Conure nice on hands but vicious on bed

[Caldwell]

Hey everyone,

so heres what has happened a few times. first of all he's a 2 year old male crimson bellied conure. he was hand raised and his extremely friendly.

I hold him when im on my bed and he sits and makes his little happy conure sounds. he also talks but I have no idea what he's saying lol.

anyway he's fine on my finger but if he gets on the bed he TURNS VICIOUS!!

he attacks everything, my toes, my fingers and hands, tried to get my legs.
he also stands up real tall and does a slow motion peck on the bed. the only way I can get him back is to press my finger under is belly and force him to step up, usually while being bitten.

i dont understand what causes him to be like this, someone please tell me if I'm doing something to cause it, or if it can be avoided. thank you

 

[MikeyTN]

Does he do it on the floor as well?

 

[Caldwell]

i havent put him on the floor because i dont want him under my bed or chewing my wires for guitars and things. should I place him on the floor and see what he does?

 

[MikeyTN]

Yes if you don't mind trying!

 

[Caldwell]

alright, ill try it later and let you know how it turns out!

 

[Caldwell]

okay I placed him on the floor, he didnt act vicious but I think it's because he's never been there and was so distracted. why would he only do it on my bed though?

 

[andrea.faerie]

Maybe give him something to play with on the bed? My conure LOVES going under my blankets and playing with big wooden beads, buttons, and banglettes that i give her to chew on, it keeps her from chewing on me!

 

[MikeyTN]

Its a territorial thing he's doing.....he's claiming your bed to be his area. So the bed should be off limits from now on....

 

[Caldwell]

thanks mikey, well that sucks cause that was my favorite place to hold him lol. ill try in the living room tomorrow and see how he does. thanks for the advice though I appreciate it.

 

[RayPember]

The breeders I got my sun conure from told me to put him in a blanket so he wouldnt bite people, needless to say, he still bites me and he hates cloth. I suggest thinking about why he hates beds, or being on a bed. I'd get all animal communicatory with you but only if you want, i might have some solutions to your problem, from what your saying, he just has bed aggression, and he has to get over it. My baby has cloth aggression, so I'm going to work on that with him, try positive reinforcement. Everytime he is on the bed, give him a treat, not by hand, just let him investigate, call him over, find out why he's agressive, and make him being on the bed a fun experience. My conure hated leaving my hands, but when I gave him a treat for stepping off and expoloring, making him find treats, he became so much more relaxed with the house.

 

[MikeyTN]

When you have an area of aggression, it is best to remove them out of that area! You can try training it by doing repeating process like what you suggested with treats and all. But it's a lot easier to just remove the bird out of that area where the aggression starts. Wait a while longer until the bird is more used to you before attempting it again. It can take a week, a month, or longer. It just depends....So far I am able to train my birds in a week and have them in pretty good shape by a month. I am able to hold and play with all my birds except the Canaries, Parakeets, and one super mean Cockatiel. I stopped training him because my partner told me to let him be. The time I stopped training after a month, at least he knows how to step up to perches. Can't trust him on fingers cause he would do good and then all of a sudden he would just chomp down and drawl blood and won't let go. Maybe one day I'll attempt the training process with him again....But the last few times he's gotten out of the aviary, he did step up nicely without biting. So we'll see....

 

[lexx510]

Our GCC has a thing for toes. She turns vicious whenever she is around someone's feet (whether it's on the bed or on the floor). Once she starts chasing after toes, she becomes extremely aggressive and will bite anything else that it's in her way. COuld it be that your bird's aggression is also triggered by your feet and not so much the bed? I've read similar similar stories from several memebers on this forum.

 

[roxynoodle]

It could be your feet. Are you wearing shoes or slippers or at least socks when you aren't laying in bed? A lot of animals seem to react to our feet. My cat will chase me sometimes and chomp down on mine. And most of us have probably had a puppy, kitten or bird attack our feet. Our feet do look quite a bit different than our hands, where most 4 legged critters have front and back feet that look pretty much alike.

Or it could be something about your bed has made him want to claim it like Mikey suggests.

It could even be some other part of your body that he sees more in the bed. I swear the first time my cat saw me naked she screamed and ran away! Pete was definitely a bit scared and curious as well the first time he showered with me. His previous owner had been a man, and well, men and women do look different naked!

 

[Caldwell]

update:

i held him a few times in the living room today and he did really good, except he climbed down onto my lap and started biting my fingers. not his attack bite but still painful. I tried not to react to it and lasted maybe 5 seconds but he kept doing it so I rocked back and forth so he would have to catch his balance and let go. its so weird though he's like the best bird on my hands and shoulder, then when he's on something flat he gets mean. I dont understand, should I just avoid everything flat or can I do something to prevent this?

 

[MikeyTN]

Let him beg to be picked up. Dont touch him while he's down. You tell him no biting everytime he tries. Just ignore him. They don't like to be ignored.

 

[Caldwell]

alright mikey, well I appreciate your advice. I see it says you've been thanked 400 times and I want to add to that but I dont know how lol can you tell me XD?

 

[MikeyTN]

alright mikey, well I appreciate your advice. I see it says you've been thanked 400 times and I want to add to that but I dont know how lol can you tell me XD?

On the bottom right of the person's message there's a Thank button, just press that!

 

[roxynoodle]

Look at the bottom right hand corner of someone's post and you will see a tab that says "thanks". Click on it and it will thank that person.

Heck, I've had conures a long time and I'm reading Mikey's posts with interest because I've never heard of a conure claiming a bed or table, lol! They are all unique though! Rowdy has pretty much claimed the entire front room though, so I suppose if she came to bed with me she might try to claim that, too.

 

[Caldwell]

okay one last question. when I hold him my palms sweat alot and he tries to lick the sweat. is that okay or is it bad for them?

 

[MikeyTN]

Its not gonna hurt him no. But try not to share your bodily fluids too much. Make sure you wash your hands prior to handling your bird.