Hello, First time bird owner w/ questions

[7THSIGN]

Just wanted to introduce myself and my new family member Tuti. She is a Green Cheek Conure. My wife and I have been looking at birds for the past year.

Yesterday we decided to just "look around" at the pet store. As soon as we saw her, we were captured by her. So playful and happy. She was doing everything she could to get my attention, (the bird not my wife) .

I wasn't planning on purchasing that day, the plan was for a Christmas gift to my wife, but when my wife asked me if we could afford her now, I knew she fell in love with her. So we brought Tuti home.

Her name from the pet store was Tuti, we loved it so much that we left her name the same. She is 3 months old. She was listed as a Green Pineapple Cheek, however she doesn't look like the Pineapple breeds I have seen online.

I have some questions in regards to her biting. I read that Conures tend to bite. She didn't bite me at the pet store when I held her. However when we got home, she started to bite. Anytime I try to hold her or put my fingers up to the cage she will bite and she bites hard! I read about the "step training" but I can't even get her to stand on my hand. My wife is scared to touch her now. Is Tuti acting like this because she is in a new home? Or because she is only 3 months old? I would really like to be able to hold her. Thank you for your help.

 

[wenz2712]

Have you tried getting her to step up onto a Stick for now?

Another thing you could try, is clicker training.. this method always seems to work very well. Have a look on Youtube and it will show you exactly how to do this.

Also, she is adjusting to her new Home at the moment and may be feeling a little anxious.

 

[nightinday]

For me - loads of patience, loads of treats and a stick worked. Louis also was biting my fingers wen I was trying to put them in is cage but I figured out that I shouldn't interrupt his new safe place Wen he started stepping up on te stick he would also bite my fingers wen I was holding it but some shaking worked out. After some time of training wit the stick, Louis all of the sudden started stepping up on my finger without biting or anyting

 

[008kenichijouji]

Since it's so soon, maybe give her a chance to acclimate. Switching homes is stressful. I'd give her some space, and let her get her bearings. Sit by the cage and talk calmly and soothingly to Tuti. Just go about your routine and let her observe for now. I did that with my sun conure for a couple of days when I first got her.

She's a cutie pie! That's a great gift for your wife! I hope she's happy with Tuti. Don't get frightened yet! She might just be scared (Tuti, I mean).

 

[FA22raptero]

I, personally, am not a fan of the use of sticks. Green Cheek's can bite hard, but not that hard In my opinion, and with my experience, I think that the best thing to do is to find a treat she loves (mine LOVES yoghurt and cheerios) and give her some, and wait 5 minutes. After that, give her some, but hold your finger close so she has to be near your hand to get the treat. After another 5 minutes, make it so she has to lean WAY out over your hand to get the treat... then on the third try, make it so that in order to get to the treat, she has to get onto your finger (like a bridge). If she doesn't take the treat like that, then stop the training, and do it again later. If it takes too long, and she starts to realise she can get two free treats before having to go on your finger, remove the first step, then later the second step. She should warm up quick.

 

[strasia93]

Tuti is beautiful.
Read everything you can find on positive reinforcement training and be patient with her.
It is important to NOT force her and to NOT "punish" her with shouting "NO".
There is a LOT to learn about conures. We have had ours since February 2012. They were three months old when we brought them home. We are still learning and life with our two little conures just keeps getting better and better. They are soooo much fun!

 

[Trina]

Conures can be very nippy and they hurt I believe my conures bite is harder than my eclectus. I used a dowel even a chop stick will work. Conures when you bring them home love their cage so much so they do not want to get out and if you go in with your hand they can bite you. Just open the cage door and in time she will come out.

I never offered my hand to step up on when i 1st got my conure i knew he would get me and i didnt want him biting me. If you react the little ones will bob their head in delight sometimes because they think its funny. Once they step up on that stick alot and u are sure she wont bite when a hand is offered than use your hand. Conures need warm up time so just sit by the cage sing , read or just talk. I actually did not touch my conure for about a week. He would come out on top of his cage to his play area but he would lunge if u tried to get him. CLicker training is also good my conure reacted well to this

Is that a seed mix with sunflower seeds? if so take all those sunflower seeds out conures can get addicted to those and they will toss all the other seed and just go after sunflower seeds. Conures need some fat but a pellet diet is better for them

 

[7THSIGN]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice. I just got home now and sat down to eat, Tuti immediately began to eat as well when she saw I was eating. She follows me all over the room. If I'm at the right of the cage, shes there. If I move to the kitchen far from the cage, shes goes to the side closest to the kitchen and just looks at me and what I'm doing. I feel that she really loves me. So when she started biting I couldn't understand why. I think it may have to do with the environment change because she was fine at the pet store.

