• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

My Sun Conure is driving me to the end of my rope

JMC822

Meeting neighbors
Joined
2/4/22
Messages
26
Real Name
Jennifer
I posted this same thing on Parrot Forums so for those of you who are on both forums, I apologize for the redundancy, I am just really upset right now. PS the happy time of the month is approaching (female thing) so it could be that added to my emotions.

My morning started off by getting triggered by someone on social media saying that her 10-year-old sun conure never bites. I am so jealous of those who have sweet sun conures that never bite them.

I will say that my Sun is sweet most of the time but when she bites, she can bite so hard and not let go. This morning I asked her to step up out of the cage and maybe to my stupidity I should have not done that because her buddy, the Quaker showed no interest in coming out of the cage.

Sunny was sitting on the door perch, so I thought she wanted to step up. She seemed pretty chill. Well, no, and when I offered her my hand (and mind you I had treats), she bit me so hard on my thumb and would not let go. I used my other hand to free myself from her beak. Well, that didn't seem to work and she bit my index finger and then another finger. It resulted in me prying her off and her flying off to the cage or whatever.

I know that we are just supposed to sit there and take a bite and normally I would if she just did that - bite - but when she does not let go I have to intervene. I am sorry. I am sorry if this makes me a crappy trainer or bird companion, but I can't just sit and wait for her to finish. It is just too long and she kind of starts grinding her beak over my finger.

Clearly, she was trying to tell me something. After 15 minutes in the bathroom, I approached the cage again and found them both sitting on the door perch waiting for me to show up. So I approached and asked for both to step up and they both did. So I treated them and placed them each on their own training perch. During out training session which happened, she was totally nice. She even did well on step-ups. Of course, her Quaker buddy was out and stuff.

I am crying right now because I have had this bird for 17 years and I have for the last few months, I have been trying to really work hard with her to help improve our linse communications. While things are progressing and getting better. I am still getting bit and sometimes really hard. My goal is for this to be at an all time low by this time next year.

In the beginning, when I first adopted her, I seriously did want to re-home her because of the biting, but I managed to work through it by using my handheld T. I will say that does know how to step up, I just wish that if she didn't want to step up she would just retreat and walk away or fly away. She is light you know. Can't she dot that instead of biting?

The only thing I can say about her bites now is that they are not as deep as they were months ago. I still have bites that are still healing. Although my thumb did bleed a lot this morning, the cut is not deep and not a lot of skin was taken off.

Here is the thing, I can handle getting bitten if it is a quick bite - bite, release, done - but why does she insist on clamping and holding on? Doesn't she think I am that slow to catch on? Gosh it hurts, more emotional than physically I might add.

My Quaker is totally not like that (smaller beak of course). If she does bite, it is quick and to the point. With Sunny, it is like long-out drama.

I am feeling overwhelmed and upset right now. She is 18 years old and probably will live past 30. I just hope I can handle 12 more years of her beak LOL!
I really could use a hug right now as well as a tissue.
 
Last edited:

sunnysmom

Ripping up the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/16/13
Messages
28,803
Location
Pennsylvania
Real Name
Michelle
Sorry about the bites. And no, you shouldn't just take the bite. You don't want to over react to the bite as a big reaction makes the bird think it's fun. But don't let a bird just bite you. I wonder if part of it right now is spring hormones? Does she only bite around her cage? Some birds are just really cage territorial. If she's biting when you're getting her to step up, perhaps start training her to step up on a perch or a t-stick and transport her that way.
 

~Drini~

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Joined
2/22/14
Messages
1,679
Location
Maryland
Real Name
Ana
I would always use a t-stick to move my late cage-aggressive conure away from the cage. In fact, he was mostly hands-off in general. He loved sitting on my shoulder for hours and snuggling against my neck/cheek and he loved getting scritches, but I seldom had him step up onto my hand because he had a tendency to bite. He just did not like that much interaction with my hands and I respected it, and it resulted in me never getting bitten even once in the last 6 years I had him. I learned and acknowledged what he liked and didn't like, and we had a smooth relationship, even though he wasn't a very hands-on. Both he and I were content with that.

Even my younger conure can be a little aggressive around her cage or when stepping up in general. I taught her a "come here" command which I use to pick her up from her cage (ie. she flies to my hand instead of my hand approaching her). She doesn't always do it, not because she forgets the command, but because sometimes she just doesn't want to. This way she has total freedom to choose whether she wants to stay on her cage or come with me, and it means I never get bitten. If I do try to force her to step up when she really doesn't want to, I will get bitten. I try to respect her boundaries as if she were a human. I don't try to force things. Our relationship has really blossomed as a result of this over the last 2 years. She is now a very clingy hands-on bird (who will still bite if I try to force things).

