Biting conure, help

Dodo bird

New member
Oct 11, 2021
3
2
Parrots
Green cheek conure
Two weeks ago I found a green cheek conure perching on my tree in my yard. We took it in because there were no lost n found posters around my neighborhood and there are some owls around too.

We have no clue about its owner, age, name, how it's trained etc. So we assumed it lived quite far away from us. It was doing fine with me after a week or so: letting me pet or eating from my hands. Just this evening, I let it out of its cage. It's being its sweet self by letting me pet or preened itself on my hand. But once it got on my shoulder, it started to chew on my hair, pulling on my glasses and earrings aggressively. It seems obsessed to pull my earrings off my ears.

When I tried to stop it (covering the spot), it bit me to the point of bleeding and ran to my back to avoid my hands when I tried to let it perch on my hand. It was being aggressive and I have no other ways but to pried it off my back and put it back into it's cage. I was inexperienced with birds since I have always been a dog lover and those articles on the internet didnt help at all.

There's still no posters or people asking around for lost parrot, plus there's not a lot people keeping birds in my town so there's no adoption center whatsoever. I have absolutely no idea to deal with it, please help.
 

Skarila

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Welcome!!

Thank you for saving this little poor soul. Now bit of info on the conures - They are nippy little fluffbutts.

In this case it sounds to me that he/she has bitten out of fear, and I can tell your that fear bites are one of the worst and most painful from my experience.
Also they're hyperactive little things, very curious and inquisitive bunch. Don't let the bird be on your shoulder if it's always trying to pull off your jewellery (or don't wear it while home) or trying to chew off your glasses or hair. As soon the bird tries to do that, you need to somehow remove it. Instead of offering your hand or shooing with your hand (you shouldn't ever do that anyway) rather have a small object nearby when the bird is misbehaving while on you. One of our lovely members suggested this - they had a small tiny flag they'd use to scare off the bird off the head. Bird started associating the item with "go away" which works. Try not to associate anything bad with your hands - having the bird step will become more difficult, and the bird might lose trust in your hands and start attacking them instead.

As for searching the owner I understand how hard that might be. When we found Archie the cockatiel, I went through the trouble of posting posters around that a bird was found. Facebook groups, vets - so many small places we informed the bird was found. Eventually the owner was found (the owner found the poster/us directly and one of their acquaintances called us to contact the owner).

I do not know where you are from, but try joining in several FB parrot groups linked to your country/town and ask people to share - perhaps eventually the owner will be found. I cannot imagine how much the owner must be missing this little guy, and how the birdie certainly misses their owner. don't reveal all the details about the bird, just saying it's a GCC will be enough - those who are searching will know the coloration and the little tidbits. Ask for pictures as a proof. If the bird has a leg band, try giving it out to serveral vet stations - if the bird was in the vet clinic, usually they do write down the band number which is linked to the owner. It's extremely unlikely that the bird is chipped, so I wouldn't bother with that.

Until then, we're here to help with any questions you might have, we try to help much as possible.
 
OP
D

Dodo bird

New member
Oct 11, 2021
3
2
Parrots
Green cheek conure
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
Welcome!!

Thank you for saving this little poor soul. Now bit of info on the conures - They are nippy little fluffbutts.

In this case it sounds to me that he/she has bitten out of fear, and I can tell your that fear bites are one of the worst and most painful from my experience.
Also they're hyperactive little things, very curious and inquisitive bunch. Don't let the bird be on your shoulder if it's always trying to pull off your jewellery (or don't wear it while home) or trying to chew off your glasses or hair. As soon the bird tries to do that, you need to somehow remove it. Instead of offering your hand or shooing with your hand (you shouldn't ever do that anyway) rather have a small object nearby when the bird is misbehaving while on you. One of our lovely members suggested this - they had a small tiny flag they'd use to scare off the bird off the head. Bird started associating the item with "go away" which works. Try not to associate anything bad with your hands - having the bird step will become more difficult, and the bird might lose trust in your hands and start attacking them instead.

As for searching the owner I understand how hard that might be. When we found Archie the cockatiel, I went through the trouble of posting posters around that a bird was found. Facebook groups, vets - so many small places we informed the bird was found. Eventually the owner was found (the owner found the poster/us directly and one of their acquaintances called us to contact the owner).

I do not know where you are from, but try joining in several FB parrot groups linked to your country/town and ask people to share - perhaps eventually the owner will be found. I cannot imagine how much the owner must be missing this little guy, and how the birdie certainly misses their owner. don't reveal all the details about the bird, just saying it's a GCC will be enough - those who are searching will know the coloration and the little tidbits. Ask for pictures as a proof. If the bird has a leg band, try giving it out to serveral vet stations - if the bird was in the vet clinic, usually they do write down the band number which is linked to the owner. It's extremely unlikely that the bird is chipped, so I wouldn't bother with that.

Until then, we're here to help with any questions you might have, we try to help much as possible.
Thank you for the advices, I will try them
 

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