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Thread: Help! My Conure is turning into a vampire!

 
  1. #1
    Junior Member
    dooglek's Avatar


    Parrots

    Crimson Bellied Conure

    Help! My Conure is turning into a vampire!

    I have had little Chloe, my Crimson Bellied Conure, for about 3 and half months. She is 6 months old and is normally very sweet. However she has recently started biting frequently and Im not sure how to handle it...
    Up until this point I have been mostly ignoring her biting, and if it gets really bad, I just set her down and walk away. I also praise her and give her treats when she uses her beak gently with me.

    She frequently bites my neck because I have a few dark freckles there. It has escalated to the point where she will bite them off and START DRINKING MY BLOOD. In fact one time I didnt realize she had punctured my skin, and when I felt her gently tounging my neck I started praising her profusely for being gently with me. I was ofcourse horrified to realize that she was in fact lapping up the blood pouring out of my neck.

    This I have tried to counter with wearing scarves/hats (she also loves biting my ears) as the biting initially seems affectionate/playful rather than aggressive, and Im guessing she just still doesnt understand that it hurts me...

    I am hoping for clarification though, because there is a lot of conflicting advice about how to handle biting, especially when it comes to the idea of “punishment”, such as timeouts.
    I understand the concept of ignoring unwanted behaviors and trying to replace them with wanted ones, but it seems like the biting is still being reinforced (probably because she likes the taste of my blood) I dont know how to communicate to her that biting isnt okay.

    There are also scenarios where she gets randomly really aggressive, and Im not sure why. It seems territorial, but its also inconsistent. There are places around the house she really likes to perch, such as on top of the toilet paper dispenser in the bathroom. Sometimes if I go to get toilet paper while shes perched there, shes cute and fluffy and will fly onto my shoulder and gently nuzzle my face. Other times she will bite relentlessly, even flying onto my shoulder and biting my face when I withdraw my hand.

    She sometimes will also bite aggressively when I try to get her off my shoulder or get her to step up. Its seems strange that she does because I have never let her biting get her what she wants, such as staying on my shoulder.
    I either gently pull her off me (while she continues to consume my flesh) or I camly wrap her in a towel and pull her off.

    My question is: how should I handle these different scenarios? What am I doing right and what am I doing wrong? Is giving her occasional timeouts a when she’s being aggressive necessary, or counter productive?

    Thank you so much to anyone willing to take the time to read and respond! I love her dearly and just want to respond appropriately!

    Douglas

  2. The following user likes this post:

    Dragonlady2 (02-12-2018)

  3. #2
    Senior Member
    Casper's 2nd best friend's Avatar


    Parrots

    Casper, a blue fronted Amazon. Loves banana. Hates plastic bags and red coats.
    Hi Douglas
    Welcome to Precisely Parrots. I would say you are doing everything as you should, is she a bit bighty because she is moulting or hormonal?
    Those pin feathers are very itchy and painful if stroked the wrong way. But Casper loves me to try and tease the casing off the new feathers on his neck and head once they have got beyond the spiky blood filled stage. He does like to pick at any scabs on our skin and if you cover them with a sticking plaster that gets pulled off as well.
    He also will sometimes make an unprovoked frenzied attack, but fortunately does not draw blood - he seems to know exactly how hard he can get away with
    He takes a lot of his aggression out on an empty plastic bottle that he pushes around the floor and picks up and throws. Does Chloe attack the plastic tub that poop-off wipes come in like Casper? He gets very aggressive towards it.
    Casper also looks like a Vampire parrot at the moment because he has been eating cherries and has cherry stain on his cheek feathers.
    "A busy beak is a happy beak" - David Strom

  4. The following 2 users like this post:

    Dragonlady2 (02-12-2018), Lady (02-13-2018)

  5. #3
    Super Moderator
    Dragonlady2's Avatar


    Parrots

    Willy-Eclectus, Oliver-alexandrine, Mookie-Senegal, Bella- Australian King, Joey and Peewee- Barrabands, Peachiegirl-Peachfront conure, Pepper- crimson belly conure, Peanut-plum head, Babyblue-parrotlette, Harry and Louie-canaries.
    Welcome to the forum Douglas! I have a CBC as well.
    First, it is still young and testing your boundaries. Conures, generally, are reputed to be nippy. If it is unpredictable while on your shoulder, for now, I would not give it the privilege until it has settled. My conure loves to preen my face as well and will occasionally give my ear lobe a good tugging. He has learned to respond to my saying "ow" by stopping. I don't necessarily support ignoring biting behaviour. Your bird is learning right now what is acceptable and what is not.
    I can tell when my conure is less approachable by the feathers on the back of his neck, they stick out while the the feathers on top of his head lay down flat. As well, certain situations will encourage negative behaviour. I stay away from him if my husband is in the room because he resorts to displacement biting (biting me) if he can't get at my husband who he sees as competition for my affection. Start observing more closely to see if you can see what sets it off.
    Be careful of overbonding. If your bird sees you as a potential mate, it will bite because you are not acting like a mate.

    Is your conure on a regular schedule? Up at around the same time and to bed at the same time? Does it have a quiet, dark room to sleep in?

    Keep working with it, you will have a wonderful companion. Mine is a real sweetie now.

  6. The following 2 users like this post:

    Casper's 2nd best friend (02-12-2018), Lady (02-13-2018)

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