OP
Greenclaws
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- Jul 1, 2014
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- #21
Conures also have a rep for being nippy. If I had a dime for every time someone told me they don't want a green cheek because they are biters... Well I could buy a nice meal for myself! I have five tame GCCs. Guess how many are biters? None. Guess how many came to me as biters? Two. Training is training, there is no way around it. You mention she bites when she is scared and you try to put her down - don't you think that sounds normal? In my opinion most bites are rooted in fear or hormones at least when the habit starts, but if we are not careful we can reinforce it into a habit that is hard to break. Also, you said she bites when you are petting her, when you are petting her how? Does she do it when you touch a certain place, or spend too long in one place? Are you carefully watching her body language and eyes to see if she is asking politely for you to stop before she has to ask a bit more rudely by biting you? Also, if a chick is terrified with by humans and comes from a breeder who doesn't know how to deal with that, that is a huge red flag and there could be a LOT more than "too much scarlet macaw" going on with her and in her past, which you need to consider. I posted recently about my rescue who is sweet as pie, unless you forget to tuck your thumb when you pick her up., and then she attacks! Why? Because of something that happened to her in her last home. So be patient and consistent we her. Decide now if you are going to keep her. If you cannot get your mind to a place of being glad she is the one you got, and over being disappointed with her or unhappy with the bird you purchased, return her. No bird deserves to be the source of disappointment like that, and I wholeheartedly believe they'd will feel it. If you do return her, DO NOT get your next bird from this breeder. She sounds utterly irresponsible. If she can be that careless, I hate to think what else goes on with her birds and customers! Yes, every bird deserves a home, but every time you pay someone who is doing the wrong thing you are incentivizing them to keep doing the wrong thing, which harms more and more birds. My suggestion is to work on the training, and eliminate "scarlet nippiness" from your thoughts. A parrot is a parrot, and while species can very much dictate tendencies, a bird that smart can be taught to behave as long as the owner is smart enough to pay attention. Remember, communication goes BOTH WAYS. You need to learn how she asks you to stop doing something, and then respect it so she no longer feels the need to bite. Once a bird realizes that the only way to stop you is to bite you, they often start to skip the warning and go straight to the bite, and that is hard to deal with.
I think I pay very close attention to her body language. A rule I've set is I never ever walk toward my bird or follow her around. I make her come toward me. I think it works because she flies off her perch of I leave the room and walks on the floor and follows me wherever I go. If she's on her perch and I stand on the other end, and say "come here" she always comes and lets me pet her. There isn't any certain thing I do that triggers the nips. And they aren't a chomp and quick release. She whips her head around, grabs me, (since I've started bite pressure training, she doesn't grab hard), and then she just slowly releases and just starts chewing and lucking me usually. I see her do it to her own wings sometimes. Maybe she's just irritable because feathers are coming in? I don't flinch or react when she does it, unless its a hard bite, and then I use my bite pressure training technique. She lets go immediately and stares back at me when I give her my stern stare.
Like I said, I'm attached and committed to her so I'm not considering getting rid of her. Only if she constantly tries to tear my fingers off or disfigures my face and acts like she just hates me. Then: maybe. Lol. But the way she reacts when she sees my face from around the corner, I know she loves me and wants to spend every moment with me. It's like her beak has a mind of its own. I haven't gotten a hard bite since her second day with me though. The lady who took care of her said she has a scarlet and that Raja acts nothing like it. Her scarlet never wants to come out unless it says "step up" to them on the days it does want out. Hearing that, I feel a million times better about her nips. At least she clearly wants to spend time with me!
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