New baby starting to bite - Please help!

[MissLou]

Hi there. This is my first post here, and it's going to be a long one...please, bear with me.

About 4 weeks ago, a friend of a friend told me about someone having baby conures in my neighborhood. I had been looking to add a conure to my family for some months, but wanted to get a bird that was a good fit...so I kept looking for a healthy bird from a reputable breeder or one to adopt, a tame friendly bird, one that wouldn't spook easily, etc. Well, I went to this lady's house to meet her babies, and the poor things were barely making it. The parents were not taking care of the babies (not feeding them), and the lady/owner was trying her best to rear them. The parents laid 5 eggs, 3 hatched, 1 died, and from the 2 babies that I met, one was almost twice as big as the smaller one. I grew up with birds, so I showed her how to syringe feed them (she was feeding them with a spoon), keep them warm, etc. Well, this lady travels a lot, and hired a pet sitter to watch her animals. The pet sitter didn't know how to feed the babies, the owner asked me if I'd help, so I stepped in. Long story short, the lady seems to have good intentions but is not a good bird parent...although, I have my reservations, and I'm beginning to wonder if she's just letting them breed to make a quick buck, because her pair continues to mate. The parents are not fed a healthy diet, and the babies are left in their own excrement inside the nest box that the owner never cleans (I was the only one who would clean it out when I went to help out with the babies).

In the mean time, my daughter fell in love with the little baby (the one barely making it), as she used to go with me to feed the babies. So it kind of turned into a rescue mission to get that baby out of that house. I purchased her and brought her home as soon as the lady came back from her last vacation. I had set up an incubator for the baby with interactive toys, a snuggle toy, food, water, etc. and I have continued to syringe feed her. First thing I did was give her a bath because her tail feathers were covered in poop and she smelled very badly. I syringe feed her in the mornings before I leave the house, and she gets some play time outside of her incubator. She gets syringe fed again after I come home from work and then stays outside the incubator until bedtime. I've known this bird since she was 2 weeks old...all pink, no feathers. My daughter and I liked her because she was very quiet and laid back...whereas her older sibling was loud and rambunctious. She's 6 weeks and 2 days old today. Baby baby.

Well, before bed, I watch Netflix on my laptop, and I had been opening seeds for her and trying to feed her the inside (no hull), and feeding her her pellets trying to teach her/encourage her to eat solid food. I think she's finally learning!! We also bring her to the table with us while we eat and try to share our food with her. Well...I don't know if this little bird is just a smarty pants, or if I'm thinking too much into it....But, I think she's starting to train me. When I bring her out in the mornings, I've been putting her in the laundry sink so she can poop in there (she has the biggest monstrous poop first thing in the morning). After she poops, I pick her up and take her out of the sink. I think she has figured this out and "faked a poop" tonight when I put her in the sink (she can't fly out of the sink on her own yet) to get me to take her out of the sink. Could this be true??

That all was a prelude to: Tonight was the first time she ever bit me. A few times! She was biting me as I was peeling her seeds while we watched Netflix. What is that about? It's almost like she was rushing me! I did a lot of reading on conures during the months of searching for one. Because of that/from that, I've just been quickly moving my hand to have her loose her balance when she was biting me tonight. But, what gives...? I've known this baby since before she had feathers, and fed her, and spoil her in every way possible. Why is she starting to bite? I want to nip it in the bud...I don't want to create a little green monster. So, please, tell me what I should do when she gets ornery like this? I've read birds bite due to fear or to control. She is definitely not afraid of me. Things were going so well....is this 6 week old bird really trying to control me? Is she starting to get into the "nippy stage" I've read so much about? We've been snuggling every night, and she's been dozing off on me happily grinding her beak while I pet her. What is going on...? Any words of advice would be appreciated.

 

[BoomBoom]

I would not take the bite personally. She must have gotten over-excited over the seed. My sun conure is bonded with me but will give me a pretty good warning nip if I try to get near his forager when he's working on getting a pistachio or almond out. They are wild animals and will behave like one for years to come. When she nips, just give her a firm 'NO' and look displeased. Try to avoid getting in situations where she would bite. The best way to prevent this behavior is to avoid the triggers. The less she does it, the better the chance it will not develop into a habit.

Congratulations and I hope you have many good years together!

 

[BoomBoom]

Also on the fake poop, it's funny that you mentioned that. Boomer does it quite often too! I always take him to his poop perch every 15-30 mins. I have this poop intuition that warns me when he's due for one. He knows that he can't get back on my shoulder until he's done it, so sometimes he does a push as if he pooped but nothing comes out. He also clucks and stares at me as if saying 'See I did it!' I don't know if he does that to trick me or if he tried to push but just nothing came out. Who knows with these birds!

 

[LoryLover]

She's learned that she can bite. My baby bird started doing the same thing. They were hard nips too. All we did, was began the "no biting" training. Everytime she nipped hard, we told her "no biting" in a stern voice. It took a couple or more weeks of the no biting training, but she learned that biting was not a good thing and quit.

Of course all birds will nip now and then... but once they are properly conditioned not to bite hard, then it would have to be a major incident for them to bite hard.

Absolutely they can "fake" a poop! Our lory is trained to poop in her cage before we take her out. She will run over to the spot on her perch where she poops from, and fan her tail and get ready to poop.... then nothing happens, she runs back to the other end of the perch. Then immediately runs back to the pooping spot... and same thing, no poop yet. Finally just as she thinks I'm giving up and going to come back later to get her, she manages to squeeze out a tiny poop, lol! Most of the time, though, she does a pretty good poop right away. We also sometimes swing her through the air a couple times (while she's sitting on our finger, with a thumb over top of her foot so she won't fall off), then sit her back on the perch and voila... a poop happens!

 

[MikeyTN]

Like it's been mentioned already, don't take the bite too personally. They do test their beaks and try out different things by using their beak. Like it was said all you have to do is teach her no biting. They do go through that phase during weaning time and after weaning time but it will pass.

 

[legal_eagle]

Some biting is normal and to be expected. I would reduce the amount of time that the bird has the opportunity to bite you ... i.e., when your hands are within reach of her beak. Otherwise, she'll get used to biting you when the same situation arises again. So when you hang out with her try to avoid spending a lot of time touching her, handling her food, etc. Keep her out of the cage by all means, but be companionable. While conures enjoy cuddling you'll note in viewing wild flocks that they go through periods of being rambunctious and nipping at each other. So you want to reduce that the opportunity for the instinct to act this way to arise.

Also, food is going to bring out natural aggressiveness ... just watch how wild parrots interact over food. My conure always nips at me when I put food in her bowl or take it out ... because she instinctually feels competitive around food. I expect her to do it and just let it go. She never bites me otherwise, and spends most of the time out of her cage with me when I am home.

 

[mandolynn]

I have had experience raising green cheeks and I had a few that were just a little nippy at times, despite being hand fed and having a lot of interaction. What I did was ignore the nips, if they continued to bite, I'd calmly and without a word put them in their cage. Even saying no is reinforcing the bite because it is attention, and they love any attention. It's not easy to ignore the bites but you can use a glove, that helps. With time and patience he will learn not to do that, at least most of the time.

 

[MissLou]

Thanks for the replies, they are greatly appreciated.
She tried biting me again this morning, I gave her a firm "NO" and moved my hand to have her focus on regaining her balance.

My poor daughter got bit this morning too...the poor thing just came walking to me in tears "Mommy, she's biting me!" while Miss Lou was munching on her hand. I just love the fact that she knew not to react to keep the bird safe. They've been playing for hours. My daughter is feeding her by hand, and talking to MissLou. They are so cute together.