Sun Conure biting

[gibson981]

Our sun conure's name is Apollo. He hatched sometime in mid-January. We've had Apollo for two weeks now. He wouldn't let us get near him the first 2 days. Now, he's all about being with us. He has several toys in his cage and he plays with all of them, but would rather be out with us. Which is fine, because we love giving him attention. When I hold him on my lap, he quickly climbs my shirt to my shoulder and goes directly for my ears. Most of the time, it's just a little nibbling, which I don't mind at all. Then, it gets a little harder. So, I take him down and hold him in my hand. He will just chill for a few seconds. Then he starts going for my fingers. When this first started, he was very soft about it. Now, it feels like he is trying to clamp down with all his might. It's starting to actually hurt now. I knew this going in. So, I will absolutely work through this with him. I just need to know some good methods. Here are a couple of pics of the little guy.

 

[Mudkips]

Congratulations on your beautiful new bird!
I have also recently started living with a conure and I can clearly remember the period a couple of weeks in where he got comfortable with his new surroundings and became nippy and more 'conure like'. Just remember that despite how annoying it can be, it shows that he's a happy conure acting naturally!

It's not easy to stop a conure from doing what comes naturally, so it will take a fair bit of effort and patience. The earlier you work on it, the better.
Read up on as many different methods that you can find and you'll get a good idea of what might work best for your own situation.

Is Apollo clipped? Can he fly?
Try not to let him nibble on your skin at all, even if he's doing it softly. Get him to nibble on something else, like your collar for example. Also, what games do you play with him? Conures are very energetic and he may just want to play a game with you.

 

[gibson981]

Ya, he's clipped. He can mainly just flap and glide down. He does pick up a tiny bit of height at first, but that's probably just from the jump. I will try to get him to not nibble on skin. He has liked my shirts. Which is no problem. The only shirts I wear with him are considered bird shirts. Still trying to keep his attention on one thing long enough to play a game. He is intimdated by being up so high on top of his cage. I have to block him from jumping off. I can get him to follow my hand around if I have a treat in that hand. I got him to climb the ladder on top of the cage to a wood perch and walk across it and back down the other ladder onto the cage top. Also been trying to work with him on talking. My wife plays peek-a-boo with him. He seems to love that. I still need to take him for a vet visit. The people I got him from gave me a card that shows his first two shots and his hatch date and sex. But I want to get him to a vet myself.

 

[gibson981]

He is slowing down on the biting. I occupy him with one of his ropes playing tug of war.

 

[AFP520]

I have read that birds "teeth" like humans do, just with their beaks instead. I'm sure with age it will go away. Mine hatched in February and is also nippy/biting like you described. We just try to give her as many toys as possible and she usually goes for it.

 

[ZoeS]

When my birds preen each other, I notice that one of them squawks when the other bites too hard (especially during molting time), and then the other stops and starts again, more gently.

Also, birds are beaky animals. It's a big part of how they move about, touch things and communicate. We can't expect them to totally stop, and it sounds like what you are doing is working so that's great!

When my birds' nibbles / beak touches turn to bites and hurt, I yelp or say "Ouch!" or do a little squawk. She will then stop, scrutinize me, and resume more gently or do something else.