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Bird biting his favorite person

Discuss the methods and techniques of clicker training, target training and bonding. These are usually the first steps in training a young parrot.

Bird biting his favorite person

Postby DinoCad » Tue Nov 29, 2016 11:04 pm

:gcc: I own a green cheek conure, Cadbury, who is now 4. I have had my bird since he stopped weaning and I love him to death. Recently he started to bite (me) his favorite person. He willingly steps up, and within 100 ft of me walking he bites me really hard for no reason at all. He spends his time on his cage trying to get my attention by: dancing for me, talking and trying to fly to me (flight position, he can't fly) and yet when I get him out of the cage he just keeps biting. I do the drop technique on him, and put him away, but that doesn't stop him the second time. He has been doing this for 2 weeks now. He has never done this ever before. He has been sweet for his whole life till now(occasionally grumpy). Other people can pick him up and he doesn't bite them like he does me. He's overly spoiled, gets veggies, a source of protien, a little bit of fruit and zupreeme his pellet food. He lives in a big parrot cage, always recieves lots of attention, and has a good life. Honestly, I don't know what to do. I do not overreact when he bites and draws blood. I keep trying to give him attention several times a day, but it always consists with a bite. He doesn't want to go back to his cage, but this doesn't even apply to my situation. Someone please help. I feel down/upset whenever he bites, but don't express anything but positive energy when he is being a good boy. Any ideas?
DinoCad
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 1
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Cadbury
Flight: No

Re: Bird biting his favorite person

Postby Wolf » Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:41 am

Ok, the very first thing that I would do is to make a promise to your Cadbury and to yourself to never ever clip his wings again and keep that promise. The next thing that I would do is to look at his light schedule and make sure to correct it if he is living o a human one. Think about the wild birds, or if it helps you free range chickens and the light schedule they live with. Parrots are photoperiodic and they can not adjust to a human light schedule, without their entire system becoming out of whack. This is partly because their bones are so thin that any light goes directly to their brain which have photoreceptors embedded in it , not quite the same as the ones in the eyes but enough to register the light and affect the birds endocrine system. Parrots NEED to receive the very first light of the day from just before dawn while it is still twilight and they also NEED the twilight period we call dusk and then drift off to sleep at full dark. These two times and special types of light are what sets and regulates their internal clock and controls most of the birds internal systems from hormones, to reproduction all the way to their immune system.

While evaluating these two things and adjusting them to what the bird needs I would make a list of what, how much and when I give Cadbury to eat every day for at least a week and then let us know what his average daily diet is and we can help you to adjust that to what he needs.

These 3 things are the easy ones, the other thing that I would do is to reevaluated the time that he gets to spend with and on you as based just upon your description of what he does, he is clearly in disagreement with you as to how much time with and on you he needs daily to be happy and other than possibly being hormonal from too rich of a diet and from a human light schedule, is probably the main reason that he is biting you. He is trying to tell you that he wants and needs more interactive time on you and you are not listening to him so he has to resort to biting to get you to listen ( get your attention).

Now since this is not a species of parrot that I have, I should let others with more experience with GCC's take over from here. All of the above information is general and applies to nearly any parrot.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Bird biting his favorite person

Postby Pajarita » Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:37 pm

Welcome to the forum, Dino and Cadbury (great name!). Wolf is correct. In my personal experience, GCCs are either the sweetest, most affectionate and docile little birds or bitey little devils :lol: But, in their defense, all the birds that bite do it because their needs are not been satisfied. You see, GCCs are not easy birds to keep because, like cockatoos, they require an inordinate amount of time spent on them as well as a low protein, low fat, high fiber, high moisture diet and a rigorous solar schedule.

Without the answers to the questions Wolf asked and which would give us a more accurate picture of what is going on, I can't tell you for sure what is happening but, if I were to speculate, I would say that he is frustrated with you BIG TIME! It seems to me (again, I am speculating) that you don't spend enough time with him (they need about 4 hours a day of one-on-one) and, because he is, most likely, kept at a human light schedule and is been fed too much protein (pellets are not good for them), he is now sexually frustrated and, because his human (you) is not giving him what he needs (he can't even get to you when he wants), he bites you. It happens all the time with them. I've had four of them, have one right now and will, most likely, get another one soon and all of them (including the one that might be coming) were given up because of aggression (one of them also because he screamed all the time) but, once they started getting their needs satisfied all the time, they never it again. My Codee is the sweetest, sweetest thing! She is, pretty much, the only bird that I allow my grandkids to handle because she never bites or even nips. And the other ones I took in and which I rehomed after rehabilitating, are still today doing great in their new homes.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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