table, I move the chairs and go after him, he moves to other side of table, I move chairs to follow him etc.) he still is vicious if he doesn't want to sit on your arm, (or feet, legs, head etc. he chooses where he prefers to sit) but enjoys doing crafts and puzzles with me. (and tearing up whatever scraps he can find, I have to be aware of how far apart he and the scissors are) Whenever I change his food/water, he moves out of the way (Or tries to bite when he's grumpy) and watches me. But whenever another family member tries to change his food/water, he goes nuts and tries to attack them! I know this is probably because he has a bond with me, and not very much with everyone else. He loves playing with toys (Store bought or homemade) And enjoys tearing them up. He's got a whole new personalty now that I've spent more time with him, and I'm so happy he somewhat likes me. I'll try to get a pic up of him soon!

 

[Eggnog101]

it was hard to get this new picture, I had taken him out like I do everyday, and he wouldn't get out of his cage. When he got out of his cage, he wouldn't step on the perch I use to pick him up with. After finally getting him to step onto the perch, he started attacking me, whenever my hand got close, he would grab it and bite me. (I managed to hold back several yells, as I know that he probably thinks it's great fun when I yell) After a minute, we were both aggravated and mad at each other, which didn't help us bond. He jumped off the perch, and started running around, I was desperate to catch him, and when he wouldn't step on the perch or my hand, I grabbed a wool glove and wrapped it around him, which scared him horribly. He was so scared, he jumped onto my arm and started to pant. I felt bad, now whenever he sees the glove, he freezes and wont look at anything but the glove. (I can garentee he wasn't hurt, he's back to his old self) I think he was having a bad day, it should be better by tomorrow.




After Apollo calmed down, I took this picture.

 

[serama hen]

Im having the same problem my new male tiel was afraid or everyone biting and hissing. After a few days he calmed down but still is a bit shaky. He doesnt seem to trust anyone. He seems afraid of a persons hand. So my friend who sold me him for $30 i knew he neglected him because of all the damage to his feathers and so forth and I wanted to save this tiel from such horrid conditions. It seemed that when i asked if my friend ever hit the bird he replied yes. A cruel person not fit for responsibilities. I mean who smacks a bird it was so young when he got it and the first couple of days they are shaky and scared so theyd hiss and bite. He wanted him to love him the first day he got it. And because it didnt do that hed smack it and throw it. I took this bird away from him. And the tiel seems so much happier calmer and more loving. Things take time, trust when broken is hard to get back. But it seems hes doing alot better than before. Hes a pied cockatiel. If you want why not add a few toys to the cage or rerange everything so she wouldnt really look at it as hers and she'd get more use to you. I say rearange or get toys try it out.