Hi guys! I am writing here, because I'm kinda at a pause in the training of my gcc. Athena knows recall, she loves target training, but I absolutely cannot get her to step up, if I try, she lunges at my finger, biting it and not letting go, which is enough to draw blood sometimes. If i tell her to come from a distance, she flies to my finger. Also when I'm opening her cage in the morning to give her food, she comes for my finger, so I lead her away with the target, only then can I change her food and water bowl. She doesn't hate hands or fingers, she lets us pet her sometimes (we only do it if she lets us of course, no forcing in this household) but if i put my finger near her, she will absolutely bite HARD. I tried to get her to do the recall training, but after every successful one I got closer to her, she did it perfectly until I got really close, and when I did, she went to attack. I am thinking I could do something like try to get her used to my finger being in front of her with the clicker which she associates with treats, so every time she doesn't lunge she gets a treat, but I'm not sure if it would work, since she always lunges lol. Also I could maybe do like they do with reactive dogs, so I teach her that she stays in some part of the cage, and only when I'm finished can she move, but I'm even less confident in teaching her this than the other one. I know conures are bitey, but I really want to teach her step up in case she gets herself in a bad situation, and I have to rescue her from it. Also, she steps up on my arm, just not my finger. So yeah, I'm at a loss of what to do.
Spicy conure
- Thread starter Nikixl
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- gcc greencheekconure training
Try covering your hand with a sweatshirt sleeve. If he steps on your arm this should work. You may not be able to train him to get on your finger. I have a budgie Rocky I handraised 3 years ago. She was handled a lot as a baby but decided at about 6 m9nths old that she didnt like hands. She lunges at them and bites hard. She's not fearful of anything, lands on us all the time and wants to interact with us but hates any hands and won't step up. I raised a couple other budgies who have no problems with hands. Birds have their personal boundaries that sometimes you just need to accept.
rheashard2
Well-known member
- Nov 15, 2024
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- Parrots
- Female Congo Grey
My CAG, prefers my fingers curved slightly supporting each other. Thumb curved down and against my palm. She doesn't like my fingers separated. If I open my hand or separate my fingers she becomes defensive, with a lot of squawking and agitation. I usually encourage her to get on my wrist or forearms .She's been that way since she was 3 1/2 months old over 21 years. Maybe she thinks my hand may morph into a trap. Long thick sleeves like a hoodie or sweat shirt work great. There's a trick to using long sleeves. Birds are super observant. Slip on a long sleeve item randomly and encourage your bird to notice. Talk, offer treats, read or what ever you think of. That way your bird won't think...oh no and become defensive. Birds can become territorial and aggressive about their space aka cage. Talking to them and redirecting their attention is best. Some individual birds are worse than others. Hormones can influence aggression too. Biting shouldn't be tolerated. There's a technique called shunning that works well. Look for it in another thread here. Consistency and patience can't be stressed enough. Good luck.
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