Help! Biting...ouch:(

[Beilana]

For the past 3 days Hiroshi has been biting and nipping constantly, and hard! He broke the skin a couple times, once on me and once on my mom. It's strange because he will beg to be picked up then once he's on me he bites at my hand or neck. He wants to be with us constantly but I'm at my wits end, I have tried everything! Nothing seems to be curbing this behavior.

He gets 12 hours of quiet dark sleep, fresh fruit and veggies daily, has a large cage, toys to play with, and the vet said he was top notch.

Could this be his young nippy phase (hes 6 months) or Molting?? Or something else??

What I'm wondering is what should I do when he bites, its almost impossible to just let him bite because it hurts soooo much! I also don't want him to think it's ok. I've tried the "hand drop" and time outs (time outs make it worse). I've also tried offering a toy as an alternative....

Any suggestions?

 

[Beilana]

No one??

 

[GreenCheek]

Hmmm, the only time I really had any problem with Cody biting was when I first got him. I used the "earthquake" method with him which worked very well (wobbling your hand to throw him off balance). But it sounds like that won't work in your case. Maybe every time he bites, try just putting him down and turning away? Then pick him back up, and if he does it again, keep putting him down. It may take a while, but eventually he may get the message. Also be sure to treat him when he's offering the behaviors you like! Other than that, I can't offer too much advice, as for the most part, Cody's a lover, not a biter. (unless you've got a goody in your hand, THEN he'll bite ya! lol)

 

[Aussie Ben]

Naughty Hiroshi!

GC's advice sounds good. I think its going to be a case of encouraging good behaviour. You will have to ignore him when he does get nippy, but make a real fuss when he is not biting. Sorry I can't help too much, never dealt with a nippy green cheek.

 

[Beilana]

Thanks guys. Since posting this he has gotten better, Maybe he knew I told on him lol

I'll try that and see if it works

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Sounds like the conure bonding stage.

It's by far the most ridiculous idea I have every proposed (out loud at least) but I have speculated that in conures there is a hormonal switch or physiological change that goes along with bonding to a new mate. Somwhere around 3-6 months after the conure goes home with the new owner all hell breaks loose, biting, screaming, tearing apart of everything (And then you should see what the conure does to cause that! ;o))

I hear the same story from nearly every single conure owner I've heard from (single as in that's the only bird they have).

I have no idea how to smooth out this phase - and I remember a couple years ago I was questioning whether I could keep Auggie due to his phase. It was the hardest time in my life, I never felt so miserable having to consider finding a new home for him, but I was getting ripped apart: I had two to three fingers bandaged every day, nearly lost an earlobe a few times, and it was not uncommon for him to go for my face. Nothing seemed to help... but then it just passed.

Not much help there, I know. But give it time, it may just be his stage.

 

[Beilana]

Sounds like the conure bonding stage.

It's by far the most ridiculous idea I have every proposed (out loud at least) but I have speculated that in conures there is a hormonal switch or physiological change that goes along with bonding to a new mate. Somwhere around 3-6 months after the conure goes home with the new owner all hell breaks loose, biting, screaming, tearing apart of everything (And then you should see what the conure does to cause that! ;o))

I hear the same story from nearly every single conure owner I've heard from (single as in that's the only bird they have).

I have no idea how to smooth out this phase - and I remember a couple years ago I was questioning whether I could keep Auggie due to his phase. It was the hardest time in my life, I never felt so miserable having to consider finding a new home for him, but I was getting ripped apart: I had two to three fingers bandaged every day, nearly lost an earlobe a few times, and it was not uncommon for him to go for my face. Nothing seemed to help... but then it just passed.

Not much help there, I know. But give it time, it may just be his stage.

That could very well be it AD! I havn't considered giving him away, I figure it's a stage. A bird with a 30-40 year life-span is bound to go through some phases .....I just hope its over soon

 

[antoinette]

That could very well be it AD! I havn't considered giving him away, I figure it's a stage. A bird with a 30-40 year life-span is bound to go through some phases .....I just hope its over soon

Just as kids go throught different stages, sure birds do likewise
Hope it's over soon, be brave

 

[Birdamor]

I think that Antoinette has it right. It's a 'growing up' stage. I don't have experience with young birds because all of mine are rehomes but I do a lot of research and it seems to me that it's not only the greys that reject their parents (owners) when they reach puberty, it appears to happen with all psittacine medium to large species. It also appears that pet birds reach puberty earlier than what the text books tell us (I believe this is due to all handfeeding formulas having soy in them) so, if a conure in the wild is sexually mature at one year of age, I would think that it's not unlikely that a 6 month old captive-bred one is beginning to go through puberty.

 

[Beilana]

I think that Antoinette has it right. It's a 'growing up' stage. I don't have experience with young birds because all of mine are rehomes but I do a lot of research and it seems to me that it's not only the greys that reject their parents (owners) when they reach puberty, it appears to happen with all psittacine medium to large species. It also appears that pet birds reach puberty earlier than what the text books tell us (I believe this is due to all handfeeding formulas having soy in them) so, if a conure in the wild is sexually mature at one year of age, I would think that it's not unlikely that a 6 month old captive-bred one is beginning to go through puberty.

Thanks Birdamor He could definitely be going through a hormonal phase. I have also read that parrots reach puberty younger than in the wild, so its a possibility.

