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Pictures Bird keeps biting at scabs & scars

Haydenb

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Hayden Barr
Hi; I have a 4ish month old Green check conure that continues to bite at my acne scars & on sores; sometimes until they bleed. I've heard that yelping out in pain is discouraged so I basically just have her bite whatever until I just make her step up on my shoulder or on a different surface & sometimes I sternly tell her no. Her and I are very well bonded together & she picks up decently well on training. I know that birds biting comes with having them as a pet, especially conures, but is there a way where I can minimize her biting my scabs & scars?
 

Wardy

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You need to put her down when she starts biting put her down onto a safe surface tell her no and you need to be consistant in doing this also turning your back on her and ignoring her after putting her down will help, I cant say i have had any scars bitten but my GCC always showed a lot of interest in my tattoos she doesnt really bother anymore as she knows she will get put down on the coffee table.
 

.........

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You need to put her down when she starts biting put her down onto a safe surface tell her no and you need to be consistant in doing this also turning your back on her and ignoring her after putting her down will help, I cant say i have had any scars bitten but my GCC always showed a lot of interest in my tattoos she doesnt really bother anymore as she knows she will get put down on the coffee table.
:iagree:
 

Tazlima

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Some biting MAY be expected, but there's biting and then there's biting. This isn't "biting" in the sense of "I'm sending you a strong message that I'm unhappy in some way." This is "I love you and want to preen you, giant person, and because you're huge, I'm going to assume you're pretty tough and can tolerate very rough handling."

I feel your pain. My quaker is prone to this. He finds some bump or rough spot he doesn't like, and he'll try to "help" by scooping it out. (I have a mole on my forearm that no longer has pigment because he's "helped" enough times that all the dark part has been replaced by scar tissue). He also enjoys plucking hair - arm hair, leg hair - whatever he could reach would get yanked.

I modeled my response on what another bird would do in that scenario. They certainly wouldn't stoically tolerate the pain. I "squawk", set him down, and leave the room (fly away) - basically what other folks have already mentioned. I'll let him flock call a while before "timidly" reentering the room (he wants to be around me constantly, so depriving him of my presence is a hefty punishment). My goal is to teach him that I'm delicate and easily spooked, so he has to be gentle if he wants to keep me around. Make the bird tame YOU.

It's worked pretty well and he's much gentler with preening these days. He still goes for scabs sometimes, but he's more careful and gentle, rather than just ripping them off, and the plucking has stopped almost entirely.
 

webchirp

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Some biting MAY be expected, but there's biting and then there's biting. This isn't "biting" in the sense of "I'm sending you a strong message that I'm unhappy in some way." This is "I love you and want to preen you, giant person, and because you're huge, I'm going to assume you're pretty tough and can tolerate very rough handling."

I feel your pain. My quaker is prone to this. He finds some bump or rough spot he doesn't like, and he'll try to "help" by scooping it out. (I have a mole on my forearm that no longer has pigment because he's "helped" enough times that all the dark part has been replaced by scar tissue). He also enjoys plucking hair - arm hair, leg hair - whatever he could reach would get yanked.

I modeled my response on what another bird would do in that scenario. They certainly wouldn't stoically tolerate the pain. I "squawk", set him down, and leave the room (fly away) - basically what other folks have already mentioned. I'll let him flock call a while before "timidly" reentering the room (he wants to be around me constantly, so depriving him of my presence is a hefty punishment). My goal is to teach him that I'm delicate and easily spooked, so he has to be gentle if he wants to keep me around. Make the bird tame YOU.

It's worked pretty well and he's much gentler with preening these days. He still goes for scabs sometimes, but he's more careful and gentle, rather than just ripping them off, and the plucking has stopped almost entirely.
I agree...this is how I work with mine as well. I try to react as they do when I pinch a pinnie. But oiy this is difficult because I know how much they love to "over preen" you at times. And they will do this with flock mates who let them too. Hence Carlton's fuzzy pj look nowadays. Dr. O always says "Oh my God, why do you let her do that to you."

Squeak and redirect...over and over and over.
 

Haydenb

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Hayden Barr
I tried doing that & it works pretty well; she still is nippy like GCCs are in general but not at extra-sensitive parts like scabs & whatnot
 
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