Not biting me...just my husband and kids

[loribonner]

Carson, my 10 week old green cheeck conure, has been home for 2 weeks. He was hand fed, used to strangers, and tame as could be when he got home. He spends most of his time with me (i'm the one who is home most), and has recently begun biting at my husband and daughter when they try to handle him. When i "take" him from them, the biting stops (along with the high pitched whining). he's a perfect gentleman with me. should i spend LESS time with him? while i do love the special preference on a totally insecure human level, i really want a well socialized animal that can be handled by anyone - sort of like he was 2 weeks ago. What steps should i take? What do you advise?

[loribonner]

oops - posted in parrotlet - new user error - sorry. but i still need your help...

[Jannabellsmom]

Sounds like maybe he's afraid of your husband and daughter. I would let him set the pace for dealing with them. After all, he's still new in your home.

[Valo's Moirana]

i don't think he's afraid of the hubby and daughter, i just think he's bonding very strongly to you as you're the one being around the most.

first the question to ask is what the biting is. he's still young, so it could just be the baby-nipping, which you should work with. are your hubby and daughter afraid, timid? they should be confident as birds can sense fear. also, when do they get bitten? when they pick him up from you? most birds can't be just picked up from their chosen person. as social as bella is, but not even i can pick her from the BF. he has to hand her to me. also, what do they do when he's with them. often biting is a result of a bored bird. offering a treat (such as a piece of apple) or a little toy can distract a bird from getting bored and subsequently biting.

also, try to cut back a little bit with your affection. while it's wonderful to be loved by a bird, it can really lead to huge problems down the road, especially with greencheeks. valo is the perfect example, but it was hard as i live alone. he is my bird, and it's difficult with other people in the house as he defends his territory and his mate (aka me). cut back on snuggling, and have him spend more time alone playing on a playgym when it's just you who's home.
the general strategy in your situation would be to re-organize the duties - instead of you giving him the food, hubby or daughter would do that. they should be the ones doing all the things, the bird likes. they should take him out of the cage when it's play time. they should be the ONLY ones who provide his favorite treat. best way to start would be to figure out his fav treat (sunflower seeds in the shell are a big hit in my house), and whenever hubby and daughter pass by the cage or talk to him, give him one through the bars - that way they can't get bitten. soon enough he'll associate them with his favorite treat, and the biting should reduce.
you won't have to worry too much that you'll loose his affection - he's obviously most comfortable with you, but you don't want him to see you as his partner (he's still a little young for perceiving you as mate - currently i think it's more that he's thinking of you as the flock companion). he'll maintain his affection for you.
it's good that you start working on this now, as mr. birdie is still young.

hope this helps

[loribonner]

that would certainly explain why he was so accepting of them at first. and yes, he is bonding very strongly to me.

i hadn't made the connection of them "taking" him from me, but i suppose he might see it that way. he is usually on my finger, and they offer theirs to "step up" which he does obediantly, but then almost immediately goes after the thumb on the hand he's stepped onto, or the finger of the offending hand that is trying to "pet" him.

cutting back on the affection - i can see how that will help . i'll have them feed him and take him out of the cage. also, i'll try the treat. he loves raisins, cherrys and grapes, but its only been me who gives them to him. i'll stop and make sure that he only gets them from those two for a while. also, your idea of feeding treats through the cage door for a little while will help a lot.

neither of them are timid when it happens. they both give him a stern "no" and he seems to understand, but then they try to touch him again and he repeats the process. should they do something different after they say "no" and he stops the bite (sorts of looks at them like he's waiting to see what's next)?

[Valo's Moirana]

i can tell you way too many stories about a bossy greencheek... and i've tried a lot of things with my little valo. we're still not where we should be, but we're moving in the right direction - at least he's not hanging off people's necks anymore (guess, now you know why i pointed out that working with the youngster is the best thing you can do )

Originally Posted by loribonner

i hadn't made the connection of them "taking" him from me, but i suppose he might see it that way. he is usually on my finger, and they offer theirs to "step up" which he does obediantly, but then almost immediately goes after the thumb on the hand he's stepped onto, or the finger of the offending hand that is trying to "pet" him.

with a lot of behaviors it's important to think about how the bird would see it (if you can get your hands on a book by b.heidenreich, either "good bird" or "the parrot problem solver" read it - she talks very detailed about natural behaviors).
if your hubby or daughter want to hold the bird, try to have him step down from your finger onto a perch, before they pick him up. that might solve the problem partially.
when it comes to petting - i too have to watch valo's body language to see if he feels like scritches or not (you'll realize that with time you become pretty good in seeing what the mood of the bird is if you pay attention). sometimes they just don't feel like it. or it's too much for him - tell hubby and daughter to proceed slowly. let the bird see what's about to happen (scritches) and see if he really wants it. if he displays signs of biting (usually beak in the direction of the finger - guess it's not that hard to see ), slowly retreat the finger and respect birdie's wishes too

Originally Posted by loribonner

neither of them are timid when it happens. they both give him a stern "no" and he seems to understand, but then they try to touch him again and he repeats the process. should they do something different after they say "no" and he stops the bite (sorts of looks at them like he's waiting to see what's next)?

well, the thing is that it worked the first time - from the birds view. finger comes, he bites as he doesn't want it, and finger goes away. attempts to positively reinforce a behavior is usually the best approach - if he sits on hubby's or daughter's finger for a while, offer a treat. after a while, move the finger closer to the head - if he doesn't bite, give him a treat again. i think you get the idea.

are the flight feathers clipped? if he gets into the biting mood, it's sometimes a good idea to give him a little time out on the floor or somewhere else. that's about the only form of "disciplinary method" i feel comfortable with. of course, it's pointless if the bird is flighted.
over time you'll see that you get more comfortable with the behaviors and you'll all understand each other better. i just ignore valo these days when he's a pistol - and he's fully flighted. but he realizes it... if he flies to me, i take him off and put him on a perch. repeatedly... after a while he comes with kisses

[dlaura]

Hi, we also have a GCC, and what we did is along with the person who was biten saying no in a firm voice - the peson who bird is leaving would reinforce with a pat on the daughter's arm saying "nice person, we love XXxxxx" "don't bite XXXXXX" It really worked for ours to understand that others were included in the flock dynamic.