Why does she bite me??

[bwgayoso]

I know that she loves me but she sometimes bites me without warning (at least I don't see the warning).

Ever since I got her, I've been her main care taker. Before she even dared venture out of her cage, I would sit for hours at night and the mornings before going to work and talk with her, play with her and rub her affectionately. She looks out for me when her cage is closed and even calls out to me so I can play with her. At night she calls out to me so I can close her cage and drap it. I'm pretty confident that we have a very good relationship.

However, if she's on my and I answer the phone she bites me, really hard! If she's on me but I'm watching T.V. and then I turn to kiss her she bites me. You wouldn't think that a parakeets bite can hurt, but it does. She's even managed to draw blood!

Am I doing something wrong??:confused:

[all4stvoyager]

Maybe she is jealous? My eclectus attacks my phone if I am on it when he is near me.

[Nolan's Mom]

Sounds like she doesn't like you paying attention to something other than her :)....maybe you could give her something to distract her when the phone rings, a special treat she only gets then perhaps? The same with the tv. Maybe you should put her down when you answer the phone too - that would completely eliminate the bite, if she isn't on you at those times she can't bite you....

[CocosMomma]

Interesting....:scratchch

Now, when you mention that she is 'on you' and bites you, where is she at, and what part of your body is she biting?

PS: the two most common 'complaints' of bird owners are biting and screaming (not sure if it is that order or not). :D

[bwgayoso]

She's usually on my shoulder when I answer the phone. When I put the phone up to my ear she comes running towards my neck and cheek area to bite me - she sometimes misses and she'll bite the phone:doh:

She actually will try to jump on the phone and peck at it. It's very strange.

[bwgayoso]

I guess it can be jealousy.

She's got quite a personality for such a small bird. If I leave the house for too long (2-3 hours) and it turns to night she will be in a very bad mood when I talk with her. She will start screech and lunge forward to bite if I try to touch her.

[CocosMomma]

She's usually on my shoulder when I answer the phone. When I put the phone up to my ear she comes running towards my neck and cheek area to bite me - she sometimes misses and she'll bite the phone:doh:

She actually will try to jump on the phone and peck at it. It's very strange.

This makes complete sense to me. If she is biting just because you turn your head to look at her, absent you having an object (such as the phone in your hand), a fork, etc., that is a little more puzzling. Easy to analyze, with more info, but not as easy as the phone.

What I would suspect is it is the phone (cord, etc.) that is the problem, not you. As you bring the phone up to your face (closer to her), this can be understandably intimidating. It has a snake-like cord attached to it perhaps. Even if not, it is still an object that is foreign, and coming close to your face. It is an object that comes near your mouth (and perhaps gets 'kisses' from you). I can see it from her perspective.

Rachel is good at this - the obvious first, easiest thing is to identify what the precursor is to the bite (we call this the antecedent). That is, what happens before the bite. Then the bite happens (the behavior). Then, we look at what follows the behavior-bite (which we call the 'consequence').

If she has a good step up response, then when the phone rings, she steps up, gets placed on the arm of the chair, top of the counter, etc., and for that she receives a treat (small, pre cut piece of millet, etc.). Then, the phone gets answered. Or, you can have some millet sitting on the counter when the two of you are hanging out in expectation that the phone might ring. Step up, step down, get millet, mom answers phone. The phone is picked up only after she has stepped up, back down to the millet. This avoids the bite which is Rachel's A+ plan. It also (eventually) triggers a response in her of hearing the phone ring, and associating that with the behavior of stepping up, stepping down onto the pre-set area where a piece of millet (or other favorite treat is waiting or can be quickly placed). She then becomes conditioned to the sound of the phone = step up and get treat.

The behavior of biting when you are simply turning your head to look at her when watching tv (if you have nothing in your hand or doing anything else that is causing her concern), will need more thoughtful analysis. My question to begin this discussion would be what is going on during the times that she is in the same position, you turn and look at her, and you do NOT get bit. What is different in that situation from the times turn to look at her on your shoulder and you do get bit. Interesting stuff!

[bwgayoso]

Thank you all for your wonderful insight!

I'm still learning all of her behaviors. I think it is all very interesting. Sometimes I just sit for hours looking at her. I'm amazed at the things that capture her attention - sometimes its as simple as watching her watch one of her soft feathers drop from her cage to the flower. She'll just turn her head and look with one eye until it reaches the floor.:wub:

[Eriisu-chan]

She could scared of the phone, too... :shrug2: