Sara Beth: Mercury: biting - update

[Sara Beth Scudder <h2oshine13@y...>]

Well, it has been at least a couple weeks since I've
been in touch, I think. And, I was so desperate there
for a while and thinking I might have to clip Mercury.
Then, Mercury suddenly straightened up. 

Now, she may bite once or twice a week. And, when she
does, we first say "no biting, Mercury, no biting" and
then I simply put her in her small, undecorated cage
for 30 seconds to a minute or so. When I get her out,
I just say "no biting" and put her on her perch.
Anytime I take her back to the scene of the bite, she
just goes to her perch anyway. So, she seems happier
when I place her on her perch or rope coil or
someplace equivalent to begin with. She's more settled
this way. 

We are also trying to teach her that when we say "no
bite" that she will be going to her little cage. So,
if she looks like she is thinking about it or starts
to, we say "no bite" and most of the time she behaves
instead and decides that biting is not such a good
idea.

I would like to say that she is chewing like crazy.
She has always been one to chew off and on, but now it
is like she is on a mission. If she is not playing in
her designated areas (and chewing is common during
these times as well), she is perching on or near one
of us chewing something we have given her. And
sometimes, she will come to us just cause she wants to
chew whatever it is in our hands, but she is usually
good to chew something else we give her at those
times.

So, all in all, I am pleased with her behavior. We are
still pretty clueless as to why she bites and
detecting when she is going to can still be tricky,
but once or twice a week is such a huge improvement
over 6 or so bites a day and her bites are not always
as bad as they were for a while. Perhaps the biting
will continue to diminish.

What changed? We really have no idea, except she was
away from us for almost a full week at the end of
November. She was a very well behaved bird for her
grandma during our absence. Maybe that helped. Who
knows? I just want to thank you all for your help, as
my precious Mercury can still fly through the house
and enjoy her freedom to go where she chooses how she
chooses when she chooses, when we're home and awake,
of course.

Thank you,
Sara Beth and Mercury in Alabama
www.geocities.com/mercurybirdygirl