Bedtime and toy biting!

[ZephyrFly]

The title says it all, but here's some detail.
Pazu, my Green cheek Conure, is for all it's worth a wonderful and social bird. I swear he likes strangers more than me and my boyfriends alot of the time (strangers to him, people like friends and family). He eats well, 2-3 teaspoons of chop and 3 teaspoons of pellets a day. He rarely has a day when he's not out, and most week days range between 2-5 (min-max) between me and the boyfriend, 50% or more of that time is with me (I also do the cleaning and feeding). He's 8 months old, been with us for been with us for nearly 6 months.
The issues are that when I put him away, not just bedtime but it seems worse then, he 80% will bite and chew on my hand and the other 20% is a mix of quickly closing the door if he goes in to eat around bedtime and him just staying in. He's never gone to his cage for the night of his own choice, i do try and have him step up (which he does know and understand) but he chooses not to listen when near his cage (because he knows that normally means time to go away). I do work with him around his cage but he's very stubborn about it. Because he never goes in easily I pick him up, talk to him gently and plonk him in, where sometimes he stays put, other times he makes a scene of it and bites me a lot. This is only with me though, the boyfriend can put him away just fine, I started trying to copy him but it doesn't seem to work for me. Help? I know I need to make going back in more fun/happy/interesting but I need some help here.
The other issue is he gets very bitey about certain toy (certain being most of them), most of the time he doesn't care to bite but it's getting more frequent that he'll charge at my hand if I'm holding or even offering him one of his toys. My response when he does this is to dodge and not give him the toy but is there more I can do?
I obviously need more ideas.

He's only drawn blood twice and only with me but those where not connected to this (I unscrewed the washers from a toy and he lunged onto my hand, still trying to sort this out but it's safer to just keep him away while I unscrew stuff).

 

[Flboy]

Never, repeat, never put him into his cage without a treat! Cage=treat! Ya, time out the exception. If trained, Use a stick to move him in for now, it not trained to step up on a stick, teach it asap! My daughter automatically moves JoJo around using a stick and avoids him getting too nippy. My wife's Bongo the Barbarian, to avoid bloodshed, this is the only way I handle him for now! Yes, working on his attitude-slowly. That bird and my wife are a perfect pair! Back to cage time, get him used to going in and out often, this way he will learn that cage equals end of out time.
Also, get him used to stepping up for any reason, my JoJo was always dodging, he flies, his cage every time I walked in that direction with him. As I move around the house now I always have him step up and hang with me, walking right by the cage.

 

[Kyoto]

Exactly what was said above. I save kyos favorite treats for going inside the cage and it's working like a charm

 

[Flboy]

Yep, like any toddler, 'Oh boy, bedtime, let's go read a book!'
Reinforce the positive, and especially with a conure, redirect the negative! They will die to hold their ground!

 

[ZephyrFly]

I give treats when he goes in without biting me. So even if he gets nippy I should give him a treat? Don't get me wrong, I'll try it but it feels odd giving him a treat if he's just bitten me.

As for stick, he does step up for a stick but I don't have a T perch, and like his toy nippiness he tends to get nippy when perched on a stick (not always mind you).

Stepping up, I use step up whenever I can. He'll do it for strangers 100% of the time, but for me and the boyfriend he's much more stubborn, but we'll keep this up.

 

[Flboy]

I give treats when he goes in without biting me. So even if he gets nippy I should give him a treat? Don't get me wrong, I'll try it but it feels odd giving him a treat if he's just bitten me.

As for stick, he does step up for a stick but I don't have a T perch, and like his toy nippiness he tends to get nippy when perched on a stick (not always mind you).

Stepping up, I use step up whenever I can. He'll do it for strangers 100% of the time, but for me and the boyfriend he's much more stubborn, but we'll keep this up.

I hear you! For a bit, ignore the nipping. Stick, Home Depot, 3 foot sticks, cheap, get several. Leave em around so you never have to look for them. FYI, this can save your baby's life! When I am dealing with Bongo, he will try to trick me and nail me holding the stick. I pretend I don't notice and just keep switching hands from end to end, the whole time praising him for being such a nice birdie

 

[LaurenB]

I swear he likes strangers more than me and my boyfriends alot of the time (strangers to him, people like friends and family).

