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Conure Biting Help

Aleya

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Aleya
Hello! As some of you know, I have my first ever conure. He is only 15 weeks, so everything is still quite new to him! I was well aware that conures are bitey birds, but at the moment it is getting a bit...out of hand. He is getting to the point where he will bite me until the skin breaks and bleeds. I currently have about 5 healing scabs on my hand...Anyway, I have tried not reacting when he bites, tried not placing him down right away, tried blowing on his face, tried a bunch of other random tactics. I just don't want him to end up biting other people and risking even him getting more hurt than they would have. He definitely is not scared of humans at all either and tries to get neck rubs as much as possible. He also for some reason enjoys, "Play fighting" when you put your finger as if you're about to boop his beak. That probably doesn't help that behavior either. Any tips? :)
 

Tiel Feathers

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What are you doing right before he bites you? What is he doing right before he bites?
 

Aleya

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Aleya
What are you doing right before he bites you? What is he doing right before he bites?
Usually just whenever he sees my finger/hands in general. if its in reaching distance of him, he likely will. There are times where he's super calm getting neck rubs for a while and then gets a random boost of happiness and then "play bites" which hurts a bunch if he continues. It can happen even if he is just sitting on my hand, not touching him at all.
 

owlsthetic

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I've found distracting with toys/foraging activities or shredding material to work best when my conure gets nippy. I know most people suggest not making any reactions when they chomp down but I usually tell my conure "ow!" when he nips too hard (most birds let you know when you scritch the wrong place too so I figure it's the same thing). And if he ignores that then I'll put him down and leave the room.

My bird has been a lot nippier since he started molting though so I've been going through shredding material like crazy. I just bulk buy sola, balsa, mahogany pods and dump them in my bird's play area and he chews through up like crazy and thankfully that means my hands are safe from blood (it also means lots to clean up though)
 

FeatheredM

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I find that if I give my conure a plastic ball with a bell in it before she bites she calms down after she aggressively plays with it. If he bites you, say no, put him down somewhere else and ignore him for a bit. I would stop play fighting with him so it wouldn't cause confusion.
 

ZoeLilyBug

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Beth Curasi
I have 3 conures. Just like with kittens and puppies, I have noticed that younger birds do tend to like chewing on your fingers, ears etc. which usually will progress into bitting too hard. Since birds will screech at you if you are petting them and accidentally hit a tender feather, I do the same when they bite me too hard. In this case it helps.

That being said, 2 things really helped me with this problem. For a bird that’s already biting for seemingly no reason, try these things. First, because the birds already in the habit of biting try to only pick up your bird what it wants to be picked up. Don’t try to force it on your finger. This made a big difference for me. In addition to that, I started to train my parrots to do simple tricks using their favorite treats sunflower seeds (this is the only time to get sunflower seeds and that’s important to success). This can be as simple as asking them to come to you or step up, then give them the seed and put them back down. You can use your parrots natural goofiness to design tricks for them to do. Mine spin (however many times I ask them to) and hop on my finger and spin again in various patterns on command. They really enjoy it and more importantly it makes my hands a fun thing! It’s also effective in getting out extra pent-up energy which also can only help.

Finally, be aware: Pay close attention to what’s going on just before you get bit. Birds can be very subtle in their communication. It’s easy to mess. It could be that your bird needs to go to the bathroom and is trying to tell you. Mind do that. They may simply wants to go to their cage to eat and you’re not paying attention. Mine do that too. They may be jealous of a person , the TV remote or your phone. I’ve seen it all! . Paying close attention is the only way you’re going to figure it out for sure. Good luck!
 
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