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Thread: Wall-E won't stop biting

 
  1. #1
    Junior Member
    09ladybug09's Avatar


    Parrots

    Pickle- Green Cheek Conure, Wall-E- Black Capped Conure

    Wall-E won't stop biting

    My new black capped conure Wall-E bites me anytime I try to get her from the cage. She doesn’t bite my husband though. When she bites me, it’s really hard and she won’t let go. When she’s off of the cage she only bites occasionally and it’s not as hard. Again she doesn’t bite my husband. We’ve had her for 5 weeks now. I’m the one who takes care of both of our birds. I don’t know how to get her to stop. It’s very discouraging because I love her so much. And I feel bad because my other bird can fly , Wall-E is growing her feathers out still, and she flies me but Wall-E is scared to but when I go to get her off the cage she bites me so I leave her. I want to be able to include her. If and when she flies down to me she wants to be perched on my fingers or my head and we have no problems usually. She will even go out of her way to bite me. Yesterday I was getting my other bird to step up and Wall-E ran from the back of the cage to my finger and just chomped down. I’m running out of finger space that doesn’t have a bruise or scab. How can I stop her from biting me when getting her off or out of the cage?

  2. #2
    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.
    I am sorry to hear about Wall-E's biting. I can just give you some ideas and suggestions based on what works for me.
    Conures can be nippy, generally. Wall-E may have a preference for your husband and you may have to accept that and find different ways to work with her. Try having her step up on a stick or rope perch. The idea is to avoid the bite. Every time she bites you, her biting is reinforced. Can you tell when she is going to bite? I have a couple of biters and I avoid situations that give them access to bite me. I can't remember the last time I have been bitten. I only interact with them when I can see from their body language that they are not likely to want a chomp and I reinforce positive behaviour by giving a treat. I also use a rope perch for step ups. Routine is important for these two. As well, these two are cage protective, so I allow them to come out on their own and they are treat trained to return.
    How old is Wall-E?

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    09ladybug09's Avatar


    Parrots

    Pickle- Green Cheek Conure, Wall-E- Black Capped Conure
    Wall-E is not even a year old yet. She will be a year on January 29th. Background on Wall-E is I got her at a pet store. She had been there for months before I took her home. Some one had bought her before and returned her. I don't know if it was because she was a biter or if it was because she's anxious. So when she was back at the pet store they weren't selling her to just anyone. They said she as special needs.They said she couldn't be in a loud home with kids or barking dogs. My husband and I are pretty quite and the people at the store know us from as often as we go in there so they knew that we could handle her anxiety. She was really anxious at the beginning but after a week she didn't mind most noise. She does still freak out with new things or large things. I know she isn't very trusting of people. I don't know how I'd be able to use something else for her to perch on.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Wall-E is the one on the top and Pickle is on the bottom.

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  5. #4
    Senior Member
    Casper's 2nd best friend's Avatar


    Parrots

    Casper, a blue fronted Amazon. Loves banana. Hates plastic bags and red coats.
    She looks quite relaxed there
    patience, plus more patience. Oh, and do not react when she bites, she will hopefully come to the conclusion that biting is not having the effect she hopes for and will give up.
    There are different sorts of bite, playful bites, holding on bites, warning bites and "I am in charge" bites:
    Casper loves to sit on my wrist and playfully attack my fingers when I am typing (fortunately he has stopped just now as he has some important preening to do);
    if he is on his swing and I want him to be somewhere else (come on its dinner time) but he is content where he is, he first tries pushing my finger away with his beak and when I insist he grabs hold of my finger as he steps up to make the point that he is coming under sufferance;
    warning bites can happen when he is on my shoulder - he bites my ear if I move too fast for him to keep his balance, its harder than just a hanging on bite;
    fortunately he doesn't attack bite me any more but it would be a silly mistake to get between him and the empty plastic water bottle he is chasing around the room or he will bite some people who invade his personal space, other people he will fly to quite happily - not sure what makes him like some more than others, maybe he senses nervousness and pushes his advantage.
    "A busy beak is a happy beak" - David Strom

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  7. #5
    Junior Member
    Charlie Brown's Avatar


    Quote Originally Posted by Casper's 2nd best friend View Post
    She looks quite relaxed there
    patience, plus more patience. Oh, and do not react when she bites, she will hopefully come to the conclusion that biting is not having the effect she hopes for and will give up.
    There are different sorts of bite, playful bites, holding on bites, warning bites and "I am in charge" bites:
    Casper loves to sit on my wrist and playfully attack my fingers when I am typing (fortunately he has stopped just now as he has some important preening to do);
    if he is on his swing and I want him to be somewhere else (come on its dinner time) but he is content where he is, he first tries pushing my finger away with his beak and when I insist he grabs hold of my finger as he steps up to make the point that he is coming under sufferance;
    warning bites can happen when he is on my shoulder - he bites my ear if I move too fast for him to keep his balance, its harder than just a hanging on bite;
    fortunately he doesn't attack bite me any more but it would be a silly mistake to get between him and the empty plastic water bottle he is chasing around the room or he will bite some people who invade his personal space, other people he will fly to quite happily - not sure what makes him like some more than others, maybe he senses nervousness and pushes his advantage.
    No doubt birds have a strong bite... Oh and it hurts if they have a grudge ...
    Even budgies lol

    Not having conures I can't quite comment, but this is what i have done with my Quakers:

    Whilst their cage is their home and should be private and I should allow them to be in charge off that space, I wasn't keen on it, cos when I clean their cage I have to phisycally get my head and shoulders and arms in there and it can be a bit crammed lol
    I always insisted in having the right of sticking my hands in there to pick them up, my two girls are ridiculous as I can grab them anyway I wish but they were hand reared, the two boys weren't hand reared and are not at all keen on any interaction.

