Chi Chi is Bitey!

[Lovelyloribeth]

Yesterday on the way home and all evening he was a ill charmer!! Today....he's biting everyone! I put him back in the cage thinking he might want space. I got him from a previous owner so maybe he's depressed? Any advice would surely help!!

 

[DebsFlock]

Be careful how you react to a bite. If you put him away when he does it, he may learn that's a good way to ask to go back to his cage! The typical advice is to not react at all, but a GCC beak can do enough damage that it's pretty hard not to sometimes. Hoepfully he's not biting that hard.

It's my understanding that most bites occur for one of several reasons -- a young bird may just be exploring with it's beak, or trying to groom you, and get a bit carried away. Scooter did this when we first got him and we were able to fix it by very gently discouraging him when he did it, but praising him lavishly for being "a gentle bird".

Fear is another reason for biting. If you are moving too fast, or he is overwhelmed, he may be biting because of that. In that case, back off, go slower, and try to avoid provoking a bite in the first place.

Learned biting is harder to fix, so hopefully nothing has been learned yet. We easily reinforce a bite without realizing it. We may put the bird away and that may be exactly what it wants. Or we may fuss and carry on, and they enjoy the drama (they don't REALLY understand they are hurting us IMO, they just understand that what they did got a certain reaction, like putting a coin in the jukebox. Oh look, the human is dancing for me!). They can get quite bossy with this.

I have gone through phases with Scooter after I have been on travel for a few days and had a sitter in, where he acts for all the world as if he is mad at me. He will reportedly be very sweet for the sitter and then be a land shark with me. He's drawn significant blood, and it takes several days for him to settle down again. Every single thing I have tried to discourage the behavior has failed to make any impact on it, and I have never gotten any suggestions as to what causes it beyond the alarming anthropomorphic idea that he gets mad at me when I go away. How I've learned to deal with that would be a long separate post, but it boils down to avoiding getting bitten even if that means he sits in his cage for a couple of days, and offering a reward for polite behavior. But I doubt you are dealing with anything like that in such a young bird.

I'd guess either Chichi is a little overwhelmed and needs a little more space -- try to give it to him BEFORE he bites you if that's the case. Observe him and let him learn another way to signal he wants to be left alone or put back in his house. OR he's just beaking/allopreening and getting a little carried away, in which case you should be able to just gently focus him on a behavior you like more.

If this doesn't work you might start working on some training, so you have other behaviors you can distract him with, such as targeting or a trick.

 

[Lovelyloribeth]

Well I got him from a previous owner. He is a nice guy and I texted him, he said he's not a biter he's prolly trying to see what he can get away with, when I talked to him before I got him he said he's around 2. Maybe the terrible twos? My hand is tore up fm trying to be sweet with him and not reacting. Lol. Now my fingers are throbbing and sore. When he was being sweet I gave him a Cheerio, which he's found to love, and put him back in the cage. While he was still sweet, or so I thought I tried to get him out again andddd he bit me. I took him out anyway and when he was sweet, another Cheerio. Wash, rinse, repeat. Now he's just in there climbing on the play gym on top of his cage. I also read that when they are on your shoulder or above you they feel superior? If that's the case I should move his cage since its on the dresser, and the top is above my head.

 

[DebsFlock]

The idea that a bird feels superior if it's higher than you is called height dominance. It was a very popular behavioral theory for a long time, but it is my understanding that it's largely been proven to be incorrect. A bird that is boss will get to choose where it sits, but it may not choose the highest perch, a higher perch is not always "better". Plus parrots don't have a rigid "pecking order" like some other creatures, it's more of a give and take proposition.

Shoulder sitting does have its disadvantages, but I see that as an individual choice. Your face is vulnerable and sometimes people get bitten just because the bird is trying to warn them about a perceived danger. Plus if you aren't quite flexible, it can be hard to get a bird off your shoulder if it doesn't want to be removed. I choose to allow shoulder sitting, personally, but I am aware of the risks.

I wouldn't worry about the height of the cage, as long as you can easily reach him there when he is on top and you are standing up.

Every time I've tried to insist on being boss with my birds, it's backfired. I can be firm and patient when necessary, but if it borders on forcing the issue, especially with the GCC, the outcome is generally poor. I wouldn't think about "teaching him a lesson" or "making sure I am boss". I'd try to ensure that every interaction results in a positive experience for the bird and I'd try to avoid provoking a bite. You may be pushing Chichi a little too hard, and you may be establishing a pattern you don't want to establish. I think in your shoes I'd try for one positive interaction and quit for the day on a good note.

Another thing to think about is that you don't want to give a new bird a ton more attention than it's going to be able to get most days from now on -- if you aren't going to spend that much time with him every day, try not to give in to the temptation to spend a ton of time with him now.

MHO.

