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Pet Forum / Birds / Birds / April 2004Training a Severa Macaw
We have made mistakes with this poor bird. (S)he* is a terrible biter. As I was unable to tolerate being bitten, I tended to leave her* in the cage, but in the room with us. Is there any way to work with a bird and NOT get bitten? Has anyone worked with gloves? Do gloves help with the pressure-bite of a hook-bill? I've read a few books on the subject of general training, but they don't cover such problems. Thank you for any advice. *I refer to the bird as "she" but we really don't know what sex "she" is. The vet said she "felt" like a female when we bought her. > We have made mistakes with this poor bird. (S)he* is a terrible biter. > As I was unable to tolerate being bitten, I tended to leave her* in the > cage, but in the room with us. You should be safe with the bird in or out of it's cage. Your mistake is getting too close or trying to pick it up. Having it in the room with you is generally good. > Is there any way to work with a bird and NOT get bitten? Yes! Start by changing what you consider "work with" to mean. Your bird obviously is afraid you. After all, you're a huge predator! (ever eat eggs or fried chicken?). If you try to grab a frightened bird of course it will bite. It has every reason not to trust you. Birds crave companionship. They'd prefer another bird of their own species, but a gentle human will do. That's why they make good companions for humans. But fear is stronger than that need. You have to demonstrate to the bird you're not threat and that you are an acceptable companion. You can't force it to think that. You can only demonstrate that by >consistantly< not being threatening. Birds don't expect much of their companions. They warn each other of threats. They provide each other security. They share food that they've found, they provide some mutual grooming, and they chatter a bit to each other. You can do no more and you really can't ask any more of them. It can be quite pleasant for both of you though once that mutual trust is formed. > Has anyone worked with gloves? Gloves don't fighten the bird any less than bare hands. They'll only reduce the birds feeling of safety. They'll make you think it's ok to handle the bird when it's not. A vet may need gloves to handle strange birds. You don't need them because you don't need to handle your bird. > Do gloves help with the pressure-bite of a > hook-bill? Not much though they would reduce bleeding cuts. Still, using gloves is not the way to get your bird to treat you as it's flockmate which is the objective in having a companion bird. Friendly birds NEVER grasp each other using their claws except in intimate courtship and that's after they are complety bonded and trusting of each other. Likewise, frendly birds don't give hard bites. A bird KNOWS how hard it's biting. Predator birds will grasp other birds, usually just before they rip them apart with their beaks. Being grasped by a stranger which they don't trust scares the hell out of any bird. Never grab a bird that's not bonded to you unless there's a really good reason, and even after a bird is bonded you must be ever aware of the amount of handling the bird enjoys (or at least tolerates). > I've read a few books on the subject of general training, > but they don't cover such problems. Some books do. Try "My Parrot My Friend" > *I refer to the bird as "she" but we really don't know what sex "she" > is. The vet said she "felt" like a female when we bought her. It doesn't matter very much. There are some personality difference between male and female birds, but it's not great. Either way you should try to become it's flockmate, not it's sexual partner. Treat the bird like a friendly bird of it's own kind would treat it. Offer it food occasionally, preferably things where you don't have to get your fingers close for a start, like a carrot or the end of a banana. Don't try to force it to do things if it shows a sign of not wanting to. Don't try to make it sit on any part of you until it is comfortable with you touching it's beak and head. When you make first physical contact, touch it's beak, like a friendly bird would. If it tries to bite, back off and try again in a few days. Don't make threatening gestures or loud noises. Talk to it, spend lots of time near it without trying to touch it. Let it sleep near you (or you near it). Treat it like a houseguest with respect for it's privacy, not like a spouse, child, dog, cat, or toy. Make it's room reasonably dark at night so it can sleep. Eventually it may trust you. Give it plenty of time to learn to trust you. Be consistant. A moment of anger or carelessly hurting a bird can instantly wipe out months of trying to gain the bird's trust. -- Lou Boyd > > We have made mistakes with this poor bird. (S)he* is a terrible biter. > > As I was unable to tolerate being bitten, I tended to leave her* in the > > cage, but in the room with us. > > Has anyone worked with gloves? > > Gloves don't