aggressive biting

[Jismys]

Hi I have a green cheek conure since July 2015 he always been playful and sweet. Since about 6 month I noticed that he's changing it's at different times of the day and different occasions. Sometimes in the mirning coming out of the cage ir just being with me playing, it's on different occasions that he just starts to lash out at me and starts biting very hard it could be my shoulder my neck my ear my face my fingers. As he bites me he says " no biting" because I say that to him. I try to stay calm and not aggravate it more but it comes to a point where he bites stronger and stronger so I just usually try to get them off my shoulder with a towel and then wrap him up and put him back in his cage I leave him in there a few hours and try again. Sometime he us ok and friendly again ithere times I can't touch him for the rest of the day. Nothing has changed with schedule and feeding, I only stopped giving him Nutry Berries some people told me it makes them aggressive. He has a huge cage his own room with TV, lots of toys. I cant let him fly around the house because I have other animals. His wings have grown back so he loves to fly in his room ir when he is with me in the bedroom. I dont know what to do it comes to a point that I think I want to rehome him and it hurts me.

 

[faislaq]

Sorry to hear he has started biting. Do you know how old he is? Is he a comfirmed male? Our female Harley seems to be more inclined to bite randomly, and harder than our males. Usually she's very gentle, then out of the blue *crunch*. It tends to happen more often as she's getting ready to lay eggs (or just after she's come off of them because she has been handled less.)

 

[Greycloud]

Welcome to AA! When birds bite they are trying to convey something that bothers them. First, do not allow shoulder time! A bird has to earn that position and if he can't be trusted to be nice there he should not be allowed there.
2nd, it sounds l;ike your bird is at a sexual age. This can also cause the grumps!
3rd, is anyone around when he bites? Birds will bite their favorite person if someone comes near. It is meant to scare you away to keep you safe.
Take your time and respect him if he does not want to be with you or touched.
Some other GCC owners will be along. GCC's tend to go through a nippy time.

 

[Greycloud]

I am going to move your thread to the Behavioral section.

 

[Jismys]

When this happend today I was walking with him true the house like always to go to my bedroom where we usually are everyday. He got me goid today abd I tried to stay come and the linger I waited and told him no Gino no biting the mire he bit me 7 times to exact

 

[Greycloud]

No shoulder sitting!

 

[Monica]

The only bite that can't be rewarded is the one that doesn't occur.

Telling him "No Bite" and "ignoring" the bites doesn't teach him *not* to bite. If anything, it results in worse bites or unpredictable bites.


If I said "Walay mopaak!", would you know what it means? (Google Translate - English to Cebuano) If you didn't understand that language, would you know that I'm telling you not to bite? Your conure doesn't speak human, so he doesn't understand that "No bite!" means "don't bite me!".



If you know that you'll get a bite when you take him out of the cage, don't take him out. Instead, try placing a perch on the door or on the outside of the cage and allowing him to come out before asking him to step up.

If he bites while playing, then try playing with him differently.

If he bites while on your shoulder, either give him something to do while he's on your shoulder or don't allow him on your shoulder.


If he does bite you, then get him off you as quickly and gently as possible! If he was a large breed dog, such as a german shepherd, you wouldn't be standing there and allowing the dog to bite into your flesh and do nothing! Instead, you'd distance yourself from the dog! If you wouldn't allow it with a dog, you shouldn't allow it with a bird! (I don't care how many people tell you otherwise!)



Some behaviors that you should teach your conure include station training and target training.

If you have problems moving toys or food dishes around in the cage, then station training can help stop your conure from biting you when you mess with the cage. Essentially, station training is about teaching him to stay put in one area for a reward.

Target training would be great for handling, too! Start with target training through the cage bars, then around the outside of the cage, then away from the cage.

You can learn a lot of training information from the links in the following thread.

Free Training Resources | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum



You may also want to consider temporarily moving him around using a rope perch, if he will step up on it.