Apollo's New Anger?

My little gcc is soon about, well kinda soon going to turn one. Most of the time he has a pretty good temperment. But recently like in the past two weeks he has really started to nip alot and hard. Also I have a big bag of food and pour some into a pitcher and then into his food bowl in his cage. When I open his cage so he can hang out he starts to ignore the food in his bowl and goes toward the pitcher. I figured that this may just be a phase which should go away soon. But right now he is a pain in the butt to handle because he is just so nippy. Any suggestion on what to do or what is going on with him would be great.

Thanks

Can you pull his food dishes out of the cage to fill them? If so, I would do that and that would end the pitcher problem.

When is he nipping? While he's out of the cage and you're playing with him or when you ask him to step up?

I've noticed a lot of behaviour problems are arising, maybe he's getting territorial because it's spring?

Yeah it's getting to be conure time for hormones. I don't know why amazons and Greys are over the winter and conures seem to start in spring and go through the summer. They are all from the southern hemisphere or close to it, lol! Merlin and Pete are coming down and Rowdy is just getting started.

Little GCC might be starting to get his first taste of hormones.

I kind of need more info though to offer advice. I don't know if this is cage territorialism or if he's gotten frightened by something, if it's hormones, or he is being bossy.

As for the cage and food bowls which do come out so thanks for that idea. For the nipping it sometimes happens when I get him to step up off the cage. But most of the time it is when anyone in my family tries to put him back in his cage. He knows when I am going to put him in his cage and he doesn't like so he starts gettin at my fingers. He is on my shoulder when i am putting him into the cage and he will just start climbing all over my back. The only person who he is afraid of is my grandma. For the reason because she always goes up
to his cage and start whistling and tweeting. Just letting you know my grandma isn't the smartest when it comes to animals. Funny thing is she is clueless to why he doesn't like her. I have told her before to stop whistling and tweeting at him and all she says to me is she thinks she is communicating with him. He does nip my grandpa because he has massive fingers. But either than that most of the time he is usually a good bird.

Ok, well, I think we have the answer. He doesn't want to go back in his cage. Who can blame him, right? Is he getting too much or too little out of cage time? Sometimes when they get a lot, they never really bond with their cage and just want to be with their people (most birds want to be with their people). If that's the case it might help to bring him out for shorter periods of time, and more of them instead of one long session. I do that myself just so the cat doesn't have to be locked up all day. I do a morning and then an afternoon/evening session with my birds.

If he is only getting out for a little bit, he may need to get to spend more time with you.

Try putting his favorite treat in the cage, letting him see it, when it's time to put him back. It might work even better if you don't feed him while he's out so he's hungry.

How large is his cage? Does he have adequate room, toys, etc?

Has he ever been put back into his cage for biting or acting up? If the cage was used as a form of punishment, it may explain why he's reluctant to go back.

In any case, make the cage as pleasant as possible for him. Provide plenty of toys, treats, etc. I went through a period with Guava, when she, too, would bite and latch on to my finger to stop me from putting her back into her cage. So I knew I had to give her something to look forward to when going back into her cage. I found a treat that I knew was irresistible to her, and placed it in her food bowl right by the cage door. I'd place her on top of her cage and let her crawl in on her own terms (I knew she wouldn't be able to resist a banana for long). I did this over and over again, and pretty soon she'd literally jump out of my hand to go into her cage for some banana delight! Now she happily goes back into her cage, knowing there's a treat or a fresh bowl of pellets waiting for her. Positive reinforcement does wonders!

Ok thanks all for your help I will try all these different things. I will post to so how things are going. Again thanks for your help.

Also watch the non verbal language. It is easy to tell when a GCC is getting ready to nip - his feathers on top will be raising up.

The thing is & i think everyone who owns a GCC has the same problems. Include myself, I have the wounds to prove my latest nip. Parrots bite out of fear or control & by the sounds your little one is doing it out of control. Out of all my parrots my GC'S are the only birds that give's me grief. They truly are bossy little buggers. On a good note it does subside & most of the time their behavior is related to them maturing & becoming a little hormonal. Once we take back control they are usually very pleasent to have around.

When my GC starts biting it's usually when i want to put her back in the cage. Although i don't worry to much about the bites & she goes in the cage anyway. However she does love to hang out on my shoulder & will only let me touch her on her terms. So when she is cuddly, we cuddle if not that's OK to. I know it's only temperory.

Pedro said:

The thing is & i think everyone who owns a GCC has the same problems. Include myself, I have the wounds to prove my latest nip. Parrots bite out of fear or control & by the sounds your little one is doing it out of control. Out of all my parrots my GC'S are the only birds that give's me grief. They truly are bossy little buggers. On a good note it does subside & most of the time their behavior is related to them maturing & becoming a little hormonal. Once we take back control they are usually very pleasent to have around.

When my GC starts biting it's usually when i want to put her back in the cage. Although i don't worry to much about the bites & she goes in the cage anyway. However she does love to hang out on my shoulder & will only let me touch her on her terms. So when she is cuddly, we cuddle if not that's OK to. I know it's only temperory.

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Very true! GCC are free willed birds, and if you attempt to "force" them to do anything they don't want to do, you will get bit. Respect your bird's choice, learn to read their body language when they tell you "No!" and you will avoid bites.

My greenie has been super out of control lately.She even flew deliberately over to my poor little rottie and started biting her lips..Not nice bites either.Spring is very much in the air..Luckily she doesnt bite me, just mates with my hand or computer..

When I first got her she would bite me(not super hard but it hurt, especially my fingers).I dont know if this was the right thing to do so if not someone be sure to say so.I would grab her beak gently(not quickly either, that scares animals) and say no sternly.If it was too bad I would put her up..IDK it worked, she never bites me and still trusts me.

I refused to let Rowdy be with me when she was biting, when I first got her. It worked for me. More than anything she wanted to be with me so she got the picture quickly. I have gotten only a few bites since and most of those involved getting scared at the vet's. And I knew I was going to get bitten since she told me, lol! She is the most obvious bird in the world though if she is mad or scared. She poofs out all her feathers all over her body and screeches. And, ha ha, she often cusses, too, if she's really mad.