GCC biting baby

[PipnMe]

Hi All! I am a new conure mom. Pip is only a few weeks old and was handfed so he is very comfortable with being around people and getting lots of cuddles. He is very sweet but, yesterday he started biting. Yesterday I tried the earthquake method and by the end of the day, he got used to it. Today I tried firmly saying "no bite" and putting him in his cage, but I can't get him off of me when I try to put him away! The little bugger holds onto me or my clothes so tight! Ever since I've been giving him attention with the "no bite" he has been biting harder (even breaking skin). Anyone have any suggestions for me? I want to be able to start training him well now.

 

[tainoking]

Oh gosh this sounds difficult. Well I dont know whats causing this behavior but try to just grab his beak after the bite and do a no motion

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[snowflake311]

YUP I have been there. My bird still bites/nips.

You can to learn WHY they do it. Sprinkles nips more when he is tired, bored, wants attention, thirsty, hungery, and just wants to play. The more time I spend with him the better I have gotten to know him and can keep from getting nipped to much.

I say no bites and HEY and look at him in a mad way. If He is really bad I put him down on a couch or table and walk away. Just now he was being too nippy so I just put him on his cage to chill out. Not in his cage just on it.

With time and being consistent you will get past the nippy baby bird. When I first took Sprinkles home after a week of having him I cried and thought I picked the worst bird. I did not give up on him and our relationship gets better and better. BUT it takes time.

They will never stop nipping you just need to train them to not bite so hard.

 

[PipnMe]

YUP I have been there. My bird still bites/nips.

You can to learn WHY they do it. Sprinkles nips more when he is tired, bored, wants attention, thirsty, hungery, and just wants to play. The more time I spend with him the better I have gotten to know him and can keep from getting nipped to much.

I say no bites and HEY and look at him in a mad way. If He is really bad I put him down on a couch or table and walk away. Just now he was being too nippy so I just put him on his cage to chill out. Not in his cage just on it.

With time and being consistent you will get past the nippy baby bird. When I first took Sprinkles home after a week of having him I cried and thought I picked the worst bird. I did not give up on him and our relationship gets better and better. BUT it takes time.

They will never stop nipping you just need to train them to not bite so hard.

Thank you so much! I noticed at the end of the day he gets a bit nippy and it's probably because he is tired. Yesterday I gave him extra cage time and he seemed to be happy the rest of the day. Other times when he gets nippy, around 10am, I'm still trying to figure out what he wants haha. When he bites and doesn't let go I try to distract him by walking quickly or grabbing something he is curious about with my other hand. I am also thinking that he maybe has too much shoulder time?

 

[PipnMe]

Oh gosh this sounds difficult. Well I dont know whats causing this behavior but try to just grab his beak after the bite and do a no motion

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Thank you, I am working on figuring out why. I noticed that sometimes he is just tired of being handled, especially in the evening.

 

[LordTriggs]

Yes the why of it is the first thing to look at in terms of controlling it. you've already sussed the evening bite but the 10 AM needs looking at. It could be that he gets over-excited at that time, or if that exact time every day is when he gets the grump it should be easier to figure out, something happening at that time each day, or as they're a baby it could be needing a quick nap. Gotta get your Sherlock holmes hat on and investigate.

As for what to do I found a stern "no" grumpy face and putting them on the floor facing away from you worked for me, but of course each one is different. I'm an advocate of not using the cage as it can often cause more problems than it fixes such as biting to go in the cage. I'm also against grabbing the beak as that isn't exactly pleasant and could cause fear of hands, remember the beak is sensitive. I know it works for some but just not my thing, like how some people will slap a dog's butt, just not what I like to do. The timeout doesn't even need to be long, just enough for them to realize that they're in a place they're not happy about being and they're not the center of attention. They often come back quite apologetic after that.

Ultimately you'll find what works for you and what sets him off, it's a very long learning process for both of you and once it clicks it becomes an amazing friendship

 

[snowflake311]

YUP I have been there. My bird still bites/nips.

