Help with new 7 month conure biting

Tonilou

Registered
Hi everyone,

We’ve recently bought a yellow sided conure, only a few days ago. He’s 7 months old, quite tame but he has an issue with hands and biting. He’s not biting enough to break the skin but it’s definitely painful and leaves a mark. We’re just wanting some advice on how to stop him biting, what to do when he does bite. I’ve read so many articles, watched loads of videos but they’re so many conflicting stories I don’t what to do for the best.

The previous owner said he was tame, nipped occasionally (which I know is normal) and would handle him often. From arriving to view him, I got the feeling this wasn’t the case, as he was in a room full of other different birds and the place itself wasn’t that great.

If he’s in his cage, he’ll come down to the nearest perch and put his head down, right up to the bars for you to stroke him. He’ll let you put your hand in his cage to hand feed him. I don’t put my hand in to get him out, I open his cage and let him come out when he’s ready, which is normally within seconds. He’ll fly to the chair, then to us on the sofa. He seems happy to move between me and my husband. Climbing all over us, letting us stroke and hand feed him but he’ll nip and bite really hard. He doesn’t seem to be doing it out of fear. Surely if he wasn’t happy he wouldn’t come near us?

We know it’ll take lots of time and patience, which we have plenty of. We just want to make sure we go about it the right way.
 
:welcome: I wish I had the magic answer to biting, so many of us have loving parrots who for what seems no apparent reason suddenly give us a bite and yes they blooming well hurt.

You have only had him a very short while so it is early days and lots of time and patience needed. We have a few members who have recently asked advice re biting etc etc and I hope they come on and share with you as that's how we all learn from each others experiences.
I expect @Roz may also advise.

Can we have a name of your birdie and photo.:thumbsup:
 
I agree that they can bite for no apparent reason - with Dora it can sometimes be like she is suddenly possessed by the spirit of the evil parrot - and afterwards she might look as though she doesn't knows what came over her! Much of the time though i believe that a bite ( especially a bite that isnt vicious) is a way of trying to communicate something. Dora had been with us for almost 6 years and we are still learning 🤣
 
:welcome: I wish I had the magic answer to biting, so many of us have loving parrots who for what seems no apparent reason suddenly give us a bite and yes they blooming well hurt.

You have only had him a very short while so it is early days and lots of time and patience needed. We have a few members who have recently asked advice re biting etc etc and I hope they come on and share with you as that's how we all learn from each others experiences.
I expect @Roz may also advise.

Can we have a name of your birdie and photo.:thumbsup:

This is a picture of him, when we went to go and see him. He’s called pigeon. My husband likes to name are animals the strangest names lol

I know it’s still early and I’m not expecting miracles but I just want to make sure we do things right and the best way for pigeon x
 

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So i have two green cheek conures both nip always have an green cheeks are known for being nippy. In my house we call them the flying rats as they are always on us an always nipping our ears or hands our phones if were on them. How ive managed to get them to stop the hard bites i dnt make a sound say nothing and i put them on the floor an walk off if they come back an do it again they go back on the floor an i walk off again this has really helped us. Dont use there cage as a time out for being naughty.
 
well its not bite, its there way of forming and showing affection to one another. a conure can pierce the skin quite easy if it wanted. ok you have a young bird and although in time this normal way will stop, the way a parent bird stop there young from nipping them is to touch the young birds feet each time. Its not an action that should be punished for by ignoring or putting in the cage, do not react in any other way but touching the foot of your bird. he/she will soon learn that you do not want nips. they can learn quite quickly. when young conures leave the parents rough play is so common in bonding groups and to show another member of the flock that the bird is strong and by not harming the other bird in its play can help to show its position in the flock. Grown birds will not like having there feet pinched and will immediately react by touching the young bird toes
 
So i have two green cheek conures both nip always have an green cheeks are known for being nippy. In my house we call them the flying rats as they are always on us an always nipping our ears or hands our phones if were on them. How ive managed to get them to stop the hard bites i dnt make a sound say nothing and i put them on the floor an walk off if they come back an do it again they go back on the floor an i walk off again this has really helped us. Dont use there cage as a time out for being naughty.

thank you. I will definitely try this. Not sure how exactly to get him down to the floor though as he has a thing against hands right now. Any suggestions on a safe way for me to do this?
 
thank you. I will definitely try this. Not sure how exactly to get him down to the floor though as he has a thing against hands right now. Any suggestions on a safe way for me to do this?
Ok mine usually are biting my hand so id move my hand to the floor to remove them. I guess you could get them off an move away ignorring them an they have got no reaction from you. I no its hard when they nip but try your best to literally have no reaction what so ever. If they get a reaction an they think its fun they will do it. My son if he walks in the room he knows they will go for his glasses so he runs about like a loon an there straight after him its all a complete game to them.
 
This is a picture of him, when we went to go and see him. He’s called pigeon. My husband likes to name are animals the strangest names lol

I know it’s still early and I’m not expecting miracles but I just want to make sure we do things right and the best way for pigeon x
amazing name! 😍
 
my green cheek is nippy i have a sun conure too who is also nippy at times. it’s common for conures to play a bit rough. my green cheek i can tell when she’s biting out of anger but my sun conure i’d say is just wanting to play. i’ve used foot toys which have helped! Isla my sun conure loves balls so when she’s getting nippy i’ll use that to distract her. Emi my green cheek i’ll just put her down when she gets nippy since she then learns she doesn’t get the reaction she wants. hope this kinda helps! i’m in no way an expert haha
 
Thank
Ok mine usually are biting my hand so id move my hand to the floor to remove them. I guess you could get them off an move away ignorring them an they have got no reaction from you. I no its hard when they nip but try your best to literally have no reaction what so ever. If they get a reaction an they think its fun they will do it. My son if he walks in the room he knows they will go for his glasses so he runs about like a loon an there straight after him its all a complete game to them.
you. I’ll give it a go x
 
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