Aggressive GCC

[Aymo]

This is Pico. He's a green cheek conure with a bit of anger issues. I adopted him from a young couple about half a year ago. They told me "he's a bit nippy, but he'll get over it. "A bit nippy" is the understatement of the century. He'll bite anyone who even comes close to him with their hand. Which I understood at first, hands are scary, but he just got worse. He'll try to bit your neck if you try to look at him while he's on your shoulder. When I get to close to him, he'll try to bite me and if he can't he'll bang his head against something out of anger. Even when I don't show my hands. He does have his sweet moments, though. If you don't turn your head while he's on your shoulder or if you feed him some sunflower seeds he'll say "Pico!". In the mornings he's pretty cute, too. When I take him out of his cage he'll say: "I am Pico!". Which is the cutest thing ever. I do really love him and would die for him. I just don't understand his behavior. I don't know if this makes a difference, but he's also tested male and has a boyfriend.

 

[osklvste85]

Sorry you're having problems. Since your bird is nippy do not put him on your shoulder. It could be an ear or eye. Injuries best avoided. Check out the posts here about shunning. It's a good way to begin training your parrot. You need to be take your time and more. He's had a long time to get this way. It's going to take time to change. There's lots of people who have GCC and can be more specific.

 

[wrench1379]

Give us a good idea of his diet, sleep times, out of cage time, number and type of toys. Then we may have some suggestions for you and Pico. Is he bonded to you or someone esle in the house?

 

[Aymo]

Give us a good idea of his diet, sleep times, out of cage time, number and type of toys. Then we may have some suggestions for you and Pico. Is he bonded to you or someone esle in the house?

He has harrisons lifetime fine pellets available all day, I like to chop up some veggies in the morning and feed them to him individually by hand. He loves to shred his carrots which is great beak exercise. I feed him a handful of seeds spread out throughout the day. I'll sit down with my two conures and give them some as a treat and make them do a spin or make Pico talk. I also like to experiment with different types of food with them, since they'll try about anything. I have tons of shredding and foraging toys around the room and in their cage, but they do not care about them at all. You never know, though. I let them out around 10 am, I hardly leave them alone, so I'm constantly around them to socialize. At 4 pm I put them back in their cage to let my smaller bird fly around 'till 9 pm. After I put the other guys back in their cage I let my conures fly around for an hour to get all the energy out before going to sleep . I put them back in their cage, put a think blanket over their cage and let them get comfortable for 5 minutes. Then I turn off all the light for bedtime and don't enter my bird room 'till the next morning. He hasn't bonded to anyone in my household, but he is mated to my other green cheek.

 

[AMD79]

He has harrisons lifetime fine pellets available all day, I like to chop up some veggies in the morning and feed them to him individually by hand. He loves to shred his carrots which is great beak exercise. I feed him a handful of seeds spread out throughout the day. I'll sit down with my two conures and give them some as a treat and make them do a spin or make Pico talk. I also like to experiment with different types of food with them, since they'll try about anything. I have tons of shredding and foraging toys around the room and in their cage, but they do not care about them at all. You never know, though. I let them out around 10 am, I hardly leave them alone, so I'm constantly around them to socialize. At 4 pm I put them back in their cage to let my smaller bird fly around 'till 9 pm. After I put the other guys back in their cage I let my conures fly around for an hour to get all the energy out before going to sleep . I put them back in their cage, put a think blanket over their cage and let them get comfortable for 5 minutes. Then I turn off all the light for bedtime and don't enter my bird room 'till the next morning. He hasn't bonded to anyone in my household, but he is mated to my other green cheek.

Is Pico in the same cage as the other green cheek? If he is, that could be the issue with bonding to a human? It would be worth a try to seperate them.

 

[Aymo]

Is Pico in the same cage as the other green cheek? If he is, that could be the issue with bonding to a human? It would be worth a try to seperate them.

I'd feel really bad separating them since Pinkie will freak out if Pico is not in the cage at the same time he is. He's already an extremely anxious bird and that might cause some issues like plucking and aggression. Plus, Pico really needs a friend for in his cage. They're in their cage for a few hours during the evening and I don't want him to be alone for that long, since he is a social bird even if he's an a hole.

 

[AMD79]

I'd feel really bad separating them since Pinkie will freak out if Pico is not in the cage at the same time he is. He's already an extremely anxious bird and that might cause some issues like plucking and aggression. Plus, Pico really needs a friend for in his cage. They're in their cage for a few hours during the evening and I don't want him to be alone for that long, since he is a social bird even if he's an a hole.

this situation sounds really frustrating for you. The only thing that I can suggest is to just give Pico more time with you, and on your part patience, patience, patience. They do pick up on our moods good or bad. so if you feel anxious that is not the time. I found out about their picking up on our moods years ago. About 15 years ago I came home for lunch from work, and I was "over the moon" happy about something that had happened. I Made the mistake of trying to pick up one of the birds, and paid for it. It took me a minute to realize that even though I was so happy, my parrot only felt the high emotion. Good Luck!

 

[onamom5]

I’m curious if you know anything more about his history with the previous home. Was he handled regularly by the previous owners? How old is he?

Are you able to get him to step up without biting at all? Do you ever grab him with your hand vs him stepping up on his own? When on shoulder, is he flying to your shoulder or are you putting him there?

 

[Aymo]

I’m curious if you know anything more about his history with the previous home. Was he handled regularly by the previous owners? How old is he?

Are you able to get him to step up without biting at all? Do you ever grab him with your hand vs him stepping up on his own? When on shoulder, is he flying to your shoulder or are you putting him there?

He's 5 years old right now. The previous owners were obsessed with the guys and spent most of their time with them during covid, but they honestly didnt tell me a whole lot. He'll jump on my hand when he feels like it but you can't put your finger to close to him or he'll bite. He doesn't step up on command. I've never grabbed him or anything. I don't put him on my shoulder he'll fly to it and start biting the crap out of my shoulder.

 

[onamom5]

He's 5 years old right now. The previous owners were obsessed with the guys and spent most of their time with them during covid, but they honestly didnt tell me a whole lot. He'll jump on my hand when he feels like it but you can't put your finger to close to him or he'll bite. He doesn't step up on command. I've never grabbed him or anything. I don't put him on my shoulder he'll fly to it and start biting the crap out of my shoulder.

It sounds like he still thinks hands are scary and I’d guess was never handled much. Does he take treats from your hand? Something longer so he can’t bite, like millet?