GCC bite my face :(

[Tro]

About two days ago my little green cheek conure bite my face. It's no mystery why, I picked up a little baby and was cooing over the baby and my parrot got jealous and started going for the baby, I bent over to tuck the baby under my chest and since my GCC couldn't get the baby he went for me, and got me right in the face!
I'm not mad at him and should have known better. In the back of my mind I even told myself I should put Tak down before i pick up the baby. But what's done is done.
Anyway I find myself a little nervous around Tak now. I still love him and adore him, and ofcorse he still gets his usual daily interaction but I'm sure he can probably feel something off w me. Im just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if they have any advise for me? I'm sure things will go back to normal, but in the mean time I don't want my parrot to loose confidence in me.

[Michael]

I wouldn't dwell on it too much and the fact that you realized what led to it is 3/4 of the game. Obviously try to avoid those situations but also try to dilute them through training. Avoiding making your bird jealous is only a workaround, not a solution (just like clipping). So in the long term you want to [ur=http://TrainedParrot.com/Socializel]socialize your parrot[/url] as much as possible and teach it that being around other people is GOOD and GOOD FOR THE BIRD. This is of course done through positive reinforcement based training and can take time.

[marie83]

Agree with Michael but you may also wish to consider encouraging your bird to spend less time on your shoulder as you cannot attempt to ready body language if you cannot see the bird. Also a bite on the face destroys confidence and trust much more than a bite on the hand.

Ollie (GCC) once caught me under the eye, it was completely my fault and I didn't lose any confidence over it but if he had got me slightly higher up...... I do still allow him on my shoulder- because I know if he does bite my face it wont destroy our relationship and he rarely ever bites me anymore but I am ridicuously careful to keep my eyes well out of his reach, it only takes once.

[liz]

Mine are welcome on my shoulder. It encourages cuddles and whispering secrets in my ear.

Keeping your bird off your shoulder is not the answer. Remembering why he bit you is. Just don't let the situation come up again.

I would make sure #1 got a lot of attention and moved on to something else interesting before I handled the 2nd one. It is like having a child and bringing a baby home. The child must be secure that he is not slighted because of the baby.

[GreenWing]

Don't let it get you down, Tro. I've been there too and don't worry, this is a good learning experience.

I agree with Liz. Like Liz, I also allow Tiki on my shoulder with no problems. She mostly preens herself but every once in a while she'll take a lock of my hair.

Parrots can get very, very jealous. Tiki has flown at me (non-aggressively, though) when she's seen me cuddle a stuffed bear! She HAS been aggressively jealous with my cell phone and cordless phone, although these behaviors have significantly decreased as she is less aggressive these days, overall.

Michael is right, you will usually know the aggression triggers. Socialize your bird by bringing him around the baby. Show your bird some attention, too, when you socialize him with others. Your bird shouldn't be jealous if you show him some attention while showing someone else attention.

[charlieandkiwi]

My green cheek used to randomly bite me if I put him on my shoulder first thing in the morning after waking up. I stopped picking him up right away in the morning, waited a little bit, and when I did pick him up kept him at a distance for a little bit.

He now no longer does that. I would say that if you are going into a situation where your bird might bite, it's a good thing to avoid getting bit however possible. You can train the bird to be more comfortable with the situation, slowly, over time, but don't put yourself in harms way because biting is a self-reinforcing behavior.

I think that you can actually apply all of the advice on this thread. Start with avoiding letting him near your face while you're around the baby. Give him lots of attention when he's being good around the baby and tell him "gentle" when he starts mouthing too hard or "good bird!" in a happy, excited tone when he's being very food. Over time, you will most likely get to the point where he knows that he will still get attention from you while you're with the baby. You can even make it so he gets MORE praise and attention while you're around the baby. Then he'll start enjoying it and you can start working him closer to you again.

Don't worry if this takes a while. My green cheek originally tried to attack my boyfriend every time he came near. Now he wants us to be next to each other at all times (he will bounce on my finger toward my boyfriend until I go stand by him, at which point he fluffs up and starts muttering in conure-english). I'm pretty sure he views my boyfriend as a part of the flock. I remember thinking that he would never be as good as my first bird and that my first bird is just special. Now he's every bit as great. In the end, you just have to give it time.

[Tro]

Thanks for the replies and info, as always this site as well as the blog has been very helpfull!