How do i diciplin my 2 and 1/2 month old peachface lovebird?

Question

I have a baby lovebird, I have had it for a week, and I take it out everyday, its still pretty scared, and bites me occasionally when it is cornered...how can I diciplin it to tell it its NOT okay to bite?

Answer 1

With birds, I definitely don't think they need discipline. What birds do need are set boundaries and trust bonds with their people.

Firstly, when you corner a bird, you're giving it the signs that you're a predator and are trying to corner it to its most vulnerable position where it has nowhere to go and no other form of defense. Place yourself in the bird's position - imagine you're sitting peacefully in your home and this giant hand at least three times your size swoops in, forces you into a corner because it's so huge and intimidating, and tries to force you to do what you don't want to, again, because this is very scary. Especially with a baby, it just left its safe clutch of siblings and parents. This is new and frightening.

Secondly, you can divert the bird's attention to something else. If it starts to bite, do NOT pull away or make any noise or gesture of any kind. If you do give a reaction, the bird will learn that it gets attention from biting and especially if it's a vocalization, birds love that! Don't give it that satisfaction. Let it let go on its own and slowly withdraw your hand.

Never make any quick, sudden, or unseen movements towards the bird because this will make it feel like it has to be defensive. The best thing you can do is open the cage door and let it come out of its own accord and sit by the cage often, talking to it, singing to it, just spending time near it. When it can be comfortable with having you so close to its territory, it can probably learn to be comfortable with you in general. It takes a lot of time, so a week is nothing. I have 4 lovebirds and I started off by having them come to my arm. I taught them to step up (a vital command that every bird should know) using my arm because there is less grippable skin and holding a treat (spray millet works best, but you can also use fresh fruits, veggies, low/no-sugar cereals, occasionally sunflower or safflower seeds) above my arm so that they had to step up to reach it. I reinforced this with the verbal command, praised them, and allowed them to have the treat. Remember, if your bird is fearful, it will bite. You need to teach it, with patience, that you can be trusted, that you won't hurt it, and that you're a safe perch and a friend.

As I progressed (it took a while), I started using my hand. They grew more accustomed to seeing my hand and associating it with the treat, so after a while, they started coming to my hand with or without the treats. I still get the occasional bite after 6 years, but that's a lovebird thing. Take note that they're very territorial and because of their size, vulnerable, so they're very fearless when it comes to defending themselves.

Main reasons for biting:
1. "I'm in pain". Has your bird been checked by an avian vet? It's the first thing you should do when you bring a bird home to make sure you got a healthy, happy bird.
2. "You're doing something I don't like!" If you're trying to approach or make some sort of advance on the bird that they clearly do not want, they'll let you know!
3. "I'm hormonal". This will apply later when your lovebird is about 6 to 8 months old when it hits sexual maturity. This is also the time they become territorial.
4. "Get off my territory!" As I already said, lovebirds are notoriously territorial, more than ever after sexual maturity, so be prepared to let them come out more on their own rather than reaching your hand in. You may be asking for a bite that way.
5. "Biting makes neat things happen". Like I already said, if you're giving the bird a reaction when it bites, you're showing it that you will give it more attention and a reaction that may be amusing when it bites.

What you can do when bitten:
1. DO NOT PULL AWAY. You'll save yourself a lot of pain. Pulling away tears the skin and makes things a thousand times worse.
2. Get them off you. Do what you can to convince them to let go, either by using your other hand to open their beak or distracting them. If worst comes to worst, scrape them off onto another perch. Put them down somewhere safe, whether it be a play stand, their cage, or whatever works in your house.
3. Go nurse your wounds. Bandaids, bactine or iodine, whatever works best for you. While you're in the bathroom, if you want to cry, scream, whatever, do it then.
4. Stay away from the parrot until you've calmed down. Barging back in there to 'be the boss' usually means you get bitten a lot more. Parrots react to our stress. Being bitten stresses us out. You see how this could be a problem.
5. Later, when you're not hurting and not upset, try to figure out what happened and what you can do next time.

If your bird absolutely will NOT let go, what I do is give a quick, swift, but not painful blow to the face. It's uncomfortable and distracting, so they'll more than likely let go.

Answer 2

Never give physical consqenses when your bird misbehaves. It destroys any trust you may have gained. If your bird bites you, try your best to make no reaction what so ever. If the bird sees you in pain, he/she will she pleasure in this reaction and will only do it again to see you suffer. Its like little kids laughing when someone gets hurt. (sometimes)

Instead of taking your lovebird out of the cage now, keep him inside and hold some spray millet on the outside of the cage bars. If he feels comfortable, he will come over and eat some. After doing this for a day. Open up the cage door and hold the spray millet by a long perch and let the bird come to you. If he does your making great progress! After youve done that for a day or two and he feels very comfortable with that. hold the millet in your hand with a small jump from the perch to your hand to eat. Then see if your bird will do it without the millet. Hold your finger above his feet so he can step up. If you like to can say 'step up' or any comand you choose when he steps up. When he does step up award him with words and exhileration like mad. This will train him to step up on comand.

Birds bite when they feel threatend, so become his friend. :)

Also dispite their names... love birds aren't really the friendlest birds... they can be fystie.

Answer 3

Trust is the issue. Try not to overreact with a bite and push into it so that your bird will let go. Talk to your bird like it is a small child. Offer it a treat when you interact with her. Discipline may not be appropriate at this age. Fear may intensify even with the greatest intentions. Give her a great pellet food, limit seeds to 10% and fruits and veggies 10-20%. She will associate you with good things so that her fear will fade. Most beings will fight when cornered. Patience is all you need. Have a tweet year.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

It's just biting because it is scared and cornered. Tell it "no" when it bites, but that's about all you can do.

It will stop biting when it realizes you are friendly

Answer 6

Tap it gently on it's beak.

Answer 7

say no when it bites.