GCC Question

[Teasha]

Hi! I have had birds all my life, but have a question I do not know the answer to. I have an inkling but need your help! I will be getting a baby GCC in February. I have read a lot about them and have read they can be nippy. I would guess the way to discourage this behavior is to stop play and place the bird in his/her cage. I would really appreciate your help, thank you!

 

[Luvmyfidz]

My answer would be yes,,,and no. Sometimes that's where they want to be so by putting them back in their cage, it's almost a reward. I use the beak squeeze (gentle but firm & a "No"). I have also cupped my hand over my birds entire head & said a firm "no bite". But keep in mind, when you get bit, it's likely you that made the bird react. Hope that helps a little...

 

[BiggBaddWolf]

There are two ways to discourage biting, blow on them right in the face, and also if they are on your finger/hand, quickly drop your hand, this one works very good!! And like the others posted if your conure bites because they dont want to be held, and you put the bird back into the cage then the bird has won the battle, and will learn that if it bites it will get it's way making it even harder to curb the biting!!

 

[javi]

I put them pack in or on their cage and then bring them out a couple of minutes later. I am pleased to say the gcc nippy stage only lasted a week or two.

 

[Teasha]

My answer would be yes,,,and no. Sometimes that's where they want to be so by putting them back in their cage, it's almost a reward. I use the beak squeeze (gentle but firm & a "No"). I have also cupped my hand over my birds entire head & said a firm "no bite". But keep in mind, when you get bit, it's likely you that made the bird react. Hope that helps a little...

Yep helped a lot! TY!

There are two ways to discourage biting, blow on them right in the face, and also if they are on your finger/hand, quickly drop your hand, this one works very good!! And like the others posted if your conure bites because they dont want to be held, and you put the bird back into the cage then the bird has won the battle, and will learn that if it bites it will get it's way making it even harder to curb the biting!!

Dropping your hand like pulling your hand down? It won't cause any harm to the bird?

 

[Teasha]

At what age is this usually?

 

[AmberMuffinz]

But keep in mind, when you get bit, it's likely you that made the bird react.

Not necessarily. I've found with Neelix that I don't need to do anything for him to be nippy with me, it's just the way he is.

I tell him no firmly and grab his beak and move it off of me. If he bites hard (which he never really does) I will put him in his cage and close the door. He's a very social bird and he doesn't like being closed up in his cage when I'm here. Every bird is different though so some things may work and others may not. I've had Neelix since he was first weaned and have had him for the past... Well I don't know, six months or something. He was nippy the day I got him and is still nippy. He knows his boundaries with me though and has only ever bit me hard enough to draw blood once when I was leaving for college and he knew he'd be in his cage for a few hours. I've also heard that they get nippier during their hormonal phase, but I haven't had to deal with that quite yet (I will in March though, most likely.)

Oh, also find what sets them off. Neelix will bite me HARD if I'm holding a treat or toy for him. I'm trying to curb this by continuing to hold it and only actually letting him hold it if he plays nicely. Though once he gets it he drops it anyway He also bites harder if he's on something that scares him or that he likes and I try to remove him. He was on my backpack once and when I tried to take him off he tried to bite me rather hard. I told him not to bite and made him step up.

 

[Bokkapooh]

The only species I have that's suppose to be nippy is my scarlet macaw. She's never nippy, just beaky when Playful. I stick my fingers into her beak and make her be gentle by opening her beak, while making a disgruntled unhappy grunt at her and telling her to be Gentle.. It's all a game to her now. She hardly ever needs reminders to be gentle. She was only nippy at around 4-6 months of age, just around weaning time.

 

[Monica]

A lot of suggestions are based on punishment or distraction which may, or may not be very effective. The two I dislike the most that have been recommended would be the blow in the face and dropping your hand. (no offense) The reasons being that one, that blowing in a birds face could potentially enrage them off further and they'll only bite harder. Two, dropping your hand may be an effective way to distract them, or even using the "earth quake" method, which essentially distracts them from biting and makes them focus on being able to "hold on". The downside to this is that your bird may use his or her beak to hold on even better! My first conure, Noel (RIP) had poor eyesight and a poor grip and using this method on him would cause him to lose trust in me and to bite more, because I was not proving to him that I'm a stable perch. Birds use their beaks to get from one perch to another, and may test a potentially unstable perch by biting it. Well, Noel, if he accidentally became unbalanced, he would bite. However, it was just one quick hard bite, and that was that. As long as he remained stable, he would not bite. From my experience, I simply can't recommend this method.

You first need to understand why your bird is nipping or biting in the first place. Not a lot of people take into consideration that a parrots beak is like an extra hand - a way for them to explore their world. When young, they are basically like puppies, having to mouth everything, and apply various pressure. This is not a good time in their life to try and discourage the behavior, rather it's an ideal time to teach them what is desirable for them to chew on - i.e. toys! Distract them with toys or acceptable behavior *before* they start getting nippy. Direct their attention to something other than your flesh which is terribly interesting with all those little hairs to pluck, moles or acne to pick, and that oh so tender flesh that's fun to chew!

Biting or nipping is also their way of saying I don't want to/I don't like that/I don't trust you. A lot of people think parrots bite to "dominate" us, and when we try to stop the behavior, rather than to understand why it is occurring, it is in fact us who end up dominating them. If you only teach them not to bite, you are not teaching them acceptable behavior, only teaching them what not to do. If they don't trust you, then you earn their trust. If they don't like something, don't put them in a situation that will cause them to bite (strangers, other animals, something going on outside a window, etc) unless you are training them to be comfortable in these type of situations (making each situation a pleasing one, not a scary one). If you are doing something that they don't like, then either stop doing it, or train them (in a positive manner) to enjoy it. Parrots often bite more when hormonal or when they are playing roughly with toys and your flesh gets in the way.

If a parrot is up on your shoulder, on top of their cage, or somewhere else where it may be difficult to get them down, then you need to teach them to come, and that coming/stepping up can be more rewarding than staying where they are at. This can all be accomplished with positive reinforcement.

Parrots bite for a variety of reasons, so you need to figure out why they bite in order to truly and honestly curb the biting. Check out these links for more info and insight.
Take the Bite - YouTube
Rational Parrot - Biting
TAKING THE BITE OUT OF BITING (other good articles can be found here Articles )
Parrot & Bird Training Terminology | Good Bird Training

Best in Flock Blogger has a lot of great posts!
Clicker Training for Birds: My Parrot Training Bible « Best in Flock – Parrot Blog
OUCH! WTH? « Best in Flock – Parrot Blog
Barbara Heidenrich, Parrot Trainer – Interview « Best in Flock – Parrot Blog
Establishing Dominance Over Your Parrot? « Best in Flock – Parrot Blog

Good trainers with additional info
Training Parrots | Parrot Training DVDS & Books - Video of an example Meyers Parrot Positive Reinforcement Training
Karen Pryor Clickertraining
Welcome to BehaviorWorks.org


In short, the best way to teach a parrot not to bite is to not get bitten in the first place. If you do get bit, figure out why before you try to stop the behavior.

 

[javi]

There are several birds that bite because of over stimulation. They get so excited that they just bite. So ya let them cool for a bit and then go back to playing, avoiding the triggers that get him too excited

 

[Teasha]

Thank you so much, glad to know I have so many people to ask should I have questions!