BB Stands For "Biting Birdy!"

[FoxersArtist]

Aren't honeymoons such a beautiful thing? I wish they could last forever. BB was a perfect gentleman for about 3 days and then the honeymooning was over. His previous owner said that she was having difficulty handling him because he always bit her and anyone else. I was able to step him up without any problems when he first arrived, but then he suddenly started biting a few days into his stay here. And can he bite! I am speculating that BB was not let out of his cage often so my first move was to continue to get him out and about. I wrap my hand in a towel or T-shirt and step him up that way which has been working very well to get him out without anyone getting hurt. I have been putting him out on one of the play gyms in the common area with a dish of treats, so I hope he is learning that out time means lots of happy, tasty treats to sample.

Today I sat with him on my knee and talked softly to him. He just growled and growled at me, striking every few minutes to let me know that he was still in charge, but held his ground. After about 15 minutes he decided he had had enough and left my knee and the chair I was sitting on. He continued to yell at me from a nearby sofa and I took his action as a sign that he was ready to be put back in his cage. When I stepped him up to put him away he did not try to bite the towel for the first time, so I see this as a good sign that we are making a little progress.

Any other suggestions as to what I can do to help this little guy?
-Anna

[too&me]

He sounds like he might have a Napoleon complex-little guy having to over compensate! No, really it sounds like you are on the right track keep rewarding the positive and avoiding the bites. I like that you let him decide when the session was over he might just need to know he has some control with out the need to fight for it. It is so funny when they growl like that it was always hard to keep a straight face during the growl.

[Evelyn]

No suggestions, but I guess you can at least take comfort in his feeling confident enough to act out ow.

Evelyn

[birdie]

Will he sit on his door at all? or on top of the cage? That is all I could hope for for many months with my OWA, he didn't want touched much other than a head scritch in the morning. I don't think he was let out much either so I just started leaving his door open and letting him come out on his own and he was perfectly content on the door; this helped him build confidence and then he would go to the top of his cage and sit after that he would willingly step up to me almost everytime I ofered my hand.

[Dot]

I think it would be a good idea to spend some time having him step up, then immediately reinforce this good behavior by putting him back in his cage. I think a week of this would be very good, then you could move to something else. He has to know that you will let him stay where he wants to if he does what you request of him.

Edit: Maybe a week is too long. Ask someone who has taken Dr. Friedman's course.