Difficulty training GCC

Bit of backstory... I have a Pineapple GCC name Havok who hatched in March of 2019. I purchased him from an independently-run pet store in May. When visiting the store, he was the most outgoing, responded to stepping up and liked head scratches even though I was a complete stranger to him at the time. I had already purchased a large cage and several perches and toys, so I brought him home and let him settle in. He was a little timid but I figured this was expected with him being in a new home.

Once he seemed comfortable I progressively switched him from seeds to pellets, and started trying to train him (he had stopped stepping up on command by this point). After trying several foods I identified that he liked freeze-dried mango as a treat, however it wasn't enough to encourage him to try anything. He wasn't afraid of hands or anything, he just seemed uninterested in a reward that required him doing anything other than what he wanted to do.

That's what it was like for the first month. I had some personal issues occur and life became a blur, but he adopted some very bad habits during this time that have culminated to how he acts today. Keep in mind that none of this is an exaggeration.

First, his absolute favorite thing to do now is bite my fingers hard enough to draw blood. I say this because if I let him out of his cage, he will seek out my hands the entire time. He's not afraid of hands; he'll perch no problem and does well with my wife and daughter handling him. He simply loves biting my fingers. If we're alone and I can somehow hide my fingers from him, his next interest is going back into his cage. When he bites I don't react, no sound, no jumping, nothing. In some cases if I'm frustrated by this I will place him back in his cage, where he'll start making happy chirping noises like he got what he wanted. We've bought him several wooden toys for his cage hoping to alleviate this, but no matter the quality he usually turns them to shavings withing a day or two.

Second, the screeching. If no one is making eye contact with him while he's in his cage, he will screech. Forever. Everywhere I look says to ignore the behavior, however there have been weeks (yes weeks) where every day from the moment the first person wakes up to the moment the last person goes to bed he will screech if you ignore him. If I let him out of his cage (and my fingers aren't there to bite and he doesn't go back into his cage) he'll fly to the top of the cupboards in our kitchen and proceed to screech non-stop. Ignoring him doesn't work. Again: ignoring him doesn't work.

Third, our family situation. This is where I'll take some responsibility. My wife and I work, and our daughter goes to daycare. Havok is alone in his cage for around 8 hours a day on weekdays, and when we are home sometimes things are too chaotic to let him out. I was unemployed for about 6 months since getting him but the above behavior started during that time and has continued since I got a new job. Amount and quality of attention I've given him hasn't seemed to make a difference. To top things off, my wife (who hates the bird by the way) insisted on getting a kitten, and this kitten seems to insist on hunting my bird. They are always watched when Havok is out of his cage, and from what I've read keeping him with flight feathers is now a requirement.

I got him because I have some mental health issues and my therapist insisted I find something I like and pursue it, in this case I wanted a pet bird. I did months of research before getting him, and when he was happy it gave me happiness I didn't really find in other parts of my life. I bring this all up because it's not just his well-being of concern here.

So that's where we're at. He doesn't respond to treats or positive behavior, only being allowed to bite. The more he screeches and bites the happier he acts, and every time we try to do something to reduce his ability to do those things he becomes more aggressive. Any tips would be appreciated.

Hello, welcome
You've had a lot going on!
Parrots are sensitive to this stress.
I have had my GCC for 7 years, and there are several times I've caused fear if hands ( somehow) and she also would run and bite me or fly to me and bite me. I used safflower seeds as my bribes, I talked to her onky coming from straight on then fed treats and lots if how wonderful she was. Watching body language. I proved to her again I was trustworthy.

Your bird can also be biting because if the cat. Because of the stress, and to try and make you fly away. Your wife was a butthead to get a cat IMHO......very dangerous to the bird too!

You want to break down and shape behavior in little steps. I've talked about this for a different person so I will copy/paste in a min
Edit: copied for u
Break behavior down to little steps, you slowly shape to get the behavior you want.

You want the brain and body moving toward you, not you chasing after.

So for a step up, first you just say hi and out treat in treat dish, then walk away. When he always come to take the treat quickly. Then you move to only putting the treat in the dish if he looks your way, then if he means or steps towards the treat dish. Then he only gets treats if he comes all the way to the dish. Then when he always comes right to the dish, you start giving them by hand. (Even if he took treats before by hand do these steps, you want him moving to you to get the treat) when you are doing the above and are at the stage he moves to the treat dish , you can start saying come here at that time, you say come here when he is already moving toward you and the treat dish,and when he is coming to you to take the treat by hand. Then have him come to you , and take one step back to make him follow you to get treat. Work up to getting him to follow you for a few steps before getting the treat.
Now you are ready to work on step up. You have him come here, and hold one arm in front of him, and hold the treat so he has to step on the arm to get the treat. If you get to a block at that step,then brake it down again. At first he gets a treat if comes and stand right by your wrist or hand ( whichever you use for step up) then he gets a treat if he will mean over your arm, then we he does that well, he gets a treat if he at least touches your arm with beak or foot, tgrnbif he will out one foot in to lean over and get treat. Then he gets when he stands on you . The goal is to go at his speed, o my advanced as each part is mastered. Work in short pulses, maybe 3-5 times each session, do several session a day.

