Feb 11, 2021 21:33:25 GMT
snowylily
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 62
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Post by snowylily on Mar 4, 2021 22:28:42 GMT
Maybe; maybe thinking you were hiding it somewhere is another suggestion. If he starts to bite and hurt, give him a short sharp NO! Or better still make the same noise that they use to tell each other off, and flip your hand so that he has to stop or he will fall or have to fly off. If he immediately comes back, talk to him like you would a child, tell him he has to be a good boy or he will be put off again, tell him how good he is when he isn’t biting but immediately he bites, put him off you. If it suits to put him onto a surface or perch, that’s okay but if he tries to climb back on, tell him off, use your index finger to make your points. They are so good at reading our body language, he will get the message. From now on only give him millet when he has been good, and has not been biting. It is best to get in and nip this in the bud soonest, rather than letting him make a habit of biting and then trying to revert him to playing nice. I don’t know what a chipmunk noise is, but I’m sure you have heard your two giving a loud short “ak, akk” kind of a noise when they want the other to leave them alone, to defend a toy or favourite food, perhaps. I’ve found their reaction is immediate when I make this sort of noise rather than telling them “no” which is not something they immediately recognise. Thanks Hezz. Yeah that 'ack ack' noise is what I call the chipmunk noise. They make it when they squabble over seed/brocolli/toys. I did try making that noise but I don't think I got it quite right and Snowy seemed even more driven to make me make the noise again! Thanks, I'll try shouting no and putting him down. It's tricky because I'm so pleased he has finally started sitting on my hand, so I don't like to put him off, but definitely don't want to encourage the biting. He's only 5-6 months so a naughty teenager maybe.
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Feb 11, 2021 21:33:25 GMT
snowylily
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 62
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Post by snowylily on Mar 11, 2021 15:15:46 GMT
Well he's still biting me. I put my hand in the cage and hold it still, and then after a few moments he hops over and starts biting me, gradually getting more firm with his nips. I firmly shout 'No!' and 'No biting!' but he doesn't care, and I push my finger at him but that doesn't bother him either. Could it be because he is moulting (he's around 5-6 months) or does he just hate me invading his space? I'm wondering if he's enjoying my reaction, and it's a sort of sport for him.
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Mar 29, 2024 12:43:21 GMT
Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2021 15:22:50 GMT
snowylily Some birds do enjoy the reaction. If he's on you when he bites make sure you shake him off. Biting = no interaction. If he's doing it as you're changing bowls and whatnot, from a perch, don't react and just carry on. Saying 'No' is a good idea but if he wants a reaction out of you then you're giving him one. It could be his age, him trying to figure out where he stands with the human member of his flock. It's a bit of a minefield. I had the whole biting issue with my eldest. He still bites now when he's grumpy or hormonal. So I'm not the best one to advise and don't really know what to suggest for the best. I can only wish you luck in figuring out why he's doing it and the best way to dissuade him.
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Post by Morgan on Mar 11, 2021 20:25:01 GMT
The only budgie I have who used to bite me too hard (out of curiosity) was Monkey, and I would ignore at first, and then shake her off if it was too much. She sort of stopped on her own so I suppose Imm not the best to advise either. But I think best is to anticipate the bite and interrupt it before it happens, rather than reacting to the bite itself, if possible. If he has already bitten, ignore it. If you can tell he is about to, shake him off. If he bites and you ignore it and he just bites harder, make the ack-ack noise and shake him off at the same time. If he keeps doing it because he likes that reaction, shake him off and ignore him - turn your back, walk away. But don’t put him in his cage as that response takes too long for them to understand the reason for it, or he may start to bite when he wants to be put back. You may need to Google some training techniques, and give him something else to do - a new way to interact with you than biting. Target training is simple and non-invasive to start, if you are interested in that approach. You can find a lot on YouTube, but use common sense. Always reward, never use any training that tries to force the bird to do something - like pushing your finger against the belly to get them to step up, as an example.
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Post by Hezz on Mar 11, 2021 20:28:22 GMT
You are not going to get an immediate remedy. He still needs to learn what it is you don’t want him to do, and while some pick this up quickly, others (possibly more stubborn?) don’t. As Ira has stated, if you are getting bitten while basic “house cleaning’ continue to do so, but I would still tell him off for it. You could try target training him to go to a specific area of the cage when you want to change seed, water - he can bite the target stick all he likes!
Otherwise ignore him while you spend time with his mate. He’ll probably get jealous and what either her to move away from you or your attention for himself. If he then bites you this is the time to firmly let him know that it isn’t acceptable. Better still is to get in before he bites, especially if you can read his intentions and avoid it. Learning to read their body language is a big help.
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Feb 11, 2021 21:33:25 GMT
snowylily
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 62
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Post by snowylily on Mar 13, 2021 10:32:16 GMT
Thanks everyone. I went with the ignoring the biting, just to see what would happen and it's seemed to have worked. I put my hand in the cage and hold it still, and he now happily jumps onto my hand, dances and sings, grooms himself, and does a sort of light exploratory biting. He doesn't bite me firmly anymore. BUT he has also started kind of mating my hand!? It's nice he has accepted me, but I'm not so sure about the mating! I guess he's maybe quite hormonal at the moment? Also while he's dancing on my hand, if Lily comes near he pushes her off the perch with his claw! It's definitely mating he is doing because he shimmies down and sort of wiggles his bum against my hand.
