[stchase24]

Hey everybody,

My Quaker is now pricking any hairs he sees off of my body and it is very annoying, and when I try to stop him he goes into attack mode. How can I fix this and how do I react when he bites b/c he latches on and doesn't let go. The only way I can get him off sometimes is by giving him a little shake or smack. He's very aggressive and territorial even on my lap.

Should I just leave him alone for a while? And How do I react when he bites?

I've only had him for about a week and he was very friendly the first day.

Thanks,

Scott

[Mama's Bird]

Hey everybody,

My Quaker is now pricking any hairs he sees off of my body and it is very annoying, and when I try to stop him he goes into attack mode. How can I fix this and how do I react when he bites b/c he latches on and doesn't let go. The only way I can get him off sometimes is by giving him a little shake or smack. He's very aggressive and territorial even on my lap.

Should I just leave him alone for a while? And How do I react when he bites?

I've only had him for about a week and he was very friendly the first day.

Thanks,

Scott

Hi Scott:
You can't smack him. He doesn't understand disciplinary action. He just sees it as a challenge. When he bites you instead of pulling away, which causes him to latch down harder, go forward toward the bite. Don't try to push him over backward but just gently bring your finger forward toward the bite until he turns loose. Don't react with cries of pain or ow, ow, ow either. They catch on real fast and just love to get a reaction. If you react he'll learn to use it to get attention.

[xerxeys mama]

My Xerxey is doing the exact same thing. Its very frustrating someof the times. i just try to ignore it and most of the times ill put him back on his play cage and then hes ok. im guessing that this is a hormoanl thing right nof roe Xerxey.

[stchase24]

Thanks, do you have any tips for the hair pricking for when I don't wear long sleeves?

[equineRtist]

I don't think you can do much about the hair plucking except to lay a towel over your arm. I have to do that because I can't be bitten on my arm. I have no lymph nodes on my left side, so I don't need my arm bitten....anyway, it hurts.

PLEASE PLEASE don't hit your bird. "Smacking" could cause some serious internal damage to him. Also his neck might easily be broken as it's very skinny and fragile under all those feathers.
Please?

Oh! Welcome to the group. Read read read. There are so many posts in this forum that give you the perfect tips to help you develope a nice relationship between you and your bird.
Best wishes to you and your birdie.

[Joseph]

It's a typical human, indeed mammalian, reaction to lash out when we are not feeling in control. Birds biting can soooo make us feel like that. It doesn't work, as you probably know, even if you feel a bit better for standing up for yourself. It can damage your relationship or at least make it a rather aggressive interaction between you both.

My birds have all learnt what they can and can't do around my personage. Here's my personal (non-pro) take on it:

Your bird is plucking hair, he likes to. It fascinates him. He doesn't know he's hurting you because you haven't told him in bird language. You have only reacted in human language.

Because you've reacted with angry touching, quakerboy goes into his own angry defensive behaviour. He doesn't actually connect your grabbing with you trying to tell him to stop hurting. That's the problem. To him you seem to be stopping him from having a good time and that comes across as mean and worthy of a punishing bite to teach you he doesn't like to be rough handled. Birds are actually quite compassionate with a mate or friend and will usually stop IF they get the message. This is harder to convey between species let alone phyla.

The trick is DON'T TOUCH HIM. Clap your hands or rub your arm loudly making an angry noise the way he does (not "ow" like a human as he'll just add it to his vocab. Be emphatic but VERY VERY brief. As soon as he stops, be exactly the way you were before as if it never happened. Birds seem to like things to be over quickly. They will tell each other off then snuggle up again. Set it up so you are talking lovingly to him then, when he picks at you, do your thing and straightaway settle back down to the talking again. That has REALLY WORKED for me.

