Help, Conure bites my fingers!

[Ozzy73119]

Hello,

I have had my green cheek conure, Ozzy, since February. He was hatched on 7/31/2019 so almost a year old.

When I first brought him home he was very scared of me and my 2 children (13 and 15 years old). He has since warmed up to me, I think quarantine helped as I was home most days with him all day long. He wants to be with me ALL OF THE TIME! He does not have his wings clipped so when I open his cage he flies to me.

I have a few problems. He is still fearful of my hands. I can scratch his head when he wants it but I cannot get him off my shoulder by touching him. If I try to get him to get on my finger he bites my fingers. When it is time for him to go in his cage at night I can not get him in without using a treat. Sometimes he wants to get in his cage so those are easy nights. I think he has caught on with my putting a treat in his food dish because some nights he just sits there and stares at me and wont go in until I walk away from the cage, then I have to hope I can make it back to shut the door before he gets out. As you can imagine this can be very frustrating. I feel like maybe I skipped a step with getting him comfortable with me. I am looking for advice on how to get him more comfortable with my hands.

Now my other issue is that my kids are not with me all the time (they are also at their dads) so Ozzy has not warmed up to them as much. He does trust them more than he used to but its not great. My daughter is scared of him and freaks out if he tries to fly to her. My son has let him on his shoulder when he wants to but Ozzy bites him on the ear and one time even under his eye! I'm not sure what to do. I have thought about clipping his wings so he cannot fly to them, maybe that would give them more time to have him warm up to them without them being afraid of him just flying over and biting them.

I'm really at a loss of what to do. He really is a sweet bird and I love him to death! My son is the one that wanted a conure, I want him and my daughter to have a good relationship with him too.
Any advice is very much appreciated!!
Thank you!

 

[1oldparroter]

Most people talk about specific species, don't take information that way. Most topics apply (with common sense) to multiple species. Here are some basic topics and these peoples tag can be typed into the search window of youtube.com like Manda & Rio + enter.
[ame="https://youtu.be/uqtptXFyb2c"]How to Target Train Your Parrot | Parrot Training - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="https://youtu.be/FkD2HBXScAU"]Large or Aggressive Parrots - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="https://youtu.be/MjfAAGbxbYA"]The Key to Mastering Step Up With Your Conure Parrot - YouTube[/ame]
You can get more from video than text BUT use your common sense for the specifics. On youtube.com use the search window a lot and look for topics of interest. Here too. jh

 

[fiddlejen]

There is a bite pressure training thread on this forum which you probably want to read. However that does not really to be the entirety of your issue, and there are others who will have some really good suggestions for you.

I just want to comment that I see Clipping is one of the options you are Considering. Some people feel that this would never be a good option. However in my opinion and experience, clipping temporarily Can be a useful option and it sounds like it Might be right for your situation.

IF your situation were mine, I would consider clipping. ((IF SO - you want a conservative, evenly (NOT one-sided!) clip that will allow the bird to glide to the floor safely.)) I don't know whether I Would or Would NOt go with that option, and so cannot guide you further -- but I am just chiming in basically to tell you that IF you choose to have him clipped it can be a good, useful option and it is Not Always a bad choice.

Hope this helps a little.

 

[fiddlejen]

So I have thought a little more about your post.

Here is the "Bite Pressure Training" post btw:
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html I highly recommend using the word "Gentle" as the training word here, rather than "No," because just saying the word "Gentle" also helps guide You (or your Child) to a more Calm Response as well.

Because of this:

Now my other issue is that my kids are not with me all the time (they are also at their dads) so Ozzy has not warmed up to them as much. He does trust them more than he used to but its not great. My daughter is scared of him and freaks out if he tries to fly to her. My son has let him on his shoulder when he wants to but Ozzy bites him on the ear and one time even under his eye! I'm not sure what to do. I have thought about clipping his wings so he cannot fly to them, maybe that would give them more time to have him warm up to them without them being afraid of him just flying over and biting them.

IF it were me, I probably Would get him clipped. Fearful children is very likely to lead to poor birdie behavior. A relatively short few months of being flightless, IF USED WELL for training, could help forestall all sorts of emotional and behavioral problems down the road.

I have a few problems. He is still fearful of my hands. I can scratch his head when he wants it but I cannot get him off my shoulder by touching him. If I try to get him to get on my finger he bites my fingers. When it is time for him to go in his cage at night I can not get him in without using a treat. Sometimes he wants to get in his cage so those are easy nights. I think he has caught on with my putting a treat in his food dish because some nights he just sits there and stares at me and wont go in until I walk away from the cage, then I have to hope I can make it back to shut the door before he gets out. As you can imagine this can be very frustrating. I feel like maybe I skipped a step with getting him comfortable with me. I am looking for advice on how to get him more comfortable with my hands.

