im kinda new here

[moondancer1351]

im having trouble with my little nate, he has started trying to bite if after i open his cage door i try to get him out , he used to step up but now he doesnt, he wants to bite , like he is protecting his cage. he is 4 mmonths old now , he will come out of his cage on his won but if i put my hand near him to step up he almost runs to bite me

[memmey]

Welcome nice to meet you. Boy everyone is having biting issues these days. I think we are going to have to start a thread about this and get us some expert help. Just know your not the only one. I wonder not just about you and your bird but everyones else too if there was a sort of event that happened even something minor that turned them around to bite. They bite cause they are scared or mad not usually just for no reason. I've noticed a common thread is the age of the birds they are young and starting this. We are gonna collectivley have to do our homework on this. I would say be patient and see what we can all find out. Hand issues. Welcome again and feel feee to post and get to know us, this is a good group a nice people.( don't you think it's kinda funny how brave he is so little to run up on a human you gotta give him that)

[ArtS]

From what I've read and experienced, this seems to be caused by territorial issues. He's marking the cage as his exclusive domain. This can become a problem in the long run. I would reccomend rearrainging the cage - moving the toys and perches around and moving the cage by a few inches (do this every week or two). It will reduce the territorial issues, keep things interesting for him and eventually make him less flightly in general.

Also, make him inderstand who's boss. This is very important as pecking order in very important to birds - if the bird does not understand that you and your family members are above him in the pecking order you will have problems. When my boy tried to be agressive with me, early on in our relationship, I grabbed the bird and made a fist around his body - gently so as not to hurt him but firmly enough that he couldn't move/escape. I took him out of the cage in this manner and said 'no biting' in a firm tone after a few minutes I released him. It took 2 or 3 times for him to get it. I've not had a problem since. For a long time, my wife took a gentler approach and the birds took advantage of it - much like children - they are really smart little creatures.

Preening is another matter - it's out of love and it HURTS:eek:

Regards,

Art S.

[Kathy]

Welcome to the forum!

Memmey and Arts have given you some great tips so far -- I don't think I have anything else to add. :)

[Dave]

Hey moondancer1351! Welcome to the site :) .