Fishies-for-me

Does anyone know how to stop a small young parrotlet from biting? He is about 4 1/2 months old. Has been hand fed as a baby but then went to a pet store. He was very well looked after there but I am sure had limited contact. The workers handle the birds but have their work to do to . He loves to be out and loves to be handled..but bites. ...any tips appreciated.

aquatic mouse

I would ask gremlin. She's raised a lovebird.

gremlin

That doesn't mean I know all the different types of birds though

Actually, what I would do is everytime the bird goes to bite, stick a toy in his way so he bites the toy instead. Give him something else to chew on. Lovebirds are very beaky. They like to chew on something all the time. Twitters tries to chew on me, but I just give him something else to chew on. He would rather chew on something that doesn't wiggle away. Does your parrotlet lunge and bite or just chew? If it is lunging/biting, then it could be that someone at the petstore (employee or customer) scared the bird with their hands. If so, then it may take a while for the bird to learn to trust again. 4 1/2 months is plenty young enough to tame him down though. I would suggest clipping his wings (if they aren't already clipped). This way if he wants to go somewhere, he has to depend on people and their hands to get him there. Anytime you are holding him, have a treat or toy that he can chew on. When he tries to chew on you, interrupt him with a clucking sound or tsking sound and redirect his chewing to the toy or the treat.

Fishies-for-me

my parrotlet is 4 3/4 months old and i have had him for 2 weeks. he bit cuz he was nervous about new peeps. he also is a brat and bites when he wants his own way...lol i am typing one handed as he is sitting on the other hand now...hence no caps...lol. he is a big time mommas boy but bites my hubbie hard. i use a glove on one hand so when he bites hard i can still handle him. he is my 1st parrot and i am glad he is small and not a macaw...lol. he is clipped and will remain so . he is very active and seems to be healthy... i think a lot of the problem is that he is young...new to us ..and neds to be taught it is unacceptable to bite.thanks for the advise.

gremlin

Twitters chases my fingers when he wants to play. I finally tied a knot in a Kleenex to play tug of war with him. He kept trying to play with my fingers.

Fishies-for-me

For the last 2 weeks or so I have not needed to use a glove with my parrotlet. He is still more bonded to me than anyone else but he is warming up to the rest of the family to. He is quite the little clown...lol

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gremlin

I'm glad to know that he is bonding more with you. The more you work with him, the tamer he will become. Lovebirds are little clowns also. Do you have a jungle gym type playpen for him? Twitters loves to climb all over everything.

Fishies-for-me

Yep I do...lol and he loves it. How is twitters doing?? Is he home with his new Mommy yet?

gremlin

Twitters is still here. He hasn't learned to fly yet, although he really does try! He can get about 2-3 inches off the ground, but that's it. He future Mommy still comes and visits at least once a week and is ordering his new home/toys/treats/food/etc. so she will have everything ready for him to move in. Twitters' wing feathers are coming in really nice and his tail feathers are getting longer every day. You can see the orange spots on his tail feathers peeking out from under his blue rump feathers. I'm waiting on a digital camera so I can get some really good pics of him to put up.

heather84

We have had a ton of diffrent birds, now we only have one---a parrolet

Even tho i am the one who feeds her, gives her water, covers her up at night etc she hates me lol.......she bites me all the time i wont even get her out.

But she doesnt bite my mom at all, she will even give my mom kisses.

I think they bite because they know ur scared of them.....lil pain in the butts lol

Fishies-for-me

Mine will bite other people altho he is getting better for that to. I ordered some hemp seeds that he absolutely loves and when they give him those he says " thank you "in he cute little parrotlet voice. He gets friendlier when they give him treats. He also says birdie birdie birdie and what did you do. I am trying to get him to say .. It'sss Mommaaaa