Ask Lafeber

Biting lovebird

I got Luna, my single female lovebird, when she was about 4 months old. She has been living with me for about 18 months. She was terribly shy at first, but with time and patience she has learned to trust me enough that she’ll step up on my finger, fly around the house and land on my shoulder, sit on my knee, chew my newspaper to shreds… But every now and then she’ll bite me really hard! She won’t let me touch her unless she chooses to land on me. I try to s ratchet her little head because I want to give her affection, but she will have none of it. Is she still afraid? Is her biting aggressive, or just play?

Hi,

By letting her fly around as she pleases, without a foundation of training first, you have put her in control. Biting is never OK. I would not allow her to shred papers. Between that and giving her free roam, she is going to start laying eggs which isn’t good for her and she may be biting because she is hormonal. I would recommend that you read our pages on behavior and training so you can work with her and actually teach her.

Pet Bird and Parrot Behavior

Teaching Your Bird

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda