Biting is a big issue with parrots! The truth is that any parrot will bite. When someone says that they want to buy a parrot but cannot stand the pain of a bird bite, I recommend that they reconsider the type of pet they want. I never would tell a potential customer that a bird will NEVER bite and I've talked several people into getting a cat or dog for a pet instead of a parrot. If a new parrot owner becomes fearful of handling the bird, it may be relegated to a life of being caged full-time or passed from home to home.

I don't believe in letting birds draw blood from us and scar us in the process, no matter what the situation. Because I am a big chicken when it comes to the pain of bites, "gritting my teeth and pretending that it doesn't hurt" just does not work for me!

It is important to maintain your position as leader and to teach your eclectus to step up. When you must get the bird from inside the cage, assuming that you wisely will not allow it on top of the cage until it is trustworthy again, use a barrier between the beak and your hand or arm. Some people wrap their arm or hand in a towel so that if the bird bites, it won't hurt. Others place a stuffed toy between the bird's beak and their hand-- and I use my trusty glass POT LID! It makes a perfect "shield" that I keep handy if one of my babies goes through the nippy stage. The saucepan lid is about five inches across, has a small round handle in the center, and it is made of clear glass. I hold it by the handle with my left hand and place it below the bird's beak. Then I reach with my right hand underneath the lid and pick up the bird. By placing the glass pot lid between the bird's beak and my hand, it appears to the bird that it can reach my hand to bite me. But when it tries, its beak hits the glass instead.

Consistency is important. I use this lid every time that I think the bird is going to challenge me. I believe that since birds don't understand the concept of "clear glass", they give up on being able to sink their beak into your flesh for long enough to get past this trying stage. In most cases, they eventually give up their bad behavior anyway, but the glass shield can save you lots of pain and scars.

There are many different reasons for biting. Some that are listed in parrot books are:

1. Fear or defense biting--From your description of the biting of Gertie and Oscar, it would seem NOT to fit this type unless they have interpreted something nearby as dangerous and you didn't realize it. Is there someone in the family that they don't like who might possibly have entered the room just before they bit you? I would NOT think that this is the case since they have bitten numerous times and eventually you would have associated the two events. Even the sweetest bird may bite if it feels threatened or feels the need to "protect" it's owner. It may administer a painful bite just as it would bite it's real mate to tell it to flee a perceived danger.
2. Displacement biting--In this case, if a feared person or pet entered the room and the bird could not reach the object of it's fear, it would "redirect" it's aggression and bite the person holding it. Again, this would not seem to fit your situation, as you would have noticed.
3. Biting in reaction to excessive petting or fondling by the owner--rubbing feathers the wrong way or hurting a sensitive new pin feather could cause a bird to bite but they usually give you warning signs first such as restlessness or moving away from your hand. Again, this scenario doesn't seem to fit Oscar and Gertie's biting.
4. Dominance biting--This is a very common reason for biting. Parrots are programmed to attempt dominance in any situation as it can mean their very survival in the wild, but they must learn that establishing dominance within a human flock is inappropriate. When the three of you are interacting, if one of them bites, your instinct to remove them from the threesome is sound in my opinion. I would return the offender to his cage, and end the entire session shortly thereafter. If they are unable to make the association after a few times, you may want to handle them individually rather than together. They obviously have worked out the dominance issue between the two of them but not as a threesome with you.

I have a particularly sweet bird, Isis, who NEVER has bitten me, but this same wonderful bird will chase down my husband and give him a very painful bite on the foot--IF she can catch him! (She did catch him once and that's how he learned to run so fast!) I believe that she considers him an intruder and is attempting to chase him away. He has not been accepted as "one of the flock". Since Isis is a breeder, I will NOT try to get her to accept my husband--he is doomed to continue running in terror when she's indoors to rest from breeding. ;)

There are a couple other things that you can do to curtail the biting. Reading body language can be your best defense! If you observer carefully, you will learn to recognize the look they have before biting and take appropriate action. Also, many professional trainers and behaviorists say that a parrot will not bite as long as you maintain eye contact with it so use this to your advantage.

Sorry this got so lengthy and we haven't really even scratched the surface but I suspect that many eyes have glazed over by now; so I'll end with the reminder that Aloe Vera is a wonderful pain killer for bird bites! No bird owner should be without this gel which instantly will soothe the pain of a parrot bite.

