Could use some help with my young GCC

[tratledge]

Hi guys,

Brand new bird owner here. I've had a 3 month old green cheek conure since Thursday (so 4 days now). He was raised by a breeder so when I acquired him he was "mostly" tame. I put quotes around that because while he's incredibly interested in me, he seems to have two very different personalities, one in his cage, and one outside of it.

I have been working with him on step ups and target training, both of which he does pretty well with. I have a couple problems with him, though, that make me concerned that the bird is going to end up hating me.

When I'm working with him outside of his cage, he cooperates pretty well for a while, and then he'll start turning his back on me and try to fly on top of his cage to get away from me. He also routinely tries flying onto my shoulder, even though I try to discourage this as much as possible by pulling my shoulder away. He is clipped, so he doesn't fly too well, but it doesn't stop him from trying.

I'm trying to get him used to touch and taming him further, but I'm having a rather difficult time of touching his back or his head or ear area - I am going very slow, distracting him with treats, talking to him reassuringly... the only thing that works is distracting him with a treat, for the most part, and then I can touch him, but he does then start to run up my arm to get away from the hand at his back.

Eventually, he grows tired of me asking him to do things that he resorts to biting. I'm not trying to force him to do anything; I only ask for step ups and never push my finger into his belly. If he starts biting when he's perched on my hand, I will shake my hand to make him lose his balance (I've read and watched multiple sources that say this is a good way to get them to stop biting). He squawks when this happen, clearly not liking that, but I'm not sure it's effective, or that I'm just not making angry and losing his trust by doing it. I've also tried putting the bird down and walking away. Because he wants to be near/on me, he'll try and fly to me, so I've had to shut a door on him before. Again, I'm not sure if this is an effective biting deterrent or if I'm just making things worse.

The thing that kind of sucks is that I've found that he LOVES being touched through the bars of his cage. He'll come up on his rope perch, and he's learned that when I lift my index finger high and through the bars, that it's time to get pet. He comes over, gently tongues at my finger and beaks it, but not bites - more nibbles. I lift my finger higher and start to scratch at the top of his head and his ears, and he closes his eyes, coos, and presses up into it, so clearly he likes it. My only guess is that he feels comfortable in the cage and not out of it, but I approach the petting in the same manner either way.

What do you think I should do at this point? Should I be:

1) Limiting his time out to very short intervals?
2) Try to continue getting him used to my touch even though he's uncomfortable with it out of the cage, in the hopes that eventually he'll stop being so cranky about it?
3) Should I let him out and just kind of do his own thing? I've tried to get him to play with jingle bells and empty spools of threads as simple mouth toys but he's really uninterested in them.
4) Is it possible I am damaging my relationship with any of my (gentle) negative reinforcement (hand/perch shaking, ignoring)?

I'm so very scared I'm doing more harm than good to the relationship at this point, and I know it's really critical to get it right early. Please help!

 

[MonicaMc]

How long are your training sessions with him?

How do you get him out of the cage?

Can he target inside his cage?

When he flies to your shoulder, what about teaching him to walk down your arm and to your hand? (this is a form of target training!)

When birds are touched on their backs, it's either a sign to them that they are getting attacked or the one that is touching them wants to mate with them. How about try sticking to the head region only?

When he sits on your hand and starts biting, is he being curious or bored cause he's got nothing to do?

What treats are you using?




It is better to have frequent short interactions with your new bird rather than minimal but long interactions. You haven't even had him for a week, which isn't enough time to settle in and to feel comfortable! So of course his cage will feel more secure to him! And that's ok!

You can also try bottle caps, leather strips, beads, popsicle sticks and other items to get his interest!



I don't recommend the 'earthquake' method if you can avoid it. Ya, sure, it's effective, but it may also cause hand aversions in some birds.

 

[tratledge]

Hi Monica,

I thought it best to quote and reply in line to your questions.

How long are your training sessions with him?

How do you get him out of the cage? He's so eager to get out of the cage whenever he sees me that this is never an issue. At first I was opening up the large front door but I read somewhere you shouldn't do that, that you shouldn't let birds out if they step up, so I only use the small gate instead now, and and he comes to the open gate and out onto my hand.

Can he target inside his cage? When I first started target training him, yes, we did this, and he did it just fine. We haven't done it since though, only targeting outside the cage.

When he flies to your shoulder, what about teaching him to walk down your arm and to your hand? (this is a form of target training!) That's a great suggestion, I'll start doing that.

When birds are touched on their backs, it's either a sign to them that they are getting attacked or the one that is touching them wants to mate with them. How about try sticking to the head region only? I was trying to eventually get him comfortable with getting picked up, but I'll try and stick to only the head region for now.

When he sits on your hand and starts biting, is he being curious or bored cause he's got nothing to do? To be honest I'm not sure. If I had to guess based on what little I know of his moods yet, it's that he's annoyed with me asking him to do a lot of things.

What treats are you using? A variety. His favorite seems to be cashews, but he also rather likes banana chips, and he's "okay" with papaya.




It is better to have frequent short interactions with your new bird rather than minimal but long interactions. You haven't even had him for a week, which isn't enough time to settle in and to feel comfortable! So of course his cage will feel more secure to him! And that's ok!

You can also try bottle caps, leather strips, beads, popsicle sticks and other items to get his interest!



I don't recommend the 'earthquake' method if you can avoid it. Ya, sure, it's effective, but it may also cause hand aversions in some birds.

This is what I'm worried about. Should I just let him bite and ignore it? He's drawing a bit of blood now and then but it's nothing I can't handle.

 

[MonicaMc]

You forgot to answer how long your training sessions are with him.


I allow my birds to come out of their cages on their own, however the tamer birds will also generally step up without issues.

Since your green cheek comes out willingly, I'd say that's a good thing.


It's better to teach a bird to step up rather than picking them up as if they were an object. It's better to gain your birds trust first before trying to train that kind of behavior.


If he's getting annoyed with you, then you may be asking too much too soon or too often. Keep sessions short and end on a good note. Put him down every once in a while and teach him to self entertain.


It's good that you are using a variety of treats! You might also try millet and sunflower seeds!



As far as biting goes, it's better to avoid the bite than to ignore it. If you ignore the bite, then you are ignoring your birds communication to you. Birds often bite as a form of communicate to say "I'm not ready", or "I don't understand what you want" or "I'm afraid". They can also bite out of curiosity, boredom or other reasons. Ignoring the bite can lead to "bites out of no-where". If you learn to avoid getting bitten by not putting the bird in a situation that will result in a bite, then birds will tell you every single time that they will bite if you don't back off. You can then give them some space and try again in a few minutes.