Baby conure bites waay too hard!

[Fauna]

i recently adopted a 6 month old pineapple conure and i havent been able to get him to stop biting so hard. Ive done lots of research and everything ive found has been if a bird is being aggressive. the only time hes been legitimately aggressive was when they took him out of his cage at the pet store. hes been really sweet and curious, but will bite skin REALLY hard. (i have lots of cuts from the lil guy. i attached a video of those) ive been training him to step up with a wooden dowel and hes been doing really well, but when i replace it with my hand he’ll either start exploring it softly and then chomp, or will chomp immediately. he doesnt do this with anything else and im not sure what to do so i thought id try and ask here. thanks!!

 

[LaManuka]

i recently adopted a 6 month old pineapple conure and i havent been able to get him to stop biting so hard. Ive done lots of research and everything ive found has been if a bird is being aggressive. the only time hes been legitimately aggressive was when they took him out of his cage at the pet store. hes been really sweet and curious, but will bite skin REALLY hard. (i have lots of cuts from the lil guy. i attached a video of those) ive been training him to step up with a wooden dowel and hes been doing really well, but when i replace it with my hand he’ll either start exploring it softly and then chomp, or will chomp immediately. he doesnt do this with anything else and im not sure what to do so i thought id try and ask here. thanks!!

Welcome to the forums to you and your new baby, @Fauna! Don't forget to tell us your little guy's name, will you?

Unfortunately it seems that a lot of parrots in the pet trade are taken from the nest box for hand-raising before their parents have had a chance to teach them any manners, and the type of biting you're experiencing is symptomatic of this. In the wild, a young bird would be "shunned" by other members of it's flock for hard biting, so the recommendation is that you do the same. This involves, whenever he bites you, you IMMEDIATELY put him down in a safe, neutral spot, like the back of a chair for example. Not the floor as it's generally unsafe, and not back in his cage, because that might be exactly where he wants to go! Once you pop him down, turn your back on him and walk away, not TOO far because you still want to make sure he's supervised, and make no eye contact for about a minute or so. Green cheek conures are "prey" animals in the wild, and no little bird wants to feel like he is not one of the flock for safety reasons. Shunning works best when it's done immediately after a bite, and must be done consistently every time by every member of the household in order for baby to get the hint - GCCs are VERY smart and they will look for chinks in your armour, so consistency is key! It by no means means you'll never get bitten again, but it does reduce the instance by a lot. And if he does start up again, back to basics and shun him again just to remind him to mind his manners!

I hope this helps you with your little one, and we'd love to see some more baby photos when you're able to as well 💖

 

[Fauna]

Welcome to the forums to you and your new baby, @Fauna! Don't forget to tell us your little guy's name, will you?

Unfortunately it seems that a lot of parrots in the pet trade are taken from the nest box for hand-raising before their parents have had a chance to teach them any manners, and the type of biting you're experiencing is symptomatic of this. In the wild, a young bird would be "shunned" by other members of it's flock for hard biting, so the recommendation is that you do the same. This involves, whenever he bites you, you IMMEDIATELY put him down in a safe, neutral spot, like the back of a chair for example. Not the floor as it's generally unsafe, and not back in his cage, because that might be exactly where he wants to go! Once you pop him down, turn your back on him and walk away, not TOO far because you still want to make sure he's supervised, and make no eye contact for about a minute or so. Green cheek conures are "prey" animals in the wild, and no little bird wants to feel like he is not one of the flock for safety reasons. Shunning works best when it's done immediately after a bite, and must be done consistently every time by every member of the household in order for baby to get the hint - GCCs are VERY smart and they will look for chinks in your armour, so consistency is key! It by no means means you'll never get bitten again, but it does reduce the instance by a lot. And if he does start up again, back to basics and shun him again just to remind him to mind his manners!

I hope this helps you with your little one, and we'd love to see some more baby photos when you're able to as well 💖

Thank you so much! i will definitely be trying this. His name is Tiago! 😊😊

 

[DonnaBudgie]

i recently adopted a 6 month old pineapple conure and i havent been able to get him to stop biting so hard. Ive done lots of research and everything ive found has been if a bird is being aggressive. the only time hes been legitimately aggressive was when they took him out of his cage at the pet store. hes been really sweet and curious, but will bite skin REALLY hard. (i have lots of cuts from the lil guy. i attached a video of those) ive been training him to step up with a wooden dowel and hes been doing really well, but when i replace it with my hand he’ll either start exploring it softly and then chomp, or will chomp immediately. he doesnt do this with anything else and im not sure what to do so i thought id try and ask here. thanks!!

