Any Advice would be welcome

[Tazman]

I have a Maroon Bellied Conure called Taz who I think is about almost 1 and a half. He use to be very friendly and would let you do pretty much anything to him and if he didn't like it he would give you a warning nip which wouldn't hurt t all.

but in the last few months he has gotten less tolerant of pretty much everything, he won't let me touch him anymore unless it his feet when he steps up and will bite if you're doing something he doesn't like. For example if he doesn't want to get off a place he knows he's not allowed such as the TV (every time he flies to i take him off straight away) he will bite me when he never use to. when he bite he doesn't just bite and then let go he really bites down hard and draws blood, plus he get all puffed up and stretches at me, so I know he's pissed off which makes me sad because I hate to do that to him.

Today I was playing with him outside of his cage with same small toys, Taz had walked off to look out the window but then came back to me because i had an interesting toy, but then he was bored of the toy i had he saw my hand just sitting there so he walked up and bit it quite hard which i just don't quite understand why.

Sadly it has gotten to the point that when i get him out I have to cover my hands with my sleeves because i haven't figured out if/when he will bite me.

I think he has finally finished his moult so that might possibly effect something. But any help would be much appreciated

 

[Piasa]

Hope Taz isn't out of sorts much longer.

He may be testing your boundaries with some of the biting. Especially if it's coming out of nowhere, you have to establish that you don't like it and will withdraw your attention from him until he is polite. If he will step onto a perch, towel, or some other cloth that won't get you bitten even if he's angry, you can use these to put him back into his cage when he goes somewhere he isn't allowed to be.

Other biting may be that he just doesn't want to be handled. Play and touch him on his own terms for awhile. If he starts to get nippy, put him back in his cage to cool down for a bit. We all need time to ourselves, and maybe since he was molting, his feathers were scratchy and the handling was uncomfortable enough to put him in a mood.

I hope this helps a little.

 

[Birdman666]

Parrot training is a life long thing. It's not ONCE AND DONE...

Periodically, you will have problem behaviors pop up. When they do, go back to basics, and reinforce the basic training.

Step up.
No Bite/that's too hard.
It's okay to play, but not too rough.

Are you communicating when he is using too much bite pressure? Cuz maybe he just wanted to play - finger wrestle game - and didn't know how much bite pressure to use...

"Ignore the bites" teaches the bird that it's okay to bite you. You may have inadvertently taught this bird to bite. So, now teach him that it's NOT OKAY.

If he isn't taught NOT to bite, he will bite.

Start there.

 

[Tazman]

Thanks for the advice guys!! I definitely think he could be testing his boundaries so I am going to try being more consistent at what I will accept and what I won't. Also @birdman I saw some of the advice you gave GFGC awhile back and found that really helpful so thank you!!

 

[MonicaMc]

Birds, like human toddlers, grow up. Although it may be ok to toss a toddler onto a bed and give them a raspberry, you wouldn't do that to a teenager! A teenager would be mortified!

So you need to understand that as your bird matures and grows up, his behavior can also change.

Second, those warning nips were telling you to back off. From the sounds of it, you didn't listen very well, and those nips have now become bites.


The only bite that can't be rewarded is the one that never occurs. This means learning to read your bird's body language before a bite occurs so you can avoid getting bitten, then learning to work around your bird's behavior by figuring out new ways to interact with them that doesn't involve biting.

This may help....
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html


As far as things to do.... you could always clicker train him, teach him to target, station, turn around, bow, shake head yes/now, show off his wings, play fetch, drop an item into a basket, etc! These can be fun and engaging activities once he learns how to do those behaviors! And keeping him busy and entertained may help to reduce the biting!