Help...my crimson bellied conure is extremely nippy

[LotusBloom]

I added a crimson bellied conure to my flock at the end of July. He came as a socialized baby who loves to be around people. He is nipping like crazy, mostly going for soft skin, especially skin between the fingers but he'll nip wherever he can get skin. I do not believe he is being aggressive because he seeks out people for attention and loves to snuggle and cuddle. He has adorable 'conure' antics and is really wonderful, except in the last 2 weeks, he has gotten extremely nippy to the point that he isn't getting as much time out of his cage because I can only take so much of the nipping. I still take him out every day just to keep him socialized but again, he may only get half an hour to an hour of time out because he nips almost constantly.

None of my other birds have ever been nippy so I do not know how to correct this problem. I can get some relief when I've redirected him to a toy that he can nibble on but he seems to always go back to fingers, neck, arm, etc. I really love this guy but I'm not sure how to deal with this problem.

Advice please! How can I correct this problem? Again, I do not believe it is aggression-based because he loves to be with people and will seek out people. Also he isn't drawing blood but he sure can pinch hard. He really reminds me of a baby going through teething or something. I have much bigger parrots that like to mouth things, including me, but I somehow lucked out that they don't bite hard but only nibble.

Thanks.

 

[Mizzely]

How old is he? Pyrrhura conures like gccs and cbcs do tend to be nippy. You need to teach him what is acceptable and what isn't. For Koopa, when she bit I would put her down on any available surface, give her a dirty look and turn my back on her. Since she was very interested in people this worked because she learned that biting means she doesn't get to hang out. She was a quick study and we've not had problems since she was about a year old (she is 3 now).

Make sure you don't use the cage as a punishment or you'll have a new set of problems to work with!

 

[webchirp]

Bebe is going through this phase at 8 months. I either put my hands up and stare at him or set him aside from me...close enough that if he comes back and does the behavior again, I can repeat. He is catching on. If he is in my shirt and nips, I put my hand over him to still him and tell him not to bite. He gets it but sometimes he nips because he is super mad at Zia and then I have to put the hands up and gently calm him. The softer I am with him the softer he becomes with me. But that wasn't a similar case when Zephyr went through that stage and nipped. You will have to work with him and see which method is best.

 

[LotusBloom]

Petey is around 6 months old. He barely nipped for the first couple months I had him. He seems to have started this maybe 2-3 weeks ago. When he first started doing this, I would put him down but he would just fly back to me. I felt bad because I trimmed two flight feathers on each wing so he couldn't fly, so he wouldn't fly back if I put him down somewhere. I know he loves being with people because he would constantly fly to everyone in the house and he loves being with people. Now that he can't fly around, when I put him down, he will run back towards me and hop on me. When I offer him a toy, he'll play with it for a few minutes but then he will go back to nipping. I'm guessing that if I put him down, I should probably take a few steps away so he can't hop back on me. He usually is on the couch with me or in the bedroom when I watch tv at night, so it's easy for him to run back to me.

So basically, I should put him down, take a few steps back and turn my back on him? Then wait about a minute before I let him hop back up on me?

With the exception of the nipping, he really is so much fun. He loves hiding under the pillows and blankets on my bed. He loves to explore things on my end tables in the living room. He will roll around with small wiffle balls and other toys. He's really rambunctious. I had thought that CBCs weren't as high strung as green cheeks so I don't know if he's like this because he's a baby and he will chill out as he gets older or if this is just his personality. I shouldn't complain, my cape is extremely rambunctious. I was just hoping for a bird that would cuddle more than play. Emma, my cape, plays first then snuggles with whatever time she has left over. Emma uses her beak a lot with me but she is so gentle with her beak compared to this little dude.

Thanks.

 

[Monica]

You might try teaching him some new behaviors.... such as targeting, turn around, climb a ladder, shake, wave, etc. He's being nippy because he's bored/curious/being playful and he doesn't know what else to do. If you teach him what *TO DO* and constantly reinforce him for that behavior, then he's likely to perform desired behaviors more often.... i.e. if he's playing with a toy, occasionally reward him verbally, or with physical attention or even with a treat.