Green Cheeked Conure Behavior

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum and I got a question about Green Cheeked Conures.


I got a 23 month old GCC, named Pico. He is a really lovely bird, plays a lot, speaks very clearly, does some tricks and usually does not bit very much.


However, sometimes when we play ( he also lays a lot on his back and loves to crawl into my shirt, as usual GCC do... LOL ), out of the blue, without doing anything special, he just decides to bite and I mean BITE, even drawing blood..... Why is he doing that and how can this be stopped ? As I said, it's like flipping a switch, he bites, but than he's lovely again and wants to cuddle..... strange..... I deal with many bigger birds, like Macaws, other parrots, Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, etc. and non of them shows any bahavior like my little GCC.... or like the Macaws can easily be teached NOT to bite.... but so far, my GCC bites sometimes and I can't do anything about it. I tried the usual "time-out thing, tipping on his beak, etc. ", but since he doe the biting totally randomly, it's hard to figure out what to do.


Any ideas ?


Thanks,


Tom & Pico

Welcome!! Cheeky's are lovely little fids. But they have that small dog syndrome lol.

A lot of times, if you're playing, it's over excitement. Just like when you get excited you'll probably snack someone harder or slam a door harder. A complete accident, but it happens.

It's the same thing here. Super happy means they don't remember to moderate their bites. To them, they are just playing. They realize they are grabbing that hard.

If you notice that he's getting a little too excited, back off a bit until he calms down and asks for your attention again. My Jenday does this ALL the time.

Teaching bite pressure training helps to!

I think I am probably a good example of what NOT to do, but...
I have reduced biting to almost zero over the decades... not because I've changed the bird, but I have changed me. I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. I don't scratch his head much, ever... tail is okay. I NEVER do stuff that makes him mad... I don't touch others when he's out; I rarely try to get him to step up onto my hand first. Hand-held perch first, then hand. In some ways, I swallow my disappointment at having such a little monster for a pet, but he is what he is. I ALWAYS wear my hair down when he's on my shoulder, so all he can bite is hair. Really, I don't involve hands much... he doesn't like them. He seems to think the real ME is my head, perched on a weird moveable tree with questionable appendages. Since he's fully flighted, the ONLY way I get him into the cage is to toss a chile pepper in and he flaps in after it.
You'll get SUCH good advice here.
Sounds like you already have a lot of experience!
I guess I just hate to ever ever miss an opportunity to encourage people to do their best, and then just love their bird as it is. My comments are probably aimed more at new folks who may be reading this.
Welcome to you!

Hi Everyone,

thanks so much for your answer.... Well, maybe I just spoil Pico too much and he tries to dominate me.... LOL


As I said, he is a really friendly little guy and since he's fully flighted , he is almost always on me. I can't leave the room or go to the bathroom or take a shower without him flying behind me and landing on my shoulder or head. He loves to take shower with me as well.... It's hillarious how he looks wet ( totally different, I need to post some pics one of these days ).


He talks really nice and understandable, like saying his name "Pico, Pico" normally or whispering it.... His favorite is "Gimme kiss" and he expects a kissing sound back, if I say "gimme Kiss", he makes the kissing noise..... He also says "Come here"... And when I say "Shake hands", he says the same and lifts his right claw so I can shake his little foot..... And if I get a glass of Cranberry juice, he flies on the glasses rim and says "Drink".... But the most funny thing he does is : If I use my ponting finger and thumb to make a gun, point it at him and make a "bang" noise, he flipe himself over on his back like he got shot ! LOL Tooo funny.... Well, he doesn't play dead, he just like to lay on his back and play.


He also crawls up my t-shirt or sweater or just crawls underneath the bed blanket.... He is funny and lovely and likes to be touched everywhere, but in the middle of touching or having him on My finger, he suddenly just "nails" me.... hahaha

PS: forgot to mention that Pico is 23 month old and maybe his biting has something to do with his hormones or the current time of the year, which, I think is mating time .... Hmmmm ????


Another question : One of you said "Chili Pepper".... do you give him fresh ones or dried ones ? ( Pico gets the dried red ones )


Thanks again for your answers and I try to post tomorrow some pics of Pico....


Greetings from New Mexico, USA,


Pico & Tom

Peppers are a great source of vitamins AND they're easy to offer.
Common wisdom is that parrots have such poor taste and smell that hot peppers really excite and stimulate them. And they're very healthy (lots of good green and great nutrents)! So I give the Rickeybird lots! The only downside... when he eats a pepper, then preens, then wants to cudddle, it's a very incendiary experience.
I buy several kinds...
Poblanos, to stuff the end between the bars tightly (above a perch) so the Rbird can nibble at his leisure.
Jalapenos and Serranos, to toss into the cage's snack-bowl, to trick him into entering so I can shut the door. There's no such thing as a chile that isn't good for them. If he absolutely does NOT want to go back into his cage, a big fat Anaheim will always do the trick.
I posted a video of the bird eating one in the thread about beak flavors, and you can hear me sneezing!

This about sums up reasons for bites!
http://www.parrotforums.com/general...6-explains-everything-about-parrot-bites.html

We must have the same bird. 2 years old, bites the crap out of me for unknown reasons, and some known reasons. Fully ighted, time outs are non existant. She hates her cage!

Deannabananna03 said:

We must have the same bird. 2 years old, bites the crap out of me for unknown reasons, and some known reasons. Fully ighted, time outs are non existant. She hates her cage!

Click to expand...

Hi,


LOL.... you got a female, Pico seems ( from behavior, but not 100% sure, need to do a DNA test ) to be a male. And yes, there are NO TIME-OUTS here either, Pico always wants to be where I am and wants to play, cuddle, eat with me, shower with me, etc......Can't go anywhere in the house without him being on me. When we play, yes, he nibbles light and gives kisses, and then, totally randomly and suddenly this little lovely bird becomes a little "bite-devil" and nails me with a hard bite.....Only to come back to me with a look, like " I haven't done anything wrong", cuddle with me and give me kisses......


Very strange, but I think more and more it might has to do that he came into the mating age and his hormones might go crazy from time to time.... LOL So my fingers and ear lobs will hurt from time to time too...... hahahahahaha


I read a lot online and followed a lot of advises from bird lovers, and I do have lots of experiences with birds due to my job.......and most birds I work with are totally friendly with me or I can teach them not to bite ( like Macaw's ) or not to claw me hard ( like Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, etc. )..... Not so with my little GCC Pico.... everything is unexpected and randomly when he bites me.....


I love him anyway and HEYYYY, what's a "little, hard bite" from a little bird like Pico, compared to HUGE Macaw beaks or Eagle claws..... LOL LOL LOL