I spoke to a friend who has owned birds for a very long time and he gave me the same advice you all have. For now I'm not going to try and take Tuti out of her cage, I will give her some time to adjust.

Thank you again for all your help. It's great to be here!

 

[AFP520]

Congrats on your purchase!

1. First you should have done is let the bird stay in the cage for 48 hours. You're moving them from a comfortable environment to a new one and they have no idea what has happened.

2. You should get a bigger cage if possible. They need toys to occupy them when you are away and it makes it more difficult for them to move around once you start adding them.

3. Ditch the wood perches. You can get fabric rope perches that you can twist and contort however you want. Tuti will thank you for them.

 

[aliray]

congrats on your new birdy, she or he is beautiful.

 

[crimson]

like you, I recently got a crimson belied conure, semi-tame, 3 months old. I asked the same questions you did and got some very good advice. just let the bird get use to it's new surroundings first, then you can try some training. Mine does not bite(guess I'm lucky) but kept running away from me. It took him about 4-5 days before he got comfortable with me. I won't let him out of the cage until he comes on my finger in the morning. he sits with me for a little bit,I pat him, kiss his head, then off he goes to play with the other birds. He still does not come on my finger, he just runs in the other direction. I started using a perch, it worked for 2 days, now he hops over it cause he knows he's going in the cage if he gets on it, lol. I decided to use one of those perches with a screw on the end with the wing nut, I removed the wing nut, stuck a purple grape on the end of it. now he steps on the perch and gets the grape as a reward while I'm putting him to bed. Everyday I step it up a notch and expect a little bit more from him, something he didn't do the day before, even if it's minimal, and he gets a grape, those are his favourite. Also to answer your question about pineapple cheek, I think you have a yellow sided GC. According to the pictures on the internet, the pineapples have a cinnamon coloured head, where the yellowsided conures have the black head, like Tuti does. I'm just going by the pics, either way she is beautiful!!

 

[Atwee921]

I would just be patient. At the store, Sprite WAS a little timid and running away but he was better with me than anyone, thats why I got him When he was home for the first few days, he was pretty much hiding in his happy hut or the back of his cage, and the first step of him letting me touch him was that he was sitting in his happy hut and he put his head down, welcoming me to pet him (which was PRECIOUS!!) Now he lets me do anything with him, so yeah, I'd just basically say patience is key. Start by just leaving his door open and watching TV by him, and talk to him.
Also, I think he is a yellow sided green cheek (which is similar but not identical to pineapple). Yellow sided GCC's have more red on their cheeks and brighter yellow on their sides, which he seems to have.
Last thing, I wasn't sure if you're planning on adding more toys, but I have suggestions!! Also, make sure that hes got a variety of perches rather than just those dowels. Sprite has a ladder going from bottom to top of his cage, he's got a natural wood perch going across his cage (Came with the cage so it fits perfectly across), and he also hes a twisted tree branch and a rough purple perch (similar to sand paper but not nearly as rough). Some toy suggestions are bells (Sprite pulls the bells off his toys and runs around ringing them!!!), toys with thin foam (Sprite completely tears his apart), and a HAPPY HUT! I don't think Sprite could LIVE without his happy hut. He sleeps in it every single night (Never seen him not sleep in it at night!) I also usually find him in his Happy Hut when I get home.
Good luck with Tuti!! He/She is adorableee!!

 

[Nakiska]

Awww...Tuti is adorable! Congratulations!!

We also purchased our Franklin from Petco when he was just 2 1/2 months old. We've had him 1 1/2 years now. The show he put on to get our attention and sucker us into bringing him home has never been topped yet. We've NEVER regretted our purchase, we love him to pieces!

Like your Tuti, he never bit in the store, he obviously took to us immediately and there was no way we could walk out of that store without him.

Once home things were great, he curled up in a blanket with my spouse and took a nap and we ooe'd and awwwe'd over him...we couldn't have been more blessed parronts.

