sun conure pinching my skin

[djdancer]

Does anyone know what my sun conure is doing? He acts like he's licking my skin but then it pinches. It really hurts and he does it all over constantly. My Jenday does it too but he doesn't pinch??

 

[allenBIRDGANG]

my green cheeck does it alot to my neck, i dont think hes trying to hurt me but it does

 

[djdancer]

Yeah I don't think he's trying to hurt me but once I get him to stop in one place he's already off to the next to hurt me somewhere else. I do try to get him to chew on different things. I pin plastic clothes pins to my shirt and dog chews.

 

[weco]

Sounds like these birds need to have limits established for them.....you're right about them not really trying to hurt you, but then they don't realize how much pressure they're putting on tender skin.....

 

[birdpassion620]

My GCC does the same thing on my neck. I know he doesn't do it with any bad intentions but it hurts!

 

[Bandit]

My GCC JUST started doing that early last week. I got him out of it quickly though. He also tries to preen my arm hair. As sweet as it is, it freakin hurts lol.

 

[Sasha2]

My greenie used to try and pull every little spot off my arms.She left little marks all over me.Im pretty sure they are just preening but it hurts.I would just give her something else to do and she eventually stopped.
She still tries to trim my finger nails.And I have a mole on my neck that all the birds think is there for their personal entertainment.I have to cover it with my shirt anytime a bird is on my shoulder.

 

[Gizmomania]

Gizmo likes to bolt down the inside of my shirt and start pinching my skin. It's torturous! That's the only time she does it.

She's my diva brat bird.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

My sunconure does the same exact thing !! Im ready to rename her the [Can Opener]. I must tell her to stop it and not realize Im saying that .Cause now she says in her whispery voice to me ,stop it [LOL].

 

[Slackergirl0215]

My GCC JUST started doing that early last week. I got him out of it quickly though. He also tries to preen my arm hair. As sweet as it is, it freakin hurts lol.

Could you please tell me how you got him to stop?

 

[wrench13]

Biting, whether intentional or not, just over preening your skin or actually taking chunks of meat out - all are PAINFULL! In the wild that sort of behavior is not tolerated by the flock. They ostracize flock members who continue to act like that. We call it 'Shunning'. This WILL work, but needs to be done correctly to get the message across and it needs to be done IMMEDIATELY so the parrot can associate the bite with the shunning action. And it needs to happen every time and with anyone involved with the parrot.

When the bite or over preening occurs:

• Say in a forceful but not shouting voice "No Bite" or other endearments.
• Immediately place the parrot on a nearby, handy chairback. NOT the cage (that would only teach the parrot to bite when he wants to go back to his cage).
• Turn your back to him and ignore him for 1 minute. No peeking, no talking about or too him, NADA. NO eye contact. No less or the message is lost, no more or the bird will not associate the action with the bite.
• After a minute you can try to re-establish contact.

Rinse, repeat as needed. Most parrots get the message after a few times, some may need more. Also very important - make sure the bite is not your fault. Annoying your parrot, asking him to step up when he is otherwise preoccupied with eating or playing, bothering him during known moody times like mating season, or ignoring the warnings and body language of your parrot - these are bites that you deserve! Learn, and be a better parront !!

 

[Slackergirl0215]

Biting, whether intentional or not, just over preening your skin or actually taking chunks of meat out - all are PAINFULL! In the wild that sort of behavior is not tolerated by the flock. They ostracize flock members who continue to act like that. We call it 'Shunning'. This WILL work, but needs to be done correctly to get the message across and it needs to be done IMMEDIATELY so the parrot can associate the bite with the shunning action. And it needs to happen every time and with anyone involved with the parrot.

When the bite or over preening occurs:

• Say in a forceful but not shouting voice "No Bite" or other endearments.
• Immediately place the parrot on a nearby, handy chairback. NOT the cage (that would only teach the parrot to bite when he wants to go back to his cage).
• Turn your back to him and ignore him for 1 minute. No peeking, no talking about or too him, NADA. NO eye contact. No less or the message is lost, no more or the bird will not associate the action with the bite.
• After a minute you can try to re-establish contact.

Rinse, repeat as needed. Most parrots get the message after a few times, some may need more. Also very important - make sure the bite is not your fault. Annoying your parrot, asking him to step up when he is otherwise preoccupied with eating or playing, bothering him during known moody times like mating season, or ignoring the warnings and body language of your parrot - these are bites that you deserve! Learn, and be a better parront !!

Thank you so much

 

[Cottonoid]

welcome to the forums!

I have a young Quaker who is still learning how much he can do when it comes to trying to pick off my freckles or say "no" with his beak. I've heard conures can be a little more "beaky" than some other parrots, so it's great you're thinking about this early.

So far with my parrot I've used exactly the technique @wrench13 talks about - I move him away from me and turn my back for a minute. When he was still really little he'd fly back immediately and want to cuddle. Now he has days where he wants to fly back to try removing freckles again BUT he also is starting to understand my vocal tone and he LOVES "good boy!!!!" and does not much care for a very sad "oh noooooo I don't like that"

I also don't let him back on my shoulder if he's having a beaky/bitey moment - he gets moved to his little play area instead and I tell him I don't like biting and I'm going to wait until he's gentle.

.....no clue yet if any of what I'm doing is working long term, but we can learn together

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Could you please tell me how you got him to stop?

My four month old female budgie Rocky (I hand raised her from an egg) does the same thing! I know it's not fear because she's not afraid of anything, but it's very annoying. She also chews on everything else. I just hope she grows out of it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I

My four month old female budgie Rocky (I hand raised her from an egg) does the same thing! I know it's not fear because she's not afraid of anything, but it's very annoying. She also chews on everything else. I just hope she grows out of it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you so much

I really like this "shunning" advice. It's harder to do with my master flyer budgie but I will try utilize consistently. She really like interaction so "shunning" may work. Thanks.