Finley The Nippy Conure

It's only been a couple of days since I got Finley and I already love him do death. His nippiness I could do without though.

Am I doing something wrong or does he just need time to settle in? I have been looking up ways to stop him from biting my finger, but they don't seem like they could help.

Sometimes when I tell him to step up I will gently push on his belly to get him to do so, but sometimes he goes for my finger (open beaked) and doesn't want to let go. I try to stay calm and keep my hand steady to see if he was trying to step up, but he bites down harder. When he is already on my finger he will randomly try to bite my thumb, pointer finger, or the back of my hand.

I noticed before I pick him up he is on top of his cage looking around and when I go to handle him he will sometimes go to bite my finger. After that he lowers his head and if I try to handle him again he will bite. After that point I leave him alone.

I can't use the "time out" method because we haven't bonded yet. The step up method doesn't really work because after awhile he will keep going to bite my finger. So I guess I'm looking for someone who had a similar problem and had it resolved.

I think I may just have to work on being patient...

I love him and a few bite marks are something I am willing to deal with if it earns his trust. I can tell we will be good friends in the future.

Thank you!

Lil Finley at the moment

It sounds like you are not listening to his body language and you are forcing him to step up and do things he is not ready to do. Hence the biting. But you are ignoring the biting and handling him anyways so I can see how he would bite.

1. SLOW DOWN. What I mean is....stop handling him and you will stop getting bit. He is biting you because he doesn't want to be handled and you are not listening. So don't handle him and go at his pace. You simply will not gain his trust if you force him. You need to work on your trust bond more.


2. POSITIVE REENFORCEMNENT! This is rewarding parrots for good behavior to make it happen more often. Give him treats from your fingers and make every interaction with him a positive one, WITHOUT handling him. Walk by his cage, offer a treat. Then walk away. Say hi to him, offer a treat, but do not touch. He needs to understand that he can be approached without getting picked up by you. The key is to make them want to be picked up and it will not happen with force!!

3. Step-up training! Once you've developed your trust bond some more (it may take several more days to weeks) you can start step-up training by also incorporating treats. Ask him to step up, offer the treat with one hand (or a spoon) and with the other hand raise it to the level of his feet. Never force him to step up, but encourage him to get to the treat by having to step up onto you to get to it.

4. PATIENCE! Remember that trust-bonds don't happen overnight. This will be something you need to work on every day. Keep at it and listen to him and his body language and it will do wonders. GOOD LUCK!

You are a tiny bird and suddenly find yourself in a strange place with no escape living with a monster who keeps trying to catch you. You don't know if it will eat you, hurt you, love you or anything else. You are not sure of the funny sounds it makes and it looks and smells funny.
You have had 2 sleeps so far but when morning comes the monster is still there and nothing you do will make it go away!

One day it's black the next green it won't even stay the same colour! Any clues yet?

Give the poor little soul time to get used to you. It is possibly terrified! It takes days, weeks, months you have to learn patience. Just because you know exactly what is going on doesn't mean your little darling does. Learn parrot language and at the same time give him time to learn human.

PATIENCE PATIENCE PATIENCE

you are dealing with a child torn from his family living with something that he thinks is trying to eat him. I'd be biting in that situation too.

reset with him, remove timescales from your mind, work at HIS PACE. Talk to him whilst he's in the cage, offer a treat through the bars, get him SLOWLY used to your hands. Teach him that hands are good. It's a slow arduous journey.

For stepping up never push against him. If a stranger demanded a hug from your by pressing against you you would push them away so why should he step up when you press against him?

When you get him used to taking treats from your hands and he is happy with them in the cage you can teach him to step up. You hold a treat just out of his reach so he's stretching for it, then hold your finger on the other hand just above where his feet are. After some time he should hop on to your finger.

Am I doing something wrong or does he just need time to settle in? I have been looking up ways to stop him from biting my finger, but they don't seem like they could help.
In order to "stop" a behavior, we need to know why it's happening in the first place.

Once we can better understand the behavior, then we need to work on avoiding it or redirecting it.


Sometimes when I tell him to step up I will gently push on his belly to get him to do so, but sometimes he goes for my finger (open beaked) and doesn't want to let go. I try to stay calm and keep my hand steady to see if he was trying to step up, but he bites down harder.
Although this is main stream advice for teaching a bird to step up, this is not the correct way (IMO) to actually train the behavior.

He's telling you "NO! I don't want to!" or "I'm not comfortable with this!". The more you push him to step up in this manner, the more he will bite, and the bites may get worse. (as you are already noticing..) This can also lead to unpredictable biting.

Instead of forcing him to step up, *ask* him to. Well, it's a behavior that needs to be taught, but this is a simple "guide" on how it would look on teaching a bird to step up.

1. Reward your bird for looking at you.
2. Reward your bird for moving his head towards you.
3. Reward your bird for taking a step towards you.
4. Reward your bird for taking another step towards you.
5. If he doesn't run away, keep rewarding him for remaining where he's at. (if he runs/backs off, you may need to start over again)
6. Reward your bird for taking a couple more steps closer.
7. Encourage him to come closer yet again and reward him.
8. Reward your bird for touching you with his toe(s).
9. Reward your bird for putting a foot on you.
10. *JACKPOT REWARD* Give your bird lots of goodies for putting both feet on you!

When he is already on my finger he will randomly try to bite my thumb, pointer finger, or the back of my hand.
He may be uncomfortable on your hand or possibly bored. Okay, so he's sitting on your hand... what is he supposed to do?

If it's out of boredom, then give him toys or foraging opportunities - or maybe look into methods of training new behaviors.

If it's because he's not comfortable, then set him down somewhere where he will be comfortable.


I noticed before I pick him up he is on top of his cage looking around and when I go to handle him he will sometimes go to bite my finger. After that he lowers his head and if I try to handle him again he will bite.
The top of cages are often up high... height equals safety. He either feels comfortable up there or he simply doesn't want to come down.

Regardless of why, if you work with him (and I don't mean having him step up necessarily) getting him to come to you, you can teach him to come down for a reward - or even to step up.

My two tame birds I can place them 6' or more above the ground, and then I can sit on the floor. If they have a way to climb down to me, they will! Or, they'll fly! (well, at least one will fly... the other can fly as well, but he doesn't do much flying)


So I guess I'm looking for someone who had a similar problem and had it resolved.
I'd say that the only reason I don't have a green cheek conure is because I taught an owner, who was looking to rehome her bird, how to interact with her bird. You can read about that in the below link.

http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/27438-trusting-training-my-little-biter.html#post231487


I have had other conures and birds where I've had to work with gaining their trust and avoiding bites, so what I recommend is from my own experience. I used to train differently, but only because I didn't know any better. After learning about Positive Reinforcement Training taught by trainers such as Barbara Heidenreich, Lara Joseph, Susan Friedman, Hillary Hankey and others like them, my methods for working with my birds have changed, which has helped to create better relationships with them.