As he got more comfortable in his surroundings, he also became more bold, his "testing" nibbles became all out land basting bites that hurt! He would get irritated over goodness only knows what sometimes and have to seek revenge by fluffing up his feathers and running at us with his beak open in "attack" mode!

Franklin is an all out character!

For several months it was hit or miss if he bit while out of his cage, and it seemed we ALWAYS got bit when offering our finger to let him out...he'd run over to his opened door, stand there and when we'd offer our hand, he'd reach out like he was just going to "test" us and WHAM! He'd nail us with a nearly skin breaking bite.

I read everything I could get my eyes on and applied what I thought would work in our situation, and I came up with some solutions of my own that worked for us. I'll condense what worked for us here.

First off, we had his cage placed at and just above eye level. If he climbed up to the top of his cage, we couldn't reach him very well and he'd evade us and attempt biting. I decided that he thought he was king stuff being above us, so we moved his cage to a lower stand so he was chin level and below. That made a HUGE difference! HUGE!

He still bit a few times, but we didn't jerk away...this is very important when your bird bites...don't jerk away...your bird essentially "wins" when you do and it becomes a game and it's only fun for your Tuti, NOT for you!

We taught Franklin..."Beee Niiice" and when he didn't bite we'd immediately "reward" him with a "Good Boy!!!" and he really liked that...AND he got to be out with us...if he bit us when offering our hand to get him out, we'd just shut the cage door and try again later. Don't get your emotions in the way...You open the cage door, Tuti comes to the door and appears to want out, you offer your hand, Tuti bites, you can say something like...ouch, or no bite...and then simply...shut the door and walk away. Try again later.

This worked like a charm for us, although one week, Franklin didn't get to come out of his cage for 3 days...FINALLY on the end of the 3rd day...I thought, what the heck, lets try again...and I opened the door, he came to the door, he reached out with his beak, very tentatively...when he didn't bite me, I said...goooood booyyyyy...it's okay, come on....he checked and tested and finally stepped up and THAT was our HUGE break through moment.

We've rarely had an issue after that.

Now please don't think we just ignored him for 3 days...we sat with him, talked to him, gave him treats and tried to get him out numerous times a day. But every time he bit, we'd shut the door and walk off...sometimes I'd try again in 10 minutes, sometimes an hour...just depended on what I had going on at the time.

When we have him out, we always have toys for him to play with, sometimes a toy would seriously "tick him off" and he'd fluff up and run at myself or my spouse and yes! He'd attack! Course at first we thought it was so funny, his antic...and of course US cowering away from this little 60 gram bird! But after a few times we decided this wasn't funny and when he'd need to seek revenge for what ever reason he thought he had...as soon as he fluffed up and started running toward us, another bird, our dog...what ever...I'd toss a cloth, t-shirt, towel, blanket...what ever over him and leave it.

He loves to be under things anyway, so for HIM, this wasn't traumatizing...but it broke his concentration and essentially gave him a "time out" for a few moments and he'd sometimes sit under his "cover" for several seconds, up to a couple minutes in some cases, but when he eventually climbed out, he was back to "Nice Frankie" and he'd go about playing like nothing happened.

One of Franklins favorite things to do with us is to burrow under blankets and make tunnels and play "hide and seek" or "Peek a boo"

Those were the 2 biggest behaviorial issues we had with Franklin during the first 6 months we had him. It's been amost a year now and our relationship is AMAZING! No one has been bit by him and if we see his body language change to "aggression" we can tell him...Frankie...beeee niiiccce...in a somewhat of a warning tone, and he actually really does back off and redirects his attention.

He talks, he says Hello, pretty bird, Frank the Tank, Chicken Little (one of our cockatiels name) Hey baby and once in a while he says him a good boy.

Consistency was our best tool. Reading his body language and not doing anything to instigate or encourage his biting.

Franklin is such a pleasure, but it was a bit "rocky" for the first 6 months or so.

Good Luck with Tuti.

Also, for Franklin...some of his FAVORITE treats are apple slices, grapes and banana chips He's a really good eater now, and loves just about everything we eat that he can have.

Chocolate and Avacado are absolute NO NO's..so are apple seeds actually most all fruit seeds/pits are no no's. Lots of fresh fruit, steamed and raw veggies, cooked pasta, wild and brown rice, sweet potato, squash, quinoa, and many herbs are safe and healthy for Tuti.

