GCC question about toys

[cashmerekiddy]

Can anyone shed light on this....my liitle GCC has just come home , is 4 months old mad I have just introduced him to 'toys' He had no idea at first what to do with foot toys but noew loves them. However, I am noticing that after he has had a session with the foot toys, chewing on them madly, that he has started to 'chew' on my hands alot more. He looks like he gets really 'agro' with the toys. Anyone got any thoughts on his behaviour?

[Valo's Moirana]

if you see a clear connection between the foot toys and the chewing on your hands, i'd only let him go to town on the foot toys every now and then and just limit the access.... and try to excite him for his other toys as well

[cashmerekiddy]

Yep, good idea. Thank you

[rockybird]

I wouldnt be suprised if he is just exploring with his beak, being only 4 mos. old. But maybe he is getting worked up with the toys and nipping/playing with you afterwards. I think that sometimes you have to TEACH them that nipping can hurt. I dont think that they are always aware of it, especially when young. I think if they nip a fellow bird, all they get is a mouthful of feathers, as opposed to sensitive skin on a human and they may not understand. My gcc was especially nippy as a youngster, but grew out of it and rarely if ever nips now. But he WILL nip if I am holding objects that he likes to "fight" with...ie toy bells, car keys, fingernail clippers, etc.

[cashmerekiddy]

Thank you for that. Over the past few days he has started to bite (sometimes softly, sometimes too hard) much more often - and even when there are no toys in sight.
I've noticed that he is biting hard when he doesn't want to do something - like step up when he's on my shoulder, or when I go to give him a scratch and he doesn't want it. I have started to put him back in his cage for about 10 min without any fuss when he bites hard. Often I'll say no bite sternly but that hasn't really deterred him much. Hopefully he'll learn that it isn't acceptable to bite hard with a bit of training and maturity.

[Ashling]

My lorikeet started her nipping/ biting stage at around 4 months. When he bites, you have to not react at all, cause it could excite him. Simply put him down, not looking at him, and busy yourself with one of his toys, pretending to play with it and when he investigates say "be a good bird and play with your toy"- this sets him up for success! If you put him in the cage he might think that all he needs to do is bite someone when he wants to go back to the cage. Hope this helps!

[cashmerekiddy]

Yes I think that would be better than him putting back into his cage. Thanks for the good advice -I'll start to do this and see how he goes. He is a beautiful little fellow but tends just to get a bit 'headstrong' at times!

[MrRick]

GCCs seem to go through a "nippy" stage between 4-6 months. It's kind of like the terrible two's! Cody, my youngest GCC, will be a year old next month and just got out of his nippy stage about a month ago. I've found that the best way to handle it is to tell them in a stern voice "no bite!" It has worked well for us.