biting congo african grey

Question
dear reverend abbott,

we have a 3 year old African grey who we love and adore very much.  He has always been very attached to me an my father but has never liked my mother or sister.  We have had gizmo from he was 16 weeks old and when we first got him he bit everybody that come near him.  We got his wings semi clipped (recommended by our breeder) to see if this helped with the biting as we were told it should happen less often as he depended more on us.  Recently gizmo has started biting again only this time it is only me he is biting.  My father and myself are the only ones that can handle gizmo but mostly myself as my father works away from home.  When he is biting he is drawing blood and when i go to lift him after biting he repeatedly strikes again.  he is still very loving and affectionate with my father and only bites him when he is aggrevated, provoked or playing but only bites him rarely.  We have considered getting his wings clipped again but only want to do this as a last resort as he is now fully flighted and has free flight of the house when out of the cage.  

I wood be very grateful if you could give me some advice on how to overcome his problem of biting me as it is making me feel like i am doing something on him for him to be this nasty to the person that loves him so much.

Yours sincerely,

judith

Answer
Your breeder sounds experienced and I condone the recommendation of a slight clip (keep it up). I believe what's happening now is that Gizmo, at 3 years old, has reached sexual maturity. The carefree days of babyhood in the parrot kingdom are gone and welcome to moody madness.

The most difficult thing you have to do is not give up and never, never get angry.

Rather than pick Gizmo up with your hand, use your arm (forearm).  With difficult cases, we layer old socks with the toe end cut off, on our arms. When the bird bites through this, you'll feel it, but it shouldn't be enough to react to. When you stop reacting to the biting, you take away Gizmo's tool of control.

Remember to keep him below your shoulder level when you pick him up. Don't be raising him to your eye level, instead, make sure he's looking up to you (you're in the power position).

Change the cage around regularly. Re-position the perches, toys and food dishes about once every month which keeps him dependent on you as his "sameness" and security.

Whenever he's doing anything GOOD, like standing on arm without biting, coming to you without argument, etc., offer him small pieces of a favorite food (half a whole peanut, a single sunflower seed, etc).

Between the maturity and his flying ability, he's in control and knows it.  It's time to take it back, but be gentle and patient.
 You can do this!


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