Biting

[hermit_crab]

Hi
I bought a new baby budgie 2 weeks ago, but he seems a bit annoyed.
Whenever I try to take him out of his cage, he's biting me, but once I get him out he loves me and will sit on my shoulder and eat from my hand.
Then I put him back in his cage and he bites me again.

Is it territorial or something else?

[mike_art03a]

Hermit,

You're not the only one. I've had Tikki for more than 2 years now and she's always been a bit of a biter (not hard mind you, but she nips pretty good) when she's in her cage. Once I get her out, she's a different story. Sparky's a bit of a chicken, I've had him for a few months and he'll run away from my hand in the cage, so I've developed a unique way of getting him out until he's more familiar. The funny thing is he'll perch on my finger and stuff when he's out, but not the same when he's back in his cage.

It would depend on the bird itself, some bite and some don't. In most cases, the cage is the bird's home and some don't appreciate surprise visitors.

[softie]

Your budgies behavior is very common :)

The budgies feel safest inside their cage and will do anything to defend it's protection. This is often the reason of the biting. Once the budgie is outside of it's security balnket, they become a little more open and willing. Some budgies will see their owners as their "second" protection and become little sweethearts. But once they return to their cages, their first protection is their cage.

[Budgieloveee]

Like the others mentioned, your budgie is definitely acting normally! My old budgie, Charlie, bit me so much the first time I tried to train him!

The best way to avoid biting is to not have a huge reaction to the bite. Your budgie is just attempting to get you to do the thing he wants, and when you scream or yelp and put him back in the cage, he's learning that "If I bite, I'll get to go back into my safe cage!".

Also, when he bites you, you can drop your hand. This will teach him that when he bites, his "perch" falls~ And he might get a little spooked and not want to do it again! After he bites, drop your hand and say "No". Then go on with your training. :)

Good luck!

[Robin's Nest]

Hi, Emma! Good question, since biting and screaming are the two complaints of bird owners that have complaints. ;)

There are two ways a bird can express it desires to us or in the wild; by flight or bite. Out in the wild, they can get away from something they don't want or like. When we stick our hand in a cage, they have nowhere really to go. Everything a bird does is body language, including flying away or biting. It is an attempt to communicate what they do and do not want.

The problems can arise when the body language is either missed, misunderstood or ignored. If I yell "dinner's ready" and I am ignored, I yell louder. A bird's body language of biting can become more intense if it is simply ignored. The approach that works for me is to watch the subtle body language that is not the biting... the moving away, the leaning away, etc. and then to remove my hand. Now, I have taught the bird that if it does not want to interact, the last thing I am going to do is chase it around the cage and shove my finger in its belly while giving it a firm "step up". That doesn't make for the start to a positive relationship or two-way communication.

Some might say, if I never pursue, my bird will never step up! Well, it may not step up by tomorrow morning or tomorrow night, but therein lies the patience of creating a relationship with a bird, dispelling fear and communicating with each other. If I pursue it, it may step up, it may bite, and it may even stop biting. But it also may be biding its time until it is returned to its cage, and the next time the hand comes toward it, it may bite harder or longer to make a point.

The same step up training that works out of the cage can work inside the cage. I'll just describe what has worked for me; it may or may not be the right approach for you.

If I approach a bird from across the room and even see it lean away or move away, I stop. I cease my approach and take one step back. A few minutes later, I move just to that point and take one more step forward, watching the bird's body language not wanting to exceed the point at which the bird starts displaying discomfort. The same is true for my hand as for any other part of my body. The bird learns that I will NOT exceed its comfort level during training unless there is a fire in the house. Then all bets are off. ;)

I work with hands outside the cage; hands that offer millet and other treats, through the bars, gradually. It is a long time before I ask for a step up, and longer before I might receive one. But once I do, it is the bird's choice to step up and to interact. I have had Strider since around 9/15 of last year. Tonight, I reorganized his entire cage set up while he sat inside of it. He moved only twice while I was switching perches around. As I moved toys, as things including my hand were going past him and all around him, he just sat and watched. This is because he knew my hand was not pursuing him. If I offer him my flat hand, he will step onto it (he doesn't like stepping onto a finger for some reason, but easily steps into my open palm). But he trusts that the hand will bring good things. When he is ready, he comes out of his cage. If my hand goes into the cage, palm up and approaches him, he stands still, and chooses to either step into my hand or not. If he choses not, then the hand is withdrawn, and he is asked in a few minutes. If he steps into my palm, he gets a treat; if he does not step into my hand, he misses out on the treat. I don't want him to ever feel forced; I don't want to ask him to step up and interact with me because I have a few spare minutes and really want him to ride around on my shoulder. That will come in time, but he is still learning to trust me and not to fear me. He has never once placed his beak one me; I hope I don't put him in the position of feeling he needs to. Once we was in my palm, if he ever did put his beak down on me, I would have to ask myself why he felt he needed to; what he was trying to communicate in other ways that I missed. Since I had already missed something, if I jerked away, that experience of sitting in my palm would be that the palm is not always a safe, trustworthy place to sit. And I want him to always feel that being with me is safe. I would be back to asking myself what he had been trying to tell me that I missed that he had no choice but to bite to communicate to me something he disliked. An example would be if he was in my hand and I touched his head, he didn't want me to and would then bite my hand. Long before that bite comes I would have ignored his looking at me with the "no, don't touch me" look, leaning away, not desiring it, yet I pursued, so he would bite to make a point, just as he would if he were in the cage and I ignored his body language to back off.

Some birds are quicker with their beaks than others; they give very quick sometimes hard to discern body language and then apply the positive punishment of a bite. They can learn from anyone that they have interacted with that biting was necessary and did "make the hand go away" and then they are quick to use it in the future. So you may be un-doing something the bird learned from someone else.

The only thing I might be able to suggest is to watch the body language careful and withdraw long before the bite comes, teaching that you will understand the "back off" sign long before you start bleeding and that biting is not a necessary or desirable form of communication.