GCC behaviour questions from a new birb mom

[Eepy Beaky]

So it's been a week. Little guy is making huge steps (he learned "step up" and "come here" perfectly)!

I do, however, want to know if some of his behaviour is normal or smth I should eventually work on with him (he's about 5 months old now, so I'm scared of letting him keep unpleasant behaviours for too long in case it's too late for him to unlearn them).

- I know conures are nippy, but this little scoundrel can't seem to differentiate between me and food. He will make exploratory gentle nips, which I don't mind, and then suddenly, NOM! These big bites legitimately hurt, and I'm scared he might draw blood one of these days... Is there any way I can teach him to stop, or isthis a baby bird thing that he will grouw out of?

- When he's in his cage and sees me or my partner, he flattens himself like he's about to fly, and just stands there on his branch perch quivering and staring at us super intently. If we move around, he scampers in his cage after us, still in his flattened shape. I've been understanding this as him wanting out, but when he's out, he just sits on our heads and bites our ears and hands. Is he just not good at being out yet, or is this smth else?

- He seems to have a particular hatred for our hands. He's trying to bite us at any moment. But then again like I mentioned earlier, he is bitey in general, and as I type he is trying to dismantle his perch. For what it's worth, he has a lot of destructible toys and special wood to rip apart, and he doesn't touch them.

- He only ever does anything (plays with toys, rips rippables, forages, etc), when we lead him to it and then stare at him as he does it. If I lead him to an activity and then after a minute or so go off to do my own thing, I hear him immediately scrambling up the side of his cage following me. It's really frustrating for both of us, I think, because I have things to do as an adult human, and he really seems to enjoy his things while he does them.

I know he's still adjusting, and that he has to learn a lot, but I don't know what is something he will get over by himself and he what is something he needs me to start helping him with immediately.

 

[Mizzely]

So 5 months he's still learning his boundaries and also how to Bird. Just because they leave the nest doesn't mean they aren't learning from the flock. Being alone is against their very nature, especially at this age! So when you leave him alone to entertain himself, his instincts tell him his very survival depends on being near you.

When my birds have bitten I put them down immediately on an available safe surface, give them a big scowl, and turn my back on them. They don't know English, but they can see body language easily. This helps them see that this is not acceptable behavior. Putting them in a cage as punishment can make them have negative associates with it, or can teach them that biting is a quick way to get where they want to go!

When he's out with you, what is there for him to do near you? If all that's available for a curious beak is you... Well then that's what he's going to explore! You can have toy parts or foot toys near where you are at to distract him with. You can also have perching spots for him; small travel cages on a coffee table, java trees, or even a boing from the ceiling can also give you spots for him to perch nearby, and give a spot to hang toys so he can have your company and also appropriate things for him to explore.

They can have such crazy different toy preferences. I had two Quakers - one loved pine and chewing things into smithereens, while the other only wanted to play with things that had moving pieces, made noise, or contained food.

My green cheek preferred thin pine, Popsicle sticks, balsa, and cork. Wasn't too big on vine or seagrass.