Need a little help with a Conure

[Giantmoa]

my gcc did the same thing when I first got her, except it wasn't quite a bite then. She was more playing with my fingers like she would a toy and went little overboard with chewing them. I would just push her off my hand onto the desk or replace my fingers with a foot toy to focus on instead. I think it was kind of a baby parrot thing back then where she explored the boundries and the things around her not knowing her beaks own power and that my hands were not an all you can chew deal. now very rarely I'll make a mistake when handling her and she'll start biting my fingers to no end, not hard mind you, but in a kind of maniacle I-will-not-stop-what-I'm-doing sort of way. I just detach my hand gently but firmly or position my fingers so she can't get a good grip with her beak and she'll eventually lose interest... if it was more of a problem I'd probably look for a better method but this works just fine for me
good luck with your little guy!

[spiritpaw]

This is very like what Kazuya does, and if it is anything like what he does it is not just preening trust me! It hurts, he does the same thing to his toys and everyhing else. And it does seem to be alot like a puppy but like a puppy that never learns bite inhibition!The problem with this sort of biteing is methods used on agressive or fearful birds dosent work. It is a strange sort of play it seems to me, and it seems to be almost always green cheeks who do it. They are haveing fun, but at the same time it hurts and often draws blood. It isnt gentle like with other parrots who are exploreing. He does the same thing to his toys. Now I know with a puppy you would yelp to let it know he is hurting you, but this is probally a bad idea with a green cheek because Kazuya likes it if you slip up and make ochy noises. Distracting does work but only till he loses intrest and what has happened to me is now he has fun biteing and when you give him a toy the smart lil bugger thinks you are rewarding him for it so as soon as he gets bored with the toy he bites you till you reward him with another. Timeouts in the cage wouldnt work because he is so happy of a lil guy he would just go bite something in his cage. So here is what has been working for me, have a perch like a training perch away from anything like toys or food. When he starts biteing set him down quickly on the perch and ignore him. This takes away the fun, then have him target C/T, then have him step up and quickly before he goes back to biteing give him a toy or treat or something to prevent him from biteing. At first only hold him untill right before he gets bored with that toy then either give him something else of interest or set him on his playgym and interact with him from there. It is the green cheeks always happy optimism that makes it hard to teach bite inhibition. And it is there cuddly cute cleverness that makes you want to pick them up constantly. Like puppies with one razor tooth.. Good Luck.

[pyrrhuraphile]

My take on it, after watching your video, is that he wants scritches and maybe is a little frustrated that you aren't getting the right places. Additionally, in my experience, pyrrhura's simply like to wrestle, and since they don't have another bird to wrestle with, they want to teach YOU how.

My GCC is 13, but when she was young she loved to wrestle with my fingers and roll around on her back, kicking her feet and randomly grabbing with her beak. I found that if I quickly and gently wiggled the finger she chewed on, she couldn't get a good grip, so didn't tend to hurt me, but was able to satisfy her urge to gnaw on me. This also became part of the game, and sometimes still she will grip my finger while I wiggle it and she'll hold on for 5 minutes, only applying more force if I quit wiggling. It's sort of like a feeding motion, and It clearly does something for her, almost hypnotizing her.

My Crimson Bellied Conure was a big wrestler, and when he was a "puppy" I allowed him to beak me all over, and if it hurt, I squealed, "BEAK!" and it would slightly startle him so that he would back off. I know this is the opposite of conventional parrot training wisdom, but all I can say is it worked. I gave him another chance, and if he continued to be too too rough, on the third nip, I took my hands away. I actually saw a little light go on over his head when he figured out how much he could beak without hurting me, and he decided he didn't WANT to hurt me, because the last thing he wanted was for me to take my hands away.

Your milage my vary, but I am really big on allowing my birds freedom to communicate with their beaks. I also credit them with the inteligence to choose to interact with me on my terms because they understand co-operation gets them good results. I figure this: if you don't communicate clearly to your parrot when his beak hurts you, HOW can he choose not to hurt you? The "BEAK!" marks the exact instant that he presses too hard, and we all know a bird's beak can crack a nut as easily as it can gently nibble, they have extreme control. Charlie sometimes spends about 10 minutes gnawing on my earlobe like a dog with a rubber toy, and has never once hurt me there. She just likes the texture of my skin in her beak.