Baby beaking advise

[derekandb]

Three weeks ago I adopted a 6 month old pinapple green cheeked conure. I was told he was hand fed, wasn't looking for that specifically or anything. Anyways, he's very beaky and when I bought him, the man said that he is bitey because of his age and he will grow out of it if he is trained to stop now. So he told me to blow in his face when he bites. k..it only works sometimes. This little guy is slightly obessed with his mouth. As I am typing he is trying to bite my fingers, the keyboard..I have tried blowing in his face, I have tried tapping his beak, and I have tried gently holding his beak shut (the last method I learned with my Goffins, that's what his previous owner did becaue he used to be a big biter..he bit me once, I did that once and it hasn't happened again). When he gets really bad and really tries to eat me I then put him back in his cage. Everytime I enforce any of these methods to stop him from biting I also sternly say STOP. At the desk with me he has a basket of toys and paper and lots of stuff to chew and play with and that distracts him some of the time. So I know that to get him out of this "stage" I need to be consistent and patient and I have every intention of doing so, but I am wondering if there is anything more I could be doing or if I should be doing something differently. He is tame, he is flighted. He wants to be on me all the time, when he flies around the room he always lands on me. He will eat from my hand, he's really sweet. And he won't leave my hair alone no matter how much I fight him off. So I would appreciate some advise about him, his name is Rudy. I just want him to grow up the right way.

 

[JensFlock]

I'm no expert on this, and I'm sure some people will have some good advice, but I'm not sure what you're doing is a good idea.
When mine did their baby beaking, I would let them do it to a certain level of pressure, then I would touch (not grab) the beak and calmly and slowly say "No Biting".
If they did it enough to make me put them back in their cage, I would say "Ok, you chose to bite, now you're going back."
They're intelligent enough to catch on, I believe. My guys don't bite aggressively, but sometimes the play beaking can get annoying when they won't stop.

 

[derekandb]

Like I said, I'm open to advise becaue I want to do this right. I know that he is going to bite playfully to a point, but when he really locks down is when there is a problem. My husband says I need to be more stern because I'm coming across a lot more soft than I think.

 

[derekandb]

ok, so I'm trying this, is it normal for him to try to bite the finger your using to touch his beak, and what do you do then? I totally get what your saying, and to rely on their intelligence instead of making a point.

 

[Scotty T]

My baby is 4 months and she is very beaky, sometimes she will get a little more bitey over a few mins of beaking. I simply tell her is a calm but more stern "No Biting" and hold my finger above her head. She get's it.

They are very smart but they need intimidate addressing of the issue. Sending a bird back to the cage for something as simple as biting is not going to click in their minds.

 

[derekandb]

with how much they beak, i have found it frusterating to put him back in his cage because I don't want him spending too much time in there.

 

[Levon83]

I'm glad to hear others are having this problem. I have a 3 month old Sun Conure named Sunny. She's nipping, but I can tell she's not trying to bite, just playing. But I'll tell you what, the little bites on the neck hurt. I really hope it is just a phase, because other than that, she's awesome. She's already picking up potty training, and I've had her less than 2 weeks.

 

[derekandb]

Please tell me how you have started potty training! That's pretty amazing!

 

[ann]

the web site can explain it a little better than i can so here you go !
BITING PARROTS Why They Do It and How To Control It
good luck!

 

[bollywoodhollywood]

How do you potty train? I am interested. my pineapple green cheek conure is 4 months old...She is bitey too. She went thur a phase where she was biting a bit. She was hand fed as well. Now she is usually pretty sweet. She does it more if I don't give her enough attention during the day. She likes out of her cage about 6-7 hours a day

 

[JensFlock]

I taught my guys potty training by accident. My ringneck was sitting on me and dropped a present and it was warm and wet and I was wearing shorts. I said "Ewwwwwwww!" and went to grab a paper towel. My conure thought that was hilarious and danced around saying "Oooooeeeeee" since I said Ewwwww.
So now the "presents are called Ooooooeeeees. I say that word and whoever poops gets to step up. When they put the action together with the word, they understand it.
Of course, Alex, my conure likes to laugh, then poo, then say Ooooooeeeeee. My eclectus will yell it and scare the everloving crap out of you (no pun intended) when he has to go.
My cockatoo just holds it until he's not on a person or the sofa. I didn't train him to do that, he just did it on his own.