Breepup81

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Jul 23, 2020
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2 Green cheek Conures
I own an 8-month-old GCC who used to be the sweetest thing in the whole world, but as of three or four days ago she has wanted nothing to do with me, she bites at me when I take her out of her cage, and she puffs right up whenever I try to handle her. I usually put her right back in her cage when she does this and she will climb up onto the wall of my cage and try to bite my fingers as I latch her door shut.

She was just starting to get better last night, I was finally able to take her out and sit down with her and pet her without angering her and I was having a little bit of hope.

Then she started to get angry out of nowhere, I had absolutely had it, I had done absolutely nothing wrong to anger her so I picked her up to try and bring her back to her cage and she tried to fly away from me.

When she jumped, I accidentally grabbed her tail and that kept her from going anywhere and she panicked and began flapping around trying to get away as I was trying to give her a hand to stand on.

This morning I tried taking her out again and she was flapping her wings again trying to get away from my hands. I'm worried I just made the situation worse and I don't know what to do to earn back her trust.
 

wrench13

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Sure she is 8 months old? CHanges in temperment often come with the onset of puberty, as hormones flood the young bird for the first time. Poor things have no control over thier moods at all. 8 months is a bit early for a conure, but not unknown.

Now, if you have drained the trust bank account by doing the above actions, yu would be best served by starting from ground zero, in gaining back that trust and filling the account back up. Parrots are all about trust and we must never do anything to break that trust, or pay the consequences.
 

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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Hello. I think before you mentioned you are 16? I think its great that you are reaching out looking fir answers and help. The first thing is most of start with the approach that all bites are our fault. It really helps to start from this point.
There is always a reason from the parrots point of view for biting. Often they have tried to communicate to give them space by body language before the bite. Baby birds will tolerate us making mistakes, but an adult bird , and 8 months is pretty much an adult for GCC, demand respect. GCC are quick to discipline us with their beaks.

Its easy for a bird to become fearful of hands.
But yiu can work to build back trust . Walking up and saying hi, give a treat by hand and walk away, repeat a bunch of times a day. This starts to build positive association with you. And it has helped me in the past.

The following is from an article
" Dealing With Biting
People will tell you that birds don’t bite in the wild. Well, they don’t usually bite successfully in the wild, but they will snap at each other if it becomes necessary, for example, if one bird invades another’s nest or territory. Birds do bite a lot more in captivity, usually because their boundaries are being pushed too far. All birds have a threshold of what they can handle before they lash out with a bite. There are other good reasons for a bird to bite as well. Here are some details about birds that bite:

Rule #1 The first rule in teaching a bird not to bite is not to get bitten. When a bird bites, he usually gets what he wants from the action — you will go away and leave him alone. You will also make a big fuss over the bite, which can be attractive to the bird, an animal that loves drama. Rather than reinforce the behavior, just don’t let it happen. Learn to “read” your bird so that you can assess the situation and get out before the bite happens.
Fear Biting You can hardly blame a bird that bites out of fear, even if the fear is unfounded. Look at the world from your bird’s perspective and try not to put him in situations that will frighten him.
Hormonal Biting In the spring when the days get longer, some birds are prompted into breeding mode and may become territorial of their housing area, of another bird, or of a person in the household. This can usually be dealt with by adjusting the amount of light the bird gets a day to less than 12 hours.
Jealousy Biting Sometimes, a bird will love his person so much, and then suddenly chomp down on him or her when someone else comes into the room. This actually has practical application in nature, although it is unpleasant. In the wild, a member of a pair will shoo away their beloved when another bird, a threat to the pair, flies into the territory. The “jealous” bird is simply protecting their mate and their relationship. If you know that your bird does this, make sure that you can put him down before someone comes into the room, and don’t ever allow this bird to ride on your shoulder.
Molting Some birds become irritable when they are molting and may not be feeling 100 percent. The same goes for birds that are ill or injured.
Counteractive Biting Some birds bite to prevent you from performing or not performing an action, for example a bird that bites when being brought back to the cage because he doesn’t want to be locked in. As an aside, some birds that don’t like to be put back into the cage pretend that they have wobbly legs and that they can’t stand up just as you put them away — what a great tactic for not stepping onto a perch! To prevent “put away” biting, don’t put your bird away every time you pick him up. Instead, do something fun, or play a little game before you put your bird away; mix it up so that the bird isn’t sure what’s coming next, and make it fun! "
 

Scott

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Aug 21, 2010
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RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
My first thought when reading the OP was hormones, onset of puberty. Are you able to verify her age?

Some ideas to rekindle trust if that is an issue: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

Bite pressure training: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html

If your GCC is indeed on the path to adulthood, unwelcome behaviors will continue. Best you can do is adopt the mindset of knowing this is temporary, and take steps to minimize the worst of biting. The end result should be a lovable companion!
 

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