You can to learn WHY they do it. Sprinkles nips more when he is tired, bored, wants attention, thirsty, hungery, and just wants to play. The more time I spend with him the better I have gotten to know him and can keep from getting nipped to much.

I say no bites and HEY and look at him in a mad way. If He is really bad I put him down on a couch or table and walk away. Just now he was being too nippy so I just put him on his cage to chill out. Not in his cage just on it.

With time and being consistent you will get past the nippy baby bird. When I first took Sprinkles home after a week of having him I cried and thought I picked the worst bird. I did not give up on him and our relationship gets better and better. BUT it takes time.

They will never stop nipping you just need to train them to not bite so hard.

Thank you so much! I noticed at the end of the day he gets a bit nippy and it's probably because he is tired. Yesterday I gave him extra cage time and he seemed to be happy the rest of the day. Other times when he gets nippy, around 10am, I'm still trying to figure out what he wants haha. When he bites and doesn't let go I try to distract him by walking quickly or grabbing something he is curious about with my other hand. I am also thinking that he maybe has too much shoulder time?

Oh when I first got Sprinkles I did not let him on my shoulder he would bite to hard I did not trust him. Now that we know each other I let him on me but now he would rather be on my fingers so he can Wrestle me hand and play.

Don't give up it does get better the more you work with them.

 

[Flboy]

My JoJo gets a little nippy around 10 AM! I believe it is because he is ready to have some chill time alone!

 

[Pilaf]

I have just been going though this with my 3 months old green cheek conure Echo. I have him for 2 weeks now. But since a few days it's been going great. Echo was mostly nipping me because he just thought of my skin as a toy, and believe me, I had chunks bleeding out of my lips, my ears, and my fingers and my arms. What I have been doing is, I only let him sit on my hand, not on my shoulders, at least not until I can trust him there. When he sits on my hand and he bows down to nip me, I rapidly move my hand a little until he's lost his balance a bit. You have to watch his body language really good, because sometime he just wants to rub or wipe his beak on your hand and that should be fine. But you will see that he wants to nip you if he has his beak a bit open when he reaches for it. I don't say anything when he tries to bite me, I only move my hand really fast, but not too rough of course. Then when he's sitting up straight again, not paying attention to my skin, I reward him by saying 'good boy'. You have to be very fast with this, so that he gets it. But for my Echo it helped remarkably.

 

[morrjr]

I am going through this with my three month old GCC that I've had him for about three weeks. I'm learning more about when he is likely to bite, and I've been able to prevent a few hard bites. I think a lot of it is him learning how much pressure to use when beaking, but some times if he gets mad he will start vocalizing and then straight out bite me. He's getting better, but he does have his days.

 

[clark_conure]

I'll share this because it "might" help. My bird and I bonded quick and also he hates being on the floor alone. Our version of a time-out is I put him "on the carpet" (like the military lingo being called in front of a CO). I stand up take him about 15 feet away and put him on the floor. He hates this and walks back to me in his slow birdlike gate, and by the time he makes it back he realizes that what he did was unacceptable. And he's much sweeter and is all I loves yous etc. when he climbs back up.

So...basically he doesn't bite anymore...I horseplay with him but he's figured out the difference between "play gnawing" and "bite" pretty good. Also I've had him a year and a half I can't pinpoint how long it took but it was a few weeks to a couple months.

Oh also use your words, say no, bad, no bite, birds use sound; use sound to reinforce your position on being bitten.

 

[clark_conure]

I should also point out if he likes the floor.....find someplace he's not happy with, but can still walk away from....it's a time-out and he needs the time to walk back and think about why he's walking back. I don't agree with the holding beak and earthquake method, but maybe that's just because I never even heard of those methods before I came on this site and I had all my cockatiels as a kid, and my conure now for a year and a half before I even discovered this site. But I still think I did it right.

I "believe" the time-out floor walk imprints more than a quick nervous shake or grabbing a beak etc. So I am aligned with LordTrigg's advice, coupled with my own.

