# New baby just started biting ears...



## Brendainnj (Oct 11, 2012)

Hello all, we are a new cockatiel family! We acquired a hand-fed baby almost 2 weeks ago. Rio has been very sweet, willingly stepping up, riding on shoulders, etc. A few days ago, he(?) started biting my son's ear--nibbling at first but now clamping down. Since my son's head is shaved, his ears are pretty prominent! Everything I read online seems to say it's from fear but I'm not sure I believe that--he is clearly a happy bird most of the time. Usually he begins by trying to peck my son's glasses behind his ear, but then goes for the flesh. My son is getting frustrated that his "loving" bird suddenly is biting. Should we make the shoulders "off-limits" for now...but how does that teach him anything? To make matters worse, when my son tries to remove him from his shoulders the bird knows to move around to the back of his head where he can't be reached without someone else's help.

I'm really interested if anyone else has successfully dealt with this--so much advice out there & lots of it contradicts! Most say to show NO reaction, that anything is positive reinforcement. Others say a stern look and stern no. 

FYI, his wings are clipped & he's almost 9 weeks old. He gets 12 hrs of sleep at night.

Thanks in advance!


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## JudiNH (Sep 10, 2011)

Congrats on your new baby! He sounds like a typical young exploring little cockatiel...he is nibbling to explore and investigate. They are so curious, and want to test everything. I would definitely say to keep him off the shoulder for now, especially since he wont come off nicely when you ask him to. Shoulder time in my house is a privilege to be earned, and only when the bird will behave there, and come off when asked, is he/she allowed to hang out on my shoulder. In this training stage, you need to keep your bird where you can see him, and where you can have some control over what he is doing.  Let him sit on your lap, your finger, and your arm, but no shoulder. Give him lots of appropriate and acceptable things to chew on, toys and goodies and treats, while you are holding him, and if he starts to nibble on you, say a firm NO, and give him the toy or treat again. He just needs to learn what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. He will learn. Just be consistent and firm, and give him lots of positive reinforcement when he is being good.  Enjoy him! Baby birds are so cute and so much fun....


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## SouthernFried (Aug 24, 2012)

I love the answer above.  Great advice.


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## Brendainnj (Oct 11, 2012)

Thanks Judi, for the reassurance! It's almost like he's Jekyll & Hyde--one day he's this sweet little thing that let's us do anything to him & suddenly he's starting to bite. We just don't want to do anything to encourage the behavior. I guess he is settling in as his attitude seems much more "independent" now than when we brought him home. He likes his cage much more and seems content to stay there even when his door is open. 

One question about shoulder time--do you keep trying a couple times a day & if he bites immediately remove him? Or give him a few days away? He always makes a beeline for the shoulder so it's difficult to have him anywhere else on your person.


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## JudiNH (Sep 10, 2011)

I would completely stop shoulder time, for a long time. Break the habit, and dont let him up there, at all. Hold him lower, and further away from your body if you need to, to keep him off. Do this for several weeks, even months, until he is really well trained, and well under control when you are handling him. Then, much later, when you feel he fully understands the up and down commands, and is compliant about stepping up and down in a variety of situations, then, maybe allow him to try the shoulder again. But honestly, I would just take shoulder time off the table completely until you know he can be trusted there.


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## Brendainnj (Oct 11, 2012)

OK, not the answer I was hoping for . But if that's the case...how to bond? One of the things he (and my son) enjoy is Rio riding on his shoulder while he goes about the house. Other times he'll sit at the computer while my son is at it, but then he's too preoccupied to bite. If he's on the floor, again he's preoccupied. So what _should_ we be doing during this training phase?


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

I don't stop my tanya from being on my shoulder, sometimes she nibbles on my ears hard but i just remove her and say no every time she does it


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## JudiNH (Sep 10, 2011)

You can bring him to the table with you when you eat and let him nibble or have his own food to eat, that is a great bonding experience. You can get a shower perch, and bring him in the shower with you. You can let him run around on the computer desk and play while you type. You can have him on your lap, or arm or hand, while you sit on the couch and watch TV. Put toys and shreddable things on your lap and let him explore. Whatever ways you can find to spend time with him, are bonding activities. And, maybe you will want to continue shoulder time, and just remove him and say NO when he nibbles, but for me, I find it easier to just avoid the shoulder altogether, especially since you find it difficult to remove him when he starts to misbehave.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Have you thought about maybe getting a birdy necklace? It has a whole bunch of goodies on it that the bird can chew on while sitting on you.

I agree with lperry's suggestion, as this is what I do with my birds. They can sit on my shoulder, but if they bite, they are immediately removed. You could even try timeout when he starts biting, put him back in his cage and cover it. Uncover him a couple minutes later and try again. When he's being nice on your shoulder, go ahead and give him a treat, something he likes. This way he learns by reward that being nice on the shoulder is good and being mean on the shoulder gets him removed.


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## Brendainnj (Oct 11, 2012)

Hmmm, never heard of a birdy necklace, will look into that. We did bring him to the table last night with us which was pretty funny (but only something we can do 1x a week when my husband is not with us!). He munched on his plate, then of course wanted to try everyone else's to see if they had something better! Enjoyed a stint in the napkin basket then promptly walked off the table & fell on the chair! It's so funny when he does it 'cause he just disappears & then we hear his chirp like "here I am & yes I meant to do that!" So all in all it was a good experience. We also discovered a game he loves--I cut up drinking staws into 2" pieces which he can easily pick up. When he squeezes the end, it shoots out of his mouth sideways--too funny. If he sees it, he'll chase it to do it again, but usually we have to retrieve it since it shoots pretty far. 

So yesterday was a GOOD day


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## lethalfire (Aug 29, 2012)

Yay!!! I'm glad to hear you've found somethings to do to help with bonding.
As for the straw game, parrots have a different version of fetch, we do the fetching LOL.
Lots of times they will throw stuff or just drop stuff off the side of the table so that WE pick it up for them. It's a little backwards but hey, it works lol.


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## Bird Junky (Jul 24, 2012)

Hi Now you know why. Pirates are always depicted wearing an eye patch..B.J.


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