Random Bities

[Deii]

So...

My GCC and I are bonding really well.

However, every once in a while she will get really upset and attack my fingers... puffed up and all. There doesn't seem to be any kind of trigger, other than she is just really mad suddenly.

She doesn't mind fingers other than that.

Is this just part of her "terrible-twos" stage that conures go through? I heard that birds tend to go through a bitey stage to just kind-of test you.

When she bites, I say "NO!" or "NO BITING!" Really loud and gruff. She always stops and freezes for a sec and I stare at her so she knows I didn't like it. I then hold her and as soon as she is being nice I say, "Good bird!" Very sweetly. I also don't ever let on that the biting hurts. Every now and then, I let her finish biting me no matter how hard it is so that she doesn't know that it hurts me.

Are these good techniques? Any other suggestions?

 

[IcyWolf]

I was actually just posting kind of the same thing in another thread. Our black cap is almost 5 years old and he does the same thing. He is very well socialized and friendly, he will let just about anyone hold him and will fly to us, but he still bites me about 5-10 times a day. I always do my best to avoid getting bitten but it's so random when he does it. Our other bird will pin her eyes and fluff her feathers, gape her beak and even slightly rock before she will actually bite, and usually she will give you a warning lunge first, Billie, on the other hand, will stand there holding his foot up, saying "come here!" then when I offer my finger to him to step up, he will step up and then immediately bite my finger, sometimes to the point of drawing blood! It's not like I am forcing him to step up, and after the initial bite he will happily stay on my hand until I put him back in his cage. Same thing with petting him, he will be fine and enjoying it one minute and then BAM! he will be latched onto your hand! I've just kind of accepted it as how he is for the time being but it would be great to maybe get some ideas as to what would cause such a seemingly random bite. He doesn't do it all of the time either, sometimes he will step up multiple times in a row and not bite at all and other times he will grab ahold. And I haven't been able to come up with any sort of pattern to indicate what's happening differently on the times he bites vs the times he doesn't. Ps... I just counted and I have 4 bite marks just on my hands that were bad enough to draw blood and scab:52:

 

[Deii]

Pretty similar to my situation. I was starting to wonder if maybe it's a smell on my hand?

 

[IcyWolf]

I guess it's possible, ours does it to everyone though. I feel bad having to warn people that he might bite them, especially when he flies and HE lands on THEM! He never does the dive bomb thing, it usually seems to start out with good intentions, like he genuinely wants to be held, it just seems like sometimes he doesn't know what to do with himself and he just bites. Hopefully we can get some more input and maybe get to the bottom of these naughty behaviors.

 

[MikeyTN]

When they bite, tell them no in a stern voice. They will test to see how far they can go. Best to nip it asap and stop them right there. If they do it again, tell them no and place them in their cage and walk away. Ignore them for a bit, no eye contact. Then try again a bit later. They will learn if they bite they get ignored. Eventually they will learn biting gets them no where and will eventually quit. Make sure they have plenty of toys they can release their frustration on instead of your finger. Everytime they're being good, reward them with a treat and love. Good luck!

 

[Nakiska]

Wow! This random biting sounds like it might be a strong conure trait. Our Franklin is the same way. He's almost 7 months old, well socialized, hand raised and handled a LOT by his breeder and our family. I mean absolutely NO excuses for his random bites. Just like one mentioned...Franklin can be loving his scritches, then with NO WARNING, he's latched on to our finger or side of our hand...

I always keep toys he likes to chew, his ball, apple slices...SOMETHING to deter him, but when he's determined...ROFLOL!!! He'll chase our finger or hand down just to give it a bite!

I call him my pit bull bird.

He's funny too...he'll be all fine, then WHAM a few seconds of aggression, then back to...awwww...I love you!

I'm hoping he grows out of it in time. I always tell him NO BITE firmly and BE NICE, and do what I can to redirect his attention as soon as possible. If he does it when we're lounging around watching TV snuggled in a blanket, I always take a part of the blanket and quickly cover him up...for a quick "time out" and leave him covered, then when he's ready, he crawls out of the blanket, always with a renewed NICE attitude.

I've tried everything, including time outs in his cage, but I'm finding that the more I can "ignore" it and redirect his attention...especially if I can see it coming the split second before he does it, the "attacks" seem to be somewhat fewer.

I sure wish there was an insta-answer for this issue. But then again...it's sort of what makes Franklin....Franklin.

Good Luck with your conure...they are really something, aren't they?

Toni

 

[oled]

Some how i thing that biting is a part of the bonding process, my bird is testing what is ok or not and what is the reaction, can have I trust that gui. So I just thel heat NO and remove may hand. It is better no and removeI hopeand think that the problem will be reduced with you 90-95%
good luck

 

[oled]

Some how i thing that biting is a part of the bonding process, my bird is testing what is ok or not and what is the reaction, can have I trust that gui. So I just thel heat NO and remove may hand. It is better now and hope and hope and and think that the problem will be reduced with you 90-95%
good luck

 

[IcyWolf]

It is amazing how similar all of our conures sound. It just happened again earlier tonight, Billie was at the bottom of his cage, right up front, begging to come out. I finally gave in, opened his cage, he held his foot out, eagerly bobbed his head up and down, stepped up and then as soon as his second foot was on my finger, he grabbed ahold with his beak! Honestly, I wouldn't even mind if he was just steadying himself on me, but the fact that I have watched our alexandrine crack wooden blocks in half with her beak and she's not social one bit, yet she has still NEVER drawn blood on me, yet he bites and draws blood almost daily. She never begs to be held, he constantly does, yet, he, almost viciously, will bite at times. I still swear, it seems like the longer he isn't held, the more wound up he gets and then it seems like he gets so excited he doesn't know what to do, so he bites the finger he is standing on. He has plenty of toys in his cage, which he plays with all of the time, I just don't understand. Either way, we love him dearly and we are all prepared to deal with it, but it would be nice to be able to hold him the way he wants to be without having skin broken. He really reminds me of my goffin, he always wants to be held and loved on, the only difference is, she NEVER bit me, and he always does :/ lol


Just read over that and wanted to add, when I say "the longer he isn't held" aside from at night, I don't think 2 hours goes by without one of us holding him. We usually will hold him until he starts "misbehaving" either chewing on us or the computer to hard, or if he starts acting sleepy, then we will put him back to his cage. If he starts acting like he wants out again, we will wait until he "stops begging" to come out and then get him out again. I only do that because I don't want him to think that yelling and pecking at the front acrylic means he will get his way. We wait for him to act like he wants out, and then when he takes a second to quit "begging" as I call it, we will get him out.