Help! GC Conure won't stop biting!

Hey everyone!

I am hoping someone here has some advice for me. I have a beautiful green cheek conure, I have had her for a few weeks now. Her name is Yoshi and she is a little over four months old. She is a very sweet bird, and she was already hand trained when we got her... but lately she she has been kind of a grump. I have been doing a lot of reading and researching since she is my first conure, and I have learned that it is common for young conures to go through a biting stage. The thing is, she has gotten really good about beaking to the point that if I make a specific sound (I say "ah ah") she stops what she is doing or nibbles gently. However, she is becoming very defiant. If she is chewing on something and I saw "ah ah" and she doesn't stop what I do is try to remove the object... or if she is chewing a body part I try to remove her. When this happens she bites very hard, her reaction reminds me of a young child throwing a fit. She even makes an aggressive growling sound. It seems like a territorial thing, which is a problem when she is trying to rip off moles or tattoos. I have tried various methods to try to discourage biting... such as the ladder technique. If she is having a fit I find the laddering technique only sets me up for failure and I get my fingers chomped instead of her being distracted. A lot of times I will either put her on the floor and walk away, but then she just starts chewing on things that she can find on the floor, so this doesn't seem to bother her. I have also tried putting her in the cage... this sometimes works because she likes to be with us out of her cage. I have tried gently blowing on her face, she seems to actually enjoy it. My boyfriend/roommate/co-bird owner will hold her beak (gently of course) when she bites hard and say in a soft voice "no" or "gentle", that will tend to get her to stop for a short period of time, but then she reeks havoc again. I had an incident today where she was chewing on my hair ties (I had my hair in braids) and I didn't want her to. I would say "ah ah" and she would stop for a moment then start again. And since I can't really remove my hair I moved her to a different spot. She just returned to my shoulder and kept on chewing, when I went to move her again she ran behind my head where I couldn't reach her well and then bit my finger the hardest I ever felt her bite drawing blood and leaving a pretty nasty cut. The only way I could get her off was my removing my jacket. I put her in the cage and walked away. What do I do? I get attacked if she doesn't get what she wants!!! I have read that conures grow out of this, but in the meantime my fingers and skin need a break!

Thanks!

Sounds like you're going to have to be patient. The ladder and floor thing are new to me and I will try them myself, but I would distract the bird somehow to stop it from biting your fingers. Someone suggested the icicle pop sticks from michaels. They're cheap enough and should do the trick.

I have posted this link in another thread it may help you understand the reasons behind the bite & why GCC's are nippy birds.

Green Cheek Conure Aggressive Behavior

Take a breath.....breathe better now ? yeah I know the owning stock in bandaids feeling. 1st question do you have a "T" perch? if not can you get someone to make you one ?
Once you have one put your bird on the perch and start with the basics step-up and step-back if you need too use a wooden spoon as a finger to get your bird to step to.
and then you can use the pop sticks using two of them as fingers start petting your bird from both sides at once if he bites at a stick keep petting with the other one touching his back, feet and under his wings all the while slowly working the other stick away from him and then go back to petting him from both sides again keep this to a 2 to 3 min session stop give a treat and walk away get a drink of tea and ignore him for a few minutes the start the petting again for only 2 to 3 minutes stop do a few step-ups then put your bird away giving him praise and a treat . do this for a week or so and I think your bird will come back to her previous self. I know it sounds like the directions on a shampoo bottle (lather rinse repeat) but it can work I have used this on many of birds and only had one it didn't work on so good Luck.

When my Gcc went thru that really bitey phase I made a finger tube out of a suede like fabric (just basically sewed up a circular tube to fit my finger, one seam) It was a beige sued (finger colored)..........it was a "bite Saver" I wore it on my index finger. That way you don't overreact and make them worse.

Your poor finger!
Hiya, Apart from the biting,
I think if you dont want her to chew certain things, you need to give her a substitute of things you dont mind her chewing...I think lots of birds are naturally destructive and it very hard to eliminate the behaviour entirely - but it is relatively easy to get her to concentrate her chewing on something else!

My boy (not conure) loves spiral pasta! He also likes to chew on my hair but I dont mind that too much.....
Pospsicle sticks, Q tips, etc etc might help?? Anything she can destroy!

Thanks everyone for the replies!!!

Some of you guys suggested using distraction. I love this idea, but I have tried it before and doesn't always work. It actually reminds me of another scenario where she gets really aggressive, and that's if I am eating something and she is with me. She tries to steal my food. If I try to move her she gets mad and bites me or whoever has the food. So she stays in her cage when people are eating. I can't help but wonder if I started her food thieving habit, when I brought her home I was showing her carrots and she was afraid of them until I showed her that I ate them, now she loves them and wants whatever I am eating. She has an infatuation with tweezers (haha, it's so cute!) and I use those to distract her... but sometimes that doesn't work especially if I am eating or she wants what I have more. I usually don't mind when she plays in my hair, but as of the last few days I have been battling a sunburn around my neck and shoulders, so her chewing on me near this area makes me a little nervous. She likes to go after my moles. Ouch! And when I have her out of the cage I wear a sweatshirt that I don't mind it being chewed or pooped on, I try to provide her with things to play with and chew on, it seems she wants the forbidden fruit more (aka my ear lobes, earring, moles, dinner...ect.). I'm hoping she grows out of it.

