Ana and Ollie the conure!

[Ana_t]

Hi there! I am Ana, I am new! I joined the site because I have so many questions about my conure! My bird is wonderful! He/She is affectionate with some attitude! We had a bird when I was younger and that conure hated everyone other than my mom and dad! I desperately wanted him to like me but he always bit me when I would do “step up” it was rare and exciting when I did get to spend some time with him! I got Ollie my current conure recently, I don’t love his name. He is five. When I got him he was not taken care of well. Feathers hadn’t been preened on his head so there was a mess of feather capsules that made it painful for him to be pet. The girls mother had passed away so she got him as a therapy bird and she was getting to a partying age.. so even though it’s obvious at one point he had been worked with it was also obvious it had been awhile.. he is nowhere near where our green cheek conure was growing up. His words are hard to understand on the rare occasion that he shares them with us. He flew right at me and landed on my chest when I went to look at him, the girl was like “I can’t believe he likes you”! but he was vicious to my poor fingers once we arrived home and he met my son until we clipped his wings after he came home. Now that his/her wings are clipped I am excited that Ollie is so affectionate. He doesn’t look quite as dark as our bird growing up and his beak is a light color. I’ve wondered if he might be a pineapple green cheek, but could be wrong. I also am curious is it too late to teach him new words and tricks at age five? Will he ever speak more clearly? How can I tell if it’s a boy or girl! Is it too late to get a companion? I just love how Ollie has given everyone in our family the opportunity to bond with him/her. Struggles with my daughter-but she is young! He clings to my nine year old son because they have the same sense of humor. I didn’t realize they had that sense of humor in them! It’s been amazing and interesting! I wonder if it would be wrong to change his name if he is unresponsive to it? And if there are and good bird perch making forums out there please let me know!!! That’s our bird life and we already love it !! One last thing I forgot Keith, my other half makes the bird nervous-the girl we got him from said men used to poke through the cage with pens. So even though Ollie is warming up to Keith, do you think Ollie will ever fully get there?? What have you done to help overcome trauma like this?! What’s your favorite food for a conure and why? Because she was just feeding him wild bird feed?!?! I did get conure food-but am open to further direction! Especially about how to get him to eat more fruits and veggies from me! So far our little stinker only pecks at me demanding I share unhealthy foods ie potato chips!

Thank you! I’m so excited for your help on our bird journey and to meet you all!!! Ana

 

[Laurasea]

Cinnamon Green Cheeck Conure.
Welcome to the forums!
It's easy to DNA sex your bird. You. Clip a toe nail to make it bleed, just a little bit past the tip. Out a drop of blood on paper , usually you print an I'd sheet frim the company you order from. Coast 11-20 bucks. I used this company I think
https://www.animalgenetics.us/avian/DNA_Sexing/DNA-Sexing-Index.asp

Veggies eat in front of him) her name big yummy noise. Let him steal from your plate. Offer them cooked, raw, chipped, shredded, in a bunch of different ways. I offer in sturdy shlow glass dish I out on top of the cage. It seems parrot will explore new foods out if the cage better than in, abdd spread out better than liked in a dish.
Eating veggies is the most important thing you can do for health abding life!!

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums, Ana and Ollie! You can change his name and he'll likely acclimate over time.

I don't have conures, but their dietary needs are generally typical of parrots. Some tips to give him more of the good stuff!
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

Huge fan of the "flock eating" concept. Prepare two bowls of veggies/fruit aka "chop." Give one to Ollie, begin eating from the second. Make "Mmmmm" sounds, bob your head in delight. Don't despair from items tossed overboard, continue to offer. Might take years or even decades to try and love a new food.

Birds generally choose their people, and some have innate distrust of a particular sex. Great news if you see slow progress with Keith. Some techniques for bonding and building trust:
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

 

[1oldparroter]

Aside from the links furnished use google and youtube to search parrot or conure eating. Remember that size matters to various birds, a carrot might be eaten in chunks or shaved down pieces to attract them. Also if you "chop"" and bag ahead (refrigerate or freeze) the food probably should be allowed to come to room temp first, then offer it. Some foods like sweet potatoe may need to be steamed or boiled. jh