New Conure mom

MojosMom · May 30, 2026

Hi. I’m new here so first a little background. I recently acquired a pair of Conures from a former co worker who moved away and couldn’t keep them. I knew nothing about having parrots but did some research before agreeing to take them on. The female, Mojo, believed to be about 3, is a Sun Conure and the male, Loki, is a 1 1/2 year old Green Cheek, who was believed to have been female his whole life and was named Jewel at the time until I had him sexed. I knew Mojo was female because she had laid eggs. I have had them for just over 3 months now and they have both been vet checked. They were both underweight but otherwise healthy. I was told they were both very affectionate but Loki was more affectionate than Mojo, who preferred to be left alone.

They have separate cages and are only together outside of their cages for play time and exercise. I don’t believe they are bonded but do interact with each other. They don’t cuddle or preen each other and Mojo always seems like she’s trying to stay away from him but he follows her around like a pesky little brother.

The issue is, ever since I got them it seems like Loki hates me. He flies over to me just to bite me and I have several scars already. I am minding my own business and without warning he bites. He will also “attack” Mojo when it’s time for them to go back in their cages and I’m trying to get her to step up. I have to get him first (while wearing 2 pairs of gloves) and hold my hand over his back so he doesn’t fly off. He tries to bite me through the cage when I lock it or when I’m changing his food and water. The only time he’s not trying to bite me is when I’m opening his cage door to let him out. Mojo on the other hand, is very sweet and affectionate with me. The only time she “bites” is when she’s on my shoulder and doesn’t want to step up. She never bites hard. I have no doubt Loki is not happy about being in a different home but it’s been over 3 months and I’m at my wits end. Is it fair to Mojo, who’s had bouts of plucking, to keep them together? Would they be better off if Loki was with someone else? I understand he’s at a hormonal stage and he might grow out of it. His previous owner was shocked he was biting and told me he’s never bitten them.

Any advice and information would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

LaManuka · May 30, 2026

MojosMom said:
Hi. I’m new here so first a little background. I recently acquired a pair of Conures from a former co worker who moved away and couldn’t keep them. I knew nothing about having parrots but did some research before agreeing to take them on. The female, Mojo, believed to be about 3, is a Sun Conure and the male, Loki, is a 1 1/2 year old Green Cheek, who was believed to have been female his whole life and was named Jewel at the time until I had him sexed. I knew Mojo was female because she had laid eggs. I have had them for just over 3 months now and they have both been vet checked. They were both underweight but otherwise healthy. I was told they were both very affectionate but Loki was more affectionate than Mojo, who preferred to be left alone.

They have separate cages and are only together outside of their cages for play time and exercise. I don’t believe they are bonded but do interact with each other. They don’t cuddle or preen each other and Mojo always seems like she’s trying to stay away from him but he follows her around like a pesky little brother.

The issue is, ever since I got them it seems like Loki hates me. He flies over to me just to bite me and I have several scars already. I am minding my own business and without warning he bites. He will also “attack” Mojo when it’s time for them to go back in their cages and I’m trying to get her to step up. I have to get him first (while wearing 2 pairs of gloves) and hold my hand over his back so he doesn’t fly off. He tries to bite me through the cage when I lock it or when I’m changing his food and water. The only time he’s not trying to bite me is when I’m opening his cage door to let him out. Mojo on the other hand, is very sweet and affectionate with me. The only time she “bites” is when she’s on my shoulder and doesn’t want to step up. She never bites hard. I have no doubt Loki is not happy about being in a different home but it’s been over 3 months and I’m at my wits end. Is it fair to Mojo, who’s had bouts of plucking, to keep them together? Would they be better off if Loki was with someone else? I understand he’s at a hormonal stage and he might grow out of it. His previous owner was shocked he was biting and told me he’s never bitten them.

Any advice and information would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forums, @MojosMom, and thank you for giving Mojo and Loki a loving home!

I've never had a Sun, but I have had a green cheek. His name was Baci (Italian for "kisses") and I knew NOTHING about them when I got him, but a few people told me early on that GCCs could be a little "nippy". Well that turned out to be the understatement of the year! He was sweet and cuddly as a baby, as all baby birds are, but pretty much the moment he reached sexual maturity - BAM - almost overnight he turned into a really bitey little terror! I had, at that point, been keeping birds for about 40 years and had never had one like him, and a bit like you, I though perhaps he had suddenly decided that he hated me. I'm quite sure that Loki does not hate you, in fact if he is around a year and a half old he is in pretty much the right age range to have reached sexual maturity, so that may explain the sudden onset of biting, in addition to his new surroundings.

After reading a lot of accounts of similar behaviours on this forum, I came to realise that Baci didn't hate me, he was just displaying behaviours that are reasonably common among GCCs. They are fairly notorious for a thing called "cage aggression", where they come to view their cage as their territory and will defend it most vigorously. I got used to having to change Baci's food and water when he was out of his cage so as to avoid getting bitten. Sometimes he would even fly over to bite me if I was sitting on the couch with my husband or another bird, and I had NO idea why he would do this! Turns out this was something they call "displacement biting", where the bird REALLY likes you, but he's trying to give you a warning to stay away from that interloper who is trying to muscle in on his relationship! The good news is though that these hormonal surges do not last forever, and Baci and I were able to repair our relationship, but I did make it a point of learning his body language to minimise biting in order to not make it too much of a habit with him - GCCs are only little but they can bite HARD as you have experienced!

Sadly I lost my baby Baci when he was only five and it completely broke my heart so I can't give you much more info about him and his behaviours, but I'm sure others here can. Don't forget to please post some pics of your little ones, will you? Cos we love baby photos around here.