Oh and someone suggested a step up practice with a perch and a spoon, I have used that method on my parakeets (before they trusted my hand) it works really well actually! I'll try to use a foreign object to remove her when she is being defiant. She does very well with stepping up in general... I only get chomped and my flesh ripped when I am not letting her have what she wants. She's just being bossy.

Thanks everyone!

Pedro said:

I have posted this link in another thread it may help you understand the reasons behind the bite & why GCC's are nippy birds.

Green Cheek Conure Aggressive Behavior

Click to expand...

I read the link. Thanks much for posting it!

I've seen Rosie bob her head up and down - I always thought it was a sign of attention-getting and playful behavior.

I've seen her respond to me scratching an eczema outbreak on my arm via head-bobbing as well. I thought it was funny, and didn't see any other sign of aggression or territorial behavior (I'm some distance away), but if she was reacting as if I was being territorial... she's never fluffed up her feathers or anything else you'd mentioned, but I will re-think my beliefs...

Everything else made perfect sense, though - especially the food aggression paragraph - that is too true.

as AFP520 mentioned, laddering and putting them on the floor are excellent techniques. to ladder, when she bites have her step up, then step up again on the other hand. repeat in a laddering motion about 3 times. you can also place her on the floor for about 30 seconds when she bites, this will make her insecure and she will want to come back up to you. if you do this consistently, she will get the idea that when she bites, she gets put on the floor, and will stop biting. good luck and perseverance

I just got a GC conure and he's just starting to bite. At first he didnt bite very hard, but now he's upping his game. At first I thought he was scared because it was a new living situation, but he's doing it more and more lately. I'll try the floor technique and see how that goes.

I really want to do clicker training with him but I havent found a treat that he really likes yet. Doesnt anyone have a treat that their conure just loves? He kind of likes cherrios and apples, but isnt crazy about them.

I will knock Rio off balance a little when she has decided to bite, with a stern "no bite", which usually does the trick. But there are times when she will mouth and play with my finger/s, without pressure. This is totally acceptable to me. Or if I'm chasing her tail, she will play back using her beak, but never hurts me. When she is being cuddly we have this other thing we do, I call it a kiss. I will gently grab her beak, tell her kiss which is then followed by scratches. Works about 98% of the time in calming her down if she get a lil too excited. If you don't trust your bird, never allow them on your shoulder, or anywhere else where you are not in complete control. These guys at times can be like bratty children, testing their boundaries. When a Rio is having a bad day, she usually spends her time either in her cage, on her cage, or playing between her Orb and stand and I am completely off limits to her when she is behaving badly. Ha!

I had that problem with one of mine green cheeks too.
First i backed off since i was too scared.
But after a while i got sick of it,and put my foot down.
Every time i tried to have her step up she would bite or when she was on my hands.
Now i just push my finger against her belly so she has no choice but to let go and step up.
Now she knows i will just do that,and it really has become less and less.

My conure loves plain scrambled eggs or tuna! Hope this helps!

This works for me, but it really depends on how close you guys are, like..on a personal level.

When I get over-zealous with my scritching, Kiwi will let out a short screech, turn and peck at my finger as if to say "Ouch, stop". I will then respect her wishes and stop.

In turn, when she gets over-zealous with me (she likes to lie on her back on my palm and wrestle with my fingers) - I do the same shriek. She will immediately stop, and look me right in the eye, where I would ham it up a bit and look very sad while saying "Ow, that hurt Kiwi". It's funny, I can almost see it register in her face. We will go back to playing after that, but she is immediately gentler, and sometimes will just transition into preening my fingers instead of "rough-play"

So yeah, you can try this if you and your bird have a similar connection.

Lol. I did the ouch thing Lu Lu just bites me says ow. Then laughs.....lol

For clicker training I use millet spray. Some of his other favorites are apples, grapes, and sun flower seeds.

My GCC goes crazy for brocoli, cauliflower, and dried figs!

Lu Lu really doesn't like to displease so if I yell at her she normally stops

I think I have your birds Brother! I have tried using the body language thing and i think it works well. This sounds silly but when he starts to squint and his eyes turn almond shape I know not to pick him up or play with him. I also noticed around 8pm he starts to get very bitey so i put him to bed. when my bird bites he'll run around my back biting along the way, i usually end up ripping off my T shirt and putting him and my shirt in the cage. Good news though, He actually stopped biting my ears and earrings. Ive been telling him "off" and using a perch as stick, now (it took months) he backs away and he's very gentle when he does grab my ears. I think its just a matter of patience. Its funny my boy loves the floor too, he walks around like he owns the place!!! he likes to chase my dogs away. The dogs are terrified. Good luck!!

he has also learnt to say, "no bite" when i tell him no bite!!! he's so cheeky!