My conure is biting me

[kittykat2009]

How do I teach her not to bite when out of her cage. I have tried holding paper, nesting material and some light cawrdboard for her to chew on as she likes to chew my rings but gets frustraqted with them. She did pick a stone out of one ring that I now have to get fixed. I turn my rings under now so she can't pick at the stones. But she bites my ears, my toes, my fingers, nails, she has even bitten my neck. She is 6 months old and was previously owned by a young man. I want to let her out to be with me but her bites hurt. What do I do?

[Greycloud]

Get out a small roasting pan. Add 1 cup water, 1 cup chicken stock, slice some veggies...
Just kidding. I am not making light of the situation. It can be very frustrating and painful, to say the least. Sometimes young birds at that age are testing their beak on different items. Sometimes it then develops into agression. I would not allow her onto your shoulder. If she is on you hands try offering a chew toy as soon as she goes to bite. As soon as she touches the toy tell her good girl and give her a favored treat. You may have to take a step back and perch train her. Teaching her to steup on a perch and not biting while you hold it. She needs to build her trust in you and that is done with gentleness and positive reinforcement. Never force her to step up. Let it be her decision. That builds her confidence. Patience is the key.

[Chicklette]

Boomer my green cheek was like this. He was so bloody aggressive but he was very abused and I got him to stop. So it can be done. All I did was blow on him gently as soon and he went to bite and he suddenly stopped. Now he is totally tame and never ever bites me. I know it’s frustrating, don’t make any drama over it or this will just get him to bite more, they love drama and attention. Simply ignore it and blow gently. See if that works. It also works for Chiquita, my IRN.

Good Luck, I know how bad you want him to stop but this forum is very good, Im sure you will get some more help.

[NotEnoughTime]

I can't say my girl never bites me - but her biting is nowhere near as bad as it was when she was a baby. Babies just don't know how hard they are biting and how much it hurts unless we are consistent in telling them. Not punishing but removing the bird from your flesh and telling them that it hurts...

At six months you still have a baby. If you think about it - a green cheek can live a long time (some people say 20 years some say 30 years and I've even read 40 years)... So at six months you can think of the bird as in the "baby" stage or "toddler" stage and still testing and learning...

Let us know if you still have a problem at two years...

[Ashling]

If you do a search there is a wealth of information on this subject. I recall writing paragraph after paragraph of techniques, especially for lorikeets but can also work on conures. Long story short, make biting an unpleasant experience for your conure, and make not biting people and instead biting toys a pleasant experience. HOW to do this is a little more specific of course and involves never reacting to a bite and simply putting your bird straight down somewhere by itself and leaving it. It will learn that a bite makes it suddenly alone. When it is not biting, praise and treat it and play with toys with it. That's the general idea but there are more detailed responses.