Confusion... maturity for parrots? :S

[Pineapple]

Hey guys,

I don't know what's going on with my parrot but from reading other posts sounds like my bird is being hormonal and having the behavior. Pineapple is aggresive and bites very hard to get her out of the cage. But once Pineapple is out of the cage and away from it she's perfectly fine. ( I made the mistake of asking people what I could do in a conure page on facebook, I won't do that ever again... all i got was horrible and bad answers about the vet I went to. ) The vet told me (which is an avian vet ) that birds don't go into sexual maturity until the age of three to ten years.. which i'm finding out is not correct for a PGCC. Please no hate on the vet, I just want to know what I can do... I'm a new bird owner so everything is new to me.. Thanks in advance..

 

[ShellyBorg]

Smaller birds mature faster then larger birds. For a GCC that is 1-3 years. In the wild they vary well may be 3 to 10, but in the unnatural world of pets they reach it much earlier. Be it from diet, lighting, petting they are not 100% sure.

 

[Echo]

Your GCC can show sexual behavior by the age of 8 months old, which is also the age at which they can breed, although not recommended and shouldn't be encouraged until they reach 1 1/2 to 2 years of age (in the case of a breeding pair).

 

[JasmineGCC]

It sounds like she's being very cage territorial. Try letting her come out by herself and come over to you when she's ready. My GCC gets aggressive when I'm topping up her food pots as its HERS!!! You could also try getting her used to stepping up on a stick to get in/out?

 

[crimson]

like Jasmine said, it just sounds like she's cage territorial, better to let her out on her own etc....
you could try treats, and lots of them, or try and get her to step up on a perch it may change her mind or may not, it really depends on the bird's personality.

 

[Echo]

You didn't mention Pineapple's age?

 

[jugoya]

This is something I am quite used too.

Most of the birds I have worked with come to me with cage aggression and I always handle it in a very simple way.

If you have a smaller cage or a travel cage slowly get your conure used to the cage and house him there at night. Keep that cage in a quiet dark room; I generally use my bedroom. Not only does moving him from his sleep cage in the morning and back at night establish a routine that makes bedtime quite a bit easier... it also ensures that your bird gets enough sleep without being disturbed. Some cage aggression stems from being grumpy I've found.

But last and most importantly it generally gets rid of the cage aggression. Many birds that sleep in their main cages see it as theirs and really thats what it is; a birdie den and home. so moving that idea to a 'sleep' cage can get rid of that aggression.

 

[Pineapple]

You didn't mention Pineapple's age?

Pineapple turned 1 in July

 

[Pineapple]

Thanks for then good info guys, I'm going to have to try what I can.

 

[MonicaMc]

Probably at least one person who responded to you is or was a breeder and knows more about hormones than the vet does - hence the "vet hate". Most vets are not breeders so they only know what they learn in a hands off kind of manner, not hands on.

Is your conure being hormonal? Is he/she masturbating? Looking for a place to nest? Or showing any other signs of being hormonal?

Do you have a photo of the cage?

Could it be that your conure doesn't like you sticking your hand in the cage? It may help to use positive reinforcement training/clicker training. Find your conure's favorite treat and offer it to her inside the cage. Allow him/her to come for the treat. Slowly offer that treat further and further out of the cage until she comes out willingly.

If it's a swing out door, you could put a perch on the door as well as a treat cup. Offer a treat inside the cup and allow her to go to the perch and eat the treat. Then, slowly open the door with her on the perch and give her another treat.

You can also put a perch and treat cup on the outside of the cage and encourage her to come out by putting treats in the cup.



The thing is, you shouldn't be getting bitten. In fact, you should be trying to avoid any and all bites possible and try to make every interaction with your conure to be a positive one! The more positive experiences she has, the more likely she is to enjoy spending time with you!