Hey everyone,
I'm actually new here, but I searched everywhere to find some solution for this, but I'm still not sure what to do...
I have two green cheek conures. We adopted them, and the previous owner said they are a male and female and they just turned one year old now, but I'm not sure about that, but they are young. They are both flighted. I've had them since October and I'm a first time bird owner. I'm also a part of a 7 member family, and I'm still in my teens.
I've tried to create a bond with them, but I don't know if I'm doing it right, because only little progress was made. At first, they were terrified of us and didn't want us near. Now they like to come and see what we do.
One of them sometimes comes up to me and flies on my shoulder. I know I shouldn't let that happen, but sometimes he/she acts so nice there, I don't know what to do. The other times.. He starts to nibble on the edge of my sweater and then on my skin a little bit and then that starts to become harder and so it hurts. I have a bad habit of saying shh when it hurts and sometimes he stops to that but sometimes he just stops for a second and starts doing it again, but harder. I then put him off me and leave the room. The other conure is shyer, she barely comes to me.
I think they are also afraid of my hands. I've never touched their feathers. Every time I have my hand coming close, they start to open their beaks, ruffle their feather, ect.. if I woudn't pull back, they would bite. The one who sometimes comes to my shoulders twice let me touch his beak very softly several times, but if I try to do it again, he wants to bite.
One time, actually today, I had him (the one with the shouders) on a jar, which was filled with their seeds. He was standing at the edge, and I was trying to put him down on a perch, but he didn't want to go down. He suddenly slipped, right onto my hand and bit me three times. It - luckily - didn't break the skin, but it hurt real bad. He somehow managed to get back on the jar and I managed to put him down. I didn't panick when he touched my hand, I didn't do a thing, but he just bit down, even though I held him from falling down.
Also today, he was on my arm, nibbling my sweater as usual, and then started to touch my hand with his beak very gently. I thought how cute, but then he started to eat my hand! He bit down three times and all of them broke the skin and bled. It still hurts. I immedietly put him down and said No! and went away.
I sometimes let them bit me because somewhere I read that bite pressure training was about letting my parrot bite me and then "tell" him what pressure is okay. But how do I know if this works?
I've tried getting the bird out of its balance when biting, but then he just bites even more to keep its balance I guess.
I don't know if I'm doing anything right or if I'm just being a total bummer. I don't have anyone to ask advice from, just the internet.
I also can't let them out of their cage every day, just every two days, because of my family.
I really hope that we'll get though this with your help so thank you all the answerers.
A hoping conure owner
ps.:sorry for the long text...
I'm actually new here, but I searched everywhere to find some solution for this, but I'm still not sure what to do...
I have two green cheek conures. We adopted them, and the previous owner said they are a male and female and they just turned one year old now, but I'm not sure about that, but they are young. They are both flighted. I've had them since October and I'm a first time bird owner. I'm also a part of a 7 member family, and I'm still in my teens.
I've tried to create a bond with them, but I don't know if I'm doing it right, because only little progress was made. At first, they were terrified of us and didn't want us near. Now they like to come and see what we do.
One of them sometimes comes up to me and flies on my shoulder. I know I shouldn't let that happen, but sometimes he/she acts so nice there, I don't know what to do. The other times.. He starts to nibble on the edge of my sweater and then on my skin a little bit and then that starts to become harder and so it hurts. I have a bad habit of saying shh when it hurts and sometimes he stops to that but sometimes he just stops for a second and starts doing it again, but harder. I then put him off me and leave the room. The other conure is shyer, she barely comes to me.
I think they are also afraid of my hands. I've never touched their feathers. Every time I have my hand coming close, they start to open their beaks, ruffle their feather, ect.. if I woudn't pull back, they would bite. The one who sometimes comes to my shoulders twice let me touch his beak very softly several times, but if I try to do it again, he wants to bite.
One time, actually today, I had him (the one with the shouders) on a jar, which was filled with their seeds. He was standing at the edge, and I was trying to put him down on a perch, but he didn't want to go down. He suddenly slipped, right onto my hand and bit me three times. It - luckily - didn't break the skin, but it hurt real bad. He somehow managed to get back on the jar and I managed to put him down. I didn't panick when he touched my hand, I didn't do a thing, but he just bit down, even though I held him from falling down.
Also today, he was on my arm, nibbling my sweater as usual, and then started to touch my hand with his beak very gently. I thought how cute, but then he started to eat my hand! He bit down three times and all of them broke the skin and bled. It still hurts. I immedietly put him down and said No! and went away.
I sometimes let them bit me because somewhere I read that bite pressure training was about letting my parrot bite me and then "tell" him what pressure is okay. But how do I know if this works?
I've tried getting the bird out of its balance when biting, but then he just bites even more to keep its balance I guess.
I don't know if I'm doing anything right or if I'm just being a total bummer. I don't have anyone to ask advice from, just the internet.
I also can't let them out of their cage every day, just every two days, because of my family.
I really hope that we'll get though this with your help so thank you all the answerers.
A hoping conure owner
ps.:sorry for the long text...
