# Very New, Very Naughty Habbit!



## Velvet (Jul 30, 2010)

In about the past week, Velvet has adopted an instinctive Dinosaur behavior  It just started out of nowhere :blink: 

It's very naughty and he needs to stop. I'm not sure what to do or how to break this. 

When he sits on my shoulder, he goes immediately for my neck, nipping it!!
I'm not sure if this is his way of 'preening' me, but he is leaving gashes on my neck and it hurts too. When I put my hand up to cover my neck, he lets out a series of screeches in protest 

When he sits nicely, I praise him and even gave him a sunflower seed as a reward and told him good boy (for not doing it). But, eventually, after a few hours, or next time he is on my shoulder, he does it again. 

I'm not sure how to discipline this. I don't want to not allow him on my shoulder, but maybe this is what I have to do. Is this his idea of preening? Maybe this is his shredding instinct?

Here is a pic of what he is doing and then a pic of my neck. You can see above where my finger is the gash he has left, and there are more marks like this from where he is nibbling! He did it behind my neck too. It is leaving scabs! He does not do this to my daughter, only to me.


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## kab0116 (Mar 17, 2010)

Ouch! Noki does the same thing! If you figure out how to make him stop you'll have to let me know.


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## beckins (Jul 30, 2010)

sausage trys to peck at the couple of moles i have on my neck occasionally while sat on my shoulder  have you got any small moles? He might think you got some seed stuck to your neck XD lol


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## Velvet (Jul 30, 2010)

A couple of freckles, but the area he is nibbling, is just bare skin.


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## feathers (Aug 21, 2007)

Cockatiels preen each other all the time so he/she might think that there helping you!
It also means that they trust you because in the wild they wouldn’t go preening anyone!


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## Velvet (Jul 30, 2010)

Yes feathers...I agree and that's what I figure..that he is preening. That's why I'm stuck as to what to do. I don't want to do anything because I think it is preening behavior, but on the other hand, it kills and leaves scabs on me. 

He never used to nip like this, and it's started all of a sudden with the actual bite down. 

I hope there is a solution. Today, when he was on my shoulder, I just kind of scrunched my neck up so he couldn't get to it. But, then he went for my ear and the interesting thing is, he did not nip the ear, just kind of vibrated his beak on it. So, maybe I'll just have to walk around and keep my neck scrunched up when he is on my shoulder 

It may work, because he might see that he can't get to my neck anymore, and may stop trying.


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## feathers (Aug 21, 2007)

Banjo doses it all the time he gets angry when i move my neck away.
I just say ''No Banjo" the he will just go on doing his own thing.

Maybe having a word when he does it to make him stop (that you don’t use every day )


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## Velvet (Jul 30, 2010)

Ok. I'll try that then. 

The other day, I was letting out a high squeek hoping I would sound like a bird saying ouch! But it didn't seem to work. 

I'll use a word then and see if that works.


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## feathers (Aug 21, 2007)

Hope it works for you!


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## Velvet (Jul 30, 2010)

Today, when he was on my shoulder and going for my neck, I would say 'hurt' firmly and then scrunch my neck so he had to stop. A couple of times, he refrained when I had my neck just normal, and I told him good boy, and gave him kisses. 
I'll try this again tomorrow and see if it get's better. 

I also had another idea. 

I could find a shredding material (safe for birds) and try to train him to play with it and then reward him for playing with it. 
Once he is playing with it, I'll make a necklace out of it. When he is on my shoulder, I could then put the necklace on and see if he will pick at it instead.


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## Cassie (Jan 7, 2009)

Ouch! Are you sure he's not a vampire?


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## Velvet (Jul 30, 2010)

Indeed..


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## Velvet (Jul 30, 2010)

I think I have this figured out!

Today, when he went for my neck, I told him a firm and solid 'NO' and he stopped. We did this a few times, but then he sat nicely for a few min, and then longer. I told him 'Good Boy' when he was sitting nice and gave him a sunflower seed again. 
It seems to be working. He only went for my neck 2 times in about 10 min. He is really listening and he'll be over this in a couple more days I think


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## Duckybird (Sep 13, 2010)

They're smart...I would immediately put his naughty butt in his cage!! That's the only way I've ever been able to completely cure my tiels of unwanted behavior. It's only too easy to get angry at them, and that doesn't solve anything. If a dog bites you, your natural reaction would be to push them away or even physically discipline them. Birds are way too fragile to even take the chance that you may lose your temper if Velvet hurts you. I would warn him maybe once if he does it, then the second time put him up, repeating the command. If he starts to scream or fuss, you can cover him or shut the door. And I'm only talking a very brief time out. If he starts screaming, wait until he's quiet to take him back out, so you're not rewarding him for that either. If he doesn't scream or fuss, maybe 5 minutes time out. He'll figure it out quickly, I promise. I hate to tell you that he's doing it on purpose, but he probably is. They can be incredibly gentle and their beaks are extremely dexterous. If they bite, it's on purpose. They know the difference :/


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