nippy lovebird

Question
I got my little lovie about 2 months ago and he is currently around 7 months old. For the most part he seems to really love us. He climbs on us, preens our hair, snuggles in our shirts or under our hoods grinding his beak, if we leave him alone he squeaks for us until we get him or he follows us room to room. I don't work so the majority of Davey's day is spent with me and he seems pretty content with sitting on my shoulder and snuggling into my clothes. The only problem is his nippiness. He never bites hard enough to draw blood and I am unsure of the cause of the biting. Sometimes he is more than happy to "step up" and sometimes us trying to get him to "step up" results in our finger getting bit. Sometimes we will be sitting still and he will just lunge foreward and bite us. Very rarely will he let us pet him it usually results in us being bit. And then sometimes it is because he obviously doesn't want to get off someone's shoulder or go into his cage. The only exception to this is my 9-year-old son who Davey lets pet him or hold him at any time. But my son has some sensory issues and, even though he loves Davey, he can't stand to have him crawling on his skin or into his shirt. I should also say that these bites aren't just happening around his cage, because we are startling Davey, etc. I have looked for answers everywhere online but have really had no luck in finding situations that seem similar to ours. And the solutions are usually so contradictory I don't know what to try (to use squirt bottles or not to, blowing on his face or not, etc) We have tried possitive reinforcement. There isn't anything Davey won't do for millet and if he is getting millet he will let us pet him all we want and he has no problem with "stepping up."  I have had some people with lovebirds tell me that it might just be his personality and it may never stop (what I am really afraid of)and I have had some tell me to just be patient and eventually things will change. I adore my little bird but some members of my family are really getting tired of being bit! So any suggestions, information, help you could offer would greatly be appreciated!

Answer
--You're right, the information out there is too much and too inconsistent.  It's easy for people to pick some parts of this one and some parts of that one - and they'll have about as much success as a dieter who starts the day on a low carb diet and finishes it on a high carb plan.  

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 Consistency will be your key.  If you start with one method, stick with it.   And when it comes to disciplining a bird?  You might as well be purposefully teaching the bird to be mistrustful and wary of humans at all costs.

 I have used and recommended the squirt bottle (at the feet or tail ONLY) in order to get a bird's attention when it's hysterically screaming or not responding to a command that may be for it's own good or safety.  In others, very, very rarely.

What happens instead is that lazy humans decide that squirt bottle is easy and they use it constantly.  The result is a mistrustful, fearful bird who has absolutely no reason to love or trust that bully of a human and as a result will always be a bit stand'offish, even nippy or a screamer.   

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As for millet, hang on to your socks 'cause this will shock 'em right off you.  How much millet should your bird be getting in a WEEK ?   About the size of your thumb.  

That size piece to last 7 days.   Many well versed vets insist that "zero" millet is the right amount to get.

--- It's similar to handing your child an ice cream cone throughout the day in order to get them to do what you want.   You're really only enforcing the bad behavior.  The child knows that if they do something bad you'll give them a treat to stop.   

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Finally, 'shoulder riding' shouldn't be allowed at all for a bird this size.  One of my earliest assistants has a scar from her upper lip to her eye from a  bird this size that was constantly on her shoulder for years!   All it takes is "one mistake" .  Scarred for life.

Remember, the bird will strike out at the nearest thing to them.  They can see something quite far off in the distance, many times something we'll never know, and next thing we experience is that sharp beak nearly taking an eye out in a matter of a few seconds.

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 And birds should not be above our eye level anyway.   We're the house leaders, not them, so always keep below eye level.

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 OK, so now where are we?   Well, you're actually doing a very GOOD job in looking for a solution and being determined to do it right.   That's half the battle, believe me.

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  Now check here for one set guideline and no matter what, don't give up, be consistent and if you do this right you should see a major change in about a week!

     http://www.4animalcare.org/birds