Very bratty - please help

We're every concerned about our four month old conure, Wheatley, because he's developing behaviors we don't know how to discourage.

He's always been a little bratty and bitey, and we figured it was something we could distract him from with daily training sessions and tons of attention, and also figured that it's a baby thing or that he's not used to us. Unfortunately, that behavior is getting worse to the point where he daily screams and attacks both my boyfriend and I.

He enjoys riding on our shoulders, but sometimes he'll bite my boyfriend's ears and I'll reach over to have Wheatley step up, but he'll scream and bite. He gets fixated on my boyfriend's hair, and nothing seems to distract him from it - not food, treats, training, baths, etc... he screams and bites any hands near him when he gets fixated on something, and wants nothing more in the world than to be on my boyfriend's shoulder playing with his hair. We tried working on training him to step on and off of my boyfriend's shoulder, but the brattiness persisted during these sessions resulting in bites on the ears and neck.

I don't believe he's upset by men. I've introduced him to two other male friends of mine, and his vet is also male, and he behaves very well. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that he's just chosen my boyfriend, and it's extremely discouraging to me to see my boyfriend's enthusiasm about birds fade slowly. This is our first bird, and he was so supportive and excited during all the months of research and anticipation. Now after all the bites and screaming, he says he's not sure about birds as pets.

I'm really upset and just want to know how to make him a happy bird. Please help, thank you!

Being on shoulder height gives your bird superiority (they like high places). Keep him off your shoulders for starters. Practice the up/down stick (develops your positive position) from a lower place and give him a favorite treat (small) when he does it well or not: so he learns it is a good thing either way !

firstly they will get over this stage, and all (most) birds go through it, cos there growing up

try to teach him to step up onto a perch to avoid being bitten, when his doin something his not ment to

as said above keeping off the shoulders is good, but good luck on that one as if wheatley is anything like my nut, its impossible to do, not sure about the superiority thing, it just makes it hard for me to get nut to step off etc, so i have taught her, when i lower my shoulder to her cage etc i want her off me, though i have been known to crawl on the floor before she finaly gets off lol

failing that we have the spoon of disapline lol but that is only a method i use with nut and won't suggest to others, as its awooden spoon i place next to her and she knows its time to fly when its there lol she is not afraid of the spoon, and will othen knock/drag it off the desk, grrr an she challenged spoon other day (we dont use it that often)

also try trainin one on one! your boyfriend is to much of a distraction for wheatley lol so either you do a trainin session 1 day your boyfriend the next etc, keep session short an to step up an down of perch say, and inbetween the step up downs get a toy to play with that wheatley likes

i hope some of this helps, having a beak happy sene myself, i so feel your pain, also when you say attack, are they bites or is your bird doing the full hiss, run/fly and attack

as soon as your bird lowers its body, part/lift its wings (even a litlle) beak open (not all the times) its a very clear signal it wants you to stop what your doin or else, so don't bother asking it to step up etc

also one thing i have found with nut is, as soon as she bites me i dish out the punishment, in ignoring her, eating her treat (yes she has bitten me when i've gone to hand her a treat) or just walking away out of the room and closing the door. and its considered dealt with and i try to keep bad feelings away after event, even if my finger is still bleeding etc as i have come to the conclusion, she does things on a whim, and when she is sorry, i need to accept, or it starts the whole bad feelings thing off again lol

Try to understand the personality of a captive wild animals nature. Especially the conures. If you read about the many species of wild conures you may have a better understanding of the ones that are for companions. Oh and also height dominence theory went out the window a long time ago. Birds naturally seek out high places but that does not make them the boss. http://zachary.avianavenue.com/Parrots.html

Thanks suebee! It's a shame because he can be great on my shoulder and he understands when I let him on and off my shoulder. If he's in a really good mood we'll let him on my boyfriend, but he consistently shows he's not ready for that and starts biting his neck and ear (not really aggressively though... he's just poking around, but it hurts) and then I have no way of stopping him because he'll attack any hand that tries to distract him. The reason we've been trying letting Wheatley on his shoulder is because we wanted to see if that would ease his frustration when he gets fixated on it.

I've been training a lot lately with my boyfriend out of the room, and he's excellent with one-on-one training. I've worked with him on stepping up/down and going back to his cage (he doesn't like going back, haha... I had to work on rewarding him for going back without biting!) When he's in "training mode" he's perfectly behaved, but I can say goodbye to that as soon as he gets fixated on something. When he sees my boyfriend, he runs around frantically trying to make attempts to fly to his shoulder, and he'll bite any hand that gets near him, even if I had just been training with him with no problems.

I haven't really used time-outs or leaving the room with Wheatley yet because I'm not sure if he'd make a connection. I just put him back in his cage when he's in a really bad mood simply because he's doing nothing but biting and screaming no matter what we try and we need to let him cool down.

Spiritbird - thank you for the link. We are thinking of seeking out an animal trainer or behavioral consultant of sorts, because we're stumped on what we're doing wrong. We know that Wheatley has the capacity to be a gentle and cuddly little bug, but that behavior is becoming increasingly rare. That must mean we're doing something to reinforce his behavior, but we're not totally sure what.

i leave the room as nut is fully flighted an when she is that way out i leave her to it, as there will be no way i'd get her into her cage!

nut loves my man lol and she tries with the groomin ears etc he has next to no hair lol and the main thing is, only my man takes her off if i go near she'll bite me lol and the funny thing is now if i want her off him, i stand next to him and she will jump onto my shoulder if she wants

just get wheatley use to you being next to your boyfriend when he is on him for now, if your fella wants him off he takes him off

your boyfriends training should be teaching him to step up off his shoulder, for now and freeze out any grooming attempts lol

its not a fast process lol so be patient, it all works out in the end