 

[LordTriggs]

I should also point out if he likes the floor.....find someplace he's not happy with, but can still walk away from....it's a time-out and he needs the time to walk back and think about why he's walking back. I don't agree with the holding beak and earthquake method, but maybe that's just because I never even heard of those methods before I came on this site and I had all my cockatiels as a kid, and my conure now for a year and a half before I even discovered this site. But I still think I did it right.

I "believe" the time-out floor walk imprints more than a quick nervous shake or grabbing a beak etc. So I am aligned with LordTrigg's advice, coupled with my own.

haha, I tried the earthquake and it made him grip tighter which I couldn't argue with as he was trying to hold on.

I didn't walk away as he was flighted so I turned him away from me and just didn't pay attention to him for a minute. He couldn't get to me so he wasn't happy which taught him where my tolerance for his beak was.

I also whole-heartedly disagree with grabbing the beak, it's restraining them which isn't nice and shoving your fingers right into the thing that just hurt you, seems counter-intuitive to me. the beak is also sensitive so I'm fairly certain it hurts them, at least not a pleasant experience so I can see it making them fearful of fingers which you don't want. You want them to be gentle because they understand it hurts you and they want to be nice to you, not because they're scared of you

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Sometimes I will grab Skittles beak between my fingers and say "I got your beak! I got your beak!". He doesn't attack me when I do that, for us its just a play thing. He'll grab onto my fingers and play.

As for biting, that's not ever really been an issue for me with any birds I've owned over the years. I just don't react when they bite. I act like nothing happened and I persist. They quickly catch on that biting isn't going to work. Of course during the taming of them they DO bite hard and I often bleed, but the biting subsides over time as I don't react to it. If they don't get a reaction out of you, they'll likely stop.

Skittles does have a playful bite, which doesn't bother me. I KNOW when he bites. But the only time he really bites me is when he senses danger or he sees a stranger (he'll usually fly onto my shoulder if he isn't already there and grab my shirt and shake it and pinch me (which does hurt). But I don't discipline him for that as he is just acting in his nature. I just do what I can to reassure him that there is no danger and (if possible) remove the threat that he sees.

If Skittles happens to get 'bite-happy' cause he's in one of his 'moods' or whatever- I just point my finger at his beak and say "no bite!". But I don't touch his beak when I do that.

 

[LordTriggs]

yeah if it's playing or a nice thing touching the beak isn't bad. Rio was okay with a little beak rub, not entirely comfortable though with it he preferred to come to you if he wanted a beak rub

 

[PipnMe]

Update: Thank you all so much! As of yesterday, he hasn't bitten me at all. He seems to respond well with me putting him on the floor and ignoring him for a few seconds. Works like a charm! Thank you!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

What Skittles will do a lot when my finger is near his beak (and I've seen this a LOT with sun conures) is he will rapidly grind the side of his beak along my finger nails. Like scratching. Sometimes I even do it. He likes it.

He's actually VERY good about not biting. The very FIRST time I held him was at the pet store. The clerk on duty was afraid to grab him cause she feared being bit. So I offered to do it. He bit me very hard and I bled but I didn't react. When I got him home for the first time, he was really good and didn't bite at all. But I didn't try to handle him too much either. I was mainly focused on getting him used to the place. I had already set up his cage before bringing him home.

I cannot stress enough how effective NOT reacting when you are BEING bit is. Now, that being said, you still want to confront the behavior with a stern 'no' or whatever method you use. But when I say don't "react", I mean don't show fear of being bit or freak out when you are being bit- as that just reinforces the bad biting behavior.

Often times when I think Skittles will bite me, I will say firmly "no biting" and he doesn't bite most of the time.

My biggest problem at the moment with Skitty is he is getting to be too big for his britches lol so I have had to crack down a bit before it gets out of hand. He is wanting juice throughout the day now (I assume cause its summer) but he is only supposed to have a 'thimble' a day and its part of his 'morning routine'. Its 100% juice with no added sugars, but still the vet says I shouldn't give him more than a 'thimblefull' a day. So I have stuck with that. He's doing better though the last few days. He's noticed I am not giving in whenever he wants it, so I imagine the behavior will taper off soon.

