New GCC. Biting advice please?

prettykiwi · Mar 3, 2015

My husband and I had been researching different birds for about 2 years and finally decided to get a GCC. We brought him home a few days ago. He is 4 months old, is pretty tame, and knows how to step up. But, he bites really hard when he is out of the cage and then screams when you don't take him out. At first I thought he needed more time in the cage before we handled him but then he started screaming and will hop on your hand whenever your hand is in the cage (like when giving food or water). He has no manners and no matter how far away your hand is from your body or how far slanted down your arm is, he will find a way to your shoulder and will then bite your ear and not let go. When he bites we have been telling him no and putting him down for a few minutes. He seems to behave for a few minutes after that but then he is right back to biting. Does anyone have any advice for how to deal with this?

Dinosrawr · Mar 3, 2015

Welcome to the world of conures! Known for their nippy beak communication and loveable disposition. If you take him out when he screams, you are currently reinforcing screaming behaviour. We have many threads on preventing screaming and why birds scream, though I'm on my phone and I can't pull them up at this moment. If you continue to reinforce this, you're going to have a bird that screams constantly and it will eventually drive you insane

Biting is normally done to communicate, and there are many different bites with different meanings. Is he by a window when you take him out? Is he completely stream lined (flat feathers all over his body) and are his eyes opened widely? Is he fluffed up? Are you simply taking the bite without reaction? I ask these questions because they could all mean very different things. Birds don't exactly feel "remorse" per se for biting, but they can definitely associate that when they bite you it can lead to things they don't like, such as being placed back in their cage and without any contact with their flock. Some birds have been reinforced to bite because no one is "listening" to their body language, and the only way to get their point across is with their beak. They also use different pressures to communicate different things - Avery will give me:

- "hey, stop petting me" bite,
- "how dare you pay attention to someone other than me?!" bite,
- "move your hand, I need to preen there" bite,
- "I want to go over there" bite,
- "I'm exceptionally angry with you, LEAVE ME ALONE!" bite,

... the list goes on.

So more than just "he's biting me", we need "this is how and when he's biting me" to be of use. Personally I take a very strong no-bite policy with my birds. If they bite me, and HARD, and I did NOT deserve it (99% of the time we do because we aren't paying attention to them - dogs snarl, birds have a million ways to snarl), they go in the cage and they don't get any time with me for the next hour. I used to only do 5-10 minutes, then 30 minutes, and now I've progressed to an hour. Mainly because I need time to recollect myself when I'm bitten hard and because they need time to cool down and brush it off too so we can start anew.

If they bite me on the face/lips/ears, then absolutely NO shoulder privileges until proven trustworthy. If they try to get up there and they aren't allowed, I simply put a towel around my hand and "swipe" them off towards my couch. Avery wasn't allowed on my shoulder for about 4 months because she was too unpredictable. Now she's predictable (and hormones are over), so she's allowed up there when she's in a good mood. Once they've been "swiped" off (they are fully flighted so they fly down) I have them step up on to my hand and I put them on their cage. Alternatively, you can use a dowel or rope perch and have them step up onto that and place them elsewhere if they're on your shoulder. Young birds will almost always go for shoulders because they are either scared of hands or view it as a safe and high place to be. It took about a month with Shiko and Avery each to have them stay on my hand. You can also teach your new GCC to "stay" on your hand and reward him for staying - I did this with my IRN because he's very food motivated.

Minimaker · Mar 3, 2015

I'm having good luck with clicker touch training. Check out youtube videos on how to do it, or order some more comprehensive DVDs from the trainer of your choice. There are many on the market. A quick search of ebay will provide some less expensive options on used DVD's. Just search "parrot training" either through a regular internet search or else on ebay and you can sift through to see which trainer appeals to you.

The basic premise is that you train the bird to come to you for treats which causes it to trust you more and want to be near you because of the reward system. They emphasize not forcing your bird to do anything, but to persuade them instead. When you force them to do things, they begin to hate you, hate your hands that make them do stuff-etc. You get the point. Don't make them do what you want, ask them to. The treat lures them into obeying. Force-free training builds trust and trust leads to love.

