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Baby Chewie is Chewy.

What's your no biting training method of choice?

  • Remain silent, place on perch, wait & try again.

    Votes: 2 25.0%
  • Scream and place on perch, wait and try again.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Scream and put down and walk away.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Remain silent and return to cage.

    Votes: 2 25.0%
  • Earthquake or twist

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Some combination/None of the above.

    Votes: 4 50.0%

  • Total voters
    8

WoolyJenny

Moving in
Joined
6/21/16
Messages
10
Location
Alberta, Canada
Real Name
Jenn
Our baby yellow-sided came home yesterday!
He is aptly named, as he is chewing on everything in sight: most annoyingly our fingers. I've done all the research before he got here with curbing biting (my late parrotlet, surprisingly, was never really very nippy so it wasn't difficult to train him not to) however, I wasn't expecting him to be constantly nibbling on us! I'm finding everyone has differing opinions about training your bird not to bite. Some say do this, don't do that, others say the opposite. What has worked best for your small conures to curb the biting?
Just for your delight, here's a picture of him enjoying his new cage. :)
 

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Newbie GCC

Rollerblading along the road
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Heather
Depends on the situation. Most times it is a "no bite" and walk away. I never scream at them. If they are biting because they do not want to go back in the cage, I just get the dowel rod to retrieve them. Saved my fingers more than a few times!
 

Princessbella

Biking along the boulevard
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Theresa
I agree with @Newbie GCC. They do not understand yelling. When Bella is biting. I say no bite and put her back on her cage or in her cage. But she is only a tiel so her bites aren't that bad.
 

Skipper

Sprinting down the street
Joined
9/2/14
Messages
322
Location
Torrance CA
Real Name
Scott Schifer
It is best to avoid the bite if possible. Most birds give some body language before they bite, so learn to read it and back off. There is no reasoning with birds, and they cannot be coerced into doing something like a dog. Once they feel safe, they usually will quite trying to bite. Gilligan does not like hands in his cage and will bite them. If I use a stick he is fine.

You just have to find what works for your bird.
 

karen256

Rollerblading along the road
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3/12/12
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Location
WI
He's a baby and just trying to play and explore with his beak, and is probably unaware he's hurting you.
The best way to deal with it is to react like another bird would. If he nipped a sibling while playing, they would most likely squawk a little in pain, then move away and stop playing with him.
So, saying 'no' (not screaming, just a simple 'no' or 'no bite'), putting him down IMMEDIATELY, and ignoring him for half a minute tends to be the best way to deal with the biting.

However, a beak that is busy chewing on toys can't bite at all - so give him lots of fun things to chew on, too. Babies can make toys of almost anything, you might try small toy balls, bits of balsa wood or cork, raw pasta, plain popcorn, ect., anything he can chew on or wrestle with. You don't want to reward him for biting, but if he's starting to look restless like he might bite/chew, you can try to distract him with some toys.
 
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