help now bitting

[chksbak]

we have had mystique for a week today. in the begining i went slow with feeding treats hand working up to holding, it went fast after one day she would come out on my finger and be very pleasent, after a few days she wanted to come out. when i was near she would run over and perch on the door wanting me to open it and let her out. she would enjoy a nice head rub and some treats. yesturday morning what a change
she run to the door and when i opened and offer my finger she bit it pretty hard. so i closed the door, tried again same results. for the rest of the day if i was near the cage she would make aggressive swings at me, through the bars on the cage. it is like she is mad at me. please help

 

[roxynoodle]

There could be a lot of explanations.

The bird could be hormonal today. If it's a female it may only last 1-2 days. If it's a male, it could last longer. If that is the case, sometimes it's just best to leave them be until it passes.

The bird may be testing it's boundaries now. Usually it happens at about the 2 week mark in a new home, but I'm sure it can happen sooner. It could also be at that age where it goes through it's "terrible twos". In conures this seems to happen around the 8 month old mark.

The bird is developing cage aggression. My Nanday has it and we've dealt with it by my opening her cage door, and letting her climb down so she is on the side of the open area. Then she will step up nicely. If I reach into her cage, she might step up or she might get aggressive. She has improved in middle age, but as a young bird, I would have been bitten reaching in for her.

The bird is sick or injured. Watch for other signs and take it to the vet immediately if you see any. Sleeping, not eating, moving funny are signs to watch for. Also if it continues acting this way, I'd take it in anyway just to rule out a physical problem.

Have you tried seeing if it will step up on a perch?

 

[everdusk]

If the bird is comfortable with you, it may be brave enough to try some new things and test out it's boundaries. Green Cheek Conures are known to be very beaky birds. I should probably seek some advice for my own.

My bird's been here for about 4 weeks. She has been friendly and wanting out to play from day 1. She has ALWAYS been very beaky and wanting to chew on EVERYTHING. Now, after her initial snuggles when she gets out of the cage, she starts to make angry squawks and bites at everything (I can't say it's VICIOUS, she never breaks the skin but bites hard). It seems like the only way I can stop this is to abruptly put her on the floor, but it's guaranteed she will resume later.

 

[lene1949]

Also have a look at your environment... Did anything change? Christmas decorations? New haircut/colour, new clothes?

 

[roxynoodle]

I should add that a lot of conures are beaky. My Nanday wants to explore everything she sees and she's almost 12 years old now.

 

[Crabman]

All the advice you've gotten is great. It's probably wanting to establish being an alpha in the house, and you don't want that! If the wings are not clipped, you might want to clip them, and sometimes that will change a birds attitude real fast. Then they become more realible on you to get around, and see you as more of a helper to them.

 

[lene1949]

A bird needs a lot more interaction, before it'll become tame... One week is nothing.... Keep training... lol

 

[Remy]

I'm not as familiar with conures, but Puck has mood swings! He also bit me a LOT when I first got him.

 

[chksbak]

well yesturday was a good day for mystique first he flew over to wear i was sitting and wanted held and head rubbed. then today he will come to the top of his cage the side wear i was sitting and call to me wanted to sit with me and gets his head rubbed some more, so maybe he is over being upset and settled into the new place. no longer does he run after my finger and try to nip me. i am so happy about this change

chuck

 

[roxynoodle]

Glad to hear everything is going so well!