Chunky · Mar 3, 2015

I think i must be lucky. My Chunky is 11Weeks old today. I have been using the pressure training method. It is working brilliantly. If he starts nibbling my ears or lips, i allow it to continue until the bite goes too hard then its a short, loud "no!" In a deep voice, followed with an angry stare. 99% of the time he backs off immediately and stares at me with a face that says "Who did that? Wasnt me!" I have to stop myself laughing.
I think the key to all this is consistency. Whatever you decide to go with to stop it, you have to make sure the punishment is metered out EVERY time so the message eventually gets through.

prettykiwi · Mar 3, 2015

Dinosrawr said:
Welcome to the world of conures! Known for their nippy beak communication and loveable disposition. If you take him out when he screams, you are currently reinforcing screaming behaviour. We have many threads on preventing screaming and why birds scream, though I'm on my phone and I can't pull them up at this moment. If you continue to reinforce this, you're going to have a bird that screams constantly and it will eventually drive you insane

Biting is normally done to communicate, and there are many different bites with different meanings. Is he by a window when you take him out? Is he completely stream lined (flat feathers all over his body) and are his eyes opened widely? Is he fluffed up? Are you simply taking the bite without reaction? I ask these questions because they could all mean very different things. Birds don't exactly feel "remorse" per se for biting, but they can definitely associate that when they bite you it can lead to things they don't like, such as being placed back in their cage and without any contact with their flock. Some birds have been reinforced to bite because no one is "listening" to their body language, and the only way to get their point across is with their beak. They also use different pressures to communicate different things - Avery will give me:

- "hey, stop petting me" bite,
- "how dare you pay attention to someone other than me?!" bite,
- "move your hand, I need to preen there" bite,
- "I want to go over there" bite,
- "I'm exceptionally angry with you, LEAVE ME ALONE!" bite,

... the list goes on.

So more than just "he's biting me", we need "this is how and when he's biting me" to be of use. Personally I take a very strong no-bite policy with my birds. If they bite me, and HARD, and I did NOT deserve it (99% of the time we do because we aren't paying attention to them - dogs snarl, birds have a million ways to snarl), they go in the cage and they don't get any time with me for the next hour. I used to only do 5-10 minutes, then 30 minutes, and now I've progressed to an hour. Mainly because I need time to recollect myself when I'm bitten hard and because they need time to cool down and brush it off too so we can start anew.

If they bite me on the face/lips/ears, then absolutely NO shoulder privileges until proven trustworthy. If they try to get up there and they aren't allowed, I simply put a towel around my hand and "swipe" them off towards my couch. Avery wasn't allowed on my shoulder for about 4 months because she was too unpredictable. Now she's predictable (and hormones are over), so she's allowed up there when she's in a good mood. Once they've been "swiped" off (they are fully flighted so they fly down) I have them step up on to my hand and I put them on their cage. Alternatively, you can use a dowel or rope perch and have them step up onto that and place them elsewhere if they're on your shoulder. Young birds will almost always go for shoulders because they are either scared of hands or view it as a safe and high place to be. It took about a month with Shiko and Avery each to have them stay on my hand. You can also teach your new GCC to "stay" on your hand and reward him for staying - I did this with my IRN because he's very food motivated.

When he screams we do not even look in his direction. We are just ignoring it, but it is so loud the dog will start whining. You can hear it all the way on the other side of the house and it drives the dog nuts, and it's been days and our bird, Kiwi, has still not caught on that we won't go to him when he is screaming. We only ever take him out when he is being quiet (not screaming). Do you think if he is just being stubborn and will stop eventually?

We also do not let Kiwi stay on our shoulder. We are trying to get him to stay on our hand with treats, petting, and talking to him while he is on our hand, and sometimes he will stay there but more often than not he doesn't want anything to do with it and will jump to our chest and then climb to our shoulder. As soon as he is up there he clamps down on my ear, and it HURTS. We make him step up and we set him down and don't interact with him for a few minutes after that. He will have to learn not to bite and to stay on our hand before he is allowed on our shoulder.

I know he is still a baby, so I guess I'm wondering if this biting is normal? And if we just work consistently with him doing what we are doing will he eventually catch on, or do we need to do something differently?

prettykiwi · Mar 3, 2015

Oh, and we also say "No!" very sternly each time he bites.

Chunky · Mar 3, 2015

Yeah, truth is hes a baby and you are new owners so its a learning curve for him and you. Same for us too. Ive only had Chunky a week. Getting a new bird to be how we want it to be will takes months of tiresome effort, but, i am enjoying it at the moment.
Good luck with it.

prettykiwi · Mar 3, 2015

Yeah, I don't expect him to be perfect, just not screaming. It's really stressful. I don't want to be resentful of him. I guess we will just keep doing what we are doing and hope he catches on. He was screaming for 2 hours today and just now decided that he should eat and take a nap instead, so he's quiet right now (finally!).

Oh, and has anyone ever bought one of those parrot tents? I was thinking of getting one but not sure if it is needed, or if conures really like those.

Lavalleer · Mar 3, 2015

I've had my gcc for 6 weeks now and he was a screamer at first but he has learned that screaming is not going to get him the attention he wants and has since stopped. He still nibbles my ear and sometimes its more than a nibble. When that happens he is put on the floor and ignored for a minute. Your little guy just needs time and consistency. I never realized how much work one bird could be but my Mozzie is worth it.

New GCC. Biting advice please?

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