Green Cheek Conure biting when water's running?

rosembers · Nov 15, 2015

Hi everyone! I've been viewing this forum for a couple years now and finally registered! I appreciate all the respectful collaboration everyone has with their thoughts, questions, and experience!

I have a GCC who tends to bite (a lot) when the water is running. From running water to wash my hands to running water for her to take a bath, she bites. Especially during her bath. But she wants to perch on my hand during her bath. I'm confused! Does anyone have thoughts or experience regarding this behavior? I can't figure out if she's trying to tell me something or just overly excited about the water or what. She also gets very vocal and runs through her entire vocabulary like a Rolodex when the water is running! So cute! Thanks for any info!

TacoNTiki · Nov 16, 2015

Our conure, tiki, does this too! And will only bathe perched on my hand. We think he's afraid of water. Maybe the biting is due to fearing the water??

rosembers · Nov 16, 2015

Hmm...that's interesting yours does it too. Mine definitely isn't afraid of the water - she practically throws herself into it when she wants her bath lol! I'd say she seems very excited and happy, but maybe she doesn't realize she's biting that hard?

Skittys_Daddy · Nov 17, 2015

Skittles will bite me if he thinks I'm going to turn the water off, or try to take him away from it.

I think it's just them saying they aren't done yet. LOL. I let Skittles do his thing and he will fly over to me when he is done.

Mimsy01 · Nov 17, 2015

Foo does this too! She is definately NOT afraid of the water, she flies in fast and runs down my arm if I am doing dishes, washing my hands, whatever...cause she wants to take a bath.

Though I wouldn't call it bites, cause when she bites she draws blood! This is pinches that hurt. I try and make a tight fist so she doesn't get skin easy when she is bathing. I have no idea what it is, but it's so weird to hear others do that too.

angie_robyn · Nov 17, 2015

I think it's excitement. Conures generally love water and bathing. My Lilo also runs down my arm when I do the dishes til she's close to the stream of water then does her little 'display' or 'show off dance' to the water. She also does this same dance for my 8yo son who is her favourite human. No one else gets the dance.

No bite should be encouraged tho. I'd work on training her out of it. I'm not sure how tho.

TacoNTiki · Nov 17, 2015

I guess I am the only conure mom with a baby afraid of water, haha. I find it strange because I know they are suppose to really like water from what I read. He takes a long time contemplating if he should go into the water and then when he does, he is really quick (one second) splash then he is done! He afraid of spray bottles too. He sees his friend, our tiel getting sprayed and bathing in the sink all the time but he's hesitant to go in still.

Mimsy: I love that picture!

djdancer · Nov 19, 2015

rosembers

Are you bathing her in the sink or the shower? I do have doors on my shower and do close them. I put a facecloth on the side of the tub and they always start out there and are very good about staying there. Then when I'm almost done I put them on the shower perch and point the shower nozzle right near them but not right on them just so it runs over the end of the perch where they can walk into the water if they want. Most of the time they will play and drink the water. So it's up to them whether they get soaked or not but they will always get wet from the mist. When my GCC is done he always flies up and sits on the top of the shower doors and waits for me to be done.

Birdman666 · Nov 19, 2015

angie_robyn said:
I think it's excitement. Conures generally love water and bathing. My Lilo also runs down my arm when I do the dishes til she's close to the stream of water then does her little 'display' or 'show off dance' to the water. She also does this same dance for my 8yo son who is her favourite human. No one else gets the dance.

No bite should be encouraged tho. I'd work on training her out of it. I'm not sure how tho.

In most cases, I think that's it exactly. It's not biting per se, beaking/chewing on the perch... (which just happens to be your flesh.)

Which doesn't make it hurt any less.

djdancer · Nov 19, 2015

My GCC does the dishes with me. I put the facet on low while I'm washing and she'll sit on the side of the sink and drink the water.

rosembers · Nov 21, 2015

djdancer -

I bathe her in both (sink and shower). But she only bites when she gets her sink baths. I do the same thing you do with the shower perch and she only really sits there and enjoys the mist spray and doesn't bathe per se. But in the sink she gets totally into bath mode lol!

djdancer · Nov 21, 2015

Mine drinks out of the faucet while I'm doing dishes but doesn't like to bathe in the sink either. She doesn't bite me but just flies away. We also have bath bowls in the cages. In the summer I put them in there cages every day and change the water if they bath. If not the come out of the cage at night. I rotate taking mine in the shower because I have 3. In the winter we only do bath bowls once a week. Its funny because I watched how often they took baths and it was once a week almost year round. We laugh about once a week Tuesdays. For some reason that's the day that they almost always picked for baths.

Aren't Green Cheeks so good at biting you to let you know what they want or don't?

I call mine the littlest pitbull.

rosembers · Nov 21, 2015

LOL! So true! Our Green Cheek is the BOSS! Funny yours likes baths on Tuesdays - ours wants a bath every other day. She actually gets grumpy when she's "overdue" for her bath. I love it when I offer a bath BEFORE I use the sink to wash dishes, and she declines, then decides when I'm halfway through the dishes that she's ready NOW!

djdancer · Nov 21, 2015

How cute!! Just like a kid huh? I don't want a bath, uh oh wait, I do.

Green Cheek Conure biting when water's running?

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