Ouch! Your hands are a mess! So many GCC owners have the same problem. You may want to skip the bright nail polish. It's very pretty but I've heard that many parrots are afraid of long fingernails with colored polish. Maybe that's why he's biting so much. I think our moderator @onamom had to stop wearing nail polish because her GCC didn't like it. She started a thread all about Ona her GCC. She has a lot of great ideas.
Personally, I would wear a long sleeved sweatshirt so he didn't bite my arms and pull the sleeves over my hands if he bites my hands.

 

[Fauna]

Ouch! Your hands are a mess! So many GCC owners have the same problem. You may want to skip the bright nail polish. It's very pretty but I've heard that many parrots are afraid of long fingernails with colored polish. Maybe that's why he's biting so much. I think our moderator @onamom had to stop wearing nail polish because her GCC didn't like it. She started a thread all about Ona her GCC. She has a lot of great ideas.
Personally, I would wear a long sleeved sweatshirt so he didn't bite my arms and pull the sleeves over my hands if he bites my hands.

yeaah, i took the nails off and he doesn’t bite toooo much now! ive been wearing long sleeves as well and hes been doing well with those too! hes such a smart lil guy and is already learning the step up command!!!

 

[Fauna]

Welcome to the forums to you and your new baby, @Fauna! Don't forget to tell us your little guy's name, will you?

Unfortunately it seems that a lot of parrots in the pet trade are taken from the nest box for hand-raising before their parents have had a chance to teach them any manners, and the type of biting you're experiencing is symptomatic of this. In the wild, a young bird would be "shunned" by other members of it's flock for hard biting, so the recommendation is that you do the same. This involves, whenever he bites you, you IMMEDIATELY put him down in a safe, neutral spot, like the back of a chair for example. Not the floor as it's generally unsafe, and not back in his cage, because that might be exactly where he wants to go! Once you pop him down, turn your back on him and walk away, not TOO far because you still want to make sure he's supervised, and make no eye contact for about a minute or so. Green cheek conures are "prey" animals in the wild, and no little bird wants to feel like he is not one of the flock for safety reasons. Shunning works best when it's done immediately after a bite, and must be done consistently every time by every member of the household in order for baby to get the hint - GCCs are VERY smart and they will look for chinks in your armour, so consistency is key! It by no means means you'll never get bitten again, but it does reduce the instance by a lot. And if he does start up again, back to basics and shun him again just to remind him to mind his manners!

I hope this helps you with your little one, and we'd love to see some more baby photos when you're able to as well 💖

we’ve been doing this and hes ALREADY doing so good!!! the lil guy hates being away from me and i think its the cutest 🥹 but it also makes it easy for him to catch on!! thank you so much for the advice, and we’ll DEFINITELY keep doing it!!!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Welcome to the forums to you and your new baby, @Fauna! Don't forget to tell us your little guy's name, will you?

Unfortunately it seems that a lot of parrots in the pet trade are taken from the nest box for hand-raising before their parents have had a chance to teach them any manners, and the type of biting you're experiencing is symptomatic of this. In the wild, a young bird would be "shunned" by other members of it's flock for hard biting, so the recommendation is that you do the same. This involves, whenever he bites you, you IMMEDIATELY put him down in a safe, neutral spot, like the back of a chair for example. Not the floor as it's generally unsafe, and not back in his cage, because that might be exactly where he wants to go! Once you pop him down, turn your back on him and walk away, not TOO far because you still want to make sure he's supervised, and make no eye contact for about a minute or so. Green cheek conures are "prey" animals in the wild, and no little bird wants to feel like he is not one of the flock for safety reasons. Shunning works best when it's done immediately after a bite, and must be done consistently every time by every member of the household in order for baby to get the hint - GCCs are VERY smart and they will look for chinks in your armour, so consistency is key! It by no means means you'll never get bitten again, but it does reduce the instance by a lot. And if he does start up again, back to basics and shun him again just to remind him to mind his manners!

I hope this helps you with your little one, and we'd love to see some more baby photos when you're able to as well 💖

I agree that ideally hand feeding should supplement parent feeding and not completely replace it until shortly before weaning. Parents teach their babies things we can't. I exclusively hand fed my budgie Rocky from hatching because her Mama had a serious medical emergency and rejected her eggs. What I wonder about is that Rocky bites us even though she is very bonded to us and seeks us out ahead of other budgies, but she is very gentle with her male cagemate Beau who is a very tame sweetheart. Before I let them share a cage when Rocky was eight months old I worried that she would be too aggressive and bite or bully Beau but she doesn't. Based on what you, La Manuka, wrote about parent birds use shunning to teach their chicks necessary manners, like NO BITING, it would seem that since Rocky has issues with biting us and disciplining her with shunning hasn't worked, she would also have issues with biting/aggression toward Beau but she's been very good to him since day one. How do I reconcile Rocky being 100% hand raised and human bonded, her biting us, and her never biting Beau?

