HELP! new baby green cheek

[svt2nv]

Help!! I just bought a baby 2 month old hand fed green cheek. He was awesome at the bird shop. Played with him for a while no problems. Brought him home and he was still awesome. The following day he would not let me get near the cage. He would bite me if i tried to stick my hand in and get him to step up. If i try to stick my fingers through the cage he will try to bite. He will take treats through the cage no problem its just when I try to handle him. If i leave the room he starts to make noise so I come back. when i come back he gets quiet but as soon as i go near his cage he starts trying to bite. Please help!

 

[Rozalka]

When the parrot is noisy, never come back. That means for them "I was screaming and you came back, that's a great solution! I will do it each time when I am alone!"

 

[Jen5200]

Congratulations on your new addition! My advice would be to work at his pace - everything is new to him and it will take time for him to settle. Rozalka raises a good point about rewarding him for yelling . This is a good thread to get some tips from about how to bond with your baby http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

Please ask any questions that you have, many of us have gone through exactly what you’re going through now. It is a phase, be patient and take your time.

 

[Laurasea]

Welcome.
Birds are often defensive of their cage home territory. Especially new birds, this is their only safe zone.

A way to work with this and mak it easy on everyone, is to place a perch on the door. So when you open the door the perch swings out. Or if you don't have that type of door put one just outside of the door. Then low the bird to come out of the cage before interaction.

My GCC would bite the heck out of me if I stuck fingers in her cage. But she is fteindly and wonderful once out of the cage.

I keep posting a link about stress in parrots , but it's actually a wonderful article for new and old owners. I'll add it, in a second.
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

Take time with your new bird, set yourself up to succeed ( safflower seed bribes) be patient, be always learning. Use this forum resources, the general parrot page read all the blue sticky threads at the top of forums.

 

[SandieV]

The same thing happened to me with our new GCC. A few days later, he was settled in and I would call him to the open door to step up and that works. Sometimes he still gets feisty if I try to have him step up while in his cage.

Congrats on your new addition, they are a great breed and fun to watch play!

 

[CallumConure]

Congrats on your new GCC! They are lovely little birds!

Like any new animal, give them up to a week, week and a half maybe (or longer, just go at your bird's pace), to adjust to their surroundings and acclimate. Moving from a store can be very scary and stressful, causing the bird to defensively lash out. I don't know your home life or what the store was like, but any other pets, people, general surroundings, could be all very new and very scary. Birds, especially this small, can be prey animals and will react accordingly. I was lucky in the sense that Callum was immediately puffed up, cuddling, and sleeping against my face and neck the day I brought him home.

Avoid feeding treats or food through the cage bars, as this will encourage your bird to bite every time something comes in between the bars. With my GCC, Callum if he's getting a treat, I usually open the door and offer him the treat instead. But, since he has free roam of my home when I'm at home, he usually just flies over to me if he sees a treat coming lol. Either way, door opening means good things only-- a treat, being handled, or allowed to have free time.

If you would like to work with your new family member on step up but he remains nippy, try using a stick for stepping up. Have favorite treats on hand and immediately reward when he does step up on the stick. Don't flinch when he attempts to bite, as you flinching away just encourages the behavior ("If I bite, the hand leaves me alone.")

As others have mentioned, coming back in the room (whether to reprimand or just do human things) following a screech, you're encouraging the screaming behavior. Birds are exactly like human children-- any attention, even negative, is attention. Usually, if Callum's screeching, I'll wait outside the room, out of his sight, and wait until he's finished, and then walk in. Then if he remains quiet, I'll take him out.