Conure biting randomly

by Ricky
(florida)

my conure kiwi was super sweet untill a couple days ago she still begs for attention and she will follow me around everywhere. what doesnt make sense is now she bites when she asks me to pick her up she will chirp and chirp at the cage door untill i open it to pick her up and when she bites i leave her alone to respect her space but then she just flies after me if i try and walk away but shell bite if i try to pick her up. i dont know what to do or how to change this. she has never bitten me before and never acts scared of me. if anyone can help me stop this behavior id be truly thankful. i love kiwi with all my heart i just want this random biting to stop

Comments for Conure biting randomly

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Feb 18, 2010
 Conure biting randomly
by: Linda

My first suggestion is that you take her to an Avian vet in your area to make sure she is not getting sick. Birds with bacterial infections become irritable, and once they are getting really sick, they will stop playing, chirping and eating. By the time they get to this point, the situation is critical. Make an appointment with an Avian vet and have her checked out for infections or other physical problems before doing anything else. Also have the vet clip her Primary flight feathers, and these are the six long feathers at the end of each wing. Do not have them clipped up any higher as this hurts the birds and sometimes cripples them. They are in pain all the time, so just the primary feathers will do. This will make her more dependent on you as she sounds as if she has become a bit too independent being able to fly so well. She'll be able to glide to the floor once wings are clipped, but will get no lift to fly all over. Birds flying in homes is dangerous for them, and also makes them feel they can do anything they choose with or without you.

If she is clear of infections or other physical problems, then see how she is with her wings clipped. Her diet is important too, and she should be eating a high quality organic pelleted diet with no people food or table scraps ever. People food causes imbalances in diet and can cause a variety of behavioral and physical problems. The change from seed diet to pellets takes some time, so do it gradually until she is eating few if any seeds.

There are some training materials on this site, on the Parrot Training page, and do no training until she has been cleared by the Avian Vet as sick birds cannot learn.

Also, does she have enough toys and other distractions in her cage to keep her busy? Birds need toys they can easily destroy as well as ones that last longer. Toys also have to be changed out once a month, and they can be cycled back in later, and bird will feel she has a new toy.

Your bird could also be coming into sexual maturity, and they can become nippy once or twice a year for a while when this happens. They are driven to breed, and are frustrated when they cannot. It does not mean to breed her as the market is full of birds, some of whom, end up in abusive, neglectful homes with people who don't even like them much less know how to care for them.

The exam by Avian Vet and the wing clipping will take care of some of the problems as well as addressing a more nutritious diet and more things to play with as she could just be bored. Bored birds tend to get into trouble more often than ones who have enriched environments with good diet and toys they can destroy.

Thanks for writing,
Linda

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