biting,pinching

[Loetheconure]

Ihave had my gcc for one week and he seems to like to explore with his beak and then bite down. Sometimes hard. I do notice he is more comfortable with me as I can pet him, but my wife and kids cannot. Is this normal behavior? Will the nipping subside as he becomes comfortable in his new home? Is the nipping his way of seeing who is the boss? How should I react to a bite? Any input would be great.

[Flappuccino]

I have a new young gcc, too. I also have a lovebird.
Here's what I do-
When he's "beaking", I don't mind much (some say not to even let them do this, but it's ok with me). When it turns into a bite, though, I try to think of what the reason is. If it's because something has startled him, I ignore it. But if he's "testing me out" or doesn't realize how hard he's doing it, I either hold his beak, give my hand a tiny shake to get hm off balance, or give a very short, but loud Aa! Like his mama would do. Then I go back to talking soft and singsongy again- like nothing ever happened. The VERY short bark at him really stops him in his tracks. When I'm baby-talking him when he's being good, and then "barking" at him when he's biting, lets him know what I expect.
I've tried the "always ignore it" thing with him (some say they do it to get a reaction), but that didn't work with him. He just kept gnawing away. He's gotten loads better now that I use the one quick loud noise- because the rest of the time is total praise.

[PowerBBS]

Our green cheek for about the first 6 months of (we got him when he was about 4 months old - so he was almost 1 yr) he was very sweet and cuddily. Then he turned into the quite the little nipper. He learned to sharpen his beak on his cage bars which turned his beak into a very sharp point with sides and edges that cut better than most expensive scissors. So he draws blood now with just about any bite.

We have little luck getting him to not bite. It's even hard now to even get him to step up. Well stepping up isn't the issue. It's the step up just so that he can bend down between his feet and take a chunk out that we can't avoid. We've since resolved to asking him to step up onto a wooden perch rather than our finger.

He nips at our ears, fingers, arms and even face sometimes if he so gets into the mood.

I prey you never have to endure a fid that gets to be like this. We've tried tons of things (been almost 3 years now) with just no luck. We still get him out daily with the others and spend time with him. It's just we're always on the lookout for when he decides to bite. We actually treat him like a dog now and give him a good squirt from a water bottle and that gets him to stop. Luckily, he preffers a bath in the sink on a wet plate, so water squirting doesn't seem to have affected his view point on bathing.

Anyhow.... good luck with the nipping. I wish I had some advice, but since everything we tried failed, it'd be a poor assumption on my part that it would work for you.

[4HAND]

When our conures beak too hard We say "no bite" in a strong tone and use the finger of our other hand to sort of wipe their beak off sideways.A big part of training your bird is learning to read his body language to reduce your chances of being bitten.Also you can offer a toy durring play and bonding times so the toy is chewed and not you.Many birds will preffer one person.If your children and wife want to interact with the bird they should offer special treats to him and try to interact when you are not around.
Tena

[Murphy]

Hmmm I don't really have much problem with my GCC biting me...He will bite and chew anything else though lol. If he does actually bite a bit too hard we go "Ah!" loudly and sharply and this normally stops him, if not we (very very gently) tap his beak with our index finger and he stops straight away.

He is just a baby and is still happily "beaking" everything, but generally nippiness is not a problem.

Another point is maybe he doesn't quite trust your hands yet? You said he has issues with stepping up...maybe go back to basics and get him stepping up/down again properly before handling him to much?

Good luck, I hope it all goes well :-)

[Greenguy]

Originally Posted by PowerBBS

We still get him out daily with the others and spend time with him. It's just we're always on the lookout for when he decides to bite. We actually treat him like a dog now and give him a good squirt from a water bottle and that gets him to stop. Luckily, he preffers a bath in the sink on a wet plate, so water squirting doesn't seem to have affected his view point on bathing.

Anyhow.... good luck with the nipping. I wish I had some advice, but since everything we tried failed, it'd be a poor assumption on my part that it would work for you.

We have a mini macaw named Maccabee who was a cuddly little baby and has turned into a Dennis the menace. He bites at times for apparently no reason.....or so it seems. We recently got a new poodle puppy who like all puppies requires a great deal of attention....and Maccabee is jealous. It is his jealousy that drives him to biting.How can we handle it? We love him and we are also very fond of the puppy.

[Greenguy]

Just a quick "bump" - he's having trouble still. Whenever we hold the puppy in our lap, carry her to and from her crate, or interact with her, he'll scream. We've tried giving him special treats, spending extra time with him but he is still very jelous and is acting up. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for the help.

[Kata and Goldie]

Hi, my bird is pretty quiet, but I can tell you what I have learned. I would definitely not reward bad behavior. When I say reward, I mean if you come running when he is screaming you are unintentionally rewarding him for screaming. You must ignore bad behavior (a time out with no attention being paid to him) and only reward good behavior (as soon as he stops come in and pay attention to him). It might take lots of time to reverse this but birds really know how to train us and your bird will learn. Hope this helps you.

[Barb E]

My heart goes out to you....
We have a Meyers just like your Maccabee. He is just like my first born son was when the second came along - very jealous. He's 19 now and still jealous.

I think some birds, just like some people, are more upset by change. Also, some seem more aggressive and dominant (Alpha) than others so they express their displeasure more so.
Poor Maccabee, he thinks he can chase away the puppy or punish you silly people for disrupting a perfectly good living situation. He's probably wondering why you're not listening!!!

When we got our B&G, the Meyers kept going after him. We finally resorted to clipping his wings and the little bugger still went after him. Now, we put him in his cage when he won't keep to his own territory and so he screams alot more than he used to. It breaks my heart that he's so angry and frustrated. I keep talking to him and hoping that maybe some day he'll get over being pissed off and accept the B&G.
We've had the B&G for 1 1/2 years!!!!

Good Luck

[Greenguy]

Thanks for the encouragement. I sort of guessed that was the reason for his behavior. Oh well, I have been through similar situations with my human children and survived, so I guess I can make it with my animal friends.