fighten the bird any less than bare hands. I beg to differ. Not one of my very tame pet birds will allow me anywhere near if I am wearing gloves. It freaks them right out. Try,'guide to a well behaved parrot', 'my parrot my friend' 'guide to companion parrot behaviour' for starters. Available off Amazon and very very useful. >> > We have made mistakes with this poor bird. (S)he* is a terrible biter. >> > As I was unable to tolerate being bitten, I tended to leave her* in the [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > companion parrot behaviour' for starters. Available off Amazon and very > very useful. None of my parots care what I have on my hands, or for that matter what clothes I am wearing. Odd cause people tell me birds hate bright clothes.  SignatureWith Windows 3.11, we were on the edge of the cliff. With Windows 95, we made a big step forward. > >> > We have made mistakes with this poor bird. (S)he* is a terrible biter. > >> > As I was unable to tolerate being bitten, I tended to leave her* in the [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > -- > I bet your birds hate you peter, well everyone else does.. > We have made mistakes with this poor bird. (S)he* is a terrible biter. > As I was unable to tolerate being bitten, I tended to leave her* in the [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > *I refer to the bird as "she" but we really don't know what sex "she" > is. The vet said she "felt" like a female when we bought her. It's hard to do this without actually seeing what's going on. The "experts" seem to all agree gloves are not a good idea. I did use them to tame a semi wild Blue Crown and it worked very well. Is the bird biting out of fear? Does it bite to defend it's cage? It takes a lot of work, which if you can't or will not do there is not much you can do. It sounds like at this point you may be best off trying to find an experienced bird person who wants the bird and find it a new home. The "best" way to try to fix the problem would be to have someone who knows what they are doing work with the bird with you, if this is possible. If not give the bird to someone who can work with it. Signature"Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks." [Lazarus Long] > We have made mistakes with this poor bird. (S)he* is a terrible biter. > As I was unable to tolerate being bitten, I tended to leave her* in the [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > *I refer to the bird as "she" but we really don't know what sex "she" > is. The vet said she "felt" like a female when we bought her. I've used RS safety gloves (they have rubber padding - used for tradesmen) to pick up blue crowned conures. They can still get through and draw blood! So a macaw..... SignatureWhy do men find it difficult to make eye contact? Breasts don't have eyes. Thanks for the advice. We have a hahn's macaw which admittedly is smaller than your severe and a caique. We found Sally Blanchard's The Beak Book to be helpful in understanding bites. Her concept is that there is always a reason for a bird to bite but that doesn't mean it's the handler's fault. The bird is trying to communicate something. Maybe it has learned that this is how to get what it wants. Both our birds are very beaky--their primary way of communicating seems to be with their beaks, with biting. The caique (3 years old) has gotten a lot better about scaling his bites to communicate different things (everything from a hard bite to just resting his beak around a finger and licking it to show affection. He does occasionally still go ballistic and do "lunge bites" which are extremely painful and usually draw blood but he nearly always gives us a warning scream before he does this now so we can change the situation before it escalates and results in a bite. The mini macaw is younger (1 and a half) but he is clearly learning too. He is smarter and tries to manipulate us and his environment more so I think eventually we will have good communication. His biggest problem is impulse control. He tends to have tantrums if he doesn't like something and bites very hard all of the sudden if he gets over excited, whether it's from happiness or anger. It is almost like he is afraid of his own emotions, or whatever you call signals of pleasure or pain in his little birdie brain. The bite is the reaction. In just handling him the most important thing I learned was to let him bite but to say "gentle" as a kind of warning. I know he understands because he will next bite again but gently. Sometimes the little minx will then bite again hard just to try to get me to say "gentle" again like it is some kind of game! Oh well, at least he is learning. mm > Thanks for the advice. > > We have made mistakes with this poor bird. (S)he* is a terrible biter. > > As I was unable to tolerate being bitten, I tended to leave her* in the [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > -- How did you get them on with your straight jacket peter? |
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