Stop biting me!!!

cupidsmommi · Feb 23, 2013

Hello everyone, I hope im posting this correctly im new here.
Anyway I have a 8 month green cheek conure named cupid. He has been with me for about 6 months now and hes the cutest little birdy ever. But hes evil and im sure most the time he hates me lol. He bites when ever he gets a chance and even puffs up and attacks me biting and holding on for dear life. I have been told hes in his terrible twos, its normal, keep handling him and even to use gloves....but its not getting any better! Also, I cant touch him, cuddle, or scratch because its against the rules. He will only bite and move away. I have noticed that after we shower for about 5 minutes after hes the sweetest ever, that's the ONLY time I can touch him. Ive seen so many conures who are sweet and cuddly and this is just not cupid at all. What am I doing wrong? He is clingy as well loves to be on me...but im starting to think its just to bite. Any advice would be great as im getting bit as we speak. Help!! Thanks

faeryphoebe1 · Feb 24, 2013

Trixie (about 1 1/2- 2yrs of age) is evil, too. She is very nippy in the morning, therefore I let her screech her heart out at the birds outside and don't handle her until the afternoon or evening hours (although I talk and call to her lots). She is cage possessive, so I let her climb out of her cage before offering my hand to "step up". She does let me give her scritches, but on her terms. It took several months before she learned that my hands would do her no harm. If she fluffs up, I don't touch her and just let her sit by me. If she opens her beak and attacks, I bring out a toy or begin playing peek-a-boo with a light blanket and cover her and uncover her, all the time talking to her. Otherwise, if I don't distract her and simply move her, she will charge, lol. Gloves would scare her more, so for the first month we interacted, I had bloody hands. After that, all was well and no more blood. I loves my little devil. She's spicy.

MonicaMc · Feb 24, 2013

Stop getting bitten! If you don't want to get bitten, then don't put your bird in a position that will result in a bite!

I know, easier said than done! Here's a great blog that's worth reading.

Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: Respecting the Bite

Also, here's my experience with a supposedly nippy green cheek. This happened summer of last year. The first part of it is in response to something else who said that clicker training is pointless, and I disagreed.

I guess this is where we'll have to agree to disagree! I know that with clicker training (and no, a clicker is *NOT* required! It just helps to bridge the gap between a *good* behavior and the *reward* from the human), it's possible to teach a bird not to bite, not to scream and to become more socialized. Clicker training is based on the foundations of Positive Reinforcement Training.

A month or so ago, a customer where I work asked me if I wanted another bird. She knew someone who had a green cheek parrot of some sort that she was needing to rehome. I would love another bird, but at the same time, I do not feel financially ready for one, but I gave the customer my information to pass it along.

Last Thursday, said owner of the bird called me and asked me if I wanted the bird. Her and I discussed a few different options and I told her I'd come over when she has an available time.

Last night (Tuesday), I went over to see this green cheek conure of hers. Now, here's Winston's story. Winston is about 3 years old, and he was shipped to a local pet-store, sick. The owners daughter worked there and spent 3 or more months getting Winston back into good health. Then, mothers day came around, and the daughter bought Winston for her mother. Typical story, bird loves daughter, hates mother. Daughter goes off to college, mom is stuck with a bird she cannot handle!

When trying to handle Winston, she gets bit! Take her out of the cage, bite before coming out, and if she manages to come out, bite on the way out. Bite when up on the shoulder, random bites when handling her. The last straw came when Winston bit her owner's lip, and ever since then, she has had *NO* trust in Winston.

So okay, I go over, I listen to her, put my hand up against the cage and ya, Winston is interested! Nibbling hard, but not quite biting with force. I watch as the owner tries to get Winston out of her cage. Winston wont come out, but she'll do anything for a sunflower seed! So... I start feeding Winston sunflower seeds and she takes them from me - with some hesitation. Then got her used to taking the sunflower seeds off the back of my hand (skin semi-tight). Eventually, I had my left hand in a "half" fist (fingers curled at the first digit away from the knuckles) and I was placing the sunflower seed near my wrist. Placed in such a manner, she'd have to put at least one foot onto my hand in order to reach the seed. Place a little further back, there's two feet on my hand and she's out of the cage!

I sat there with Winston, feeding her seeds, occasionally getting her to switch hands and she was not biting! Not evening nibbling! Every once in a while she made to fly off, but being unable to fly, didn't actually try. She just leaned and opened her wings a little. As I was talking to the owner, I was telling her how simple it would be to train her, and kind of demonstrated by using a sunflower seed to turn Winston around in a circle - and treat! Did this a few times to show them her willingness.

