African Grey Biting – Does Your Grey Hate You?

Q: African Grey biting

I have a baby Congo just about 5 months old who has been the sweetest baby this whole time until just recently. I know these types of parrots are known to be a one person bird but at 5 months he is starting to ruffle his feathers and try to bite anyone but me. Is that a little young to start taking to only 1 person. What can I do to try and get him used to others wanting to pet him or handle him?

A: African Grey biting – Expert Answer

Welcome to the beginning of sexual maturity. You can look forward to periods of this behavior throughout his life. Hormones will do this.

No, he’s not too young to start taking to only one person, and you can’t stop him from liking one person better than others.
However, that is no reason that he should not at least tolerating handling by other people.

If others are backing off when he threatens to bite, they are teaching him that he can get his way by being aggressive.
That has to stop. Now.

Attaching general biting info; some of the links and books would be very helpful in your situation.

From my Bird FAQ:

Birds don’t bite for no reason, and they don’t bite because they personally ”hate” you. One of the biggest mistakes owners make is to take their bird’s behavior personally. Birds are not human, no matter how much we’d like them to be.

Birds will not bite unprovked and always give other body language clues before a bite; if you fail to read their cues, you will get a well deserved bite.

A bird cannot say ”I’d rather not be petted or held right now.” or ”Stop that! I don’t like it!”. They can only communicate with their body language, and as a last resort, a bite to get the point across.

Birds will also become more nippy when hormonal. There is nothing you can do about that, it’s just part of owning a parrot.

The problem of biting parrots doesn’t lie with the bird, it lies with the owner.

I’m not saying that to be rude, it’s just plain true: You need to do some reading up on parrot body language & learn to recognize his moods by his body language AND learn to respect that there will be times when he will not want to be handled or pet by anyone, including you.

I recommend you first go out and buy the books Guide to a Well Behaved Parrot by Mattie Sue Athan and The Beak Book by Sally Blanchard (A biting & aggression specific book). Both books help you out a lot.
You can find them both on amazon.com.

Then check these links; Liz Wilson is the author, and she is a recognized expert in parrort behavior and behavior modification:

http://www3.upatsix.com/liz/articles/biting.html
http://www3.upatsix.com/liz/articles/personally.html
http://www3.upatsix.com/liz/articles/spring.html
http://www3.upatsix.com/liz/articles/socialization.html
http://www3.upatsix.com/liz/articles/drama.html
http://www3.upatsix.com/liz/articles/myths.html

Shoulder rides can also be a potential hazard, and cause dominance related problems. Shoulder riding is not a ”right”, and not every bird can be allowed to have shoulder rides. For more information on why shoulder rides are not a good idea for owners who are experiencing a biting problem or dominance problem in their birds see:

http://www.petpublishing.com/birdtimes/articles/shoulder.shtml

Train Your Parrot To Stop Biting

Answered by Tviokh, courtesy of http://www.practical-pet-care.com