You can also try to shape letting you touch him. But I would do the above first. After you master step up. Then you can try offering treat by hand, and as he takes stroke his beak, wait till he us good at that, then hold on to the seed longer and try and stroke the side of the face.
Hope that helps

Also I will link a good article on stress in parrots here. They talk a little about shaping behavior using a clicker, I don't use clicker I just say good bird and give treat. https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

Page 10 I posted a lot of behavior links
http://www.parrotforums.com/general...hare-discuss-scientific-articles-parrots.html

Good on you for putting so much effort into getting Havoc into a better situation. It sounds like he's trying to live up to his namesake D:

In regards to biting, the phrase I thought that was key was "In some cases if I'm frustrated by this I will place him back in his cage, where he'll start making happy chirping noises like he got what he wanted."... and I'm almost positive he did. Birds don't always want to be out. With my bird, if I keep her up too late, she gets bitey (Bite O Clock). Once I put her upstairs to bed, she's as happy as can be. The trick is making sure to avoid the trigger (keeping her up too late), and then I don't encourage the biting. Look at what's happening before the bite. Stress from the new cat is likely. Or maybe Havoc doesn't want to be out that long. Investigate the context from the bite. One thing to keep in mind as well-- birds usually bite HARD because other tactics don't get them what they want.

What kind of training have you been trying with him? Mine took very well too training, so I may not be the best guide for the stubborn fid that doesn't want to go to 'school', but I am wondering if perhaps it's what you're teaching him that he objects to. There's a lot of very cool games and tricks you can teach conures, and they usually enjoy the challenge. I taught mine how to place, remove, and fetch colored rings on a stand (ish...). You can follow the saga of some of my thoughts as I was training her here if you'd like: http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/78260-kermit-training-update-7.html

another question is what's the environment like when you're training him? Birds do best with short sessions and a very calm environment. Even Kermit, when I was training her regularly, didn't like anything longer than 15 minutes -- and that was pushing it ! Their little brains are like feraris, can go very fast, but they get bored of doing anything too long.

First, biting. I can empathize with you. One of our GCC's does the exact same thing to my husband. She stalks his hands. The birds are only out when I'm around (hubby not interested), so I know he has done nothing to make her chase his hands. She turned one year old in Spring 2019. She's a cranky teenager right now. Why she does it to my husband I don't know. He's just sitting there on the couch. It's getting better as time goes on. All we are doing is keeping a close eye on her. She knows what "No" means from me doing the shunning method. So when she is going for hands we just say a firm but normal volume "No" and stare at her. If she doesn't walk away, my husband hides his hands. Any physical intervention like moving her away just escalates the behavior. Now, you have to say "No" when you can see she's thinking about it, but before she starts moving in. If she is moving in to get the fingers it's already too late. Fingers crossed our girl will grow out of it. Like I said, it's been getting better. She walks away more often than not now.

Second, the screeching. Try leaving the room when he screeches. Stand just out of sight and wait for him to be quiet or until he makes a noise you can live with. He screeches again? Out of the room you go. If it's going to work you should see improvement within 24-48 hours. But you must be 100% committed. Immediately out of the room, no grabbing your phone first, etc. Out. It'll suck for a while, but worth a try. This assumes also that his cage is in the main area of the house, not off in a bedroom or something. If he is off on his own, try bringing the cage into the main area of the house.

Third, the cat. No bueno. Training cats to live alongside birds is rare. The bird can't be out of the cage if the cat isn't locked away. You need a cage (or second cage) that is behind a closed door for any time you can't supervise the cat. Speaking from experience, it can be done. Our cat was old, but an excellent hunter. We only did it for less than a year before the cat passed. You've got a long road ahead of you, but you have to commit to it or it will end badly for the bird.

Treats. You said he used to eat seeds. I'm willing to bet he has a favorite. My conures go gaga over safflower. Try giving him some safflower until he gets a taste for it, and see if that can be a training treat.

Best of luck to you. Guard those fingers.

Keep in mind too that your GCC is starting to hit puberty, when a flood of hormones is rushing thru his
body. Most parrots get a bit ( or a lot) nuttty and bitey. Happens during mating season to, but the first one is the worst. Happy well adjustd parrots dont just happen, it takes work and patiience.

We have a mantra here on Parrott Forums.
It is never the fault of the parrot
It is always the fault of the human

Once you get your head around that, it will become easier to know what the little guys problem(s) are.