European Eagle Owl that bites - Help Please

[Barn Owl]

Hi
My European Eagle Owl is biting very hard on both the gloved and ungloved hand.
I am aware that the owl has very poor eyesight up close and I know that the person who hand reared the owl fed from the ungloved hand.
The owl is approx 8 months old and sits on the fist great, fly's free up to about 20m no probs, just the biting.
Will this get better? or am I stuck with this problem of biting.
I only feed it from the gloved hand and always have done. The owl is made to fly for it's food, either outside or in the aviary.
Can any one help?

[Afshimo]

Hiya,

I've found most owls go through a stage of biting and nibbling, the bigger the bird, the harder they bite. It will last for about 3/4weeks untill their curiosity is satisfied! Just try and make it look as it it doesnt hurt, and as the owl hand reared, it will want your company so go and leave it for awhile. If it setles down when you leave, it hasnt been handreared properly lol. Get a pair of thin gardening gloves to take the edge off the bite if its that bad, with europeans it can!

all the best,

Hannah

[The Late Lord Lucan]

Ive never had one myself, but a friend of mine has had several, they all did exactly the same.
The good news is, they all grew out of it fairly quickly.
They seemed to follow the same pattern, the amount of biting seemed directly related to the amount of manning.....ie.more manning, less biting.
They all reverted to it when manning was stopped. But stopped very quickly on recommencing manning.
All being well, yours should hopefully pack it up as well. I can vouch as to how hard they bite.
Funny thing, the first EEO that I saw my friend fly was called 'Shingles', named because the guy who sold it to him had shingles at the time.
Heres me, helping with your query, and I have a dose of bloody shingles too!......looking at it again, it the least funny thing I can think of, but I have to laugh or the pain would send me nuts!!!!!

Regards,
LLL.

[BeebosMum]

Hi,

My EEO does have a hard nibble at me sometimes (he is a bit younger than yours - about 3 months old) - I find puffing air at him seems to distract his attention and he lets go right away. I dont know if that will work with an older bird but it certainly seems to have an effect on him. I was trying to find a way to distract him that wouldnt hurt or startle him.

[Osiris]

I find puffing air at him seems to distract his attention

This technique does work. My EEO does the same and when i do this technique it distracts her and she forgets what she was doing for a while anyway.

[Hawkmaster]

Unfortunately you will have to live with it now. If it was fed with the bare hand it would of expected food at some point and when it never came it would have felt like it was robbed, so now it is a habit. :sad:

[Osiris]

True Hawkmaster, i dont think the habit will dissapear. just try and distract your EEO from doing so

[Will]

Hi Bob, does he still bite when you keep your hand clearly open? My lad's daft as a brush but even he can work out that it's not worth nibbling if there's plainly nothing there.

If it seems more of an attitude thing, keep a good eye on his feet as they often only use the beak to hold you still while they bring those dirty great talons up! Good luck, I'm sure he'll grow out of it soon.

LLL, sorry to hear about the shingles, is it really as painful as I keep hearing? A colleague had it about six months ago and hasn't shut up about it since!

[Hawkmaster]

I have also notice with some that were fed by hand if you cover your hand in your sleeve the bird may not bite.

[The Late Lord Lucan]

LLL, sorry to hear about the shingles, is it really as painful as I keep hearing?
It is really unpleasant Will. I have it quite mild so I am told. I have a rash that goes from the centre of my back round to my belly, it is about 2 to 3 inches high. Imagine being beaten all around the left side of your rib cage with a baseball bat, as your lying there reeling with the pain and some ****er chucks boiling water all over the same area.....you now feel badly bruised with severe burning on your skin..... :cry:
Your getting close......

Bob I'll swap ya for the biting eagle owl........

[Will]

Jesus, doesn't sound very mild to me! How long does it drag on for? Still, with your past misdemeanours you've probably had it coming for a while! :)

[Bubo]

ooh sorry to hear that LLL take care and get well soon.

[Bubo]

when jester used to bite me a lot ............ cos of hand feeding........i started to make a fist so there was no loose skin for him to get a hold of and let him bite. I made a point of never feeding him with a bare hand again and now he seems to be ok.
It took a while but eventually he stopped doing quite so often.

[Jester]

oh yeah and she says she will tell my mrs if i dont stop it :oops: