Am I stressing my GCC out?

[biobabe]

I am new to keeping parrots and have much to learn. I love this forum and appreciate all the experiences you all share.

So, my first bird is a baby green cheeked conure named Kiwi. She is a great bird! She will fly to my when I say "Up" and snuggles. She's such clown, super feisty, and so cute. I'm slowly teaching her not to bite, and want to get her to wear a harness soon.

We have a real big cage with lots of toys she loves to play with. But there is a red ball and a small bar bell on the cage floor that she just freaks out on. Her feathers are fluffed and she sheiks a little, and attacks these toys. She seems upset, but maybe this is fun? Are these toys stressing my little fid out?

Thanks!

 

[Dinosrawr]

That would be known as the conure battle cry, haha! Avery does the same thing with some of her toys, and she absolutely LOVES duking it out with them. My favourite thing to watch is when she ruffles her feathers, attacks a toy, stands all proud, and then the toy swings back and smacks her a little. It's hilarious watching the smug grin be wiped off her face in an instant!

If Kiwi was shrieking, flat-lined, and scurrying as far away from the toy as possible, I would consider that stress. But to me it just sounds like she's letting her inner warrior out

 

[biobabe]

Yeah, she's a feisty bird. I was guessing she was having fun, but it's just so intense! She's a love-bug, too. I'm so glad we have this wonderful little clown in our family.

 

[Mudkips]

GGCs are very sensitive to certain sounds and colors. They tend to puff up and scream/squeal at some things that attract their attention, then charge the object shortly after their "conure battle cry" (that's a keeper Dinosrawr!).
They do it when they are very upset about an object OR if they want to play a fun and cheeky game, and unfortunately the body-language for the two extremely different moods can appear very similar to us.

Over time you will learn to distinguish between the two moods, but for now you can be pretty sure that if the red ball and small bell were not moving or making any noise before Kiwi's attack occurs, she's most likely just playing a fun game - just make sure your fingers are not close when it happens!

 

[veimar]

I'm not sure. My gcc's favorite toys are the "aggression" ones which he viciously attacks and makes funny sounds while doing this. They used to be in his cage, but now when these toys are out on the common play stand, and other birds learned to "attack" them too! I think they need such toys to vent out the negative energy.

 

[andrea.b]

My Green Cheek Conure does the exact same thing! She has this little cat ball and when she sees it she comes galloping over and attacks it. She makes the cutest squeaky noise while she's biting it.
At first I was worried that it was upsetting her but now Im pretty sure it's just for fun because sometimes she just sits with it in her beak or she'll just nibble on it.
I read somewhere that Green Cheek Conures tend to be a bit scrappy, so in my opinion letting her attack her toys is a good way to blow off some steam.
And its hilarious to watch! Connie is so gentle and cuddly and then all of a sudden she turns into this ferocious beast when i give her the cat ball.
One time she was playing with it on my bed and she got so into it that she lost her balance and went rolling down a hill in the blankets (which was probably only 3 inches high). She wasn't hurt or anything, she got right back up and continued attacking.
I have very little experience (Ive only had my bird for about 3 months) but Id say just watch her behaviour with it and if you see her playing with it or being close to it without attacking then i think its probably just her playing.

 

[biobabe]

That's so informative, Mudkips! I will watch for her signals. From what everyone is saying it sounds like I have a pretty normal GCC. Whew!