Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi. I have a female baby parrotlet, about six weeks, who is starting to wean. She's eating great (pellets, fresh foods, seed) but we seem to have a problem. She's super nippy! It really surprised me. I raised lovebirds for years and never encountered this problem. She's my first parrotlet and I was so exited, she's going to be my little buddy! But usually the biting starts with puberty or with more birdy life experience. What's going on? She's eating on her own and being handfed three times a day. She steps up, lays on her back, likes to have her head rubbed but she bites all the time. Is this a parrotlet thing? Any ideas would be great. Thanks.

-B

I don't know that I would specifically say it is a parrotlet thing but some birds especially smaller birds do seem to become nippy at closer to weaning time. Instead of waiting until maturity like many of the larger species they start becoming nippy to separate from their "parents" at weaning and show they are growing up and doing things on their own. This seems to be more of an individual bird thing instead of one whole species though. I have had some lovebirds do this, some budgies, some parrotlets but not whole groups on them. We may have several from the same clutch or hatched during the same time and maybe only one or two will do this. They for whatever reason are more willing to test to see what they can get by with and prove they are a "big bird" now. Patience and a gently but firm hand should put a stop to it. Try to work with targeting even at this early age to get him/her to nip or bite on a certain object instead of a hand. Try not to pull away even though yes a little beak can still hurt. Make sure you are spending plenty of time socializing even when not feeding and if he is eating well maybe cut out one more feeding so you are just doing two a day. Try to get him interested in more toys that he can bite as well. Try smaller softer toys at first for his softer beak such as paper, thinner or smaller vine balls etc. More items allowed to chew on and taught to chew on can help the need to test and chew on you.

I tried to cut out a feeding, taking her down to two feedings but it made her super unhappy. She cried non-stop for hours even though she eats on her own and at feeding time she barely eats anything. She still cries just a couple hours after being fed but she's not little enough that I can justify feeding her every two hours. I looked it up online and they said to just keep feeding her until she doesn't want it or it'll give her little birdie aggression issues, so we're back to three feedings. She still cries between feedings but maybe not as bad. She spends lots of time outside her cage, other than feeding time. I don't pull away when she bites but I feel like I'm still teaching her to bite because I just let her do it. Even when I say no and make her step up, she just bites some more. Bringing in things that it's ok for her to chew on is a good idea. Do you really think she's challenging me? I hadn't really thought of that. She makes me feel like a bird novice, I've never had a bird with such an attitude and so young! Do you think she'll out grow it or do you think she'll always be the chewing on you type? Thanks for your help!

I would definitely guess that she is challenging you. As with many things it will just depend on her whether she will grow out of it. Many people try to group whole species of birds together and say this type acts like this, that type acts like that and so on but to every type there is an exception. With care and patience she should grow out of it. More than likely it will take a lot more nips and nos before she does though.

Bringing in acceptable chew things for her to "fight" with but also to distract her from the nips to you should help at least some but again it may take work.

And yes if she is still begging for feedings I would still give them to her. I wasn't sure if it was her wanting the feedings or if you were just feeding her to make sure she was getting plenty. Some people don't realize when their baby is trying to refuse to be handfed and is growing up and will keep forcing them to be handfed others try to wean too early so I am never sure without all the facts LOL!

Good luck. Be patient and yes a distraction from the nips may help. Once she starts to get a little more mature gets a little more sure of herself, her surroundings and you the nips will hopefully calm down more. Some parrotlets do tend to be more nippy even as an adult because they are a smaller bird and feel the need to prove or defend themselves against any perceived threat or intruder, but again this is a generalization which may not be in any way how your bird will act.