Black capped bites and laughs at GF

[YUMgrinder]

I got perry when he was approx. 3 years old. It's been about a year since his gotcha! date.The first thing he did was bite me lol. Since, we have an understanding, no biting me! He doesn't, EVER bite me anymore. He steps up always when asked and steps down always when asked. He is a very good boy. His old owner was a female and he loves my GF. I just don't understand if he seems to like her more than me, why does he bite her when asked to step up? He doesn't always, but she gets frustrated when she can't get him to step up. He bites her and he actually laughs. "HAHAHA" in a duck type quack. It's cute, but sometimes she can't get him off her, off the perch, out of the cage etc. I honestly can't remember the last time he has bitten me, not even a nip. He even lets me clip his scissor beak when it gets out of whack. He doesn't like to be held on his back, but he tolerates it. Makes a loud chirp! Chirp! Chirp! when I do it to disclose his displeasure. I'm so proud of him though I just wish he didn't see my gf as a chew toy.

 

[clark_conure]

is she hesitant? does she just put her hand out aloof or is she expecting a bite and kind of does jerky hand movements?

When your NOT afraid of being bitten, you don't get a bite in my experience, it's a smell of fear or self confidence thing.

 

[CKP]

Does she hold her hand differently than you? I've found that when I ask for Mav to step up I offer my hand with my fingers all together and my thumb slightly higher because he likes to hold on with his beak when I'm moving him around in the cage and he feels unsteady. My wife also will try to get him with one finger out sometimes and he thinks it is a fun game, so he usually gives her a light chomp before obliging.

Also, I've gotten where I always approach him with my hand at or above the current level of his feet so he has to literally step UP. If he has to step any millimeter down he expresses his frustration by beaking my hand and pulling it up to where he wants it, then stepping up.

They're particular little jerks at time! Just two ideas!

 

[GaleriaGila]

Good tips!

While on my shoulder, the Rb sometimes will yell "OUCH" and then try to bite my ear! He seems mystified as to how I predict his behavior and turn my head to make sure that all he gets is hair. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer!

Perry is so adorable... look at him preen and pose!

 

[YUMgrinder]

she does a different relationship with him than I do. She is jerky and I have told her she needs to be slower but she doesn't listen. I don't have to hold my hand a certain way with my birds they step up as soon as I put my hand there. Perry and jojo hang out on their perch in the living room at the top, hanging from the ceiling hook (rope perch attached to the ceiling) so I have to reach way up there to get them to step up, they get on in single file lol perry first then jojo follows. I don't even have to ask. Perry does test her finger with his beak but that's what confuses her and she jerks cause she thinks she's gonna get bit. When he gets nippy with her he doesn't stop. I'm thinking he thinks its a game.

 

[YUMgrinder]

Good tips!

While on my shoulder, the Rb sometimes will yell "OUCH" and then try to bite my ear! He seems mystified as to how I predict his behavior and turn my head to make sure that all he gets is hair. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer!

Perry is so adorable... look at him preen and pose!

He's cute and I swear he uses it to his advantage. He looks so sweet when new people come up and they think they can pet him and he puffs up his neck and looks so inviting, then BAM bite. Lil stinker.

 

[CKP]

Perry does test her finger with his beak but that's what confuses her and she jerks cause she thinks she's gonna get bit. When he gets nippy with her he doesn't stop. I'm thinking he thinks its a game.

Exactly! What fun, this human lets ME be in control and makes funny noises!

My wife was initially more nervous around Mav than I was, so if he gave any hint she MIGHT get bitten she would jerk away, then he learned that her hand wasn't a very stable perch so he was even more hesitant! She got her first "real" bite and realized that it was scarier in her head than in reality (mind you, she was also chased and tormented by her grandparent's two macaws as a child so we had some birdie PTSD to get through!!)

It's a scary thing to voluntarily expose your hand to a can opener, but being timid certainly won't help. One thing that MAY help is for her to distract Perry while picking him up. Mav has a tendency to get beaky once he gets his first little hand on us, so the second he had one hand on me I would take my other hand and put it between my step-up hand and his head. By the time he decided what to do about multiple options I had already scooped him up! I would just warn that Perry may not tolerate this if he has any kind of hand phobia.

 

[LordTriggs]

She got her first "real" bite and realized that it was scarier in her head than in reality

no truer words have ever been said! heck I had heard conure bites are bad. I've had worse paper cuts in my time, doesn't stop me working with paper. Might be an idea to get her to read this http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/56384-big-beak-o-phobes-guide-understanding-macaw-beaks.html being Conures are pretty much smaller goofier macaws a lot can apply here and the general sentiments of the thread apply to any bird

 

[YUMgrinder]

He doesn't like to he picked up palm around his body and folded wings, my others are more ok with it and my tiel pretty much expects it cause he likes to step up and halfway up from the ground he jumps and tries to fly, so I have to actually pick him up to get him to go back to his perch or cage. Perry is ok with it sometimes but usually he chirps real loud asking me to stop lol. He is ok with her grabbing him sometimes but she doesn't like to do it cause sometimes he doesn't mind, sometimes he does and he will chomp her if provoked.