Teaching GCC fingers are not food?

quackerz

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Aug 24, 2019
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Tux - Pineapple GCC
Hello,

I recently got a new baby turquoise GCC. He is about 3 months old according to the breeder.

I've been having a hard time interacting with him. Not because he is afraid of me. He would fly to my shoulders as soon as I leave him. He enjoys me petting him on the cheek. He also steps up just fine except on my shoulder. The problem is (I think) he thinks my fingers and hands as potential food source.

Proof:
1. He often bobs his head up and down while having a mouthful of my finger tip in his beak. I looked up some baby conure feeding videos and I think he treats my finger as the syringe.
2. Sometimes he grabs my finger with his claw and starts nipping and biting, like how a conure eats blueberries.
3. It's definitely not defensive biting. He would make a screech sound and bite in this case, usually when I move my finger too quickly towards him.

Any advice on correcting this behaviour is much appreciated!
 

Tami2

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2017
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New Jersey
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Levi - 6 yr old CAG

DOH-4/2/2016
"I think he treats my finger as the syringe."

That's exactly what I was thinking. Have you tried removing your finger from his mouth and offering him an appropriate piece of food? If not, I would do that while telling him, "No, that's my finger not food, this is your food."
 

fiddlejen

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Mar 28, 2019
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Sunny the Sun Conure (sept '18, gotcha 3/'19). Mr Jefferson Budgie & Mrs Calliope Budgie (albino) (nov'18 & jan'19). Summer 2021 Baby Budgies: Riker (Green); Patchouli, Keye, & Tiny (blue greywings).
Aww this sounds so much like how my Sunny acts. (Although I know, she knows my fingers are not food, because if she's hungry she acts entirely differently.) My Sun Conure will be a year old in mid Sept.

Sunny especially likes to hold onto & chew my fingers at night, which I use as opportunity to reinforce bite pressure-training.

Chewing too hard, or too persistently attempting to unwind my pinfeathers-aka-fingernails, gets a "Be Gentle" command. If, after a second reminder, she doesn't back-off the pressure, I remove my hand, thus ending or interrupting her finger-chewing session. Nowadays she usually responds right away.
 

Flboy

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Dec 28, 2014
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JoJo, 'Special' GCC, Bongo, Cinnamon GCC(wife's)
"I think he treats my finger as the syringe."

That's exactly what I was thinking.
Oh wow, I just had a moment of brilliance! Oops, gone!
Kidding!
It is in your best interest to always have the little one liking a syringe as a food/treat source! If you ever have to administer any meds, you have a slam dunk method already in place!
I have those flush syringes all over the house, a bit of apple sauce, or baby food, and meds won’t be an issue! Potentially, a great tool for reinforcing target training!
And for you, a great diversion for controlling the nipping, and a comforting time for your baby!

Keep in mind, young parrot=toddler! Everything gets the beak test!
 

Scott

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RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.

dhraiden

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Jul 14, 2015
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Green Cheek Conure (Mochi)
Gold Capped Conure (Mango)
Mochi knows my fingers aren't food; she just enjoys biting them anyway -__-
 

KawaiiTori

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Aug 3, 2019
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Tori - Pineapple Green Cheek Conure
Oh wow, I just had a moment of brilliance! Oops, gone!
Kidding!
It is in your best interest to always have the little one liking a syringe as a food/treat source! If you ever have to administer any meds, you have a slam dunk method already in place!
I have those flush syringes all over the house, a bit of apple sauce, or baby food, and meds won’t be an issue! Potentially, a great tool for reinforcing target training!
And for you, a great diversion for controlling the nipping, and a comforting time for your baby!

Keep in mind, young parrot=toddler! Everything gets the beak test!

WOW!! That syringe idea is brilliant! I’ve already been target training Tori...I’ll have to give this a try!
 

YSGC

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Jan 6, 2019
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Pico, gender unknown, is a hand-fed Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure, born 2015.
Lots of good advice above ...

They know fingers are not food.
But they also know biting them is a way to control us, because we've taught them it is.

