New User With A New Parrot

[FluffNugget]

Hello everyone!

I have yet to post an introduction for myself, but I do have a question.
I have a three month old green cheek conure (his name is Rook), who was obviously never hand tamed before. So, I've had to start from scratch with him. He had just arrived in Petsmart when I purchased him, so he hadn't really had time to be terrorized by hundreds of unruly children yet.

Now, I've never raised a young parrot myself before. I've had a cockatiel before him, but I had bought him from someone, and he was already a year and a half.
Rook is definitely a new experience for me.

So far so good, though. I've had him a few weeks, and he's already warming up to me very well. BUT, my biggest question is what to do with biting!
Rook has this habit of chasing my feet around the floor and giving my toes a good nip. I try not to react, but seeing as this both hurts AND tickles, I can't help but shoe him away with a stern "no". He just comes running back to bite me again. He also nips my fingers when there are no treats in them. So far I'm trying to ignore him when he does this, but it's not working too well yet.

If there's anyone out there who could give me a few pointers, I'd appreciate it very much.

Thank you!

 

[a_osborne]

Hello and welcome! I've had my GCC for about 4.5 years and I got her as a hand fed baby. Finished weaning her myself, actually. She went through a pretty nippy/mean phase despite being hand fed. One thing to remember is patience. It sure is irritating when you feel like you're doing everything right and it's not working. I honestly can't remember now what I did to make Eva stop as it's been a while and I had to try a couple different things. However, there are SO many kind and helpful people on here. I'm sure you will get help!

 

[a_osborne]

Oh I just realized that you said you've been trying to ignore the biting with no luck. I recently got a IRN and had this same trouble and one thing that was suggested to me was getting a foot toy or wooden perch to distract with when she attempts to bite. This hasn't worked well for me (yet) but maybe it would for you! All birds are different, after all.

 

[Mudkips]

Ignoring biting is something you hear about a lot, but in practice is not a good idea at all. It can give very confusing signals to a young parrot who is trying to learn what is acceptable or not.
Have you ever accidentally done something to Rook that he didn't like? GGCs make a very clear "STOP IT!" sound when they are upset about something that's happening to them, and serves as a first warning that, 'if you don't stop that, something bad will happen!'
A good idea is to make that same sound and stare directly at him the exact moment you are nipped. He will stop for a second to look back at you, but what he does next will depend on why he was attacking your feet in the first place (pure anger, playing games, etc).

Another common mistake is to unknowingly 'treat' a nipping parrot with extra play-time. Ask yourself, how is your whole body reacting to a small parrot chasing chasing your feet? I'm guessing that you back up in such a way that encourages him to keep chasing forward - in other words, a really fun game!
There are a few good options on what you can do instead, but the important thing is to never string him along, because he will take the bait. There has to be a clear and sudden stop to the activity, with no opportunities to start back up.

You will feel really silly doing some of these things at the start, but it gives the correct messages to your young parrot early on, so you wont have to do any of this stuff a few weeks down the track. Your fid will just know!

 

[Selestine]

Great advice from Mudkip there. If it seems like fun, he's going to want to do it.

I think it's pretty natural for young green cheeks to be nippy. Not necessarily bitey, but nippy.. to want to explore things with their beaks because they are still exploring their environment and haven't learned yet that it can hurt us (we don't have feathers!!).

My son's green cheek used to be super nippy, and we tried the ignoring thing but it didn't work for us. What we ended up doing is putting a finger lightly on her beak and sternly saying "That hurts." and giving her an affronted look. Not going to lie though, she still nips my husband's ears. He is her favourite, and if he's holding her and she wants him to pet her and she's feeling ignored, she'll nip him for attention. It's his own fault, because he responds by petting her more.

And hey! Where are the pictures?!?!