Green Cheek biting getting worst

Hi there, this is my first time posting on a bird forum of any kind. I never expected to even do it since I thought the problem would go away, but it's getting worst.

I have a nearly year old green cheek conure, beautiful little guy and fun to have, but his biting is getting MUUUUUUUCH worst. First off my brother owns him, but he lives with us so everyone comes in contact with Pablo (birds name). Now he used to bite me the most because of lack of trust issues, which I know is common with these birds, same with the biting, but as of recent, he's been biting everyone, and HARD, to the point where I'm bleeding, everywhere he bites, all of us are, he bites everywhere.

I'm putting him on 30 second time outs, putting him in his cage, shaking him a bit, and a raise my voice on him. While on his good behavior I give him treats.

As for his diet, it consists on walnuts, and peanuts, and fruits, but not as often, he refuses to eat the special bird food we got from the vet. I presume this is possibly from my father and younger brother not listening and feeding him seeds.

Anyways I need to train him to stop biting so hard, it's getting to be too much, I'm covered in cuts, and in my line of work, I need to look clean and professional...the cuts from my rabid bird aren't helping.

Thanks a lot!

Welcome to the forum!!! He's hitting his hormone period most likely and that's why he's biting and all. I usually let them be during hormone period and they'll be back to their old self once that period passes. So I let them out to play on their play stand alone and if they try to bite I let them be.

Be sure you have a good talk with your family about the importance with proper diet and once they're on board then change the food back to the proper diet as it should be which is with more fruits and veggies then pellets. Seeds is ok but do cut down on the sunflower seeds. But the fresh stuffs is quite important to give them!!!!

I went throught the same thing when mine was 11 months and it was horrible. He would fly through the room and attack me and make me bleed multiple times per day. I finally broke down and had him clipped and it was a complete change instantly. He can still fly but not as well but it changed his attitude 100%. I felt like they swapped him with another bird. He has been clipped for over 3 weeks now and hasn't bitten once. Now he's the sweetest little thing ever

birdman_510 said:

I'm putting him on 30 second time outs, putting him in his cage, shaking him a bit, and a raise my voice on him. While on his good behavior I give him treats.

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Please never shake your bird or tap its beak or anything physical. You can easily hurt them and they also have great memories and may never trust you. Also, when they do something wrong don't raise your voice. These birds look for a reaction so they like when you raise your voice

Generally speaking, try getting two popsicle sticks, and use those until he accepts you touching him with them. Then work on touching him all over, particularly the tail area. (Untamed birds tend to get defensive and bitey when their tails are touched. They have to learn to get over it!)

Then when he accepts being touched, slowly work your fingers down the popsicle sticks until you don't need them anymore.

We did this with two perches for the aggressive macaws down at the rescue, and it worked really well... I imagine a popsicle stick or a wooden BBQ skewer would work for a tiel...

It sounds like he's biting out of fear. Do whatever you can to make the situation less fearful ... maybe limit the number of people who hold him ... don't shake him or punish him as that will only make things worse ... birds don't understand punishment like people do, so they simply see it as a threat. Keep his environment quiet. Let him have more choice when he is out of and in his cage. Keep offering pellets and slowly reduce the amount of nuts you're providing ... use them only as treats. Hope that helps!

I respectfully disagree.

These are pair bond birds. It sounds to me more like he has overbonded with your brother, which means he needs to be handled more often, by more people.

Fear biting generally has a different body posture.

His hormones are probably kicking in, nothing good training and socialization can't fix. Shaking a bird is beyond the pale. It's abuse.

kalidasa said:

his hormones are probably kicking in, nothing good training and socialization can't fix. Shaking a bird is beyond the pale. It's abuse.

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agreed on all counts!!!

First, you have to look into his diet, his cage, toys, socialization etc...before making a judgement as to why he is biting. Birds don't bite for no reason.

Sorry I should have worded it better, I don't shake him, I just move him around a bit to make him off balance in order to stop him from biting, I read that was okay to do. We feed him fruits, he does eat it a lot, it just he loves his nuts, and we were told that was okay to feed him, walnuts and peanuts specifically. He actually let's me touch his tail, and pet him, even hold him upside down while he's perched on my finger, and sometimes while laying on his back on my palm.

We tend to leave him alone, especially when biting, he'll even fly off to our dresser to start biting it to smithereens lol.

What do you guys recommend I feed him?

go to birdtricks.com

stop feeding him peanuts, considering peanut grow underground and are subject to many contaminates.
look at pellets, and start a training diet

Go to birdtricks.com and purchase one day miracles.
I was at a plateau with My IRN it had taken me two months just to get my bird to step up onto my finger. I purchased one day miracles and in three days with a 10 to 15 minute session in the morning and one in the afternoon, My IRN will not leave the cage unless I let him, returns to his cage, and most recently he is free flying from his cage to my hand still learning to come when called. you will get a lot of advice some of it good, some of it bad. but the people at birdtricks.com trained David Copperfield birds and I can say that there training method work and work very well

Peanuts are fine treat. I give my GCC one everyday and she's 14 years old.

Re-reading your comments it's hard to tell if your bird's biting is merely normal. All parrots are going to bite sometimes, and they have to chew on things to keep their beaks trimmed. Does your bird have a chewing toy that he or she likes? Mine prefers popsicle sticks and will eventually shred them into fine pieces. She also likes to chew on my dresser and book shelves, but that's because in the wild she would be on the look out for good nesting cavities. So I just accept this behavior.

Oh good I'm glad to hear you're not shaking him . Just putting him off balance a bit! Mine personally loves small roudybush pellets. Also try shredding carrots or parsnips and small pieces of ginger and corn. Those are my conures favorite veggies.

birdman_510 said:

I'm putting him on 30 second time outs, putting him in his cage, shaking him a bit, and a raise my voice on him. While on his good behavior I give him treats.

Click to expand...

None of this answers why he is biting. Most parrots don't understand 'time-outs'. After 5 seconds of doing a behavior they often forget what they've done and moved on.

Does he enjoy his cage? If so, putting him in his cage isn't necessarily a punishment.

Shaking him a bit... this may cause him to bite more, not less. It may also cause distrust in hands.

Raising your voice? Birds like to scream and compete with noise... unless it scares him.


None of this is recommended.


Please try to avoid getting bitten. Figure out what sets your conure off and what causes him to bite. Then avoid those triggers. The only bite that can't be rewarded is the one that never occurs!

Take a look at these links.
Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: Training a Scared or Aggressive Parrot To Step Up

Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: Help! My Parrot Wont Step Up!

Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: Respecting the Bite