He's a lot better today, I helped him preen his head and neck which he always loves because he's molting and those quills must be itchy. Which was another thing I thought could be the cause of irritation.

When he does get too bitey I set him down and ignore him, this seems to be working. Instead of putting him in his cage I just place him down and turn away from him. He looks at me like " " Then hops back up and snuggles into my neck

He sure is sweet when he wants to be, and a little brat when he doesn't

 

[northernlights1]

somebody suggested holding their beak and saying, no!

 

[roxynoodle]

somebody suggested holding their beak and saying, no!

I posted what I did with my nippy conure in your post in the new members area.

 

[themacinjosh]

I just went to the vet because my lovie suddenly started biting (more like chewing) on fingers, and occasionally would go into attack mode. He said to just distract them when they do it with something else, and put them down. So if they're on your shoulder, simply put them on your lap or on the floor and have something else for the bird to play with and bite (but don't stick something else in next to your fingers cause that could teach the bird that biting fingers will result in them getting a toy).

I think in theory this is a good idea, but it's really hard sometimes to distract them if they're really going at it, and getting them to cooperate with stepping up on your finger to put them down is difficult too.

I'm open to other suggestions about deterring biting, but I also don't want to do anything emotionally destructive to the bird either (not a fan of punishing or making them feel defeated).

**Distracting the bird may involve tossing a toy across the room so they stop, look, and go for that instead of your fingers, ears, or whatever.

 

[Fearaffect]

Ive only had my lovie for a week now.....first few days were good....but last 2 seems like "she" has become more bitey and stubborn.....getting ready to show her pics of BBQ wings if she keeps it up!!!....

 

[themacinjosh]

Well, I'll say our baby lovebird didn't bite at ALL for the first week or two and then all of a sudden started with that too. So I think when they reach a certain age, they just start pretty suddenly. Hopefully I'll be able to do the right things to discourage the biting so it won't be as much of a problem...we'll see. I think birds just bite sometimes and it's really difficult to get them not to without them being emotionally damaged somehow.

 

[roxynoodle]

It's called the honeymoon period. They are on their best behavior for about 2 weeks and then try to find out if they get to be boss bird. Although you yourself could be the cause of at least some of the biting so take a look as well at what you are doing. If your bird is hungry or tired or wants to play with toys at that moment, don't ask it to interact with you. If it gives you signs it doesn't feel like playing with you, let it be.

If it's biting to test the waters you might try what I did with my conure. I had to clip her wings though or she would just fly back to me. Then when she would start chomping on me, I told her, "Don't!" and set her on her play gym, and ignored her for a couple of minutes. Since she wanted more than anything to be with me, this worked. I did it consistently every time she started biting, and she got the picture. I would pick her back up and if she started biting, back on the play gym she went to be ignored. Don't ignore the bird too long though or it may not make the connection. 2-5 minutes is good. It is not a punishment and it establishes you are in control.

 

[Enjru]

Unfortunately, biting is a self-reinforcing behavior. What this means, is that every time your parrot bites you, it will find the bite itself rather intrinsically enjoyable, and be more likely to bite you again the next time.

So, the best way to deal with biting is to avoid being bitten. To do this, you need to be able to read your parrot's body language and recognize when it is about to bite, eg, eyes pinning, nape feathers up, tail fanned, beak open, standing tall, etc. When you can recognize that your parrot's body language is indicating it is aggressive, you stay OUT of biting range, ie, you do not try to get him/her to "Step Up", you do not try to give him/her a scratch, and you do not hold out an almond in front of him/her for him/her to eat. You wait until you can see that the parrot's body language indicates he/she has calmed down and is relaxed before you put yourself within biting range to engage in any kind of physical interaction with him/her.

 

[Lukask]

My GCC is also in this phase right now. She is about 8 months old. I assumed it was due to hormones and molting. She usually doesnt bite, but the last few days she has been a biting machine for no apparent reason. Using the 'earthquake' method with her only makes it worse. Any kind of reaction from me starts a game with her. She is not clipped so putting her on her playtop for a timeout doesnt work either. She flies right back to me. The thing that I find helps her most is to pretend like she's not biting me when she does. It hurts and can be hard when she really latches on. Her bites usually occur when I ask her to step up. If she bites I will ignore the bite and keep asking for the step up. Once she understands that I'm not going away she will step up like I want. I then praise her for doing it. This seems to work the best for us and doesnt create a game out of the biting.

Her other favorite game: Pushing every single candle I own off all the shelves and tables and watching them crash to the floor. As soon as it hits the floor, she stares at me with that "Watcha gonna do about it mom?" face. Gotta love conures....haha

 

[roxynoodle]

Earthquake didn't work with Rowdy either. She liked it and then bit me for her "amusement park ride". Trying to ignore it was not effective either (glad it is for you, Lukask). I was thinking no drama, the biting would get boring. But, instead it seemed like she just kept grinding and grinding. She probably was getting a reaction from the pet store people so she figured if she made it hurt more, I would eventually react. Ignoring it though is probably a good way to deal with it provided you are the first person it starts happening with. With Rowdy it was an established behavior that probably had gotten her dramatic reactions previously.

 

[Enjru]

Unfortunately, even if you don't react in any way whatsoever, the parrot will still find the bite itself intrinsically rewarding. If you do react, the drama rewards are just an added entertainment bonus for the parrot.