 

[clark_conure]

PipnMe I'm happy you're happy, I'm happy LordTriggs and I helped you out.

 

[LordTriggs]

Very true Skittles. Although I think "no reaction" may be the wrong way of putting it as I know I was confused by that at first and in other places I've seen it where people do literally nothing. I think more "react calmly" is the way to do it, so the time-out method where you're calm and collected. Even if you put them down then after go give yourself a minute although I feel a bird shouldn't bite hard if trained properly. I find bite training to be as much training the human as the bird (any training really) by which I mean the human has to teach the bird that a beak is okay but when the bird is upset or grumpy or whatever they don't need to go full force to let us know. Rio was taught that a light nip got me to understand and he only chomped me once which was whilst he was in the middle of a complete panic and thought he was going to die which I feel is an acceptable situation to bite. They need to know when they can use the beak so Rio learnt very quickly, beak for play, nip for telling me off, bite for being terrified. Like I say, as much a learning experience for them as for you.

Good to hear your little guy has calmed down, they get it pretty quickly dont they? You should be lucky you didn't have to deal with the process I had with Rio! He was a parent-reared practically wild bird, having been first netted when he fledged and the grabbed with a glove before he came home with me so it was a long process to calm him. Once he was tame you wouldn't have believed he wasn't hand-reared

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Yeah, you make a good point. I mean its hardly possible to completely show NO reaction when being bit. I was essentially saying not to show the bird any reaction that might make them think they are succeeding. Reacting calmly is what I do. A lot of people freak out when they are bit OR show fear and whether people believe it or not, they CAN sense fear and if they sense it in you, they'll react defensively.

I am actually VERY lucky with regard to Skittles. Not just because of how he was when I got him, but his breed as well. Sun conures are NOT easy birds to own, ask any sun owner and they'll tell you. Don't underestimate them. lol. Its like having a puppy and a toddler all in one covered in feathers. Sounds cute when you first think about it- but puppies and toddlers grow up and mature. Sunnies stay this way their whole life which is quite a commitment.

I actually wasn't even in the market for a new bird when I got Skittles. I was in the market for a new PC I had been saving up for- but for whatever reason, I couldn't commit to a brand and setup. Then, out of the blue, I decided to buy a new set of stainless steel pots/pans (I do a LOT of homecooking) and got rid of my teflon non-stick. I still don't know why I did that. But next thing you know, I'm bringing home Skittles instead of a new computer. It was his reaction to me compared to others that won me over. He was hopping and rolling around in his aviary when I was near. I then stepped away when another customer wanted to see him and what he was doing and he ignored her and went back up to his perch to preen. Then I went back to see him and he came back down and did the same things over again with the hopping. I wanted to bring him home right then, but the store clerk (go figure) talked me out of it by explaining the difficulties and requirements. So I went home and spent the next four days obsessing over him and doing research and decided to bring him home.

He was already tamed when I got him. Also he was potty trained and made 'kissy noises'. There was a clerk there that took a liking to him and whenever she would work she'd take him out and have him on her shoulder. The only reason she didn't buy him herself is because she works full time. That was the only reason.

Skittles is actually like night and day now. For the first two to three years I had him- he was an absolute nightmare. It kept getting worse. Then a friend of mine told me I wasn't setting limits or boundaries and was giving in to him all the time. In my own defense, its incredibly difficult to say no to his face when he starts hopping and making his kissy noises. But my friend was right.

So I started setting limits and boundaries and using time-outs. They were a regular thing in the beginning of retraining and I HATED doing it. But it worked. It worked so well I got rid of the time-out cage. Don't get me wrong, he's far from 'perfectly behaved' (no such thing), but hes' cooperative at least 90% of the time. But just like us, he has his 'off days' and his 'bad days'. Granted, I don't cut him any slack even then (consistency is key), but I at least know why he's being like that when that happens.