Does my GCC have middle-child syndrome?

[sarafigal]

I have a cranky, queenly old Amazon in one large cage; then my GCC lives with three sprightly budgies in another flight cage. Cyrus, the GCC, was rehomed from a place with a LOT of really large birds, and I think he enjoys being the big guy with the budgies. But while the Amazon and the budgies have big personalities, Cyrus is nearly silent, doesn't really play with toys (though he loves foraging challenges that I invent for him), and is happy to sit on my shoulder preening my hair or nibbling my ear. He spooks easily, though he does occasionally march over to visit Queequeg (the Amazon), who tolerates his presence for short periods. He does not dance, does not play on his back. Any suggestions on how to help him play more? Of course, it's also fine if he's just a happy, mellow little thing...

 

[lene1949]

If he's living with 3 budgies, he's probably quite stressed... Budgies are quite flighty, and could easily make your conure nervous... I would get a separate cage for him, where he can do his own thing... I have a cockatiel with a budgie and they are best mates, but I would never put a conure in with budgies...

 

[sarafigal]

Lene1949: Cyrus moved in with the budgies on his own. He actually seems happier in their cage than he was in his own, where he started. He also spends a lot of time on top of that cage, where I have lots of looped rope and branches and foraging toys. It's hard to imagine a separate cage would help him.... Do you really think so, given that he chooses to go in with them?

 

[Agapornis]

Sarafigal, i just had to comment on the name of your Amazon! QueeQueg - did you get that from X-Files? Scully's little dog was named QueeQueg, and that name came from a character in Moby Dick. We are getting a GCC this saturday, and my son REALLY wanted to name him QueeQueg! I can't wait to tell him there is a parrot with that name. He'll say, "I told you so!" :09:

I think we are naming ours Fiji, but QueeQueg is an awesome name!

Lorinda

 

[sarafigal]

Agapornis: Yes! Straight from Moby Dick. Tell your son he has a great flair for names.

 

[Agapornis]

Haha, thanks, I will tell him! He is a 20 yr old hipster college student, so he is big on literary names. :22: The stranger, the better! No cutesy names for any animal in our house. You should have heard the names he came up with for our rabbits. Napolean, Socrates, Tiberius...you get the idea.

Sorry I hijacked the topic!

Lorinda