Shaping Appropriate Nibbling

[Tulojow]

I've just recently brought home a young (newly weaned) GCC and she's quickly bonded and settled in. By and large, she's doing great - eating well, stepping up and enjoying chilling with me while I study.



I was hoping for some recommendations for shaping appropriate exploring and nibbling. As I understand, that's typical conure behavior and 80% of the time, she's gently and respectful about the behavior. However, every once in while, she seems to be testing boundaries with nibbling harder enough to be uncomfortable. I've been avoiding making any noise or trying to react beyond moving the part of me she's nibbling so it distracts/redirects her. However, I'm not entirely sure if that's the best approach - I don't want the movement of my hand to make her uncomfortable or be misinterpreted as rewarding attention.


Especially given her young age, I want to start of shaping this behavior the right way. Any recommendations or ideas would be welcomed!

 

[LordTriggs]

me and a couple others with Conures have found that especially at this age the hard nibbling is not realizing their strength and that they're hurting, much like puppy mouthing.

What I found works is that when a nibble starts getting harder (but still in acceptable levels of pressure) to give a vocal warning of some sort, then when the nibble gets to an unacceptable pressure to say calmly but firmly "no bite" or similar to that effect and immediately remove them from you and place them somewhere dull and boring, back of a chair, arm of the sofa, on a shelf, on the floor even. Just somewhere that's not on you and not immediately entertaining for them. I avoid using the cage for timeouts because that can backfire more than help, making them bite whenever they want to go to the cage or refusing to go back in when needed.

It takes time but they should hopefully understand fairly quick that biting means their friend doesn't want to spend time with them which is normally a good deterrent to it. Just remember that they do communicate with the beak so do allow nibbling and allopreening and communication, just make sure they know they don't need to chomp you to communicate

 

[EllenD]

Yeah, you don't want to do the "hand-quake" or anything like that when she uses too much pressure or actually bites you, what Triggs describes is usually the best way, by shunning them and removing your affection by putting them down when they bite, this typically gets the point across (search here in the forums for "The Shunning Method")...However, if she's still a baby/juvenile, then it's more of a bite-pressure issue, and searching here for information on "Bite-Pressure Training" should help you quite a bit...

Also, don't be shocked if when puberty hits (around a year old, give or take a month or two), the nibbles turn into full-on bites, and that's when The Shunning Method works best...

 

[Tulojow]

Thank you so much for the response and feedback! The terminology 'bite-pressure training' helped narrow down my search. I had tried searching for biting tips but I really didn't feel like this was biting. It very much feels like a bit of boredom mixed with normal mutual grooming and she hasn't figured out what is appropriate pressure.
She is extremely new - I picked her up from the breeder on Wednesday afternoon, so I recognize there's also an adjustment period. But, she's already seeming very bonded - getting very excited to come out when I get home and flying off her playstand / out of the cage to follow me. So, I think the removing attention when it gets too hard will be a good approach.



When I am sitting with her, I have been trying to have something that is appropriate for her to play or chew on - such as a ratty old dish towel that has lots of stray threads to preen. A lot of it seems like boredom, so I've been trying to give her something to do. She seems to be taking well to positive reinforcement when she fusses with that and ignoring/saying gentle/moving her away when she starts to bite too hard. Is this an effective approach or should I be trying to discourage from any hard chewing behavior when she's with me - whether it's hand or towel?


One challenge I'm having (and I acknowledge it's likely my incompetence but I haven't found a solution) is that she's still a bit on the clumsy side. So, I find that, half the time, as I'm moving her to not-me spot, she's often hopping off my finger to flutter to the floor. I honestly can't tell if she's just electing to hop off - I've tried moving slower with the same result. I'm not sure if I should be concerned about this risking the same association as the 'earthquakes' or if I'm worrying too much.



Again, thank you for the help so far! I appreciate it!

 

[MMARC234]

A lot of it seems like boredom, so I've been trying to give her something to do. She seems to be taking well to positive reinforcement when she fusses with that and ignoring/saying gentle/moving her away when she starts to bite too hard. Is this an effective approach or should I be trying to discourage from any hard chewing behavior when she's with me - whether it's hand or towel?

One challenge I'm having (and I acknowledge it's likely my incompetence but I haven't found a solution) is that she's still a bit on the clumsy side. So, I find that, half the time, as I'm moving her to not-me spot, she's often hopping off my finger to flutter to the floor. I honestly can't tell if she's just electing to hop off - I've tried moving slower with the same result. I'm not sure if I should be concerned about this risking the same association as the 'earthquakes' or if I'm worrying too much.

Personally, I trained both of my fids to discriminate between my body and stuff they could play with and bite– so basically time outs on the empty section of their playstand for biting hands/ears/toes, and praise for playing appropriately with toys.

One thing that has helped a lot with boredom outside their cage is a small box of toys they can chew and destroy to their heart’s content. Almost everything in it is from the dollar store or extra toy parts I had laying around.

As far as the jumping off goes, my Quaker did this all the time until his wings got stronger/he got more confident holding on to things. Basically I just asked him to step up without acknowledging anything else and put him back with me. Eventually he realized he wouldn’t get any attention/couldn’t leave and stopped.