# Why does my Budgie bite when he's on me?



## l_ship96 (Apr 11, 2021)

Hi again,

Peeko is still making wonderful progress with his bravery, but our bond is at a really weird point at this time. It's like he wants to be my friend and is coming over to me more, getting into what I'm doing, loves my attention when I talk to him etc he comes over and always wants to fly to me, but he still has this distrust from my past mistakes. He will sit on me nicely for a moment or two then will start repeatedly biting my skin or clothing. It's more like a consistent nipping but very sharp and repetitive, like he's attacking my skin/clothes. If I ignore it he stops and flies away. I can't tell why he does it. He does it especially if I am on my phone, laptop etc. He always tries to fly over, but I can't trust him to fly to my hands or shoulder if I am not prepared or paying attention because I know he will start "attacking". I don't think he means it out of malice, but it's making it difficult for me to bond with him further because I'm afraid of him flying to me unless I am fully prepared for it. I can't fully trust him on my shoulder and absolutely not on my hands except for when I am training him with a treat, then he is more focused on the treat. I trained him enough a while ago that I managed to gradually stop the biting, but for some reason he started again.

Is it out of boredom or a "hey, pay attention to me?" Even though I usually invite him over and try to include him with my phone/laptop etc. And he is usually happily playing with his bells, foraging etc. So I do pay attention to him and try my best to include him but he often goes back to do his own thing soon enough.

I can handle the biting and ignore it to an extent but this kind of biting is a very repetitive and one that is hard not to be alarmed by when he does it, especially if he is on my shoulder and I cannot see his cues so I try to avoid that unless I'm prepared. I don't think he means to harm me at all it is just a somehow learned behaviour.

Any ideas how to react when he does this and what could stop it or make it so that I can trust him to be on me more? I think if I could get past this biting issue our bond would be even better. I know being bitten is part of owning a bird, but I would like to not feel nervous every time he flies to me that I will be constantly bitten.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I have a couple of budgies that LOVE to bite as their way of trying to show dominance.
It sounds to me as if Peeko is doing the same thing with you.

You can try distracting Peeko with a toy when he starts to bite. 
You can also press gently but firmly back on his beak to unbalance him which will make him stop biting.
Another trick is to have him step up repeatedly, hand to hand, to hand. 
Basically, you want to take an action that stops the biting but does not frighten him.*


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

Welcome to budgiehood, part of the love comes in the form of these irritating bites. I remember back when it first started happening with me, I had hope she would grow out of it, or consistently putting her in the cage (gently but firmly) whenever she'd bite would stop it. No bueno. The good news is, you'll eventually get used to it? Her bites no longer bug me. It's just part and parcel of having this little fluffball that I adore so much sitting on my shoulder. She goes for my ear lobes, sometimes my bottom lip (that one hurts) and I can no longer trust her near my face without being in ninja-reflex mode as she's gone for my eyelid in the past. But it's pretty easy to tell when she's in 'destroy everything' mode, she's extra feisty and squawky. The rest of the time when she's just vibing, I can get my face up next to her or give her cheek scratches with my nose.

She's an *******, but she's _my_ *******. She adores me back though, so I don't know what her issue is. Now if she bites me, I'll push into her with my nose and she'll back up and look at me like "my goodness what on earth are you doing, threatening _me_?!" and then chill out after that. It's like firmly telling them you're the boss makes them cool down, but never scare or hurt them!

Wasabi isn't like this at all. He always preens me out of love, but his beak ***** because he'll get the tiniest pinch of skin and click it, that really hurts, especially on the neck. But I know there's zero malice behind it, he's just an absolute idiot. I guess the positive side is when they're gently preening you, you appreciate it more!


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## l_ship96 (Apr 11, 2021)

ChickWas said:


> Welcome to budgiehood, part of the love comes in the form of these irritating bites. I remember back when it first started happening with me, I had hope she would grow out of it, or consistently putting her in the cage (gently but firmly) whenever she'd bite would stop it. No bueno. The good news is, you'll eventually get used to it? Her bites no longer bug me. It's just part and parcel of having this little fluffball that I adore so much sitting on my shoulder. She goes for my ear lobes, sometimes my bottom lip (that one hurts) and I can no longer trust her near my face without being in ninja-reflex mode as she's gone for my eyelid in the past. But it's pretty easy to tell when she's in 'destroy everything' mode, she's extra feisty and squawky. The rest of the time when she's just vibing, I can get my face up next to her or give her cheek scratches with my nose.
> 
> She's an *****, but she's _my_ *****. She adores me back though, so I don't know what her issue is. Now if she bites me, I'll push into her with my nose and she'll back up and look at me like "my goodness what on earth are you doing, threatening _me_?!" and then chill out after that. It's like firmly telling them you're the boss makes them cool down, but never scare or hurt them!
> 
> Wasabi isn't like this at all. He always preens me out of love, but his beak *** because he'll get the tiniest pinch of skin and click it, that really hurts, especially on the neck. But I know there's zero malice behind it, he's just an absolute idiot. I guess the positive side is when they're gently preening you, you appreciate it more!