    As the girls were maturing before the 1 year of age, they went through a biting phase, and I would not pull my finger out, in fact it took me a while to figure out that if I keep my finger in there or even gently press it in they would eventually let go, whilst doing this I would utter the words, no biting! A friend told me that if I create a gentle discomfort they learn from it. And so they did.

    Now the boys are a bit more tricky, they are younger, white boy is just over 1 year and the green boy is not yet 6 months old.
    Whilst they can let themselves out, when it's time to go back in ... I'm the monster. So we still have a bit of chasing to do every evening, but gradually they are coming onto my finger willing, they white boy is easier than the green boy, to avoid them flying off again I cup my hands around them and talk gently to them often even sitting on the sofa like that for a minute or two. If they bite, my finger stays in until they give up. I also stroke them as I talk to them, loads of praise and kisses (Yes I kiss all my birds much to the disgust of my best friend)

    Problem is: we are all as different as our birds, thankfully my pain tolerance is not low and Quakers don't bite too hard...
    My white boy is already a bit more calm, though new things like a plaster on a finger is usually enough to freak him out (as well as the green boy)...
    I stopped taking the two pairs out at the same time, I am housing each pair in a different room and this is making things easier. The boys would gang up, ignore the girls who would be quite happy to leave them to it as on my shoulder they try and snatch little morsels of my food- occasionally I pretend that I do see it lol

    I've heard before that male parrots tend to pref female himan owners and female parrots are happier on human males... and this is true in my case, and looks like I'm not the only one.

    So my suggestion is: if you can bare it, keep your finger in wall-E' s beak gently even pressing it in a bit and keep saying the words "no biting" ... or your husband can help in getting wall-E out for you...

    I often say, parrots are like toddlers, what would you do if your toddler bit you?
    What would you do if your toddler told you not to enter his/her room? Or even chucked you out of the room? Or if your toddler screamed at the top of the lungs just got the sheet fun of it?

    My girls are now just over 2 years of age, they never bite me other than the steady on bite, like to hold themselves as im playing with them, drastic measures ain't needed with the girls any more and for a long time, in fact if I say "let go" they actually do, trusting me with whatever I do, only problem is by the time I'm ready to take a pic they tell me to buzz off and take pics of the cats instead (joke - their vocabulary is still quite small)

    One more thing. My birds will eat from my hand when they are hungry, but i never used treats to achieve anything, It's all done on love, praise, kisses and play time.

    Please note: I'm not encouraging you to use violence with a bird. But untill they learn who is boss... you will have to have the upper hand. Unless you are happy to be the subordinate.

    Hope my essay wasn't painful to read.

    Sent from my SM-J530F using Tapatalk

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  9. #6
    Senior Member
    Casper's 2nd best friend's Avatar


    Parrots

    Casper, a blue fronted Amazon. Loves banana. Hates plastic bags and red coats.
    Great to hear of your experience and your advice. Essay was less painful than a bite
    "A busy beak is a happy beak" - David Strom

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    09ladybug09 (12-22-2017), Dragonlady2 (12-21-2017)

  11. #7
    Junior Member
    09ladybug09's Avatar


    Parrots

    Pickle- Green Cheek Conure, Wall-E- Black Capped Conure
    You definitely have some good ideas. My only problem is that if I was to leave my finger in her beak I would probably lose whatever skin is in her beak. She bites that hard. I'm the one that takes care of both of my birds. I feed them breakfast in the morning by sitting with them on my fingers with a small bowl of either fruit or cereal. She doesn't usually bite me then and only bites sometimes when food is not involved. Usually she doesn't bite as hard when she's not on her cage. My husband on the other hand can stick his fingers right in front of her and she doesn't do anything to him. He has snatched her up after biting him so maybe that set her straight with him but I've tried to do what he did and she just doesn't care. She will bite harder and hold on longer. Pickle my green cheek conure doesn't bite unless we are playing or she's irritated. She does the normal beaking of course. I tell them both be nice when they go to bite. Pickle usually listens but Wall-E doesn't unless it pertains to Pickle, like when they get a little rough while playing. I just don't know what to do. If I try to use something other than my finger to have Wall-E step up she runs away scared and avoiding situations where she would bite is impossible since like I said I'm the one who does everything for them. She also hardly ever shows when she's going to bite. I love on Pickle a lot and wish I could do that with Wall-E. Pickle I cuddle and kiss her and keep her close to my face but Wall-E I only kiss very quickly. I love my birds way too much so it does hurt my feelings that Wall-E loves my husband but wants to bite my fingers off. She's a good girl though. She's learning how to fly and land. She does fly to me if Pickle does or when I have any type of food so I know she doesn't exactly hate me. I just hope she gets better the older she gets and the longer we have her. Saturday we will only have had her for 6 weeks and she will be a year old the end of January.
    Last edited by 09ladybug09; 12-22-2017 at 03:43 AM.

