African grey who bites.

Question
Hey there Maggie,

I have an almost 5 year old African Grey that we've had since he was very small. He's always been a bit nippy (I suspect because when my family got him, we hadn't had any experience with parrots before, and probably didn't train him properly). However, in the last year, and specifically in the last few months, he's been biting a lot more when we try to make him step up when he's sitting on a shoulder or on the couch or etc. Actually, in the last month, he's bitten my mother to the point of the skin breaking, and it bleeding, 3 or 4 times.

Now, I'm wondering a few things:

1. He likes to fly off of his cage a lot(he needs to have his wings clipped soon), and sometimes bites very hard if he knows we're going to put him back on it. Any way to get him out of this habit?

2. The first question is actually tied with my second. Because we didn't have much reason to keep him locked in the cage after he got used to our house and us, we never got in to the habit of covering the cage, let alone keeping him in there. The only times we usually lock him up is if he's bad, or if we're leaving the house. Is it a bad training method to put him inside the cage when he's bad? Does this lead him to see his cage more as a prison then a home? Does it even register with him that it's because he's done something wrong? How about tapping him on the beak and saying, "No!" Is that bad or good?

3. The biting... any reccomendations to get him to stop? I understand nipping and using his beak to push an unwanted advance away are normal with parrots, but the biting so hard someone bleeds thing is becoming very frustrating to my mother, who is his prime handler when I'm not home (I'm only home 2 days a week; boarding school) and to everyone else.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Sincerely,
Gia

Answer
Hi Gia,

You and your family are making very common "beginners" mistakes. But, African greys are extremely difficult birds to keep happy and well adjusted in captivity (even for many experienced bird people).

You need to get his wings trimmed and you need to set boundries for him. Just like with children, if rules are not set (or are not consistant), you will have a very wild and/or rude child as a result. Birds are no different.  A bird with full flight knows that he can do whatever he wants. But trimming his wings are also for his safety. It will prevent him from flying out the door or into a ceiling fan, mirror or toliet or what not.

It is also critical that you do not use his cage as punishment. This is why he is getting so upset about going back there. When you are putting him back in his cage (after he has done nothing wrong), he doesn't understand what he is being punished for and this is EXTREMELY frustrating for him.

Don't ever use any force on your bird (even if you seem to be "gently" tapping his beak). A firm "no" works well, and "dropping' your hand just a tiny bit, maybe half a foot will redirect his focus. Giving him foot toys when he gets mouthy can also help keep him entertained.  

It is also not usually recommended to allow larger parrots (like African Greys) on your shoulder.... here is an article explaining why:

http://www.companionparrot.com/articles/shoulder.html

Here are also some great articles (and some general websites) that will help you gain some more knowledge on african greys:

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww5eii.htm

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww31eiii.htm

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww30eiii.htm

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww12eii.htm

http://www.parrothouse.com/sf3.html

http://www.parrothouse.com/jh1.html

www.wingedwisdom.com

www.parrothouse.com

www.companionparrot.com

www.parrotchronicles.com

I hope this helps. :)

-Maggie