Bed time and nipping.

[Kantia]

Hi all,
Just some questions really that I’m not sure how to approach.
I’ve had my green cheeked conure (Tich, who is currently helping me type!) for nearly two weeks now. The problem I’m mainly having is... putting him back in his cage when it’s bed time. I spend all evening with him and he usually ends up falling asleep cuddled up to me. But he’s like a two year old, he’s so tired yet he doesn’t want to go to bed! Once I have him in the cage he usually gives me a bite. I usually receive quite a hard bite when I take him out of the cage also in the mornings. I don’t think it’s out of aggression, he’s just happy to see me. But how can I prevent this?

Another behaviour I wasn’t quite sure about; when I’m stroking him around his head/neck/chest he opens his beak a little bit. It’s not enough to be a yawn but he doesn’t go to bite me either. I thought it might be regurgitation but there is no other body spasm that seems to come with that. I just wondered what you guys thought it could be?

 

[AFP520]

Hi all,
Just some questions really that I’m not sure how to approach.
I’ve had my green cheeked conure (Tich, who is currently helping me type!) for nearly two weeks now. The problem I’m mainly having is... putting him back in his cage when it’s bed time. I spend all evening with him and he usually ends up falling asleep cuddled up to me. But he’s like a two year old, he’s so tired yet he doesn’t want to go to bed! Once I have him in the cage he usually gives me a bite. I usually receive quite a hard bite when I take him out of the cage also in the mornings. I don’t think it’s out of aggression, he’s just happy to see me. But how can I prevent this?

Another behaviour I wasn’t quite sure about; when I’m stroking him around his head/neck/chest he opens his beak a little bit. It’s not enough to be a yawn but he doesn’t go to bite me either. I thought it might be regurgitation but there is no other body spasm that seems to come with that. I just wondered what you guys thought it could be?

I usually hold Lucy with my hand over her wings so she can't scurry away, and put her in head first. She does not nip.

The face you're talking about, just like when you get a good scratch that you like, it's a "oooh yeahhh" face.

 

[Bobioden]

Do you have a Happy Hut/Sleep Tent for him? Maxx loves his, He will use it a few times a day to take naps, and climbs in at at 8p each night. I cover him sometime after that, and he is fine until I uncover him at 7a in the morning.

I highly recommend them.

 

[Kantia]

Thanks for the advice! I was going to get a happy hut at the weekend. :]

I usually hold Lucy with my hand over her wings so she can't scurry away, and put her in head first. She does not nip.

Do you mean Lucy is on your finger and you support her with your hand at the back, or do you hold her around her back with one hand?

 

[WindyRed]

Do you mean Lucy is on your finger and you support her with your hand at the back, or do you hold her around her back with one hand?

I don't have a Lucy, but I have an Allie and a Micky and I do both with them depending on my (and their) mood. I raised them to understand that they could be my purses as easily as they could be my pets, so I carry them like handbags fairly often. Essentially I just grab them over their back. They'll usually hold on to the end of one of my fingers with one of their feet, but that's about it. I do this mainly when I have to run outside for something and I don't want to put them in a carrier. People really get a kick out of it.

I have their bedtime cages made up with their favorite toys, food and water and they've always been happy to hop right in. A good friend of mine advocates for always putting a special treat in the cage at bedtime so it's there when they wake up in the morning - You could make something like that part of the bedtime routine. Rather than waiting till Tich is already asleep, then waking him up and putting him back to bed, put him to bed BEFORE he goes to sleep and give him a special treat for going to bed willingly.