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  13. #8
    Junior Member
    09ladybug09's Avatar


    Parrots

    Pickle- Green Cheek Conure, Wall-E- Black Capped Conure
    I definitely know the difference in her bites. When trying to get her from either on the cage or in the cage she bites as hard as she can and won't let go. When she is on a surface she doesn't want to be on she will step up and uses her beak and I have no issues with that. Sometimes she will just put her beak on my finger and then move on with what ever she was doing. When she does that last one my heart does pound only because I never know when she will actually bite down. When she does the last one however I don't moving my finger unless she actually bites me. Like I've said we've only had her going on 6 weeks so she's still learning and learning to trust us. I have no idea how the pet store dealt with her and that could be part of her issues.

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  15. #9
    Senior Member
    Casper's 2nd best friend's Avatar


    Parrots

    Casper, a blue fronted Amazon. Loves banana. Hates plastic bags and red coats.
    She may see you as competition for your husbands affection. Casper got over this when he realised I was pretty good at neck scritches and teasing out pin feathers.
    He was quite problematic when he came to live with us because the man in his previous house was rather nasty to him. But we got him over it - one day Margaret was scritching his neck and he was enjoying it so much he had his eyes shut. He didn't realise that I had taken over the petting until he opened his eyes again and we could almost see the epiphany in his eyes: 'OK this guy isn't so bad after all'. He still bit me now and then, just to keep me in my place in his pecking order but that gradually stopped.
    "A busy beak is a happy beak" - David Strom

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  17. #10
    Junior Member
    Charlie Brown's Avatar


    Good morning, you do have a tricky situation there I think...

    In my mind I think that some discomfort has to come from you.
    Perhaps a spray bottle with water? It works for dogs...
    Or maybe you could grab her and put her in a dark box for 5 minutes. (This has never worked for my blue quaker)
    Or maybe you could scream out loud shaking your hand in a way that sends her flying off a bit confused...
    Or someone once told me to shout a sharp "Hey" right in her face, the whole of it will make her let go...
    Or wait for ur husband to be around when u pick her up so he can step in, grab her and tell her not to bite...
    All the suggestions above did not work for my Siniy and her fondness for screaming. She just doesn't care what i do to her to stop screaming. If She has an inkling that people r around, she will scream till I open the door or the house is quiet.

    I don't really know what else to suggest as my experience is only just over 2 years and with quakers not conures.

    A few months back when I was so depressed to the point where I just about managed to feed my birds and myself, the only way to stop her screaming was covering her cage up... I'm glad I got over that though. With Siniy I think I was so besotted with her, I got her the very week she started eating on her own, I had her with me every minute I was able. So, it's only natural she wants to be out like in earlier days... she and her mate still get more time out than Bianca and her mate. But Siniy is convinced that either she is human, or I am quaker lol

    What I'm trying to say, birds are as weird as humans, what goes on in their little heads is a mystery.

    My house mate has two cats, when he got them, they were borderline feral. The shop had a bad reputation of which I knew, but he wouldn't head me and got the 2 kittens that were malnourished and never handled other than to clean the pen they were in for the first 6 months of their lifes... the result is that no one can touch those 2 now. They are i think 4 or 5 years old now.
    Birds ain't cats, I know. But the formative years in any creatures life will determine that creatures behaviour. Maybe the female staff at the shop weren't all that kind to Wall-E... it's very difficult to say as people lie about all sorts when it comes to make a bit of money.

    That's what happened to me, I asked for a blue boy if possible at the pet shop, cos i wanted niance to have a bf, the breeder brought the blue boy in conveniently forgetting the DNA papers. And anytime I asked at the pet shop, there was a lousy excuse. Eventually I believed she was a boy and dropped it... till the day Sinniy laid an egg, and then a second... and a third. So off I go buy to males. Now I have two boys that want rid of me and two girls that want to be with me rather than with their own race...

    Option: find someone with an aviary where she can live free of humans.
    - would i do That? Nope!

    I'm not going to be outsmarted. For now they are separated as in 1 pair in the conservatory and another pair upstairs. Until I come up with a better solution.

    I'm more like telling you if my problems rather than helping with solutions for you.

    Maybe you should just accept that one of your children has issues lol

    Have you considered jealousy?
    Does wall-E bite u cos u give the other more attention?
    Or could you give the other loads of attention to show wall-E that you are ok to be with...

    How about a parrot shrink?

    I'm out of suggestions... have a good one

    Sent from my SM-J530F using Tapatalk

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