Sweeney Todd's Biting Problem

[CheshireGrymm]

I know there are many other posts about biting conures, and I'm sure most of you are sick of seeing them, but I need some help with training.

Sweeney Todd is still fairly new to this family, he has not had any other owners previously (he's a pet store conure). When we got him, he was docile and seemed tame, even though I had a feeling he wasn't. He will let me pet him most of, if not all, of the time. However he has chosen my finger as a chew toy lately and will not stop biting me. He actually bruised and drew blood on my hand, to which my response was remain calm, take my hand away and ignore him.

I have tried step-up training, however he keeps biting my finger when I go to press it against his lower belly. Any advice would be fantastic so I can get him to stop.

(Keep in mind that most of the previous advice that I have gotten was to "ignore the biting and don't move your hand" or "just give it time" I am aware that he needs time, that's understandable and I am being extremely patient with him, but ignoring it is not an option for me because I'm not going to let him sit there and draw blood in hopes for him to stop)

I have already tried to bribe him and distract him with food and treats, however nothing seems to be working. He ignores the food and goes straight for my finger

:42::42:

 

[greencheekachick]

Does he take treats from you at all?
Have you tried having him step up onto a stick instead of your finger? You can teach him step up with a stick and then work your way to having him step up on to your finger.

 

[CheshireGrymm]

well, he takes the treat and then throws it on the ground or drops it (I can't help but laugh half the time)

I have tried with a stick but he runs away from it and then I feel bad because I feel like I'm tormenting him

 

[greencheekachick]

-Is he on an open feed (has food all day) or meals (certain times he gets food)?
- Do you notice if he has a favorite food that he picks out from everything else first? If he does remove that particullar food item from his everyday feed and only use for treats.
-Work on him actually eating a treat you give him first by having him hungry when you work with him.
-To do this-
Open feed: take the food dish away for a couple hours and then try to work with him.
Meals: let him run out of food on his own and let him be for a couple hours and then try working with him
-After he is expertly taking treats from you then try moving to having him step up on the stick or finger if he doesnt try biting your finger first. He doesn't have to step up right away but reward with treats whenever he gets closer and closer untill he is stepping up onto the stick or your finger.
-You could try clicker/target training too same idea with having him be hungry to begin with too (which is what I'm currently doing with my aggressive male gcc., we are still only getting good at taking treats too instead of his usual bite me instead of taking a treat or dropping it like yours does

-Just take your time and move at whatever pace your bird is or seems most comfortable with

 

[ErichT]

I had the same issue with Kiwi, part of my solution was using very small treats. It kind of forced her to get used to my fingers while getting the treat out of my hands. I used Oat Groats because they are small and not as filling at sunflower seeds. Don't want her to get to fat

 

[greencheekachick]

I had the same issue with Kiwi, part of my solution was using very small treats. It kind of forced her to get used to my fingers while getting the treat out of my hands. I used Oat Groats because they are small and not as filling at sunflower seeds. Don't want her to get to fat

-Oh and with that maybe try a new food.
-With my aggressive male (Morpheus) I was trying only sunflower seeds because that seemed to be his favorite but I was still getting bit. While giving bits of grape through the cage bars to Meeka (his girl and why he is so aggressive) to try, he came over to defend and try and bite me. As soon as his beak met the bit of grape he stopped and was like "what is this?" So I gave him another bit and found that this was more prefered than trying to bite me so I switched to using bits of grape for rewards.

 

[CheshireGrymm]

Ommigosh you guys are amazing! Thank you so much! He is open fed. Should i maybe have a designated mealtime instead? He does have a favorite food, which is sunflower seeds, and i took those out of the food so he will not gain weight. He eats a mix of a bunch of stuff (i will upload a picture of the bag) maybe some of you can give me a suggestion if i should switch the food. (Dog got to the bag so i had to Ziploc it lol)

 

[ErichT]

I mainly feed mine Zupreem Pellets without the coloring. I save the seeds, nuts,fruits and veggies as treats and training. And the I feel like spoiling them moods.

 

[CheshireGrymm]

Okay so mainly a pellet diet?

 

[ErichT]

Yes, in my flock anyway

 

[CheshireGrymm]

Okay. I'll switch his food. Hopefully his biting calms down with that. What if he refuses to eat it?

 

[greencheekachick]

-Just mix some of his old food in with the pellets and then day by day mix less and less until it's the new pellet food.
-Personally I still add seed to my pellet food because I feel that my birds then get more variety. But I also make sure they eat everything before I fill up their food dish again. I also take out the seeds I want to use only as treats though too.
-I do a kind of a mix of open feed and timed feeding because I'm not home some days. Days I want to do training are days I do meals, otherwise they are pretty much open fed

 

[CheshireGrymm]

Okay thanks for the advice!