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Post by Hezz on Mar 14, 2021 1:11:54 GMT
Small soft puppy toys are good to redirect the unwanted humping. It is not a good idea to allow a bird to hump on you - it ruins the owner-companion/pet relationship as he will not understand why you don’t reciprocate his intentions. It is rather cruel to allow him to expect you to be his mate when that is impossible. Much better to give him something inanimate to relate to, even a soft cloth over your hand when he looks to be getting ready to start and once he is on this, you can put the cloth and him down well away from you. Better still remove yourself from the room while he relieves himself - don’t be a part of that scenario. If you stop this now, he will quickly move on to using something else, possibly a toy or a perch. Anything is better than it being you.
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Feb 11, 2021 21:33:25 GMT
snowylily
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 62
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Post by snowylily on Mar 14, 2021 7:04:39 GMT
Small soft puppy toys are good to redirect the unwanted humping. It is not a good idea to allow a bird to hump on you - it ruins the owner-companion/pet relationship as he will not understand why you don’t reciprocate his intentions. It is rather cruel to allow him to expect you to be his mate when that is impossible. Much better to give him something inanimate to relate to, even a soft cloth over your hand when he looks to be getting ready to start and once he is on this, you can put the cloth and him down well away from you. Better still remove yourself from the room while he relieves himself - don’t be a part of that scenario. If you stop this now, he will quickly move on to using something else, possibly a toy or a perch. Anything is better than it being you. Thanks, he isn't on his own, he has his budgie companion Lily. Is it that he doesn't want to mate with her because they don't have a nesting box? I'll put him down when he does it again. There's only a couple of times a day he's happy to hop onto my hand, and I think it coincides with when he's feeling frisky! The rest of the time he's actually a little wary of me.
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Post by Hezz on Mar 14, 2021 20:52:40 GMT
Better that he doesn’t try to jump on Lily. Most likely she isn’t interested, anyway, but it isn’t something you want to encourage. Let him relieve himself elsewhere, and keep the peace.
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Feb 11, 2021 21:33:25 GMT
snowylily
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 62
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Post by snowylily on Mar 20, 2021 9:56:52 GMT
Well he's not got frisky again so must have been going through a hormonal phase. He's now been out of the cage a few times and I can easily pop him back in by getting him to stand on a millet Spray bent into a ring shape. While my hand was in the cage this morning, he trotted up my arm out of the cage and sat on my shoulder for a bit! Lily isn't really interested in sitting on my hand, she's not frightened though. Snowy only seems interested in sitting on my hand when it's the morning and he's in his bouncy singing mood! He's not bothered in the afternoon, I wonder why that is?
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Feb 11, 2021 21:33:25 GMT
snowylily
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 62
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Post by snowylily on Mar 20, 2021 18:30:28 GMT
Well how things change so quickly! I put my hand in the cage a lot today, and this evening Lily and Snowy started fighting over who would sit on my hand! Lily insisted that she would perch on my finger, and Snowy wasn't too happy about this and kept trying to push her off with his claw! Eventually he accepted that she wasnt going to move, so he perched right on the end of my finger. This has been the first day they have both willingly sat on my hand together. It's been 5 weeks since we got them, and I didn't think it would be possible to tame them when they first arrived as they were already 6 months old. I'm so pleased, and have ordered a perch for on top of their cage now that they are tame enough to come out the cage more.
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Feb 11, 2021 21:33:25 GMT
snowylily
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 62
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Post by snowylily on Mar 20, 2021 20:08:10 GMT
Here is a photo of the moment Lily decided it was her turn to perch on my finger, and wouldn't let Snowy come near.
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Mar 29, 2024 12:43:21 GMT
Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2021 21:28:03 GMT
Well he's not got frisky again so must have been going through a hormonal phase. He's now been out of the cage a few times and I can easily pop him back in by getting him to stand on a millet Spray bent into a ring shape. While my hand was in the cage this morning, he trotted up my arm out of the cage and sat on my shoulder for a bit! Lily isn't really interested in sitting on my hand, she's not frightened though. Snowy only seems interested in sitting on my hand when it's the morning and he's in his bouncy singing mood! He's not bothered in the afternoon, I wonder why that is? This seems the same case with Bluey and Biscuit! He'll only step up if he's happy, early in the morning or if I have a treat, in the evening and afternoon he is not interested unless I have veggies or a treat.
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Mar 29, 2024 12:43:21 GMT
Deleted
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2021 21:28:29 GMT
Well how things change so quickly! I put my hand in the cage a lot today, and this evening Lily and Snowy started fighting over who would sit on my hand! Lily insisted that she would perch on my finger, and Snowy wasn't too happy about this and kept trying to push her off with his claw! Eventually he accepted that she wasnt going to move, so he perched right on the end of my finger. This has been the first day they have both willingly sat on my hand together. It's been 5 weeks since we got them, and I didn't think it would be possible to tame them when they first arrived as they were already 6 months old. I'm so pleased, and have ordered a perch for on top of their cage now that they are tame enough to come out the cage more. They do this too..
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Feb 11, 2021 21:33:25 GMT
snowylily
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 62
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Post by snowylily on Mar 20, 2021 22:31:37 GMT
Well he's not got frisky again so must have been going through a hormonal phase. He's now been out of the cage a few times and I can easily pop him back in by getting him to stand on a millet Spray bent into a ring shape. While my hand was in the cage this morning, he trotted up my arm out of the cage and sat on my shoulder for a bit! Lily isn't really interested in sitting on my hand, she's not frightened though. Snowy only seems interested in sitting on my hand when it's the morning and he's in his bouncy singing mood! He's not bothered in the afternoon, I wonder why that is? This seems the same case with Bluey and Biscuit! He'll only step up if he's happy, early in the morning or if I have a treat, in the evening and afternoon he is not interested unless I have veggies or a treat. How funny! Must be a budgie thing! X
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