Thank you ChickWas, yes this is how I feel about it, that maybe it's something I need to just try and get used to and accept it is part of owning a bird. I know he doesn't mean to hurt me, it is just a learned behaviour. I thought it was because I used to carry him places while he was perched on me, not realising that he actually didn't like it at the time, and when he first started coming to me, I would keep calling him when he flew away, not forcing him, but maybe to him it felt like I was chasing him, which was unintentional of course, but I realised my mistakes and have stopped "carrying" him places and I now target train him or, to my advantage, he comes over if I talk to him enough or play "peek-a-boo" he flies over immediately on his own terms. It's just confusing because he chooses to fly to me, it's not like I'm forcing him or anything, so I don't think the biting is to do with him not liking something I'm doing or asking him to do that he doesn't want to. Sometimes he flies over out of the blue and it startles me too. 

I think he will have my nose off if I try to kiss him or push back with my nose 😂 he has gone for my nose before. He nips at my neck/shoulders too if my skin there isn't covered. He does preen my hair nicely though when he's in a nice mood, so I will try to reinforce that behaviour when he's on me. I don't want to try any negative reinforcement and I never tell him off for it, I know he's just being a bird. I am trying to get used to him being on me more at the moment so we will see how it goes, it may be a case of him just getting used to it, and me 😊 I have also started having one of his cage perches nearby if I need him to step off me. Thank you!


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

There is always hope he'll grow out of it eventually. I know Chick has definitely calmed down over the months, she used to be way worse. Nowadays, it's not so bad, and we're both so used to the routine of it that I can tell when she's in her henny mood so I can avoid it by keeping her occupied or distracting her in the foraging bowl, and then she'll sit calmly after. I'd say it went from 90% of the time down to 40% of the time. So fingers crossed the same happens to you!

But yeah, it's all about just going at their own pace. I never force my two to do anything, I always let them decide if they want to be on me or up high on the perch or top of the cage. Especially with me being at work 8 hours a day 5 days a week, I've noticed they're nowhere near as needy as they used to be. I'll get home and they're good with five minutes of cuddle times and then they'll go off and do their own things. I feel like a parent seeing their kids going off to university 😂 if I do keep trying to get them to spend time with me perched on my shoulder, they both get a bit rowdy.


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## l_ship96 (Apr 11, 2021)

ChickWas said:


> There is always hope he'll grow out of it eventually. I know Chick has definitely calmed down over the months, she used to be way worse. Nowadays, it's not so bad, and we're both so used to the routine of it that I can tell when she's in her henny mood so I can avoid it by keeping her occupied or distracting her in the foraging bowl, and then she'll sit calmly after. I'd say it went from 90% of the time down to 40% of the time. So fingers crossed the same happens to you!
> 
> But yeah, it's all about just going at their own pace. I never force my two to do anything, I always let them decide if they want to be on me or up high on the perch or top of the cage. Especially with me being at work 8 hours a day 5 days a week, I've noticed they're nowhere near as needy as they used to be. I'll get home and they're good with five minutes of cuddle times and then they'll go off and do their own things. I feel like a parent seeing their kids going off to university 😂 if I do keep trying to get them to spend time with me perched on my shoulder, they both get a bit rowdy.


Thank you, aww bless them 😂 yes I also feel that Peeko has become more independent since I started work too. Your two sound adorable! That gives me a little hope 😊

Peeko always comes over when I talk to him, he just loves to sit as close to me as he can and will just listen to me ramble on for ages. He is obsessed with my voice and talks non stop and sometimes it's even more motivation to him than treats so I can even use my talking as a reward or distraction sometimes 😊 

He's just funny, he does it especially if I'm on my phone or tablet, he always tries to fly over and he will be occupied with the screen first but then he will start biting my hands and all. I let him sit on my tablet more because it's bigger and saves my hands 😂. I've noticed last night he was coming over, if I chatted to him and gave him some treats he would just sit and watch me then would sometimes just go back to his own thing. I think he expects a treat as soon as he comes to me and if I don't have one ready it's instant attack mode 😂. It may be a little bit of him asking for attention.

I can read him quite well 99% of the time, I have learned his cues and his "fear bubble" and when he's not happy about something. But sometimes he does things so suddenly he doesn't give me a chance to notice his cues or if he comes at me out of the blue and I'm not fully looking at him. I have started using the target stick to distract him from biting as well and seems to help a little. If he is on me I target train him up and down my arm a little so he gets used to the idea that if he moves on me nothing bad will happen, if it is a case of him testing his "perch". I think he just needs more time to learn that I am a safe perch. I will absolutely update if the biting improves, as I'm sure it will, it just needs lots of time and patience. Thank you so much
for your encouraging words and you have done such a wonderful job with your two 😊


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