How to teach a baby green cheek not to bite my hand?

Kingsley_greencheek

New member
Apr 8, 2013
4
0
New York
Parrots
Kingsley the Green Cheek Conure - hatchdate 1/30/13
Kingsley is 10 weeks old- I've only had him for a week but we have already made HUGE progress in bonding and getting him to be more outgoing. He will now eagerly fly to my shoulder, play in my hair, and even crawl into my sweater like a blanket. He does "step up" pretty well too, the only thing is that he does not like hand touching. He will get bothered if I touch him with my hand, and if he is standing on my hand he will often take a nibble- and sometimes clamp down hard! He is relaxed and not angry when this happens, so I'm wondering if maybe he thinks of my hand as a perch or a toy and doesn't realize it actually hurts me. I've been trying to alert him to it by making a "hiss" noise, like birds do when they are angry- which he seems to respond to for a while but then he'll try again later. So what else can I do to get him not to bite my hands? I really want him to be okay being handled too, so I can eventually start his flight suit training. Thanks for any tips! :rainbow1:
 

JasmineGCC

New member
Oct 4, 2012
160
0
England
Parrots
Jasmine my pineapple green cheeked conure, hatched 17 April 2012
I would say that your bird is beaky not biting - exploring and hasn't yet learnt your hand is not a perch. I give a 'gentle' to jasmine and if she then nibbles less hard she gets a pine nut treat. When Kingsley is older he may bite you on purpose - Jasmine going through puberty was very painful - you can tell the difference with a real bite - deliberate and draws blood. Jasmine then gets some time out!!
 

MonicaMc

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
7,960
Media
2
43
Parrots
Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
There's been quite a few threads lately on biting and nipping...
http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/30186-bandit-s-nipping.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/conures...-my-new-blue-crown-conure-stop-biting-me.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/29878-hand-reared-conure-biting.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/29840-why-does-he-bite-me-so-hard.html


I do agree with JasmineGCC though... at that age, it's mostly exploration and testing things... kind of like a new puppy who must mouth and chew on everything! Only, you have a tiny little feathered being with a can opener on it's face! And the skin of a human being is so interesting! It has tiny little hairs, it feels squishy, it has moles and zits and scars and scabs and other imperfections!


I would recommend to have a lot of foot toys with you! Beads, craft sticks, leather strips, straws, bottle caps, etc! Maybe even a "bird toy necklace" so as to give her something to interact and play with rather than your skin!
 

Most Reactions

Latest posts

Top