You have had your conure for 17 years, which is quite a long time. You can definitely keep working on things with your training sessions, but I also wanted to add that sometimes an individual bird just may never want to have that sort of relationship with you, and that's ok. I would also add that you should try to not take it personally if she bites. The bites are a form of communication and she is just signaling to you that she does not want to be forced to step up or interact at that moment. She probably displayed other body language communicating this prior to the bite. Learning the body language that precedes a bite would be of use.
 

JMC822

Meeting neighbors
Joined
2/4/22
Messages
26
Real Name
Jennifer
Sorry about the bites. And no, you shouldn't just take the bite. You don't want to over react to the bite as a big reaction makes the bird think it's fun. But don't let a bird just bite you. I wonder if part of it right now is spring hormones? Does she only bite around her cage? Some birds are just really cage territorial. If she's biting when you're getting her to step up, perhaps start training her to step up on a perch or a t-stick and transport her that way.
She sometimes bites when asked to step up. I wonder if she was just tired when I had asked her because she was fine the rest of the day. It doesn't matter where she is, she can bite in those situations. It's getting better but this morning took me for a loop because she was really hanging on and I really had to pry her off. I don't yell or scream or say anything to her because any reaction is attention. I know you should just not do anything but when she is hanging on, I need to like get her off somehow.

I would always use a t-stick to move my late cage-aggressive conure away from the cage. In fact, he was mostly hands-off in general. He loved sitting on my shoulder for hours and snuggling against my neck/cheek and he loved getting scritches, but I seldom had him step up onto my hand because he had a tendency to bite. He just did not like that much interaction with my hands and I respected it, and it resulted in me never getting bitten even once in the last 6 years I had him. I learned and acknowledged what he liked and didn't like, and we had a smooth relationship, even though he wasn't a very hands-on. Both he and I were content with that.

Even my younger conure can be a little aggressive around her cage or when stepping up in general. I taught her a "come here" command which I use to pick her up from her cage (ie. she flies to my hand instead of my hand approaching her). She doesn't always do it, not because she forgets the command, but because sometimes she just doesn't want to. This way she has total freedom to choose whether she wants to stay on her cage or come with me, and it means I never get bitten. If I do try to force her to step up when she really doesn't want to, I will get bitten. I try to respect her boundaries as if she were a human. I don't try to force things. Our relationship has really blossomed as a result of this over the last 2 years. She is now a very clingy hands-on bird (who will still bite if I try to force things).

You have had your conure for 17 years, which is quite a long time. You can definitely keep working on things with your training sessions, but I also wanted to add that sometimes an individual bird just may never want to have that sort of relationship with you, and that's ok. I would also add that you should try to not take it personally if she bites. The bites are a form of communication and she is just signaling to you that she does not want to be forced to step up or interact at that moment. She probably displayed other body language communicating this prior to the bite. Learning the body language that precedes a bite would be of use.
Yes I do have a T stick and I do use that as well with both my birds, especially in situations when they are high up on their cage or on my shoulder. Basically if they are higher than chest level, I use the T perch.

I have been practicing stepping up with her since March. She has gotten better. I have curbed down the hormones but making sure both birds get adequate sleep *12 hours of darkness). I have been watching their diet. I also have been removing anything that would suggest nesting..

I would like to teach Sunny how to fly to my hand since she can fly to my shoulder. I don't like birds on my shoulders too much. It's a privilege that must be earned. I had them on my shoulder today but it has been months since I let them ride around on my shoulder.

How did you teach her to fly to your hand?

Yes, I have had Sunny for 17 years which is a long time and sometimes it gets overwhelming when I think she could be with me for 17 more. I worry about what my living arrangement will be like and what her temperament will be like.

I sometimes wonder if I ever made a mistake keeping two birds together and if I should have just stayed with just my one Quaker. They are great together but when keeping two birds together, you have to consider the dynamics between them. It seems my Sunny follows Nikki's lead which can be a good thing and a bad thing. So when it comes to interacting with Sunny, I sometimes have to consider what Nikki is doing. For example, if Nikki is not coming out of the cage, there is a high likely hood that Sunny might not want to come out of the cage. I think that could have been a cause of this morning's bite. I guess I was just shocked because although she loves Nikki, she will drop her in a flash for food. I always reward her with a treat when she steps up for me as I do for Nikki.
 

Lady Jane

Ripping up the road
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/25/12
Messages
26,570
Location
Maryland
Real Name
Dianne
Time to use a T stick, not your hand. @JLcribber posted about these.
 
Top