Reacting to a bite teaches a bird it has power.

They also hate boredom but LOVE drama, and biting a finger sometimes is a way to get a little show and attention.
 

Caitnah

Active member
Mar 24, 2018
267
65
Upstate New York
Parrots
GCC Pineapple
Lots of good advice above ...

They know fingers are not food.
But they also know biting them is a way to control us, because we've taught them it is.

Reacting to a bite teaches a bird it has power.

They also hate boredom but LOVE drama, and biting a finger sometimes is a way to get a little show and attention.

My Pineapple does this a lot when he is in his cage. He will greet me at the front bars when I approach and when I try to touch him, he will always nip my finger. He also will perch on my finger as I stick it through the bars but then bends down to give me a nip. Drives me nuts.
 

Tami2

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2017
5,088
2,454
New Jersey
Parrots
Levi - 6 yr old CAG

DOH-4/2/2016
"I think he treats my finger as the syringe."

That's exactly what I was thinking.
Oh wow, I just had a moment of brilliance! Oops, gone!
Kidding!
It is in your best interest to always have the little one liking a syringe as a food/treat source! If you ever have to administer any meds, you have a slam dunk method already in place!
I have those flush syringes all over the house, a bit of apple sauce, or baby food, and meds won’t be an issue! Potentially, a great tool for reinforcing target training!
And for you, a great diversion for controlling the nipping, and a comforting time for your baby!

Keep in mind, young parrot=toddler! Everything gets the beak test!

This is true.
Levi loves syringes, but as his favorite chew toy to destroy. :rolleyes:
 

YSGC

New member
Jan 6, 2019
205
0
USA
Parrots
Pico, gender unknown, is a hand-fed Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure, born 2015.
Lots of good advice above ...

They know fingers are not food.
But they also know biting them is a way to control us, because we've taught them it is.

Reacting to a bite teaches a bird it has power.

They also hate boredom but LOVE drama, and biting a finger sometimes is a way to get a little show and attention.

My Pineapple does this a lot when he is in his cage. He will greet me at the front bars when I approach and when I try to touch him, he will always nip my finger. He also will perch on my finger as I stick it through the bars but then bends down to give me a nip. Drives me nuts.

I'm not surprised.

Pico considers his cage to be his sovereign territory.
I never offer him my hand there.

I use a stick to get him away from his home.
When his cage is out of sight he's a loving, cuddly, sweetheart lovebunny.

While there are similarities in species, individual parrots vary.
It's up to us to learn about, then respect, their idiosyncrasies.
 
Last edited:
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quackerz

quackerz

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Tux - Pineapple GCC
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Lots of good advice above ...

They know fingers are not food.
But they also know biting them is a way to control us, because we've taught them it is.

Reacting to a bite teaches a bird it has power.

They also hate boredom but LOVE drama, and biting a finger sometimes is a way to get a little show and attention.

I'm probably taking him to the local pet shot tomorrow. I'll trim his nails and (probably) clip his wings. I'm aware of the training methods. When he bites, I leave him on the cage and walk away. But he can fly so he immediately lands on my shoulder again. I then try to remove it and he's actually pissed about getting grabbed. So I get bitten more and the cycle repeats. I've heard mixed opinions on locking it in the cage so I wanna avoid that.
 
OP
quackerz

quackerz

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"I think he treats my finger as the syringe."

That's exactly what I was thinking.
Oh wow, I just had a moment of brilliance! Oops, gone!
Kidding!
It is in your best interest to always have the little one liking a syringe as a food/treat source! If you ever have to administer any meds, you have a slam dunk method already in place!
I have those flush syringes all over the house, a bit of apple sauce, or baby food, and meds won’t be an issue! Potentially, a great tool for reinforcing target training!
And for you, a great diversion for controlling the nipping, and a comforting time for your baby!

Keep in mind, young parrot=toddler! Everything gets the beak test!

Makes sense, but that doesn't teach him the appropriate pressure to exert on my flesh...
 
OP
quackerz

quackerz

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Tux - Pineapple GCC
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