behaviour

[muffin]

hi we have a 3 yr old conure and he is getting a bit cheeky plus he is getting pecky at times , we was woundering about his feathers as well as some of them seem to be grey in colour . we have uploaded a video of yum yum thanks
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8v50zpztufadovy/IMG_0422.MOV?dl=0

 

[weco]

Sure looks like your blue crown is molting/moulting & that will make them irritable & nippy.....misting the bird and/or allowing him to bathe more frequently will help with their attitude as it helps them shed the stiff feather sheaths that cause their irritation.....

Good luck.....

 

[muffin]

hi thank you for your reply we put in a bath for yum yum 3 times a week , if we try and mist him he will run away , even after we give him a treat he will try and nip us , allthough when yumyum comes out of his cage for a fly and he lands on one of us he does not nip , he has plenty of toys in his cage and he does like coming out and goes exploring , he does try and nip when we give him food as well allthough he has struck blood a few times it is a bit annoying when we are trying to be friendly , thanks

 

[weco]

You don't mention anything about Yum Yum having been trained..... You might want to read up on the various methods of training your feathered friend and start one of them...that would help with his nippiness, even though he's molting/moulting and from the looks of him, he's just starting.....

Good luck.....

 

[muffin]

hi thankyou for your reply , we had the vet out to look at yum yum they said that his feathers are ok , they say he might be nippin as we have only had him for approx 3 months they call it a settleing period , they have also said about a bigger cage ? the cage we have is the one that came with him which is 4' x 24 x 24 , can you advise on toys ? as we keep buying him new toys and they dont last very long as it can been a bit upsetting , we just bought him a new toy like a rope ladder with bells on and he distroyed it within 1 week , but when he comes out of his cage we just leave him alone and he goes exploring or has a fly around and sits on top of the door where we are , thanks

 

[Frumpydumple]

What are you feeding him? The bronzing on his feathers are most likely diet related. He also appears to be feather chewing.

 

[muffin]

What are you feeding him? The bronzing on his feathers are most likely diet related. He also appears to be feather chewing.

thanks for your reply when the vet came out and saw yumyum they advised us that he was not feather plucking , we are feeding him with parrot food , fruit , nutriberries , he does like a nut as well thanks

 

[Frumpydumple]

He isn't plucking. Some of his feathers have been chewed though. His diet definitely needs improving. Buy him some good pellets (I suggest Harrison's, but there are other good brands too) and give him lots and lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. Do some research on sprouted seeds too.

 

[gracebowen]

There is a thread for making your own toys that you might like. When ever I go to the store I look for toys on sale. Also look places besides the bird isle. I used that hint gleaned from this forum. My tiel Jet couldn't fly. He's flying now but having some problems. So I wanted to make a rope bridge from his cage to my bed. I bought a rope dog toy for $4. I cut it to free the rope from its design and ended up having to tie some pieces together but it worked. Now if only Jet would use it.

 

[muffin]

He isn't plucking. Some of his feathers have been chewed though. His diet definitely needs improving. Buy him some good pellets (I suggest Harrison's, but there are other good brands too) and give him lots and lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. Do some research on sprouted seeds too.

thanks for your reply we are looking on ebay but what we are looking at is for african grey , macaw , thanks
harrisons parrot food | eBay

 

[muffin]

There is a thread for making your own toys that you might like. When ever I go to the store I look for toys on sale. Also look places besides the bird isle. I used that hint gleaned from this forum. My tiel Jet couldn't fly. He's flying now but having some problems. So I wanted to make a rope bridge from his cage to my bed. I bought a rope dog toy for $4. I cut it to free the rope from its design and ended up having to tie some pieces together but it worked. Now if only Jet would use it.

thanks for your reply we are no good at making toys , we are thinking if we buy toys and he can ruin them within a week , what chance has our toys got if we could make them thanks

 

[Frumpydumple]

What about acrylic foraging toys?

 

[Frumpydumple]

You can buy Harrison's high potency and other really good stuff from northernparrots.co.uk

 

[Frumpydumple]

Your Blue Crowned Conure might like the coarse (bigger) Harrison's. We have our Blue Crown on Harrison's high potency coarse. The fine ones are smaller.

 

[Frumpydumple]

Sorry, it's northernparrots.com not .co.uk.

 

[muffin]

thanks for your reply this is the food he came with and we just gave him the same as well as nutriberries fruit nuts ,
PARROT FOOD 5KG COUNTRYWIDE DELUXE PARROT WITH FRUIT AFRICAN GREY AMAZON MIX | eBay
we have got him acrylic foraging toys like a ball that you put treats in but things like bells ropes ladders he will ruin unless they are hard plastic he has got a ladder in hard plastic
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PARROT-FO...878?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27d81fd716

 

[Frumpydumple]

The whole point of toys is so your bird can enjoy destroying them though. Our BCC is the same. She loves to destroy wooden toys. We buy larger ones though and it takes longer for her to destroy them.

 

[Frumpydumple]

I noticed the seed mix has peanuts in, these can cause aspergillosis. It also has sunflower seeds in which birds love and will eat nothing else but them.

 

[muffin]

thank you for your reply yumyum does like a nut, and it was in the food that came with him, we noticed on the food site you gave us that in the seed mix there was sunflower seeds in it, we have ordered some of the food that you said about and some more toys for me to play around with , what do you give your bird as a treat yumyum likes a nut but by what you have said they can cause problems , but when the vet saw him at home they said we was doing everything right thanks for your advice

 

[Frumpydumple]

We give our birds almonds, walnuts or sunflower seeds (not many because they are very fatty).