A little bewildered

[pepper]

Hi, Im hoping some people can offer some helpful tips in dealing with my new 2 yr old male Sun Conure (Name yet to be decided). My husband and I have always had a number of birds mainly the little cockatiels however we branched out and also have an Eclectus parrot Oscar. Whilst at the pet shop buying more provisions for our placid darling eclectus parrot I fell for a cheeky sun conure that was so affectionate and playful he stole my heart. I was told that he needed to be rehoused due to the previous female owners work commitments. I thought that previous owner was so selfless in giving up such a wonderful bird. He loves tickles and scratches. He steps up, dances happily and squarks with delight when we enter the room. He's a messy little pig that makes us smile at his antics...even when i'm cleaning up after him. Hes just wonderful except for one problem.....his beak! We have run out of band aids! He will be leaning in to you begging for scratches, we oblige and then snap. he bites (really hard). It is like having two different birds (im wondering if he's Bi polar lol) It is mating time and he has been through some big changes but the persistant lunging and unpredictable biting has gotta stop. All sugggestions to help would be appreciated and Im getting the idea that the previous owner may not have been that selfless was just wanting to keep her body parts intact
P.S. We are in it for the long haul and have no plans to give up.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Welcome to the wonderful world of conures! I think it was TexDot who once accurately called them a cuisinart with wings.

As horrible as this stage is I am amazed at how (nearly) universal it is among conures. Shortly after settling in to a new home the sweet loving gentle conure turns into a biting terror.

Whatever the cause in ever case it does pass with a bit of patience. I actually have my suspicions, though they are quite unfounded, that there may be a hormonal change that takes place as a conure is bonding with a new 'mate'. These hormonal changes lead to total anarchy for a time.

My recommendation is to avoid the situations where she can bite and and wait out the storm. For quite some time Auggie had many restrictions: he could be with me but not on my shoulder (I liked my face the way it was), I would not leave an available finger within range of his beak, etc.

Perhaps it is mating season, perhaps she is molting and is very sensitive, perhaps she is going through my proposed hormonal change of bonding to a new mate. In any of those cases it would be a temporary situation which if you can just wait out the storm it will pass.

I know this may not be the advice you hoped for, but I am really amazed at how consistent this pattern is for conures - and in every case if the owners wait it out it will pass and you will have a better stronger relationship with her in the end.

It's certainly not easy though - I spent MANY nights up pulling my hair out or balling my eyes out as I was wondering if I could keep Auggie. It was a miserable few weeks which felt more like months to years, but it did pass - and while I still do get the occasional bite I now need a bandaid every few months rather than every few minutes.

Conures are very small parrots, but they can be very challenging ... but they are also the most rewarding if you ask me (of course I'm biased.)

 

[pepper]

Thank you sooo much for your response. I found myself starting to take these attacks personally (I know its silly, but hard not to when its your body parts hes chewing on). I guess just knowing that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel gives me renewed confidence in dealing with him. I found myself starting to get jumpy which maybe understandable but not helping the situation

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Yes, it is hard not to take it personally...

While in general I think waiting it out is the way to go there are a few productive measures you can take to help. First, observe and learn. (S)he may be hormonal or irritable, but this will only accentuate responses - in a sense this makes it easy to see what she does and does not like, where she is or isn't comfortable, etc.

I've found that many parrots, even small ones, are not comfortable perching on fingers; fingers are wildly unpredictable moving things. Perhaps she would be more comfortable on a forearm. In either case having her on your arm rather than hand leaves fewer targets. It's harder to get a little beak around and arm, and if/when it does happen it doesn't hurt as much as a finger bite.

You should still punish her for biting. Note I use a strict behavioral definition of punishment, this need not have anything to do with aversive conditions - don't punish a bird in that sense. But when she bites just quitely (as possible) bring her back to the cage and giver her a time out. She should still see that biting is unacceptable, even if she is a bit doped up on hormones.

So a balance of patience and understanding of her state along with a calm but firm expression of the rules is the way to go.

 

[antoinette]

Hi Pepper
So glad to hear you have no plans to give up.
Eventually the rewards will all be worth it.
AD gives great advise, follow it.
When biting, give him time out. Eventually he will realize when biting you he gets "punished".
I reckon they are like children, just testing us.
Lots of love, attention and quality time will pay off.
Take care

 

[miamore]

i know what you are going through. i have a young green cheek conure that can be a sweetie one minute and not so nice the next. it is mostly with other people. i dont react when he/she bits me(ps waiting for dna test to come back so dont know the sex yet). what i do is wrap my baby in a towel when he/she is being a brat and rub the head for a while and talk sweetly to the baby. after doing this for a few minutes the baby calms down. i am still new to conures so what works for me may not work for anybody else. now with my husband nothing he does works so he does put the baby away when the baby bits him. maybe conures are like some of the bigger birds and like one person alot and then they just tolerate others. good luck and thanks for taking in the little sunny. patients is a huge step.