Green Cheek biting expectations?

[Greybeh]

Spencer is nearly 3 months old. I've managed to reduce biting, but it's looking like I'm always going to get bit. Is it realistic to think I can train him NOT to bite at all? If you've had success in reducing biting, I'd love to know how.

He bites when he wants something. He bites when he's excited. He bites when he wants to eat, but when I put him back in the cage to eat, he hangs onto my finger for dear life, by his beak of course!

 

[Greencheek Lee]

Blue will be 2 years in July. Can't' seem to get him not to bite. Sometimes he will actually step up without biting, until you tell him he's a good boy,. I think most of it comes from how he was played with when he was a baby, so make sure you don't use your hands to play. Putting them down and turning your back kinda works, though they usually just fly back to you. I read up and spoke to our "parrot nanny", and the thing to do (quick dirty look) doesn't work with an ADD bird that isn't looking at you. Best you can do is be consistent, 3 months is still real young and they will always use the beak to check for stability. I do have one YSGC that hardly ever bites so it is possible. I think the personality has much to do with it. Quick dirty look and "no bite" if he's looking, but down and ignore if it continues, and plan on it forever. Also make sure you praise them when they are not biting. Good luck

 

[truste]

I, for one, haven't been able to stop the biting altogether, but after a while you do learn when to avoid it. Roca's bossy. She leans when she wants to go somewhere and she "waves" when she wants something. If you don't do what she wants, she'll give you a small, painless nip, but if you STILL don't catch on, she'll bite. When she's excited (top of head flat, back of neck poofed, chest poofed, intense gaze) she'll bite if your fingers get too close. When she doesn't want to step up and you keep pushing it, she'll bite.

Fizz bites when he's feeling either aggressive, or threatened. He'll poof up his feathers aggressively (which looks very different from cozy poofing), and he'll look intently at where he's about to bite. He's likely to bite first thing in the morning.

Learning the pre-bite body language has helped us avoid many potential injuries, though not all. In my experience, it's easier to train ourselves to avoid bites than to train them to not bite

 

[DancingFeathers]

Im not sure if it's because I've figured out Triton's triggers, if he's calmed down or if I'm immune to pain, but Triton doesn't bite a lot anymore.

A lot of it stopped when he became flighted. In the past, he would want to go somewhere and see something and bite me out of frustration when I couldn't figure out where he wanted to go. Now if he wants something, he goes and gets it himself. Of course, that can mean trouble whenever he wants the computer keys or anything else I don't want him messing with, but I think the trade off for his happiness was worth it.

Also, I trained my bird to go into his cage on command. I would stick a treat through the grate and when he went inside, I would praise him a lot. Now I just need to hold up a treat and say, "go in your cage!" It's very useful.

 

[Monica]

If you are really good at reading a bird's body language and backing off before they bite, then yes, it's possible to teach a bird not to bite! But it does require learning how to redirect behavior, avoiding undesired behavior, positively reinforcing desired behavior, etc!


I can say that I still get bit, although bites are rarely hard and usually not frequent at all.

 

[Beth In Alaska]

Our GCC is nippy. I am not an experienced bird person but an experienced animal trainer.
Things that have helped:
- when she is preening gently or using her beak gently I tell her "good girl, good gentle preen" or "good gentle". This gives me a word to use to direct the behavior I want.
- when she bites when I am attempting to get her to step up to come out of the bird room or out of the cage, I remind her "no bite. Be gentle" and I LEAVE. For several minutes. Biting gets her time away from everyone which she hates. When I return we repeat. This had never taken more than one or two,repetitions but I think she already understood "no bite" before.
- if she steps up without biting she gets a parade worth of praise "good girl!!! She doesn't bite, yayyyy!"
- if she bites hard for any reason when on my shoulder or body, I will give her a "no bite" warning - if biting happens again she goes into the bird room for several minutes.
- above all else reinforce any good behavior. "Good girl no bite gets scritches!" "Good girl gentle gets treats!" I reinforce any behavior that not bitey, really. "Good girl gives gentle kisses!' . These words are really the power you have. Positive reinforcement works so much better than punishment AND these animals are smart enough to learn what these words mean so it's not as hard as it might be with a different animal.

And be consistent. If the good behavior is consistently rewarded and the bad behavior gets the bird put away from the flock, the good behavior should become more frequent and the bad behavior less frequent.

I noticed that if I have a day where I don't consistently remove Rio from the flock when bitey the behavior escalates quickly. We had my parents visit this weekend and the first day Rio was awful and bit me hard on the cheek several times. I didn't want to put her away because I knew my parents, who are animal people, wanted to interact with them. At some point I realized she was getting worse and I put her in the bird room alone. The next day she was sickeningly sweet and cuddly to me. Not a single nip or nibble!

 

[Sylvi_]

For Yuka, she nipped like crazy from the day she came home. After a while of learning her body language, she stopped drawing blood about 3 months in.

Though, I've realized it's less for her about the "bite", it's more like she's comfortable having her beak on me? It's odd but she'll only let me give her scritches if one finger is being held with her beak. I was always baffled at why she would ask for scritches, and then just go for my hand, but now it makes more sense.
At first, she clamped on very hard, but now she just softly holds while I give scritches. It reminds me of a child and a pacifier, actually.

It's the same for how she steps up, offer your finger to her tummy and there will be a bite. Up to her beak though, she steps up perfectly.

So I'd recommend just learning his body language, and pay attention to what your doing leading up to a bite.

 

[Beth In Alaska]

For Yuka, she nipped like crazy from the day she came home. After a while of learning her body language, she stopped drawing blood about 3 months in.

Though, I've realized it's less for her about the "bite", it's more like she's comfortable having her beak on me? It's odd but she'll only let me give her scritches if one finger is being held with her beak. I was always baffled at why she would ask for scritches, and then just go for my hand, but now it makes more sense.
At first, she clamped on very hard, but now she just softly holds while I give scritches. It reminds me of a child and a pacifier, actually.

I think its like labradors - very mouthy dogs, they get excited they want something in their mouths. I think GCC's are the same. Mouthy birds.

 

[Sylvi_]

I think its like labradors - very mouthy dogs, they get excited they want something in their mouths. I think GCC's are the same. Mouthy birds.

That's a great point! For sure little beaky ones.

 

[Nyx]

I don't think it's possible to have a gcc that doesn't bite LOL it's just a part of them that you have to accept XD

it is possible to reduce the amount of biting/nipping they do by proper training, but they will always get nippy when mad or overexcited. Mine was very nippy when i got her at six months old, which has drastically been reduced over the years I've had her and worked with her; I can't really explain exactly how I achieved that, im just used to the way she learns (some training tips will work with some gccs that may not work for another; much like human children)

 

[Greybeh]

I started to say "Be gentle." It's helping more than just "no bites!" When he plays with my hair nice without biting my neck, I say, "Good bird!!! Good, gentle bird!!!" He's getting better day by day. It's really amazing how fast he learns.

I started giving him treats through the cage bars. He takes them carefully and I say, "Good bird! Gentle bird! Good!"

Of course he comes out of his cage, but for some reason, he seems more focused when he's in his cage and being handed something.

What I'm really excited about is that when he starts applying pressure on my finger, I say, "Be gentle" and he has been letting off. Sometimes he still nibbles, but as long as he isn't applying pressure, it's a very positive sign. I think I see him actually stop to think.

I've been giving him some butternut squash. He seems quite appreciative.