Almost every expert on bird behavior who writes on the issue of cage territorialism says the same thing--"Do not let the bird come out of the cage on its own; insist that it step up on your hand on command, every time". I agree that this advice in theory is generally good IF we as bird owners do our part--that is, keep to a reasonably consistent schedule of doing the same thing the same way at the same time every day. Then our birds can expect that after going to bed at the usual time and getting adequate rest, at the usual time of morning, the cage door will open, the beloved owner will offer a hand to step up on, and the bird will be brought out and given a session of sweet talk and cuddling to start his day plus some yummy food. But how many of us really do things in such an organized manner? There are days when routines cannot be kept. Should we then expect the bird to be ready to step up no matter what or when or even for strangers? Should we not respect their need for sleep and privacy? As always, common sense and consideration for the feelings of our feathered friends are important. I have a few birds who will step up for me or for anyone who comes into my home and I know for sure that they NEVER will refuse nor will they ever bite anyone. I have other birds who have different personalities and I respect these differences and work with them. I am in awe of the pain tolerance level of those who endure bird bites in the name of good training, but I am a big chicken when it comes to being bitten, so I try to use other means of obtaining the desired results. I guess that what I'm trying to say is that yes, we should expect our birds to obey our step up command, even from their beloved "homes", but we need to show respect for their feelings too. I agree with Katy that there are times when common sense dictates that rather than make an issue of our dominance, it is better to simply open the cage door and allow the bird to come out on its own or offer them the choice of stepping onto a perch. Just as with raising human children, we should "choose our battles". Also, I don't expect my birds to allow strangers to enter their private domain and demand that they step up. I think it's good to perch train birds so that "strangers" who may need to act as caretakers can bring them out of their cage when necessary without an upsetting confrontation. There may be occasions when we too could benefit from using the perch rather than demanding that they step up on our hand when we know it will create a confrontation. Perch training is as easy as placing the bird on the floor and offering him a short branch, small laddder, cage perch or dowel to step onto. This simply takes advantage of the birds natural desire to get to a higher place.

We expect others to respect our homes as our private domains. If someone came over at the break of dawn, awakened me (without coffee) and opened my front door and dragged me outside before I was ready to greet the day, I would consider this disrespectful at best and my reaction would not be civil. ;) Our birds are very intelligent creatures who have no way of understanding what appears to be a lack of respect for their space and their feelings. Why should we be surprised when they nip or bite when that is the only way they have of communicating their displeasure with our perceived "rude behavior"?

Having said that, here are some general guidelines for maintaining the "step up" command and thereby preventing problems.

1. Allow the bird to get adequate rest in a dark, quiet and secure place. Many pet birds enjoy a covered cage at night. My birds thrive on twelve hours sleep a night. Just as human children are grouchy without enough rest, so are parrots! I believe that it is unreasonable to keep them up half the night, awaken them early, and then demand perfect behavior. Just try it with your children!
   
   
2. Try to maintain some semblance of a schedule. Birds LOVE routine! They would prefer that you do the same thing the same way at the same time every day...and preferably wearing the same clothes.....and oh yes, please don't rearrange your hair or the furniture EVER! ;) Of course this is impossible and an exaggeration but remember that they DO have a routine in the wild!
   
   
3. To prevent a bird from becoming cage-bound or overly possessive of its territory, remember that the smaller his territory, the more vigorously he will defend it; so make his territory as large as possible. Provide many different perches and play areas and even move the cage to a different area occasionally if possible. Give him a large domain. Do not allow him to become cage-bound.
   
   
4. Two of the most important things that we can do to influence good behavior in pet birds are maintaining wing clips and using the height factor to our advantage. Sometimes when a bird gets unruly, clipping the wings will have an amazing taming effect. Allowing some birds to be higher up than you can create a dominance problem. Keeping them below eye level is good and below heart level is even better with feisty birds. With other birds, full wings and high perches are not a problem.
   
   
5. When you ask the bird to step up onto your hand, concentrate on what you are doing, be calm, move deliberately, MAINTAIN EYE CONTACT, and speak softly but authoritatively. If the bird hesitates, simply scoop up his feet and bring him out of the cage for a cuddle session. Make him happy to be out with you. My *secret weapon* is to make my birds love me too much to bite me! I give them intense sessions of loving and can notice a direct effect on their behavior afterwards. With older birds, one must be careful not to stimulate sexual behavior in their birds but with younger birds, this is not an issue.