New conure Mom

Hi all! I am new parent to our beautiful 7 month old GCC. We purchased our pet at a local pet store. He was weighed and checked before we got him (Did not get DNA test yet) so we just say it’s a him at this point. Anyways, we received mixed opinions on whether we should let him adapt the first week and get use to his cage and surroundings or take him out starting day one because most birds just want companionship. Well we went with option 2. Whomever was working with Kiwi at the store tought him step up. We do not push him to come out of his cage. Everytime we approach the cage and wish for him to come out, he does. He comes right over to the door, we put out finger out and say step up. He reaches over with his beak very lightly and steps up. He also calls for us when we first come home and we greet him and so fourth. Same thing when we leave the house we say goodbye Kiwi. We are not sure if we are doing things “correctly” as so many people have difference of opinions or different methods.

Now onto my issues with Kiwi. We have had Kiwi for 1 week. When at the store multiple times seeing him and handling him before purchasing him he would nip and bite. We figured we would need to work on this with him. Well I feel like it’s getting worse and not better in this short amount of time. While on our finger he is constantly feeling around with his beak and tounge which is cool but then he starts really biting harder. I have tried the stern “no that’s not nice”, I have tried the earthquake method which works for only that moment then he goes right back to biting a few seconds later. I feel like that method really is not going to work. I have also tried the ladder step up method and keep distracting him when he starts biting. The first few days he would let us pet his head neck and down his back. Now we go to reach and he lunges out and acts like he’s going to bite and continues to bite when on our hand. I am not sure what we are doing wrong, I just want to make sure we’re not making it worse. If all he needs is more time alone I’m OK with that but everytime we talk to him he comes over to the door and acts like he wants to come out and when we go allow him to come out we have no problem getting him out it’s just when he is on our hands he is constantly biting and it’s hard not to react. Please help as I’d like to have a good relationship with him. - New bird mom

Find out what he wants and do the opposite when he bites. If he wants attention etc, put him down, walk away and ignore him.

You WILL have phases with birds.
I do not reccommend reacting to bites verbally. My cockatoo seems fascinated if I tell her "no" when she bites--- almost like a toddler pushing piano keys (OHHH. If I do this, she makes a sound, but is it the same? Let's find out!)


I am deadpan. I do not pull away. I try very hard not to flinch when the bird attempts to bite or bluffs. If a bite happens, I remove whatever it is that the bird is after. If it is my attention, I ignore the bite and then I ignore the bird.

I’ll try that. I gave him little toys to maybe distract him from biting my hands but he was not interested. He will take treats gently and food gently from my hands so I don’t know why he is constantly biting while on me. He is moulting, could that be part of the issue?

Yes- molting is to birds as bad cramps are to women.

My 10 year old U2 bit me like crazy today and she loves me to death. Just because a bird trusts you, it does not mean they won't bite.

My past and current GCC went through a phase like that, just exploring biting, testing stuff. Like the above advice, sometimes ignoring it, it will get better, returning to cage. My Ta-dah always puts her beak in me to stabilize before stepping up. I get bites if I suprise her, or if she is jelleous, or a dog comes near and makes her worried

Well I have 3 Conures and all but 1 have had issues with biting. My little GCC would do just as yours does. What I did to make her stop is say "no bite" and then put her down where ever we were at (couch, play stand, cage, counter, sink spout...not floor I think it's a bit scary) and immediately turn my back to her for at least 30 seconds. I then would pick her back up and continue with what we were doing but if she did it again right after I would repeat it until she either wanted back in her cage or stopped. It took about a month but she's fully cured of biting...well biting me anyways. She still will give a stranger a chomp or 2 if it suits her lol. Now...this method if more for agressive lunging behavior. I think your bird is also just chewing too hard on accident. My Nanday conure used to do that when I got him as a baby and when he would do it I would say "ouch that hurts mommy" and then put him down but not turn my back as I did with agressive biting. I would simply be "interrupting" him which after a few days in a row of this he decided he'd rather be on me and not chew me then to get put down and have to climb back up to my shoulder only to be put back down after he chewed on me too hard so on and so fourth. Keep in mind some birds are stubborn and it may take a while and every method isn't for every bird and you may have to keep trying to find the solution over and over but you'll find one that works. Your bird is young yet. I hope my advice can be applied and work to solve this issue.

Welcome to you and Kiwi! Excellent advice thus far, another suggestion is "bite pressure training." Check this out: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html

what Scott said, (and some others here): let the bird kno what is acceptable and what is not. They are smart, smart animals and learn.
Ignoring them yes! that works great- be consistent; shaking/earthquaking them (except in selfdefense) not so great.

Hello, and welcome!

As time goes by, you'll find that you can determine just how much you'll put up with. By all means, do try all the great advice you'll get here (like all the above), but I would say that it's okay to compromise a bit in the long run. Your bird is so so so new... most folks think it takes months for a bird to settle in, so this really is a good time to learn and practice the good stuff. You were right about that, and very right to reach out!

Personally, I have reduced biting to almost zero over the years I've spent with the Rickeybird... and a lot of that has involved compromise. I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. Some will say I have let him get away with too much, and that's a fair criticism, but, well... I'm okay with it. I don't 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'm disappointed/embarassed 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.

So hang in there. Some of the sweetest, best behaved birds in the world are represented on this site. I hope you wind up with one!

Welcome to you and yours!
I am also in the greater Orlando area!