These are all problems that need to be addressed. Potentially clipping can help with these -- but the only reason that I Do Indeed recommend clipping is to help kids become less fearful WHile the conure learns how to behave.

The videos that 1OldParroter linked will all be great for this. Target Training Target Training.

Regarding Return-To-Cage. IF you do indeed get him clipped, you will have more control over the behavior. Otherwise, at least one person on this forum recently came up with a string-pull arrangment, to gently close the door behind birdie whilst not personally At the cage. Myself, my non-tame budgies will return themselves to their huge cage randomly, and also at nighttime and/or any other time the room gets sufficiently dark (ie DARK clouds outside). So, I invested in some Room-Darkening draperies from Walmart. IF it is an exceedingly bright-sunshiny day outside, this will not work. But otherwise if I close all the window-coverings and make things quiet, they return themselves to their cage. (After a brief wait, that is, so that Jefferson-budgie can make sure I know the cage-return was HIS choice and not mine...)

I wish you good progress with your conure.

 

[Calorious]

Hello,

I have had my green cheek conure, Ozzy, since February. He was hatched on 7/31/2019 so almost a year old.

When I first brought him home he was very scared of me and my 2 children (13 and 15 years old). He has since warmed up to me, I think quarantine helped as I was home most days with him all day long. He wants to be with me ALL OF THE TIME! He does not have his wings clipped so when I open his cage he flies to me.

I have a few problems. He is still fearful of my hands. I can scratch his head when he wants it but I cannot get him off my shoulder by touching him. If I try to get him to get on my finger he bites my fingers. When it is time for him to go in his cage at night I can not get him in without using a treat. Sometimes he wants to get in his cage so those are easy nights. I think he has caught on with my putting a treat in his food dish because some nights he just sits there and stares at me and wont go in until I walk away from the cage, then I have to hope I can make it back to shut the door before he gets out. As you can imagine this can be very frustrating. I feel like maybe I skipped a step with getting him comfortable with me. I am looking for advice on how to get him more comfortable with my hands.

Now my other issue is that my kids are not with me all the time (they are also at their dads) so Ozzy has not warmed up to them as much. He does trust them more than he used to but its not great. My daughter is scared of him and freaks out if he tries to fly to her. My son has let him on his shoulder when he wants to but Ozzy bites him on the ear and one time even under his eye! I'm not sure what to do. I have thought about clipping his wings so he cannot fly to them, maybe that would give them more time to have him warm up to them without them being afraid of him just flying over and biting them.

I'm really at a loss of what to do. He really is a sweet bird and I love him to death! My son is the one that wanted a conure, I want him and my daughter to have a good relationship with him too.
Any advice is very much appreciated!!
Thank you!

I have to agree that you should consider clipping. Don't fully restrict his flight by fully clipping though.

You may want to try handfeeding him too. That's how I got closer to my GCC.
Conures are usually afraid of hands in their cage, if you have had him for atleast 1 - 3+ months, he would have already recognized that cage as his territory, meaning he will attack should any foreign hand enters that cage or gets near him.
Maybe handfeed him for approx. 1 week? As long as your conure is hungry, he/she will take any form of edible food. Having him get food from a hand allows him to recognize that your family isn't there to harm it.
However, this would mean you have to restrict his food intake. When you are awake, whenever your family is available, take away any food that is put in his cage/perch and if he has just recently eaten, he wouldn't be interested in the food, I suggest taking away the food and allowing him to go hungry just for a while (Don't make him starve! He doesn't deserve a punishment for trying to defend himself!)

After that, you can go ahead and slowly feed him. When you are busy again or when the night comes, you should just give him back his food supply for him to eat on his own.
I've realised that my GCC would always want to eat right after I handfed him, so you could fill a bit more food in his cage after feeding him, either I'm calling him a pig or it's likely that I stopped feeding him when he hasn't eaten enough.
This is for newer parrots.

However, for your situation, it may just be because your parrot is going through his maturity stage. They tend to be more aggressive during this phase. Be more patient with him!

 

[JerryNewt]

Hi Ozzy,

You might be going too fast for the bird. As the first reply suggested, do some target training and slowly introduce your hand again. Refrain from shoulder privilege until he doesn't bite your fingers anymore.

He shouldn't associate your hand/fingers with "bad news".

Try reading some of my tips that worked for me when with my bird.

http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/86521-my-tips-taming-biting-gcc.html

Good luck!

PS: Might be that your bird is in his/her hormonal phase (it can happen anywhere between 6-12 months from what I've read). Can't hurt to look for body signs that indicate it.

Also they can get groggy when they renew feathers.