Conure (nonaggressive) biting problem?

[Conjunx]

I have a two month old green cheek conure and hes very very affectionate and very very sweet! I love him to bits but he loves to bite

not aggressively im certain just... for fun almost? If im playing with him or hold my hand out, his usual first reaction when hes excited is to nibble, which never hurts of course
but eventually it turned into harder bites.

I read that handfed babies tend to do this because they associate hands with food. Is there anyways to teach him not to bite so hard?

Thank you!

 

[Jayyj]

What you need to look at is bite pressure training: letting the bird know what is acceptable and what is too much. With Alice, if I put a finger anywhere near her beak it's going to get chewed - it's a game to her, a bit of harmless rough and tumble. There might be better ways to teach this but the DIY approach I use is if she bites hard enough to hurt, I make a guttural sound to get her attention then say 'gentle' in a firm voice. If she continues to put on too much pressure I put a finger or thumb on the top of her beak so that i have control of the beak for a second which always makes her stop what she's doing and say 'gentle' again. Nowadays she gets excited and forgets occasionally, but she backs off very quickly if i tell her to and I rarely need to use the second technique.

The entire time I've been typing this she's been sat on my shoulder with my earlobe in her beak without hurting me at all!

 

[Kyoto]

I have the same problem with Kyo at times. You should see my hands. Unfortunately it seems to be totally random. He's kind of understanding bite pressure training, but he seems to want to make cuts on my hands to preen later or something.

I've stick trained him for when he is too nippy to be held, and also use the advice given above. Best of luck to you! Remember to really positively reinforce when he uses appropriate amounts of pressure and is gentle on your hands.

 

[Flboy]

I agree with both! Nature of a GCC! My JoJo never draws blood, but when we play, he nips. I play nip back, and I do use the same sounds he uses when annoyed. Unfortunately, if you have cuts, freckles, anything, it becomes their mission to remove it and help you! They do the same for each other, and you are part of the flock!

 

[Roo1130]

I have a GCC that is the same age as yours! I'm having the exact same problem. He's not really aggressive but does seem somewhat moody and has a sharp little beak and bites hard sometimes with little warning. It's very frustrating and it's making me nervous handling him.

 

[LeaKP]

There's hope! The youngsters, with patience and consistent discipline and pressure training, get better! They're young and maturing which take some time. Don't get slack on what is appropriate pressure and what isn't. When he/she gets too cheeky and bites too hard, one warning only - then if they bite hard again, put alone on stand or cage. They don't like to be away from their humans - it works well. After a few minutes, pick them back up and repeat as many times as necessary. They get it. Sometimes I have to revert back to school for my little guy when he gets too cheeky!

 

[Conjunx]

I think play bitting and nibbles are nice I just dont want him to bite too hard anymore

Cuddling with him is no fun when he gets too excited and chomps down hard :{

But after starting this thread I tried taking him and sitting with him, letting him give little "kisses" and praising him when hes nice (saying things like "nice kisses! ") , and once he bites too hard I tell him "no biting" in a firm voice and put him inside his cage

Does this seem like a good method or should i cut out putting him back into his cage?

 

[Conjunx]

Update:

Hi everyone its been a while!

Valentinos biting problem has gotten worse honestly


now he ONLY bites hard and im not sure what to do with that

Ive tried to take my fingers away from his beak but when he gets super angry

Whenever he calls me to his spot this seems to happen

At the moment the only solution ive had is to sit down when he calls me and bites me :[


Any ideas?

 

[Kyoto]

Try placing him on the floor when he bites. Or stick train. Give him things to do when he's out, and really make sure you let him know when he is good. Make up games to play. I play peekaboo with Kyo. His snuggle tent comes out if his cage during the day, so I use it to play with him. I hold it up and look through one end, pointing it towards him, and he runs through and pokes his head out the other side, and I say peekaboo and give him a treat. He loves it. He also loves when I let him "help" me clean his cage and sweep the floor. I've found that all Kyo really wanted and couldn't tell me was to be entertained and given more one on one time. He also really likes to lay on his back and grab my clothes to drag himself along my lap or shirt. It's a really funny thing to see, but I see him do it in his tent at bed time too. So I try to turn that into a game too. Take his natural behaviours and entertain him with them. A busy beak = a beak not biting.

Hope this helps I know what a struggle it is!

 

[veimar]

My gcc was my first ever bird, and when I encountered that problem I read from somewhere that they are very attentive to your face expression. He indeed always looked at me and tried to stay in eye contact all the time (and does that now as well!). So whenever he bit harder i made a very upset face and said "ouch' it hurts!" to show him that he hurt me. Somehow it worked very well, and he never bit me since then. During his hormonal phase it was a different story, but even then I could easily pick him up (he didn't want to step up) and he never bit me.