 

[Gingerchezy]

Don't worry i've just got a little gcc, had her for nearly two weeks but we are having a bit of a phase - my hands are all sore too! I think she might be a bit scared, after reading all this it sounds similar. Hope Chi Chi settles down soon

 

[ann]

you can try laddering her. this is when you have her step up over and over 4 times in a laddering motion when she bites. this teaches control. she will warm up soon, good luck with your new birdie

 

[Trina]

every conure i have seen can be snippy, I would always get screech out of the cage with a perch, he actually bit because he must have gotten a response he liked before..Like ouch ouch ouch of a human so he bit to see if you would react if you did , he would bob his head and dance...A conure bites hard so don't pull away from the bite, if he bites you push toward him, normally they let go because the push towards them is not what they expected...I however never reached in with my hand until I knew he would not nip me anymore, i read a book that said if they bite you a couple times it can be a habit and its best not to let them bite you if possible so i used a wooden dowel for awhile...after awhile when u open the cage they will run to be with you and happily step up it takes work though my screech was a bad biter...

 

[Lovelyloribeth]

I left him alone the rest of the day. A ill bit ago I used the dowel and got him out to say goodnight. He moved to my finger very nicely so I gave him a Cheerio. He ate it and even preened a freckle on my face. after a sweet 5 min session I put him to bed. I'll do this in the morning and at night until I'm sure he won't bite when I put my hand in his cage. Hopefully with my patience and yalls advice I should have a sweet ChiChi in a few weeks. thanks again.

 

[DebsFlock]

You know, the other thing I've noticed about my GCC is that he's prone to getting over-stimulated -- too much excitement, too much going on, and he acts out his excitement with his beak. That may be a factor here as well.

 

[Lovelyloribeth]

Ohhh!! You know what?! I don't know why I didnt think about this!!
My 3 year old son is autistic and we deal with sensory and stimulation issues every moment of everyday.
When he's over stimulated, he acts out.
When he's under stimulated, he acts out.
This makes so much sense. I still can't believe I didn't see this earlier.
His old owner worked a lot the past few months and said he opened the play gym on top of his cage so he could get in and out but he hasn't interacted with him much since he was working so much. So he's used to being by himself. I get it!! Thanks so much. Baby steps and dowels and more patience. Like I said tonight, we ended the day with a very sweet short session. I put him away happy. He was making these cute lil noises before I put him away. Like not squawks but lil growly type noises. But he was very content. Any idea what those are? They are very soft.

 

[DebsFlock]

Well, it took me all day to think of it, and I've clearly noted it to myself before!

You have my respect! I have volunteered as a therapeutic horseback riding instructor with a program that has a number of autistic students. We saw one young man go from perennial meltdown at age 8 to admission to UCLA in a minimally-supported program. So hang in there!

As for the noises, he may be "purring" which seems to be a GCC thing they do when they are content but excited or, more likely at bedtime, beak grinding, which is a thing many parrots do when they are content and sleepy. It's a good thing.

 

[Lovelyloribeth]

Awwww thank you! Animals in general are so beneficial to autistic children and adults. I'm hoping chichi comes around so much that they can play with each other.
Since chichi says "dance" and bobs his head to music and stomps his foot, Rhyse(Reese) comes in here all the time and talks to him!! Interacting socially with anything is amazing for us and him!! So he asks him to dance while he's in his cage and most of the time he does it. Rhyse just giggles and keeps asking. It's an amazing thing. Do you have an instant messenger?? I stay up late and you seem to also maybe we can chat
And he is purring! It's the cutest lil sound. He's doing it now while he's in his happy hut. I fall more in love with his lil bitey butt every day.

 

[DebsFlock]

I'm on Facebook and sometimes use chat, but I must confess my hubby is out of town on a business trip at the moment, so I'm a bit more "around" than might be typical. What time zone are you in? I'm Pacific...

Yeah, they are totally endearing, but of our 3 birds, the GCC is the most complicated and the smallest by weight!

 

[Lovelyloribeth]

Pm me your fb?
It's ok my hubby deploys often overseas so I'm around more and less depending if he's home. (he is now but I'm an insomniac) I am eastern. Georgia

 

[tharindhu006]

in here they cut wings of the parrot so they cant fly then, i will never do that to my pet and he is free

 

[BreannPearlLang]

i broke my parrot of three bad habits very easily. when i first got her she would bite when distressed, if she jumped onto the floor she would run from me, and she would scream her brains out for now reason. i dont know if it will help you, but i would just baby talk her "what are you doing?" in an exciting voice and tell my bf "buttons being silly" and she eventually stopped all together. i first noticed it worked when she jumped on the floor and i baby talked to her and she didnt run away. either ignore it, baby talk to her, but never do anything like move her into the cage etc.

 

[Grenage]

Ahoy there,

They can be nippy buggers; ours was an angel for the first few days, then he went on a savage rampage before finally calming down a notch. He's still nippy, but the trick is to give them something they can murder for a while, it gets it out of the system.