New Owner- Getting nibbled on a lot!

Hello!

My name is Lori and I just brought home my first baby Green Cheek, Pancake! He is a nibbler. I have been reading lots of articles about the "Step Up" method and training your Conure not to bite. Well, I think Pancake is making a game out of biting me, and I'm not sure how to reverse the cycle.

We step up onto my finger front the cage, he'll immediately turn around on my finger and start biting the back of it. I'll gently place him back down and walk away. I come back a few minutes later to try again, and it's the same dance.

Any thoughts on what I've done wrong?

I want to hold him and socialize him, but he just starts snacking on my fingers right away. I can't get passed one "Step Up".

Thanks for reading and offering help!

Doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong to me, sounds like a conure being a conure to me! Good job on already getting him to step up to you

be aware that not all "biting" is actually biting, in fact more of what they do with their mouths isn't biting this seems to go double for conures. Being a baby he's going to explore much like is humans do at that age and the best way to do so is with your mouth! He may even be attempting to give you a little clean.

Really what I would say to do at the moment is to begin training his bite pressure, set your boundaries for how hard he pushes down on you. I see a lot of people saying never to react to a bite but I personally find it's better to react calmly. Once it gets to a point where you can feel it but aren't in pain, tell him "no" firmly but calmly then just put him on the floor in front of you (if it's safe) and just ignore him for a minute. Like what the flock does in the wild, a naughty bird gets run off from the rest and they leave them to themselves until they're sorry. Myself and a few others here do that and it appears to work across the board.

Oh and as far as socialising and all that goes for now I'd focus on stepping up. the rest can come later, just make sure he gets a treat each time he steps up until he does it every time, then you can start leaving the treat every now and then. I leave the treat in front of them in my wind so he has to step up to reach it. Seems to keep the focus a lot better than without a good reward in front of their face

Next time he bites put him on the floor like 10 feet away. In the wild if a bird bites a buddy he's "shunned" put him on the floor and make him walk back to you. He will think about why he's there as he walks back and by the time he reaches you he will be sweet.

It might take a few times to fully register, but he will figure it out pretty quick.

Don't grab his beak or shake your hand or any sudden moves, just a "NO!" and put him on the floor to think about what he did.

clark_conure said:

Next time he bites put him on the floor like 10 feet away. In the wild if a bird bites a buddy he's "shunned" put him on the floor and make him walk back to you. He will think about why he's there as he walks back and by the time he reaches you he will be sweet.

It might take a few times to fully register, but he will figure it out pretty quick.

Don't grab his beak or shake your hand or any sudden moves, just a "NO!" and put him on the floor to think about what he did.

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Beat you this time!

sigh, but I put basically the same thing in her other thread, work on bonding once you got that biting is simple.

It doesn't have to be the floor, could be a far away arm of the couch, but not on a play stand or back in the cage.....someplace he doesn't particularly like.

He tends to bite and twist. It actually does hurt. And once he starts, he latches. Still just place him several feet away and make him walk back to me? Then we start over and keep practicing?

YEP! carry him away put him down. It will be less and less frequent. Then when he's a good boy you move onto allopreening, that's when the bird pets you with his beak and it's awesome!

Sounds like Pineapple Pancake and I have some homework!

Oh! Last thing! How much out of cage time should I be giving Pancake these first few training weeks? I don't want to reinforce the wrong behaviors by putting him back in his cage, but I also don't want to wear him down or stress him out by having him out too much.

Thoughts?

do it right now, I think you will be amazed. If he doesn't walk back to you, he's not completely bonded yet, but let him walk around. Odds are he will just come right back and be sweet. Seems to work fine for everyone else.

All the time in the world.......The more he's with you the more he will bond. But wherever you hang out, watch your netflix, study your textbooks, watch your tv wherever you hang out, set up a little conure area with a separate food bowl water bowl, some tabletop toys.... Just make sure he gets at least 12 hours of sleep a night. And don't be afraid to give him a little of your breakfast or lunch. Anything that is healthy for you is generally ok or healthy for him. Conures are opportunistic eaters, some veggies, fruit,even chicken etc. is fine for them and a treat. And eating with him cements the flock mentality.

yep, they normally need a minute to get biting out of their head

As for out of cage time I would go with no more than you can give all his life (on average) so right now as much as you want letting him be the center of your world may make him a bit bratty down the line when you have to do that boring stuff like work and shopping ETC. outside of that any time it's safe for him to be out, let him out is my simple rule

The trend is: I let him out, he runs to me and immediately starts climbing on me and biting. I put him a few feet away, he slowly meanders back, and then immediately starts biting me again. Did I somehow accidentally make this a game for him?

Don't reach for him, make him walk all the way up, if he does it again repeat. I didn't say it will be immediate, remember to say no! It's not you, it's not him, its the language barrier. It will work. Or he will get a lot of exercise and give up.

I have been dropping my finger to him and asking him to Step Up. We seem to be getting it down. But once he is on my finger, he will spin around and face away from me making it nearly impossible to step up another level with my other hand without shaking him around (which I think scares him). Is it possibly that my hand is uncomfortable for him to stand on and he's getting comfortable, or is he turning away from me for some other reason?

he's coming back to you so he trusts you, don't drop your hand don't worry about step up training....let him crawl up your couch or leg, don't coddle to him, remember he's being asked to think about why he is on the floor, he has to come back and say he's sorry. Once he's stopped biting do all the step up you want.

Something else I forgot to mention don't reach into his cage, later he probably won't care, but for now that's his safe spot, and if he want's out it's the other side of the coin he has to come to you. I mean if he's on the perch right by the door and calling, then you can reach in but don't like reach in and try to pick him up off a top perch or something.

But he has to learn the biting is unacceptable, and yeah you will take a few more bites, but he will figure it out. Just be the dominant, don't coddle to him, make him come and apologize.

clark_conure said:

he's coming back to you so he trusts you, don't drop your hand don't worry about step up training....let him crawl up your couch or leg, don't coddle to him, remember he's being asked to think about why he is on the floor, he has to come back and say he's sorry. Once he's stopped biting do all the step up you want.

Something else I forgot to mention don't reach into his cage, later he probably won't care, but for now that's his safe spot, and if he want's out it's the other side of the coin he has to come to you. I mean if he's on the perch right by the door and calling, then you can reach in but don't like reach in and try to pick him up off a top perch or something.

But he has to learn the biting is unacceptable, and yeah you will take a few more bites, but he will figure it out. Just be the dominant, don't coddle to him, make him come and apologize.

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Update: We practiced setting Pancake down a few feet away from Mom whenever he would bite.

The first few times he slowly sauntered back, checking out every crumb on the floor. But after a while, he was jogging right back to me and hopping up my leg. At that point, I would allow him back onto my hand. If he managed to get back up without biting instantly, he got a sunflower seed!

The last time, we made it through a 5 minute snuggle/scratching session before he started to nibble! Progress!

Sounds like good progress! just keep it up just like that! Also don't act afraid of him or move your hands around in a lively manner, he might think you are boxing/wrestling. Once he figures out an "ok" bite pressure you can wrestle with him.

Remember to always keep nibbling and biting separate! They are two different issues! Also when stepping up if you were a little bit shy, it is not at all unusual for him to reach out bite your finger to hold it still and then step up!