Question for Conure Experts

[Kanean]

My mom got a Green-Cheek Conure a little under a year ago(Her name is Kiwi)

Kiwi was very attached to my mom, but then I moved in and began talking and trying to mess(hold and play) with kiwi, at first she would bit me(obviously) but eventually after a good couple of months she let me holder her and play with her. But resently shes been being nippy and bitting my mom, and so my mom assumes it my fault because "Conures are a one person bird" in her words and had, basicly, banned my from messing with Kiwi

My question is(well questions) Is that true? Are Green-cheeks a "One person bird"? and is it "my fault" that shes began bitting my mom? Or are there possibly other reason for that?

 

[clark_conure]

no bird should be allowed to bite a human....

Do a search on the site but basically with bonded birds the most effective method is the time out method. After a bite say "NO" in an authoritative voice and put the bird on the floor or some area it won't like but can return from, not a playstand or cage etc.

This gives the bird time to calm down and think about what it did. In effect you are shunning the bird for it's bad behavior...which is what a flock would do. As the bird makes the long walk back it will figure out it did something bad.

He she will be a lot nicer when he/she comes back.

As far as the root cause, I dunno about that. They are flock animals and even humans can be part of a flock. It might be sexual tension? or something else. But first order of business is to stop the biting behavior.

This method might have to be repeated 3-4 times or more but in the end everyone says it's super-effective.

 

[Laurasea]

Hi and welcome. We all deal with biting here and there. Babies are always sweet, then they grow up and want things a certain way..

You should never force a parrot to be with you. Also sometimes something happens to make them afraid of hands and you have to earn back trust. We have a thread here biting a search for answers, I don't know how to link threads, so hopefully a helpful person will come along and link it

I have conures but I am the only person in the house. They will visit with my friends and family, but I'm right there to take them back, or take the bite. So I'm not sure about multiple people in the house. I think k well socialized birds will have their favorite person, but be willing to visit other people...

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome! Good for you, for reaching out.

If there's one sure rule about parrots, i's that there aren't any rules!

But with your good attitude and the good reading here, I know you'll find solutions.

 

[Jen5200]

I have 4 conures, and none of them are really one person birds. Birds are individual in their preferences, so some might be more one person birds. There’s lots of possible reasons for biting. If your mom changed something about how she looks (hair color, glasses, nail polish, etc) that could be a trigger. If Kiwi is around a year old, she may have hit puberty and that can make things a little bit “bitier” than usual. She may have bonded with you, or prefer you and that could trigger biting with others. There’s countless reasons for biting - but Clark provided a method above that works pretty well for letting birds know that biting is not acceptable.

 

[IndySE]

None whatsoever. A well-socialized green-cheek can be ok with multiple handlers. Case and point is my green-cheek conure. Although I made the choice to bring her home, my entire family interacted with her from when she was all of 11 weeks old onwards. She has a different type of relationship with everyone, but my mother, father, brother, and myself can interact with her in a meaningful way

As they get older, it is more difficult to socialize but not impossible. Conures tend to change allegiences quite easily, but it doesn't mean the bond is 100% gone, nor does it mean you can control who, what, or why they pick someone. Case and point, Kermit spent the most of time interacting with my mother and I, but for reasons beyond both of us, she's in love with my father... kind of awkward, but hey, we're still friends so I can't be too upset.