Newby biting question

[Joe]

Hello all,

I just got my Green Cheek Conure, Sammy, two days ago. He is three months old. He is  very loving and cuddly and is already learning to step up. At the moment he is clipped, but from what I have been reading I plan on letting his wings grow out. 

We both have a lot of learning to do, and I really want to do thing right the first time and not create bad habits through my ignorance. So here is my concern at the moment.

I'll have him out on my hand and he'll nibble gently now and then . Inevitably he will want to make it up to my shoulder and he'll be grooming my beard, all very sweet. Then he finds a skin tag on my neck and will dig in like I'm lunch! Now I can't have him anywhere near my neck or it's "all you can eat". I'll put him back in the cage when he does this and obviously he isn't happy about it, but am I just teaching him in the long run that the way to get back in the cage is to take a bite out of me?

How do you positively reinforce "not" doing a behavior?

Joe

[pennyandrocky]

i'm happy to see you're going to allow flight that will definately help with biting. s are bullies and can get nippy but they do love to cuddle. when my penny went through his nippy stage i pushed him off then let him fly back until he bit again.since yours is clipped for now just allow him on you when your near something he can sit on for a minute then when he comes back allow it until he bites. it won't take long at all,took mine a day to figure it out.welcome to the forum hope this helps.

[marie83]

I'd suggest covering the skin tag up and ignoring any bites. Please don't use the cage as punishment as the cage should be a place they enjoy spending time, not a place they get put back into as punishment otherwise when sammy is flighted again he may give you a hard time trying to get him to go back in.
I suggest covering the tag up because bites are harder to ignore when they are on more sensitive areas and you really need to show no reaction. If he is biting hard for attention I would put him down and ignore him for a few seconds, if simply ignoring him doesn't work, then go and get him again and pick up where you left off. He should quickly get the message but you can put him down for longer periods of time.
If he is biting because he wants to be put down then obviously the above approach will not work, otherwise you are reinforcing the biting by putting him down but you need to figure out why he is biting first otherwise you may end up training him to bite more.

It sounds to me though he just sees your skin tag as something of curiosity so for that reason I still think covering it up is the best option, at least until you have some boundaries in place.

[Joe]

Thanks for the direction. We had a little out of cage time this afternoon and when she bit (small pinches, not a beak full this time!) I pulled her off me and set her down on the table. A couple of seconds and she would walk back to me and we would start over. She would snuggle up for a while before testing me again and we repeated the cycle. I think things went well and I won't put her away in the cage anymore, I get what you are saying.

On another note she seems to spent an awful lot of time in her happy hut. She's only been with me for three days so I can see that she would feel that it is a safe place. Does this sound normal to you guys? It sounds reasonable to me but just wanted to check.

[marie83]

He's still young and although he looks grown up at 3 months old he is still developing in a way and will probably take a few extra naps that an older bird. Add to that the stress of being in a new place which is also tiring and probably that he feels safest there at the moment then that could all add up to alot of time hiding away.
On the other hand how long is alot of time and have you taken him for a check up with an avian vet yet? If not it may be a good idea to get an appointment sometime soon just to make sure he is nice and healthy.
I'm sure there is nothing to worry about though and he is just adjusting to his new life.

[Joe]

Greetings featherless friends,

I thought I'd send out an update on how we're doing. We made a couple of changes as we got to know each other better. We changed her name to Pip (it seems to suit her more). And he seems more like a she to me so she's a she now... :-/

We've pretty much cleared up the biting the neck issue. Whenever she would bite I would take her off my shoulder put her on the table and then turn my back on her for a few seconds. Most of the time she was eager to get back to me so when I picked her back up she would behave yourself. Although sometimes the things on the table were more interesting than coming back to me so I'm not sure how effective those particular instances where. But either way she's doing much better. She still tries to test every now and then, to see how serious I am about it, but for the most part she's just a love. 

We've also been working on clicker training, and that's going well. I'm amazed at how smart these little creatures are.

I must say, I'm completely smitten with this little one. Hope she doesn't miss me as much as I miss her during the day when I'm at work.

Thanks again,

Joe

[jparrothead]

This is an old thread, but the search bar found "skin tag" and highlighted a similar story--my GCC Darwin just chewed off and ATE (or at least masticated) a skin tag on my neck (which of course drew a little blood, which I also think he ate some of), I am wondering if there will be any new issue.

He is very attracted to that part of my neck now--so much that I just had to put him up on his playpen (5 feet away from me) to stop him from being utterly fascinated with what other meaty wonders he may find on my neck!

I am more concerned about the blood, and whether a 'first blood' principle occurs with parrots (I have a feeling I will be laughed at here, but still...), and whether he will bite (beak really, and he is very gentle about it usually) in order to draw blood in the future. Like I said, he was obsessed with my neck parts after this, and hated having to unshoulder (or un-neck) him from me right before his bed time...

[Pajarita]

No, no, that was not in any way aggression. Your bird was actually preening you! They don't like anything 'out of place' and, in its mind, that skin tag should NOT have been there (it would be like a feather that is half-falling off) so it fell to him to remove it -for your own good, mind you!

[jparrothead]

Well good, I guess Darwin has a good sense of dermatological beauty. Actually, he didnt seem particularly more interested in my neck today, like I feared.