Please help!! Agressive biting all of a sudden

I need some advise!!
We have an 11 month old green cheek conure that we have only had in our home for a little over a month. He was loving, and loved to give kisses, and would snuggle and sing to us, and preen our cheeks. A week or so after we got him, we had to go out of town suddenly and left him with a friend who has had birds in the past. When we got him back home, something changed. He wasn't as snuggly, and now bites us ALL THE TIME! Every once in a while he will give kisses when we first get home from work, or before bed, and he always wants to be close to us, so I'm sure he still loves us. We aren't sure if he is still just really ticked off that we left him for a few days or what the deal is. Does anyone have advise to what we can do to help stop this aggressive biting, and how long is it going to last?? Thank You!!

Hmm. I know when I took my GCC Avery to a terrible avian vet once I saw her ugly side come out for the first time, and for three days after that she held a grudge against me. Now I never go there and have found a wonderful vet who tells me Avery is a sweetheart while the other vet told me she was a little demon... how funny

When she was holding a grudge against me, she would lunge, refused to step up, would squawk like there was no tomorrow, would bite hard, and generally disliked me as a person. It was very upsetting, but I knew it was because of how she was treated by the vet. She disliked that vet so much she would lunge for her face with both beak and claw... I've never seen her so angry, not even to this day and I've had her for nearly a year (she turns one next week, I'm so excited!). So it could just be your GCC throwing a hissy fit with you. I'd just play it out and let him relax and know you're back home again. If his attitude doesn't improve within a week, it may be because of hormones hitting early or it may be time to start training to not bite by avoiding the bite. I have seen many wonderful posts on how to avoid this by MonicaMC, so I would recommend checking out other threads with this topic, as there are many. I would also ask your friend what his behaviour was like when they were watching him and how he had reacted to their presence - did he bite, refuse to step up, was he aggressive, etc? That might also help determine if it was an uncomfortable experience for him so that in the future you can avoid it if you plan to go away for awhile and he can't come.

I hope this helps a little bit and that things start looking up!

Hello,

Let me start by saying this - companion birds are much like us. They have moods, boy do they! They also have bad days & good days like us.

I have learned in my years with having companion birds that certain times of the year are harder than others.

This is a difficult time of year for our birds. The days are getting longer, they are moulting and we are getting rather close to 'mating season'. While most birds tend to want to be closer to their owners during mating season, they may also be a lot more moody. Their feathers are changing and they go through hormone changes as the mating season occurs.

My Skittles is super cuddly most of the time, but when he has 'brand new' pin feathers he is very sensitive to the touch and will bite and screech if I pet him in certain places - while other times he likes it when I preen those same feathers (presumably when the shaft is no longer a blood feather).

I'd re-evaluate the environment and try to look at any significant changes that may have occurred. Also, is it a particular time of day when he does this? What is going on with him when he does this etc.

Good luck!


Also, your GCC has not been with you THAT long, so maybe give it a little more time. Has there been any changes in environment?

Awww...this is tough...I know!

Franklin was about the same age when his bitey phase hit...although he wasn't much of a biter when he was out playing with us, it was more when he was coming out of his cage.

He'd be all excited to come out and play, we'd open his cage door, he'd usually already be there ready to come out, we'd put our finger up to have him step up, he'd act like he was going to, sometimes even start to step up and WHAM! He'd nail our finger HARD...then take off up to the top of his cage!

The first few times it happened, we didn't think much of it and it didn't happen every time we were getting him out...but within a couple weeks, my finger was bruised and sore! He was beginning to lunge at us, then run to the top of the cage, where HE played "keep away" ...gggrrrrr.....I was getting jumpy because...crap...it HURT! I knew I had to do SOMETHING! Thing was...after a few moments on his cage, he decided he wanted to be with us and we could then go get him and he'd be MOSTLY really good using us for his jungle gym.

Anyway, one day, I decided that if he couldn't come out nice, he wasn't coming out at all. Period.

I walked to his cage, did all my "Hey Frankie" talk asked him if he wanted to come out, which, of course he did! I opened the door and the second he decided to bite I said "Frankie, no bite" and shut his cage door and walked away. 10 minutes later, or so...I went back to his cage...same thing...you want to come out, started to open the cage door, he ran over and tried to bite me as I was opening the door, so I just left it shut, told him "No Bite" and walked away.

Later I came back and tried again, each time I'd tell him Frankie, No Bite.

3 days...it was 3 days...I was able to open the cage door, he sat there...I offered my finger...he sat there...I talked to him in all my birdie baby talk I do...all the while holding my finger in front of him...he very cautiously put ONE foot on my finger and I praised him...GOOOD BOY! Be nice...Come on, it's ok...come out and let's play!...he very cautiously lowered his beak to my finger...I was nervous...because this was typically when he'd suddenly lash out with a stout bite and run off...but he just lightly rubbed his beak over my finger...testing it...I kept talking to him and reassuring him he was a good boy...believe it or not, it took about 10 minutes...then he stepped up on my finger with the other foot...I immediately said GOOOD BOY! Frankie...what a good boy!! And he raised up and puffed up his chest all proud of himself...and from that day forward we didn't have anymore trouble getting him out of his cage.

Don't get me wrong...those 3 days...I didn't just ignore him...I still talked to him like I always would, he still got fed as he always did, his cage cleaned...etc...he just didn't get to come OUT for playtime...until he could be nice.

As far as the biting while being OUT with us...yes, that happened to, but not as much...however, if he started to get "bitey" with us when out playing...we'd grab his beak between our thumb and index finger and hold it, look him right in the eye and say Frankieeee....nooo bite in our "warning" tone.

Then we'd try to redirect him with a toy, apple slice, carrot stick, chunk of broccoli, something he could sink his beak into and play with.

And the best advice...no matter what method you choose to try and curb the biting...just make sure you are CONSISTENT! You'll have the best results that way.

Good luck and keep us posted

Toni

Sorry for resurrecting this thread but I'm having a biting issue too and I wanted some input! My girl never bites when she's in her cage, but out of it she is getting worse and worse for biting I say 'no bite' in a stern tone and hold her beak when she does, but she just seems to think it's a game and she's getting worse each time. Can anyone help!?

Instead of punishing your bird, can you instead figure out why she's biting and avoid getting bitten? Such as giving her something to do before she bites?