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sun conure nippy

Rivka

Meeting neighbors
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9/8/17
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Rivka
Hi my sun conure is 6 months and she’s very friendly but she bites me a lot on my fingers, ears and neck. A lot of times it really hurts when she bites. She loves chewing on wood and her toys but I don’t know what the deal with her chewing on me is. How can I make her stop? I know not to yell when it hurts, to stay calm. Will she always bite me? How do I make her stop?
 

Donna turner

Rollerblading along the road
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9/10/16
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Donna
If she's nOt showiNg angry aggression , she's probably using you for a chew toy or maybe she doesn't know how to show affection. She needs to learn biting hard is no acceptable. Try telling her don't bite and immediately put her down and walk away from her for several minutes. She should make the association that biting makes you leave her ,which she won't like if she's bonded to you. I put my gcc in her cage for a few minutes when she aggressively bit and since she rather be out this worked for me after just a few times. Some people think putting them in cage is not a good idea but it worked. Since your bird isn't aggressively mad , walking away is probably enough
 

GracefulWolf

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7/26/17
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49
She’s a baby testing her limits and learning what’s okay. Redirection to what you want her to do works best. When she playfully bites, tell her no sternly but in a normal voice. No yelling like you mentioned. Yelling can turn biting into a fun game of what noises can the human make! After you tell her no, give her a toy or a cuttlebone. Cuttlebones worked best for my birds. Redirect her chewing to the toy or cuttlebone. It’s essentially telling her “you can’t chew on me, but you can chew on this”. Place the toy in front of where she was just biting and be consistent. Even if she decides not to play with it, she’ll learn she‘s not allowed to chew on you. It took each of my birds about a week to catch on. Works great. Just occasional reinforcement every now and then.

The reason putting them in the cage when they bite isn’t recommended is because it can backfire. Instead of teaching them “don’t bite or you’ll go into the cage”, you’re actually teaching them “bite me when you want to go back to your cage”. Going back to the cage isn’t a punishment because they like their cage. It’s their home. You want them to like their cage.
 
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Rivka

Meeting neighbors
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9/8/17
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42
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Rivka
She’s a baby testing her limits and learning what’s okay. Redirection to what you want her to do works best. When she playfully bites, tell her no sternly but in a normal voice. No yelling like you mentioned. Yelling can turn biting into a fun game of what noises can the human make! After you tell her no, give her a toy or a cuttlebone. Cuttlebones worked best for my birds. Redirect her chewing to the toy or cuttlebone. It’s essentially telling her “you can’t chew on me, but you can chew on this”. Place the toy in front of where she was just biting and be consistent. Even if she decides not to play with it, she’ll learn she‘s not allowed to chew on you. It took each of my birds about a week to catch on. Works great. Just occasional reinforcement every now and then.

The reason putting them in the cage when they bite isn’t recommended is because it can backfire. Instead of teaching them “don’t bite or you’ll go into the cage”, you’re actually teaching them “bite me when you want to go back to your cage”. Going back to the cage isn’t a punishment because they like their cage. It’s their home. You want them to like their cage.
Thanks so much that’s some great advice!
 

Rivka

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9/8/17
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Rivka
Anyone know of mirphy oil soap is safe for birds?
 
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