Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!dinorah!mary
From: mary@dinorah.wustl.edu (Mary E. Leibach)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: INDOOR Biting Conure
Message-ID: <1060@dinorah.wustl.edu>
Date: 13 Dec 89 18:08:39 GMT
References: <4950001@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM> <1612@intercon.com> <9978@cloud9.Stratus.COM> <631@ncrorl.Orlando.NCR.COM>
Distribution: na
Organization: Washington University (St. Louis)
Lines: 17
In-reply-to: bjb@ncrorl.Orlando.NCR.COM's message of 11 Dec 89 13:09:02 GMT


bjb@ncrorl.Orlando.NCR.COM (Barbara Bowen) writes:

>Try a squirt gun or squirt bottle, accompanied by the word, "NO!!!"  Don't
>squirt the bird in the nostrils, aim for the chest.  Also, you absolutely
>MUST reward the bird when it does NOT bite.  (Most people forget to do this.)

Some good ideas.  However, I would add two caveats.  First, be careful
of drafts and cool temperatures.  I believe the goal is to deter the
bird, not give it a chill.  Second, if other conures have half the
water fetish Vila has, such treatment will only train the bird to bite
to get a bath!  Even Cally loves a good spray shower.  You are right
though, positive reinforcement of proper behaviour goes a long way.

	-Mary

Have you bathed your bird today?