Demanding Bites

i have a gold capped conure (about 7 months old). I love him but he has some biting issues. He will bite either playfully (biting my arm, chewing on my eye whenever he feels like it, etc), or when he wants something (I.e. bites when he doesn't like where my finger is, bites when he wants to get off my hand, etc) I doubt it's out of aggression or being scared as whenever I try to put him down he's insistent on staying on my hand and he usually hates being in a room alone and will always fly to where he thinks I am. I've read that you should put your bird away whenever they bite to discourage it but I don't want him to associate his cage with punishment and I don't feel comfortable leaving him alone in a room as a punishment either, what can I do?

I absolutely agree with you about using their cage as punishment - I don’t want them to associate “home” with anything bad. I have 2 conures that were terrible biters - one was blissfully unaware of how much his bites hurt and wasn’t biting for any particular reason & the other would actively search out someone he could bite for maximum damage (that’s why he was given up). What worked well for both of them was a “time-out” sort of thing. I had to be very consistent with both of them and do this every single time they bit me. When a nip hurt, I said ouch firmly and set them down on something that wasn’t fun for them. I used an ottoman, tall training perch, back of a chair - nothing to do, no food and no toys. I would be very obvious in my “ignore” - turning my head away, stepping back, turning my back, etc. Mine are flighted, so I don’t leave the area since they would just fly and follow me and that isn’t punishment. I generally do it for a few minutes, like 3-5 minutes. Any longer than that and they seemed to forget why they were there. Then I would turn back and we would start the interaction over again and be enthusiastic and positive about it. I also praised when they were gentle with their beaks. With Stanley I had to learn his body language (he was the aggressive biter), I put a finger out and ask him if he wants to step up - if he lifts his foot, then I go ahead and put my finger in range and he steps up and doesn’t bite. I suspect he was forced to step up by the kids in his previous home. I also use a small perch sometimes, instead of my finger - so that they are used to it and I can use it when they are hormonal to save my fingers some pain . I’m sure others will chime in too....good luck!

No need to chime in!
Jen 5200 said it perfectly.


stupid example of how a short but serious "I am SO ignoring you" works:
(rule number one: do not set yourself up to get bitten in the first place- but I am a stubborn dumbo sometimes)

half an hour ago I poked my fingers in the macawcage to say/ touch a good morning (it is late in the morning so she was awake, and not surprised at all) but she decided to semi-bite me -> waaaaay to hard for "hello", no blood or broken bones but a deep dent where she came quite near to breaking the skin and yes it freaking hurt (a lot).
So even where she was sitting- I told her "AUW" and "too hard"! turned my back (after taking back my fingers of course) and completely igored her.

Of course when I approached her again...she did the same thing!
(LOL you did not see that one comming did you? )
So she got another warning...

next attempt... another semi-bite (and yes of course I already decided I am an idiot and really questioning my sanity and my approach) but I want her to become a nice and thrustworthy parrot and since every interaction with your parrot is a form of training/ behaviourshaping event...

I went in again- and she grabbed me, got another "AUW" and "be gentle!" and moved as to leave again ... and she switched!
Changed her stance, the way she focussed on my hand with her eyes (softening the look), the way she held and opened her beak...so I stayed there.
(if a parrot tells you it wants to try something different, because (s)he knows there wil be more ignoring comming his/her way I am all for that!)
Now there is this macaw licking my fingers and gently moving them around in her beak, letting me touch the feathers on her throat etc. -> everything you want a 'tame'& affectionate parrot to do.


from auw to aaaaaaaaahw



sometimes pure piggheadedness pays of, sometimes you lose a finger.... choose wisely (or get lucky)

Some terrific advice above! This thread concerning bite-pressure training may be helpful: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html