Blue Crowned Conure

I just purchased a new blue crowned conure. She is about 4/12 months old and seems to be real sweet. She lets me pet her head, back, and even pick her up by her back and set her on my hand. My concern is that when she is sitting on my hand she occationally will ben down and start chewing on my finger, and somtimes bites very hard. it doesnt seem to be an agressive thing but it really hurts. Any help on how to stop or prevent this behavior?

is this a behavior that i need to correct or is this something that she will just quit doing as she gets more used to me?

Congrats on your new BCC....Would you be able to share some pictures? As a bird owner, you kind of get used to bites it's just part of bird ownership...well, in my opinion! I'd say to move your hand away everytime u expect he's going to bite! But what your describing sounds like an overall sweet bird!

Stunning Love Him!

When the bird starts to nibble on you offer a footie toy that the bird can chew up on instead of you. I did this for my macaws when they were babies. I also taught them how much pressure I would stand and I always taught them to use only a little pressure.

Yes I have been bit. As a parrot owner you will get nipped sometimes but it should not be when they are with you and relaxing.

Noblemacaw

noblemacaw said:

When the bird starts to nibble on you offer a footie toy that the bird can chew up on instead of you. I did this for my macaws when they were babies. I also taught them how much pressure I would stand and I always taught them to use only a little pressure.

Yes I have been bit. As a parrot owner you will get nipped sometimes but it should not be when they are with you and relaxing.

Noblemacaw

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how did you teach them how much pressure is ok?

First get your parrot to begin biting toys instead of grooming your fingers so hard. Once he is use to applying what pressure he wants to toys you can remind him "gentle" or use "no". Personally I like the word gentle because it reminds them of what the word means and NO means to stop what your doing right now.

Use either "ouch" or "gentle" when they start to apply any pressure. I am not afraid of beaks and my hands are always in there prying them open and when I work on their beaks. I use my fingernails to groom the beak and I hold him by his beak. He will hang from my finger by his beak and wiggle his feet with the command "footie!"

I was going to teach him to hang from my nose but Macaws use their tongues a LOT so that idea went right out the window when he stuck his tongue up my nose. I am getting a RFM this spring and this will be my biggest bird yet. Right away I will teach him soft beak and that it is okay to hold my hand or finger with beak but just no or very little pressure. He will be a weaned baby so I will have to start training from square one. I have not had a baby for 9 years. *sigh*

Noblemacaw

You could hold a small treat in your hands to direct the interest away from your skin. Birdie is just testing out the world as they would in the wild. You are mom and will give guidence. Blue crowned are supposed to be very good pets. I am happy that you found one. Here is a link with some very good information for you to read. https://companionparrotonline.com/Member_Articles.html

Sounds like a curious baby being beaky but they have to learn limits. You have a beautiful baby and I wish you the best of luck. Welcome to the board!

I have two Blue Crowns. Both of them were several years old when they came to me. Tootsie, the one I have had the longest, is mainly a gentle bird with her beak though she still will nip occasionally. She has this behavior where she will raise up then bring her beak quickly down to tap my hand. She will do this several times and will usually end up with a nip. When she does nip, I make a "protest" noise similar to what she does if I happen to nip a blood feather and it hurts her. Seems to work well.

Rosa and I are still getting used to each other. She has only been with me a couple of months now and was very hand shy. Her nipping was more fearful and aggressive but we have been making progress. I've had to take a bit stronger approach with her nipping and it seems to work well though I don't like being so dominant with her. When she nips, usually I will put my hand above her and cup it over her back and head sternly telling her to "Stop it!" She has gotten the message and now is more careful with her beak. Most of the time. And I think that has led to her being reluctant to bite and that progressed to her being willing to learn "step up" so we are certainly making progress.

It sounds like your BCC is exploring and learning about you with the bites. If you react in a way that conveys that the bite is unwelcome and painful the bird will learn. Just don't overreact. Then it becomes a game. Our birds watch us as much or more than we watch them. And at such a young age you can expect the bird to use it's beak and tongue to explore quite a lot. But time and patience and understanding will go a long way.

Blue Crowns are fun little critters. Hope you have long life and love with yours!