Conure bites

[UniqueDaniFS]

My conure is usually just a sweetie, but up until recently he has just been being so mean, i give him attention hes out of his cage at last 3 hours a day but suddenly hes just been biting!

He is a year and one month old

Examples:

In the morning, i remove his cover open his cage and greet him when i take him out of the cage, and when i do he proceeds to do a hard bite then step up.

If im gently petting him or give him food, he randomly turns on me and gives me a hard nasty bite, sometimes drawing blood.

I dont yell, nor scream, i ( attempt) to put him in his cage and when i do im always left with more bites.

I dont know whats wrong with him. Im starting to feel bad.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

This is all just a part of growing up for parrots. Too many people fall in love with the cute baby conures at pet stores, but few employees tell them their little cuddly babies will be going through puberty and will start testing their limits. After they are finished maturing they will have a yearly breeding season were birds have their "horrormones". some really aren't that bad, it depends on the bird.

Don't worry or feel bad, it's not your fault your conure is suddenly biting. Just ignore the bites and remember it's only a phase. Try not to react in any way that reinforces the bite or turns it into the game. I find being unresponsive to bites work the best.

Also, only pet on the head or possibly the chest. Anywhere else will tell your bird you want to be their mate, like flirting with them. Always remember, you want to be a cherished flock member NEVER a mate.

 

[legal_eagle]

Try to avoid the situations that lead to biting ... maybe let him come out of the cage on his own and reduce the amount of petting. This will help avoid having the behavior become a habit. You're not doing anything wrong ... he's just maturing and being a typical feisty GCC. My GCC bit me on the nose about six months age when I kissed her ... I don't know why but it didnt' happen again and I didn't make a big deal out of it.

 

[UniqueDaniFS]

well, i dont take him out of the cage forcefully, usually he bobs up and down and tries to step up. I havent once yelled or freaked out, so i think im doing good, thanks guys!

 

[thesarahdox]

Also, only pet on the head or possibly the chest. Anywhere else will tell your bird you want to be their mate, like flirting with them. Always remember, you want to be a cherished flock member NEVER a mate.

Whoa, say what!? I did not know this. We have always pet Punku's head, stomach, back, etc. how can we tell if he's thinking we are trying to be his mate??

 

[weco]

Also, only pet on the head or possibly the chest. Anywhere else will tell your bird you want to be their mate, like flirting with them. Always remember, you want to be a cherished flock member NEVER a mate.

Whoa, say what!? I did not know this. We have always pet Punku's head, stomach, back, etc. how can we tell if he's thinking we are trying to be his mate??

In the wild, the only preening below the neck/shoulders that birds do is with their mates.....other flock members do preen non-mates but stay on the neck & head...areas that birds can't get to.....so rubbing/stroking your birds under wings & on their backs can impart the wrong messages...especially during mating seasons.....

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Also, only pet on the head or possibly the chest. Anywhere else will tell your bird you want to be their mate, like flirting with them. Always remember, you want to be a cherished flock member NEVER a mate.

Whoa, say what!? I did not know this. We have always pet Punku's head, stomach, back, etc. how can we tell if he's thinking we are trying to be his mate??

In the wild, the only preening below the neck/shoulders that birds do is with their mates.....other flock members do preen non-mates but stay on the neck & head...areas that birds can't get to.....

Yup, I never pet Rosie below her shoulders(except her breast) during breeding season. I'm still very careful the rest of year and make sure she isn't getting excited. I only pet her breast because I know it doesn't create a breeding reaction from her. Usually back and tail are the most sensitive.

 

[thesarahdox]

Wow...I had no idea. Um...this may be a really weird question but how do they act "excited"??

Thanks for the info.

 

[tokensmom]

Yeah...I had no idea either. Lovely. Here all along I thought I was doing a good thing so I could touch him anywhere....under wings, belly...back. Great....Im messing him up and he has been bitey too.

 

[UniqueDaniFS]

Well, my conure has already tried to mate with my hand while i was playing tetris, it was a little awkward

he kinda " sat" on my hand and pressed himself down on my hand moving side to side.

 

[Peeko]

Not to hijack the thread, but I hear a lot of people/websites saying to discourage the bird from thinking your its mate. I haven't yet seen anyone say, specifically, what consequences it could have. Not trying to argue of course, I'm just curious. My grandmother encourages her AG thinking she is his mate, and hasn't complained of any negative behavior, that I know of?

 

[MonicaMc]

You could sexually overstimulate your bird... which may result in a prolapse of the cloaca (common in cockatoos), may result in frustrated birds (you encourage breeding like behavior, then when bird tries to mate with you, you discourage the behavior, bird ends up all hyper and ready to go with no where to get rid of all his sexual energy!), said birds may end up biting, may result in a "one person bird" who will attack other people to keep them away from their perceived mate, may result in excessive egg laying which can be an issue of itself... (lay too many eggs, bird could become calcium deficient, may become deficient in albumin or other areas, may result in weak/fragile bones, etc)

Unless you intend to breed your bird with another bird, I just can't see any good reason to encourage breeding like behaviors.



UniqueDaniFS, you may just need to go back to the basics. As mentioned, your little baby is growing up into an adult! A child may be fine being tossed onto a bed and a raspberry blown on their stomach, but you can't do that to an adult! Behaviors that a bird may accept or ignore as a chick may not be so as an adult.

My advice? Don't get bitten! Seriously. Try to avoid situations that you *know* will lead to a bite. While you are doing that, go back to the basics of step up, come here and any other kind of training you may have done. Use positive reinforcement training, often under the guise of clicker training. Learn to read your birds body language, and more importantly, learn how to communicate with them!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Not to hijack the thread, but I hear a lot of people/websites saying to discourage the bird from thinking your its mate. I haven't yet seen anyone say, specifically, what consequences it could have. Not trying to argue of course, I'm just curious. My grandmother encourages her AG thinking she is his mate, and hasn't complained of any negative behavior, that I know of?

Other than what Monica already said - It's just morally wrong. We have these highly intelligent creatures to live with, we shouldn't play with their love and instincts. Imagine from the birds perspective, they love you with all your heart, may even try to mate with you, but no chicks ever appear. To top that off they may one day have to watch you get married or have date someone.

It would be so sad to have to watch the love of your life loving someone else.