He may try it as an experiment a few times. They say it takes 20 repetitions for a bird to learn something so be prepared mentally to do it at least that often. Just keep in mind he it's not personal just a communication failure and it's up to you to bridge it because he can't. If he bites do as Mamasbird suggests and then walk away from him and punch the pillow. Being on you is a privilege and he is disqualified if he bites. But try to minimise the biting. Hopefully the new action will distract him and he shouldn't take too much offense as you are not personally touching him.

When my birds grab my earing I shake my head with a "j-j-j-j-j-" noise, sometimes with my finger and thumb open like a bird beak, but not touching or grabbing. Birds always give a friend fair warning before they bite so this is what you do.


Welcome to the forum and good luck, Scott!

[Koki]

OK, the first thing you need is a bridge word. I use the word "gentle" whenever Pepper is pulling hair (or back when she used to) or gets to wound up when we wrestle. She knows what the word means.

You must say it at the precise moment she pulls a hair or nibbles too hard or whatever.

Second, you must understand what motivates her. That's not really pulling your hair, or nipping. What she truly enjoys is your company and interaction. Say the bridge word, then pick her up gently and set her down on a nearby perch or play station (you may need to set one up just for this purpose) and turn your head away from her until she calms down. This only needs to be 1 or maybe 2 seconds.

Technically it's called negative punishment, or time out from positive reinforcement. That is, the removal of a positive reinforcer is the same as negative punishment (removing something the bird wants).

Don't be mean or dramatic. Don't jerk or move so quickly you scare her. That would break the connection between the bridge word and the punishment. Say the word and gently pick her up (over the back if you need to) and set her down and turn your head away and be quiet for a second. I.e. cut of interaction.

The third time set her in or on her cage and walk away. You can come back withn a few seconds if you want.

If you do this right it works. Pepper used to pull every hair I had, she ripped off every skin tag and mole she could get a hold of. No more.

This is the exact techniqe I used to get her from a constantly screaming bird to one that seldom screams. Except I use the bridge 'no screming.' If she screams I say the bridge and turn away for a second or two until she chirps or whistles plesantly. She used to scream every two seconds all day long. Now when she accidently screams for fun she immediatly starts chirping and rubbing my ear and tries to tell me she's sorry and didn't mean to scram. My experience is to set her down anyway b/c if you let her get away with it once or twice the screaming increases 10 fold. Same with hair pulling.

[Sandi Kiwis Mom]

You have been given some very good advice. Please don't HIT your bird. Your bird is relying on you for just about everything. You have only had your bird for a week and your bird is developing a TRUST in you right now. Just remember that your baby is new and everything around your bird is new including you.

[stchase24]

I'm also not 100% sure if he's actually eating the hairs. I try to pay real close attention since hairs are just about impossible to digest. Hopefully I won't need to shave my arms!

But today has been much better, no bites! Although he tried.

and just wanted to let you know that the smacking thing was more of a tapping thing. A small tap on the beak, that's all. But I learned that it only added more fuel to the fire, and I'm beginning to figure out how to avoid bites.

Thanks for all the advice again!

Also, I was wondering if this video is a good game/training trick.. it starts at about 3:30 through the video.
It's called the "gotcha game"

Let me know what you guys think of it: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=1K_lRwaGj2w

[Sandi Kiwis Mom]

that is actually called the "earthquake" and it works quite well. When your bird bites don't show any emotion and just say "don't bite" You will soon learn there is no need to raise your voice or tap your bird on the beak. Quakers are smart birds and they love to please their flockmate, which is you. So please be patient with your bird.

[xerxeys mama]

WOW thanks for the advice as im also going through exactly the samt thing with Xerxey. its so hoard not to get mad at him when he pulls my hairs ect. I realize that hes preening me cuz he has chosen me as his mate and its very hard to keep my temper for it does hurt and i hate the sound it makes when he pulls onmy hair. it makes a real funny snap. just like some of you dont like the nail being scratched on the chalkboard back in school noise. that noise bugs me. so i just put xerxey on my finger and look at him and speak to him and say i love him and put him back. ill to it this way now and see if i get results.