Tiki is THE SAME way! She gets SO super excited and happy to see "strangers". She absolutely LOVES having visitors. It's the cutest thing. She prefers them over me!!!! It kind of hurts my feelings... but I know at the end of the day when the strangers leave, she'll be my girl again.

It kind of makes me feel good when, for example, at the vet's office.. all of the vet techs have to come in and see the "adorable affectionate bird", no one can believe how friendly and lovable she is!

 

[ZephyrFly]

Ok, I'll give it a shot. How do I go about getting him in the cage though, typically if he's not biting me for putting him in, he's running up my arms to get out. I can jut see him running up the stick to get out.

 

[Flboy]

I swear he likes strangers more than me and my boyfriends alot of the time (strangers to him, people like friends and family).

Tiki is THE SAME way! She gets SO super excited and happy to see "strangers". She absolutely LOVES having visitors. It's the cutest thing. She prefers them over me!!!! It kind of hurts my feelings... but I know at the end of the day when the strangers leave, she'll be my girl again.

It kind of makes me feel good when, for example, at the vet's office.. all of the vet techs have to come in and see the "adorable affectionate bird", no one can believe how friendly and lovable she is!

This is awesome! I so want my JoJo to be perfect around strangers, that way they understand your bond a bit much more.

 

[Flboy]

Ok, I'll give it a shot. How do I go about getting him in the cage though, typically if he's not biting me for putting him in, he's running up my arms to get out. I can jut see him running up the stick to get out.

Start doing a lot of in and out cage trips may help. If I put JoJo in too soon, he will refuse to step off my hand and I respect him voicing his wants. There are times when I have to do an emergency in cage, doorbell rings, etc, I tell him I will be right back, and I swear, he understands me!
You want to re associate back to cage as good, not, oh crap, end of fun time.

 

[Kalel]

I recently had a tough time with my sun conure no longer wanting to step up. He too associated it with end of fun time and back in my cage. One member here recommended to refresh step up training and in literally two minutes he was happily stepping up and off my finger many times. He stopped running away to my back where I can't reach him. All it took was a "good bird" and a treat whenever he listened. I also make a point not to get him to step up just before going to his cage. I'll delay for a few minutes with him on my hand so he doesn't equate stepping up with end of play time. It's been working like a charm! Good luck!

 

[Kyoto]

It took me about 4 days to convince Kyo that it was worth it to stop crawling up my arm and going inside to get her treat. But persistence and trying to ignore nips will pay off. And once she's in, spend some time talking to her and playing with her and telling her what a nice birdie she is. Give her more treats, offer her scratches through the cage door. Part of what makes Kyo okay with going to bed now is she knows there are scratches coming after her treats

If I can find my old post, I'll show you. I went through the exact same thing, and now she is back to being my sweet little baby bird. She nips way less frequently now, and when she does she isn't drawing blood like she used to. The less you react the better, in my opinion. I've tried the towel method and it just didn't work for her. Positive reinforcement all the way.

It also helps if you really tire her out before bed. Spend lots of time playing the hour before bed time. Try working on talking, or cuddling, or doing something he really likes to do with you. Make all experiences leading up to bed time good experiences.

I also found playing with kyo around her cage more and showing her that being around the cage doesn't always mean she is going in has been helpful. Makes it less predictable for her anyways. One last helpful thing I found was to put her food dish on her door, and I am able to close it when she is hungry and I treat her right into her dish when she allows me to do so without a hassle.

I hope some of this helps! Those GCC's are such naughty birdies. But you can't help but love them

 

[Flboy]

I just now did what I have been suggesting, I just put JoJo to bed, crappy parront, yes way too late! But when I realized how late it was, etc, I scooped him up and- walked to his supply of treats, gave him something, then went over to his cage, with another treat, putting him in. Turned off his light, 3/4 covered his cage. Room darkened, we are still talking back and forth. I think he trusts me, but this is taking time, he has been thru a lot! Follow everything you find on macaws, your little guy is a macaw in disguise!