Help warming up to new people

[Iago]

So Iago doesn't really like anyone except for me or my mom (who he doesn't see very often anymore since I have moved in September). How can I get him to be more people friendly and not just want to attack everyone else?

 

[crimson]

you have a bond with your bird, and he trusts you. he clearly is unsure of everyone else because there is no bond that has been developed... If he doesn't like anyone else, let it be. However you can train him to be comfortable around other people if he is out of his cage, but not have anyone approach him so they don't provoke him.

 

[Birdlover11]

You can't train a bird to like somone , but you can train a bird not to nip, freak out

 

[ConureLady]

Before I trusted my conures, I flight suit trained them and took them everywhere tied to me. my conures no longer fear anything. taking them to new places, letting them experience new things and loud noises can help make a more well rounded parrot that expects and enjoys change.

 

[friedsoup]

Yep what conure lady said harrness training and or wing clipping and alot of out of cage time on you going places start small a little trip to Petco or Petsmart to pick out a toy (I let mine pick out their own toys by offering a toy while they sit on my shoulder and if they show no interest in one I try another) then move up to places like Home Depot and stop and talk to everyone and let them view your bird and as he gets better with new people handing him off to strangers it will take time but it is a bonding thing you and your bird can do and if done right your bird will look forward to your outtings (Be sure to watch your bird for signs he's had enough and cut the trip short you don't want these trips to be a chore for your bird) My Bogart tends to stop wanting to step-up and puts his head down for a scratch instead when you reach for him, it's a little sign but I allow him the choice to cut our trip short when he's had enough.

 

[Iago]

Thanks for the ideas, I just have to get him used to the harness. That should come in time through the winter though. Thanks!

 

[MonicaMc]

If you have friends who you trust and are interested in interacting with him, you can reward him for interacting with these people positively. This can be done in at least a couple of different ways.

One, strangers feed your conure his/her favorite foods and interacting away from the cage.

Two, you take your bird over to said 'stranger' and cue him to step up onto them. This works best if they have their hand out flat and they stay perfectly still. Cue him to step up onto them and reward.


Finding a local bird club may be a great way to find people who aren't afraid of handling your bird! That, and, as mentioned, taking your bird out to bird friendly places!

 

[friedsoup]

Yes winter is a great time to harness train just be sure that as soon as the harness is on you are ready to move with your bird and take them on their adventure so they know that the harness means going somewhere and seeing new things. Find out if you local inside mall will allow you to walk with your bird (except for the food court) along with the other people who come there to exercise out of the cold as long as you just window shop and don't enter the stores most places will make a pet exception for a bird on a leash. PS I always carried popsicle sticks to give them something to chew on as a distraction from the harness.

 

[Iago]

Monica - The problem is whenever a stranger gets close to his cage, if I'm there or not, he will start lunging toward them and biting his cage. I don't trust him being outside of his cage when other people are around. On a few occasions I've brought him into a room not knowing people were there and he flew to the closest person and bit him. Maybe it's time to get his wings clipped? He is 3 years old and they haven't been clipped since about 6 months old.

 

[Birdlover11]

Try to take him out in a flight suit around people , like if Theyres a guest in the living room take him out and make him look at them in a distance

 

[MonicaMc]

Monica - The problem is whenever a stranger gets close to his cage, if I'm there or not, he will start lunging toward them and biting his cage. I don't trust him being outside of his cage when other people are around. On a few occasions I've brought him into a room not knowing people were there and he flew to the closest person and bit him. Maybe it's time to get his wings clipped? He is 3 years old and they haven't been clipped since about 6 months old.

Knowing that information helps. It was not stated in the first post.

Clipping his wings will hinder him and may even help the behavior, but wont necessarily stop it. At least, when I clipped my mitred conures wings, it honestly didn't seem to help his behavior! I imagine that your conure may take to running on the ground to attack others if he can't fly to them... which really doesn't stop the behavior from occurring.

I would think that stationing him would probably be the best training (clipped or flighted) so he learns to ignore other people.


Maybe these two blog posts may be of help?

Stationing « Lara Joseph
A “Bird Attacking” Question « Lara Joseph



Oh, and when he's sitting on your hand, can you keep him from flying off by putting a thumb over his feet? And if he's tempted in flying off, distract him with a toy or something else?

 

[Pedro]

Monica - The problem is whenever a stranger gets close to his cage, if I'm there or not, he will start lunging toward them and biting his cage. I don't trust him being outside of his cage when other people are around. On a few occasions I've brought him into a room not knowing people were there and he flew to the closest person and bit him. Maybe it's time to get his wings clipped? He is 3 years old and they haven't been clipped since about 6 months old.

LOL. IAGO, this makes me laugh because my very first pair of sun conures did exactly the same & it didn't matter what i did wouldn't fix the situation until i looked into their behaviour.

Once my 2 had matured they classed my hubby & myself as their family unit & our house as their territory. Any stranger that came through the door would get bitten. They were protecting us & their territory. Any intruder was fair game. I didn't try to change their behaviour because our home was their's for 90% of the time.

We had them free flighted in the house & only caged them when we went out or had visitors. Besides i don't like to many people handling my parrots.

You could clip his wings & yes it will put him in his place for the short term.