# How to stop my bird biting



## andy_boa (Mar 10, 2011)

Hi, I have just re homed a green checked conure from a friend. I have never owned a bird before so everything is all a bit new. But I have had a lot of interaction with 'eve'. She is not very tame. She will take for from my hand but she always has to have a nibble on my hand at the same time. How will I stop her from doing this. I read about blowing in her face but it's doesn't seem to faze her lol. I really want to make her really tame but this first hurdle is quite a big one. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Oh I believe she is about a year old.


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## LiamRatSnake (Jul 3, 2007)

andy_boa said:


> Hi, I have just re homed a green checked conure from a friend. I have never owned a bird before so everything is all a bit new. But I have had a lot of interaction with 'eve'. She is not very tame. She will take for from my hand but she always has to have a nibble on my hand at the same time. How will I stop her from doing this. I read about blowing in her face but it's doesn't seem to faze her lol. I really want to make her really tame but this first hurdle is quite a big one. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Oh I believe she is about a year old.


In my opinion you should never ever discipline a bird. It's all about getting the bird to trust you. Keep on hand feeding and get the bird used to your hands. Then I'd try and introduce stroking and encouraging the bird to climb onto your hand. It could be it's tamer out of the cage too, when free flying encourage it to be near you with food.


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## chalky76 (Aug 23, 2007)

LiamRatSnake said:


> In my opinion you should never ever discipline a bird. It's all about getting the bird to trust you. Keep on hand feeding and get the bird used to your hands. Then I'd try and introduce stroking and encouraging the bird to climb onto your hand. It could be it's tamer out of the cage too, when free flying encourage it to be near you with food.


Agree with this. When I rescued my bird she would bite me all the time. I simply said NO! and walked away. She soon learned that to have interaction she'd need to play nicely.


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## reptile rick (Sep 5, 2010)

chalky76 said:


> Agree with this. When I rescued my bird she would bite me all the time. I simply said NO! and walked away. She soon learned that to have interaction she'd need to play nicely.


The worst mistake people make when trying to tame an untamed bird is grabbing them on there back or chasing them around the room with a towel. No bird will ever forget this and as long as the bird is not stressed in any way it can easily be taught to not bite. Though it wont happen overnight! 

One way I have learnt over the years of taming many birds is to remove the food bowl from the cage and instead, placing food in your hand and offering the bird to feed from your hand. Once you are able to get the bird feeding from you the next step is to get it to stop biting. This can be done by offering it single bits of food or seeds every time it steps onto your hand and within a few days the bird will learn that it gets food instead of a finger.
The next step then will be to randomly touch the bird on the head etc when distracted by eating and quickly enough the bird will gain trust from you. 

REMEMBER the bird still needs to stay healthy and well fed so alot of time is needed with the bird using this method.


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## Copper (Jul 25, 2012)

First off don't react to the bites, parrots learn very quickly that their beak is something they can use as intimidation and if you don't react to the bites it often helps. 

Try touch training, this involves the parrot touching the end of a stick(like a chopstick or skewer) and getting a reward for doing so. I can give you some great links if you'd like to know more about training

Diet, a bird with a bad diet is unhappy. Conures should only receive seeds as a treat and even then nuts are a better alternative(not peanuts). Lafeaber's is a good brand but harrison's and totally organics pellets are even better. This should be supplemented with daily veggies and some fruits, grains, a little chicken on occasion(makes a great treat), and sometimes scrambled eggs.

Hope this helps some 

*edit*
Also make sure to let him settle in some too, he's in a new environment with new people and it can be scary. You can start touch training as soon as you have a clicker, millet spray is a good treat as it's long and keeps your hand away from you bird.


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## andy_boa (Mar 10, 2011)

Some great advise thanks. She will eat out of my hand no problem and will let stroke her for a short amount of time but then she will start to nibble me. Even if I have food sometimes she will choose my choose my finger lol. Copper if you could provide me with some good links that would be great. Thanks again everyone I will keep you posted on how she's doing.


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## Arcadiajohn (Jan 30, 2011)

Hi,

Parrots use their beaks to "feel" so what can feel like a bite to us can just simply be the bird testing it's surroundings. Sadly they can tend to "test" their surroundings quite hard!

I have a parrot behaviourist friend based in Germany. She specialises in rehabilitating parrot like and training them. She has quite a few books out on the subject, although there is a wealth of info for free on here website and daily facebook tips. Sign up for free here The Bird School by Ann Castro 

Worth a try, she may just be able to help you.

Good luck

John


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