Desperate for some help.

[Jayzhyd]

Hey,

So about two months ago I bought my girlfriend a Green Cheek Conure. He was 6 months old and I had been told he was hand reared, I did my research and quickly realised this was something of a necessity to those without taming experience.

I bought the conure home and he has been great, he seemed to be coming along nicely with the training. She spends every day with him and around 2 hours of real interaction and "quality" time with the bird, as well as letting him out in our front room pretty much all the time we are here.

He isnt noisy, but the one thing Im desperate for help with is his biting. I know it may be a situation many other bird owners are suffering with but after reading tons of websites we havent seemed to have found anything that works, or something which would fit.

Just putting him back into the cage isnt a option, because he doesnt handle well enough for us to be able to move him properly around the room.

We do ignore him, move away and then try again, but now he doesnt seem to want to do step up, work for treats, or play with the toys we offer, he just bites. He has bit my girlfriend so much now that she has like cuts and sores and doesnt want to handle him much anymore.

I dont want him to be neglected and her to miss out on having him as a pal. Is there anything I can try and do. Here are somethings we have tried:

Changing his cage. We changed his cage and environment hoping it would change is mood and outlook, maybe be less territorial and less nippy.

He has fresh food, water everyday and a clean cage.

Loads of toys, some which are in the cage and some we use as an incentive to play with us.

He just gets to the top of the cage. An bites.

He does step up sometimes if you offer food or tempt him with a toy. We keep trying to keep it interesting by changing and playing but he won't stop breaking the skin and biting.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thank you in advance,

Jack &

 

[Joshuwaaa]

Hey,

Sounds like our situations are really similar lol.

I have a green cheek, Cricket, and we have been teaching him the step up and trying to reinforce good behaviour.

At the moment I've been walking away when he bites, and someone told me to try and take their mind off of it? Keep using toys and treats, it sounds like your doing a good job. Dont be put off if they get nippy, its in their nature.

I have lots of cuts too, tell your girlfriend I'm in the same boat. If I find any solutions Il come back and let you know, I have a thread called something like, "What happened?! My Green Cheek Conure" people have posted a few suggestions.

Good luck

 

[MonicaMc]

You need to find out why the green cheek is biting, and try to learn his body language. Communication is a two way street, and when birds are upset, frightened, bored, afraid, inquisitive, etc, they often use their bodies, and even their beaks, to display how they are feeling.

RP - Biting


If you can figure out why he's biting, it may be easier to work with him on positive interactions without biting. Most people will say to 'ignore' the bite, but the key is to not get bitten in the first place! If you don't get bit, then the bird can't learn to bite! Although, this is easier said than done. It requires really paying attention to what your bird is telling you before the bite occurs.


When you say 'treats', what treats have you tried using?

 

[Aquila]

It could be hormones kicking in, and starting his "teenager" phase. I've worked with a considerable amount of conures through my job, and the age sounds about right for his behavior. You have to just keep correcting him and work through it.

Birds explore with their beak, so he needs to understand that when he bites you, it hurts! I say to my conure, "Ow" not in a loud voice, when she tries to preen the tips of my fingers and it hurts! I read somewhere that pressing their beak back is a better form of disipline, because it makes them uncomfortable being "overpowered." So if your bird is biting your finger, pressing back into the bite.

Now I don't mean pushing hard, but enough to get the bird to release. With my Amazon, I touch under his bottom mandible on his neck area when I feel him putting too much pressure, so I assume that'd work for a conure too.

But the biggest thing I want to stress is that I've experienced this a LOT, we had one Sun conure that was so bitey, and he turned out to be the sweetest thing, very affectionate, and very gentle after some good training. Your baby is also probably molting and a bit uncomfortable/grouchy, so give him a bath and see if that helps at all.

 

[Jayzhyd]

Just wanted to update,

I saw a post about using toys and using two people in order to keep his interest. It seems to work well but when I'm on my own I find it hard to get him onto my hand. He goes backwards and seems to move away from me. I tried with the toy myself but its hard to coax him on, and to be honest unless there is a pretty good incentive he doesnt seemed bothered to come and sit with us.

Its weird because if I'm next to him typing on my computer he will come to the bar we have sticking out his cage for when he is out. He sits as close as he can to me while I'm on my xbox or computer, but if I try and go in to stroke, scratch or play he either bites or moves away. I dont understand? Its like mixed messages, sometimes he seems to excited to come closer, but then if you put your hand out its like he has done it to bite you.

really confused. any help would be really good. Thanks

 

[Joshuwaaa]

I'm in the same position, my conure seems like he wants to bite me more then play. Its like he is excited and playful to bite me. my hand is the incentive loll.

keep trying, it will get better. atleast I hope so. your not alone !

 

[Rana]

Since he's so young it may just be a "testing" phase and you just need to keep consistant on ignoring him, or putting him in a time out for a few minutes when he bits too hard.
Conures are nippy, and the do bite and chew a lot, it's just a matter of teaching him what is acceptable and what is not.
But like monica said as well - there could be some underlaying reason for it, health issues or mental issues. Maybe take him to a vet for a full check up, at least you could rule that out if he's all good, and just work with mental stimulation.

What i notice with my conure (but that doesn't mean all conures are like this) is that if i did something to irritate him, he's quite vengeful...
If i greet Bandit before pip, pip will bite when i go to take him out. If i give bandit food before him he'll be p!ssed off and bite. If i play with his toys without him (hey... it happens and i'm not ashamed of it...) he bites (hard!).
It's just his character and it won't change... so keep in mind that you may learn what it is that triggers him to bite but you may not be able to change it, and just learn how to deal with it.

 

[MonicaMc]

If he's willing to come to you, is there any way to set up a 'bridge' of sorts between his cage and you? I.E. if you are at the desk, have a ladder or branch that reaches between the desk and his cage? That way, he could come 'all the way' on his own?