Winston's owner also told me how difficult it is to remove Winston from her shoulder. When she's up there and they want her down, she avoids them, bites them and they have to chase her around. I willingly, to an unknown and strange bird, allowed her, Winston, to climb up to my shoulder. I then used the sunflower seeds to get her to step up *WILLINGLY* back to my hand. The bird only listened to the daughter - no one else could handle her.

After a bit, I even had Winston step up onto her owners hand and she hung out there for a few moments, but I didn't leave Winston there for long as I know the owner is still afraid of getting bitten, and we didn't want Winston traveling up to her shoulder.

Now, Winston did end up biting me, and biting me *REAL* good! But this was due to the fact that she has a leg band that is too big for her and she managed to get one toe stuck inside of it. I didn't hold her in a grip that would have prevented her from biting period, but then her bites really don't hurt compared to bites I've received from other parrots! Managed to move the band back up her leg and after that she wasn't too happy with me, but it was the first time she was allowed out of her cage in who knows how long!

Although I did not use a clicker, clicker training is essentially the same concept... and it can be used to teach parrots to play with toys, teach them that going to other people is a *good* thing, and it's also a great, and fun way for owner and bird to bond! The bird learns that good behaviors get rewarded and the owner learns how to better communicate with the bird, thus learning to avoid getting bitten in the first place!

When I left, Winston's owner was so appreciative of the fact that I had come over. She is not a person to give up on an animal, but she ended up with a bird she had no clue how to handle. (she's owned several cockatiels in the past!) She views pets as having them for life! So she felt pretty bad about the thought of having to give up Winston, even though she can't handle her... and today, she's excited to start training Winston!

Cupid is not evil and he probably doesn't hate you. He's simply misunderstood and you haven't figured out how to communicate with him yet. I urge you to please look into positive reinforcement and clicker training. If you teach him, through positive means, how to interact with you, the biting issue will get better! Learn to respect him, learn his body language. If you want him to do something, you need to make it rewarding for him to do! The same as I did with Winston.

It's not hard to do, but it does take patience and learning to understand your bird better. Best of all? Doesn't require using gloves!

gccgirl · Feb 24, 2013

i used a method on Cotton and she only nibbles. When u go to touch him when ur hand gets close and he looks threatened than reward him. Give him a break and then do it again over and over and gradually he will let u touch him.

gccgirl · Feb 24, 2013

how do u post a thread i am new here and i cant find an icon plz describe it for me!!!!!

MonicaMc · Feb 24, 2013

gccgirl said:
how do u post a thread i am new here and i cant find an icon plz describe it for me!!!!!

There's the

button on the left side of the screen when viewing a forum (i.e. Conures for example), or you can click on Forum Tools which is on the right side of the screen and above the person who last posted in a thread.

cupidsmommi · Feb 24, 2013

I do appreciate the information. And please dont take me wrong, I love cupid and called him/her evil in a joking manner. I love all my birdes, but not all birds react or act the same. I have also used a clicker with him/her and hes gotten step up/down, turn around, wave and shake also using his favorite treat. Ill keep at it and hope he picks up what I am attempting to teach him. In the mean time Ill check out the link you posted.
Thanks again.

cupidsmommi · Feb 24, 2013

gccgirl said:
i used a method on Cotton and she only nibbles. When u go to touch him when ur hand gets close and he looks threatened than reward him. Give him a break and then do it again over and over and gradually he will let u touch him.

Thanks for this...after posting this I decided to try the touch,treat, repeat method and he has seem to allow me to touch as long as he was rewarded lol. And even better yet he didnt bite. So Im hoping with a little patience things will continue in the right direction.
Thanks again!

MonicaMc · Feb 25, 2013

I see. One mistake that many owners make is to label a behavior when they don't fully understand it, and if they start saying something that the bird is not, they may get it in their head that that is the way that the bird is.

I.E. The bird hates the owner because every time they try to interact with the bird, the bird ends up biting the owner. What's really going on? The bird is terrified inside the cage and trying to escape. When the human keeps persisting on handling the bird, and the bird can no longer escape, the bird bites. In short, there is no trust between the human and the bird. Many owners fail to see that birds are *not* like dogs, and they *will not* go up to strangers and interact with them freely like a dog would.

I'm glad to hear you are already working on clicker training with Cupid and he's already learned some behaviors! It sounds like you've got the right idea in mind, so keep it up! Maybe, when it looks like he's about to bite, you could try cuing him to do a behavior before he bites? And then reward him for doing it?

gccgirl · Feb 26, 2013

thanks MonicaMC but what link under " forum tools" so which link that scrolls down do I click?

MonicaMc · Mar 1, 2013

gccgirl said:
thanks MonicaMC but what link under " forum tools" so which link that scrolls down do I click?

I hope this explains it better.... Click to enlarge the image.

Stop biting me!!!

cupidsmommi

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finding the perfect cage for a conure

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