advice please

[merlin]

Can you please tell my why an African grey would bite himself to the point of bleeding. My bird started to bite last week on 11/4/11 then my husband started to pay alot more attention to him and he stop biting himself. My husband spends the mornings and evening with him. This morning when I woke up the bird had bit himself again really bad. What can we do to stop this bad behavior? Any advice why birds bite themselves?

Thanks,
Linda

[merlin]

Hi Linda,

Sometimes the biting and self-mutilation can be from something hormonal or physical. Did you get your bird vet checked? It would be a good idea to do so.

Secondly, please try to think back to around the 4th. Can you remember what was going on around that time that may have stimulated your bird to bite himself? What was going on between you...and you, your husband and your bird? Maybe this way, we can help you pinpoint the original cause.

Also, please realize that if your husband gives over-attention to your bird when he bites, your grey may learn to keep harming himself to get attention. So, please be aware of that and try to avoid being obvious about attention after he bites. There is NOTHING wrong with attention... but we just don't want the bird to associate it with self-biting and then he uses it to maniplulate.

Please think back to the 4th and let me know if you can remember any certain events that may have happened to trigger the first incident. Meanwhile, I will do some research on self-biting mutilation.

Blessings,
Maggie-

[Lisa A. Bono]

Hi. Sorry to hear of your little one. Mutilation can come from varied reasons. Where is he mutilating?
What needs to be done is a vet check by a reputable avian vet. It could be medical and the wounds can get infected.
If you need help locating one, please let me know and I will research one for you.