Why is our Sun Conure now biting my husband?

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Why is our Sun Conure now biting my husband?

by Corkie Taylor
(USA)

Sun Conure, Boolie getting ready for bed

Boolie in bed

Sun Conure, Boolie looking out the window

Boolie looking out the window 2

We've had our female Sun since she was 3 months old. She will be 5 in March 2012. She's only laid eggs once and only 3 of them. I removed the contents and let her have the empty shells until she lost interest.
We've learned that belly and back rubs could encourage her to lay again, so we avoid that.
Up until the time she laid her eggs, we thought she was a male and she was very close to me.
After she laid the eggs, she became VERY close to my husband. But she's also taken to biting him in the face. First his cheek, back of his head and tonight on his lip.
Why is she doing this? She loves my husband and gets excited every time she sees him. She loves to cuddle with him and go outside with him. She still sleeps with me though.
Can you tell me WHY she is biting my husband when she clearly loves him very much? This is causing my husband to want to get rid of her. I won't let that happen. But I'm also very sympathetic with my husband. He says he's going to get rid of her when I'm not home... Please help me with this problem.
Regards,
Corkie

Comments for
Why is our Sun Conure now biting my husband?

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Jan 17, 2012

Sun Conure bitting
by: Anonymous

With my CAG, I watch her body language. If it looks as tho she is gonna bite, I show her the back of my fist. I keep all fingers even the thumb covered in the fist. Birds cant bite a flat surface. So Being my CAG is 5 months old, I was told she could still be nippy. I curbed her nippiness by watching her body language, and putting my hand into a fist near her when I saw she was gonna try to bite.

See, your bird will try to bite once in a while. Remember your bird has instincts. If your bird bites and you pull away, then this is training your bird to think, WOW if I want to be left alone, I bite and they go away. Birds are moody and sometimes dont want to be touched.

Dont ever pull your hand away from a bird trying to bite, otherwise you train it TO bite. My bird doesnt want to be touched, I respect that, but I let her know that bitting isnt going to make me go away. If I see my bird is gonna try to bite, i put my hand in a fist, protecting my fingers and show her the back of it. She tries to nip, and then she's done. I hold it there a few seconds longer... then pull my hand away.

THis shows the bird, I am in control, and bitting isnt going to give her what she wants. That bitting wont make me go away.

I would highly suggest training your bird to do tricks, target training and so forth, This is possitive interaction, and gives your bird something to think about when she's not being interacted with.

Sun Conures are brilliant birds, they can be trained. There's some videos on youtube showing a Sun Conure named LEO doing tricks.

Perhaps she's not getting enough interaction, and it's causing her to become depressed or irratable.

I would also suggest not putting your face near the bird, any bird can and will bite in a seconds notice, reguardless of your relationship. Causing serious dmg.

However, I would suggest finding an avian vet to examine your bird. Any animal in pain, or ill, raguardless of species will BITE. Get her looked at to rule out illness. If she's well, then it's a behavior issue, which can be solved with training.

Good luck! hope this helps!

Jan 17, 2012

Bird biting husband
by: Tracie

Instead of getting rid of the bird, please consider training your bird. You need to establish that the bird is not the head of the flock, so it does not feel the liberty to bite.

It is possible that your bird is trying to communicate before biting that it wants to be left alone or doesn't like something your husband is doing, so getting to know your bird's body language is important.

We have some bird training articles on our Parrot Training page that will help you with training your bird not to bite. But you will have to also develop a mutual respect for your bird and not give cause for biting. (Not that you are giving cause for biting.)

Jan 16, 2012

Why is our Sun Conure now biting my husband?
by: Linda

Your bird may be sick and in need of a trip to the Avian Vet's, so before "getting rid" of the bird, please have her examined by an Avian Vet in your driving area.

Anytime people see unusual behaviors in their birds, this is a clue that the bird may not be well.

Find an Avian Vet

Good luck!

Linda

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