Again, congratulations and good luck!

Toni

 

[Nakiska]

Also I just wanted to say that I posted tons of pictures of Franklin and our tiels and even our pigeon in my profile albums...to see them, just click on my user name and view my albums...I think there are 3 albums total.

Looking forward to hearing your progress with Tuti

Toni

 

[Jessxoxo]

My sun conure was very scared and biting when we first brought him home! I have trained mine to get on a white plastic food bowl then he'll step on my finger, but still won't just get on my finger! It's a trust issue and his whole world was just changed! Just give it some time!!

 

[JasmineGCC]

I think there is a difference between a grab and a bite - Jasmine my GCC only bites when she is frightened and shouting her alarm call. What she did alot when we first had her was to grab/pinch my fingers and we decided she didn't know how hard to grab hold of us - when she climbs her beak goes first - she was holding onto my fingers as hard as she would a stick!! Every time she grabbed my fingers hard she had a little shake which put her off balance. At the same time every time she was gentle she got a small piece of pine nut (her favourite treat). Now she is 5 months old I can just say 'no biting' and she stops.
Also it is important to learn her body language. Jasmine can go from fluffy and cuddly to a hyperactive demon in mere seconds! Her beak is her way of saying 'no' so I back off and wait for her to come back in a more gentle mood!
One other thing might help you - Jasmine hates being ignored! So if she persists in being too painful I pop her about a metre away and turn my back. She soon gets the message!!
Please don't be put off by your young birds 'beaky stage'. It will get better but takes time patience and in our case alot of pine nuts!!!

 

[7THSIGN]

Hello everyone, I’m back with an update on Tuti! First I want to thank you you all for sharing your knowledge and personal experiences with your birds, this has helped me a great deal! Thank you.
Tuti is doing fantastic. I’ve got a stressful job and long shift hours, I find my self rushing home to spend time with Tuti. When im not home, my wife is playing with Tuti. She is such an awesome friend. I was concerned with how she was behaving when we first brought her home, however as you all have recommended, I gave her a couple of days to adjust to her new environment. After a week, I began to take her out of her cage. She was still biting me. My wife would yell “No” to her when she did bite, I felt this was only making her behavior worse. So we stopped the “No”.

I began allowing Tuti to bite me. I know it sounds bad. When she did bite me, I would pull away, rather I would keep my hand right in front of her. After only a day or two of this, Tuti all of a sudden stopped biting me. I then started to to put my hand right in front of her, she would lick my hand but not bite it, I would in return give her a treat, she loves apples and bananas. I now can pet her, hold her and play with her with out a single bite. Im not sure if she just realized that biting me would bother me or if the positive reinforcement with the treats did the trick but shes great now.

Tuti does still bite my wife, I think its because my wife pulls her hand back when she gets a bite and doesn’t even allow Tuti to give her a nice love bite. Im hoping in time my wife and Tuti’s relationship improves because one of the reasons we decided to get a bird was for my wife to have a companion while I would be working night shifts.

I got Tuti two new toys and she LOVES them. Here are some new pics I took:

Thanks!
George

 

[Eric7788]

I, personally, am not a fan of the use of sticks. Green Cheek's can bite hard, but not that hard In my opinion, and with my experience, I think that the best thing to do is to find a treat she loves (mine LOVES yoghurt and cheerios) and give her some, and wait 5 minutes. After that, give her some, but hold your finger close so she has to be near your hand to get the treat. After another 5 minutes, make it so she has to lean WAY out over your hand to get the treat... then on the third try, make it so that in order to get to the treat, she has to get onto your finger (like a bridge). If she doesn't take the treat like that, then stop the training, and do it again later. If it takes too long, and she starts to realise she can get two free treats before having to go on your finger, remove the first step, then later the second step. She should warm up quick.

CHEERIOS!!! Blaze loves them! Found the treat...finally

 

[Birdlover11]

Glad she's making progress . I got my 2 little suckers from petco and they were extremely flighty at first, it's the fact that petco and petsmart dont handle they're animals. Tuti is a yellow sided gcc, that's pretty much the only color mutation they sell as its the cheapest.

 

[Thingamagigs]

I used a stick to begin training my guys (one was afraid of hands, the other was just generally a biter)... they were stepping up onto my hand within a week. They are very clever animals!