 

[Chenetaqwa]

i recently adopted a 6 month old pineapple conure and i havent been able to get him to stop biting so hard. Ive done lots of research and everything ive found has been if a bird is being aggressive. the only time hes been legitimately aggressive was when they took him out of his cage at the pet store. hes been really sweet and curious, but will bite skin REALLY hard. (i have lots of cuts from the lil guy. i attached a video of those) ive been training him to step up with a wooden dowel and hes been doing really well, but when i replace it with my hand he’ll either start exploring it softly and then chomp, or will chomp immediately. he doesnt do this with anything else and im not sure what to do so i thought id try and ask here. thanks!!

I can relate ...I have a male and a female pineapple green cheek both are just under 2 years old... both have their moments of nipping but the male definitely bites more often and harder .
I include a photo of my arm ..he did this 2 days ago thru a long sleeve tee shirt... I jokingly call them
" parrot pocks "

 

[Fauna]

i recently adopted a 6 month old pineapple conure and i havent been able to get him to stop biting so hard. Ive done lots of research and everything ive found has been if a bird is being aggressive. the only time hes been legitimately aggressive was when they took him out of his cage at the pet store. hes been really sweet and curious, but will bite skin REALLY hard. (i have lots of cuts from the lil guy. i attached a video of those) ive been training him to step up with a wooden dowel and hes been doing really well, but when i replace it with my hand he’ll either start exploring it softly and then chomp, or will chomp immediately. he doesnt do this with anything else and im not sure what to do so i thought id try and ask here. thanks!!

Ive been using the suggestions that ive been given and theyve been helping! Ive still gotten lots of bites though.. Its okay because i know that hes just a baby and that hes learning

 

[Crystal Seeker]

Im having the same problem with my seven month old Conure Jade. She is biting super hard, for strange reasons it seems, and the reasons do not make sense, like handing her something like a treat or a piece of apple say she seems all friendly at first and them wham she has glommed onto your hand so hard its incredible, ******My problem with the turn your back on her solution is, her wings are not clipped if I turn my back on her and walk to the other side of the room, she is going to wait one second and then fly to me, I have been giving her a time out in her cage because that is all I can do. It is frustrating though she especially goes after my husband and he has psoriasis on his hands and she bites him all the time. We treat her like a princess and Im so confused

 

[Fauna]

Welcome to the forums to you and your new baby, @Fauna! Don't forget to tell us your little guy's name, will you?

Unfortunately it seems that a lot of parrots in the pet trade are taken from the nest box for hand-raising before their parents have had a chance to teach them any manners, and the type of biting you're experiencing is symptomatic of this. In the wild, a young bird would be "shunned" by other members of it's flock for hard biting, so the recommendation is that you do the same. This involves, whenever he bites you, you IMMEDIATELY put him down in a safe, neutral spot, like the back of a chair for example. Not the floor as it's generally unsafe, and not back in his cage, because that might be exactly where he wants to go! Once you pop him down, turn your back on him and walk away, not TOO far because you still want to make sure he's supervised, and make no eye contact for about a minute or so. Green cheek conures are "prey" animals in the wild, and no little bird wants to feel like he is not one of the flock for safety reasons. Shunning works best when it's done immediately after a bite, and must be done consistently every time by every member of the household in order for baby to get the hint - GCCs are VERY smart and they will look for chinks in your armour, so consistency is key! It by no means means you'll never get bitten again, but it does reduce the instance by a lot. And if he does start up again, back to basics and shun him again just to remind him to mind his manners!

I hope this helps you with your little one, and we'd love to see some more baby photos when you're able to as well 💖

Im so super happy to say that this worked!! Its only been a few weeks and he doesnt bite much anymore!! The only times hes bit has been when i spook him or get in his personal space when hes not cool with it. He tries to nip at me when hes irritated like when i would try to pet him when hes eating or when hes not in the mood to be pet, but all of his exploring nibbles are so gentle!!!! Im so proud of the lil guy for learning so quickly. Thank you so much for your advice!! My hands are healing nicely (thank goodness) Its so nice to be able to bond with my baby without being afraid of being bit <3