Please help! Stressed to tears!

[Nejibana]

I bought my first bird, a one year old maroon Bellied Conure on Boxing Day after close to a year of research on birds. I thought I as well prepared and was really excited, however now I have him, I’m terrified of him, he bites hard and often breaking skin 7/10 times and has managed to almost pierce my ear at one point, I don’t want to hurt or scare him but when he bites trying to get him off is really hard.

He was hand reared and hates his cage. Every time I put my hand in to change the water/food/set up, he runs up my arm and perches behind my neck and bites anyone who tries to remove him, I can’t move my head without him clawing and biting my neck. I can’t even lure him with treats. I’m terrified and desperately regretting getting him. I don’t think I’m prepared to give him the attention he needs and I’m starting to hate being around him, which he doesn’t deserve at all. I’m so stressed it’s driven me to tears every night, and I’m seriously contemplating selling him to someone who knows more about birds and can give him a home and an owner that will treat him right.
Please, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[chris-md]

I’m so sorry your experiencing this. I can feel your stress.

In my personal opinion, It sounds like finding a new home for him might really be the best option. I feel by the tone of your post that you’re really done with this situation and I’m not sure your up for the training required to reverse this behavior.

Sometimes the best thing you can do to make everyone happier, even the bird, is know when to cry uncle.

 

[T00tsyd]

Where are you? Have you just got him or have you had him a year? The biting sounds as if he is terrified too. Can you not put your hands in the cage but change food etc from outside just opening the bowl access doors?

Try to give us a bit more detail. Don't panic, the advice you get on here will help, and if you need to sell him you will know you have done the right thing. However try to wait for advice first it will be brilliant.

 

[Anansi]

Hello Nejibana, and welcome to the Parrot Forums family!

I'm so sorry your first experience with bird keeping has begun this way. But take a deep breath. Don't be discouraged. It does not have to remain like this.

Let me ask, are you certain that he was hand reared? What do you know of his past? Also, what is the size of his cage?

Okay, first things first. You may be rushing things a wee bit. Perhaps you might work on building a rapport with him from inside the cage. Reading to him while seated next to his cage, or bribing him shamelessly with his favorite treats through the bars of the cage will go a long way toward building the foundation of a relationship.

And for anytime he gets onto your arm, do not allow him past your elbow. Shoulder privileges must be earned! When you do start working with him, you can also try taking him out with a T-shaped perch until the biting issue has been resolved.

I'm running short on time before arriving for work, so I'll provide a few helpful links. A lot of what you've mentioned is addressed in these links:

http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/questions-answers/58911-bird-bites-always-2.html

Also, you can start target training your bird from within the cage. Such interactive sessions can cut down on frustration brought about by boredom, and also serve to help him expend excess energy. Hope this helps. Please keep us updated with your progress.

 

[wrench13]

Boxing day was yesterday, so you have had this parrot 1 day? Give him some time to settle in, doing as Anansi suggests - bribe him thru the bars with his favorite treat any time you pass the cage ( except if he is screaming). Could take a week , a month - the parrot will let you know. Read to him in a soft but heart felt voice, a good suggestion in to go to the AMazon sub forum, and read him the I Love Amazons sticky t the top f the page. ALmost all of it is applicable to all parrot species.

Did he come with a cage or did you buy one for him? What size is it. A new cage would stress him a bit more, but using one he is used to allows him to have a territorial issue (MY cage - dont you come near it). Anansi is also 100% correct, shoulder privileges are earned, so don;t let him run up your arm.

Give this little guy chance, he is likely pretty scared - you would be too if your world was turned upside down, with a new person taking care of you.

But - parrots do bite occasionally, even the best behaved ones. If that freaks you out maybe being a parrot owner is not for you. My Salty is a well behaved, well trained amazon, but if i try to handle him when he is in overload mode and very excited, he will bite, hard enough to draw blood ( not removing flesh though). Its my fault for not observing his mood.

We have a saying on here - It is never the fault of the parrot, it is ALWAYS the fault of the human. You can reverse this behaviour of you red bellied baby, but it is you who must figure it out and change - he is a wild animal that you have taken into your home, he is not goiing to change only because you want him to, he wiill change if you train him to. Things like bite pressure training, Target training, trick training all will help, but YOU have to train him, he is not going to change on his own.

Give him a chance!

 

[GaleriaGila]

Wonderful advice above.
For now, just BREEEATHE, give yourself and the bird a little time while you read and chat here.
No huge hurry, right?
My bird is a real stinker. Maybe our story will help. I have reduced biting to almost zero over the decades... not because I've changed the bird, but I have changed me. And a lot of that has involved giving up on a lot of my desires/expectations. After years of battle, I surrendered. I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. I don't scratch his head much, ever... tail is okay. I NEVER do stuff that makes him mad... I don't touch others when he's out; I rarely try to get him to step up onto my hand first. Hand-held perch first, then hand. In some ways, I swallow my disappointment at having such a little monster for a pet, but he is what he is. I ALWAYS wear my hair down when he's on my shoulder, so all he can bite is hair. Really, I don't involve hands much... he doesn't like them. He seems to think the real ME is my head, perched on a weird moveable tree with questionable appendages.
Since he's fully flighted, the ONLY way I get him into the cage is to toss a chile pepper in and he flaps in after it. So food reward is a necessity for me. Time-out doesn't exist in the Rb's kingdom.
But please... listen to and try all the good advice you'll get here. Don't surrender until you know you've done your best. Then just accept and love whatever/whoever your bird turns out to be.
My darling is kind of a worse-case scenario, but we have it all worked out between the two of us.
Even after all these years, I sometimes find myself putting myself or my bird down... stuff like...
I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THIS OR THAT.
WHY CAN'T HE BE SWEET AND NICE, LIKE A PUPPY?
PEOPLE WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND WHY I PUT UP WITH THIS.
Stuff like that.
But the Rb is a parrot... in his particular case, one generation out of the wild.
I do all the right things, as much/well as I can, but in the end, I just LOVE my bird,
Some parrots are SO SWEET, some are NOT. I'm HAPPY and a bit JEALOUS of those successes. After years of battle, I surrendered. I admit... as to why have I not (and why am I unable/unwilling) to train the Rb to do anything that he doesn't want to do?
Over the years, I have been very embarassed/downhearted/sad about having a pet that was so... out of my control.
But finally, I accepted that I have an amazing half-wild being who shares my life! It's magic enough.

I've rambled enough for now...
I'm glad you are here.

Very, very best of luck to you.
Good for you for reaching out!