HELP! Purchasing a GCC i have questions!

[dralexandra]

Hi everyone, i'm new here and i'm extremely familiar with generally every type of animal except birds, which is why i wish to get one. I'm in university and i'll be housing with my roommate from last year who loves birds, and 2 other girls who are also not scared or anything like that of them (although they're probably not familiar with them - i haven't met them yet lol)

anyways, so i have two breeders who have a QUAKER or a GREEN CC ready for me, i love both of these birds and i have done research about them but i still don't know which one to purchase. the quaker is a year old and i really am not sure if i should get a bird that age because i want to create it's own habits based on how i train it. so the GCC might be what i go for.
i have two snakes i bring with me to school, and for anyone that knows snakes knows they don't like attention, they kind of just tolerate it. i find animals help a lot with my stress which is why i'm into a bird who loves affection!!

1. because i want the bird to be friendly with everyone, i'll need him to like my family along with my roommates how do i go about doing this?

2. to make sure he doesn't feel like biting is a good idea, say he goes to bite me when i'm getting him out of his cage do i just leave him? OR if he bites while he's out of his cage do i put him back inside of it? (i don't want him to think that whenever he's out he has to bite me because he doesn't want to go back in though???)

3. how could i train him not to scream and be really loud..i understand they have their moments but it'd be hard for 4 university students to study while a bird is screaming - i plan on giving him lots of affection.

4. where do you guys usally potty train your birds? i kind of want him to be able to go on command. or for long periods of time out of his cage i'll have him in a flight suit, is that okay? or should there be only one place he's allowed to go to the bathroom?

5. i just saw pictures of the quaker and he's so cute!! the girl said he's only loud when he sees people because he likes to be apart of everything. this is gonna be a hard decision, can you guys help with a baby GCC or the 1 year old quaker

6. do you guys reccomend any videos for me to learn how to teach him "step up", maybe a wave and things like that?

7. i know quakers are good talkers, are conures capable of talking a lot and learning tricks as well? (i get mixed responses from everywhere else i have looked)

that's all i can think of at the moment, i'd love suggestions and tips for my first bird as well from you guys!

thanks a lot

 

[weco]

Hi Alexandra & welcome to the forum.....but, you might want to leave your lab coat at the door. A clinician's approach may leave you a bit frustrated.....for the most part, your specifications are pretty much unrealistic.....

".....so i have two breeders who have a QUAKER or a GREEN CC ready for me.....," then you go on with
"...I want the bird to be friendly with everyone, I'll need him to like my family along with my roommates..." Chicks don't hatch out with a degree in personality, to end up with a bird that will acclimate to 'everyone' you might need to get one of those stuffed parrots they have out. Some birds have an aversion to bright bright/gaudy hair, and some male eclectus can have their hormone levels severely increased by a red sweater, other birds have exhibited aggressive attitude changes when they are used to the particular appearance of someone they know and live with and that person deviates from the norm...dyed hair, major hair style changes, severe makeup and in some cases it is just the vibes a person might give off, but time (patience) and socialization training (having people interacting with the bird)...then it becomes a socialization of the people with the bird.....

Socialization deals with biting too.....don't promise what you're not going to deliver.....a student, especially one who has trouble finding time for themselves, may need to take a serious look at what they can really offer a companion parrot and with each parrot being an individual with their own individuality & personality, both of the species you've mentioned, would probably expect at least 4 hours a day of interaction from their flock mates.....flock mates being the humans they interact/live with on a daily basis.....

Scream training is tied to interaction...if your bird expects you home at a certain hour and you are at the library or a cram session reading for a finals.....you can probably expect your bird to start screaming at your non-arrival and almost guaranteed when you do arrive.....when we first bring a bird home, we tend to smother it with attention, then we have to go back to our normal lives & birds don't understand this...they want the same attention they enjoyed on Saturday on Monday when you are working on a lab project.....

For potty training, and most other training you might be interested in, there is a plethora of information on the internet & some decent video clips on youtube.....

As to general & boundary training, look at touch training & clicker training...again, on the net & youtube.....

If you obtain anything but a baby you plan to train (time allowance factor again) you may not be told the whole story on a bird...or...you need to consider a bird's attitude in a given situation/environment may not be the same as in your dorm/housing situation, which is again different than your room back at your parents.....for people selling birds their primary interest is moving the bird & if they tell you something to hasten that agenda, they will.....

Of the two you mentioned, the green cheek is the quieter.....

Having said that, are you ready to invest the time to bring a bird up to your expectations?



Please don't get me wrong, my consideration is for the bird and it not having to begin or continue a journey of house hopping...being given up because someone didn't realize the investment requirements of a companion parrot.....

Good luck.....

 

[dralexandra]

i believe i could take care of it without a problem, but as for the "certain time" a day thing, my classes are not always 8am until 4pm, monday i could only be gone for an hour, and then other days i could be gone for 5 hours. i do a lot of at home studying in the day time because of library is packed. so if i were to leave the house for long hours to study it would be later in the evening, which is hopefully when the bird would be put to bed?

the cage i would buy for it is made for large parrots, and has a play thing on top of it, what would be the problem if i let him out and play on top of his cage or whatever as i'm doing a lab report?

also - how are birds with loud noises such as music?

 

[dralexandra]

oh, and as for the bird being friendly with everyone part, i saw a video on the internet by "birdtips.com" and they had one to show how to make the bird "friendly with everyone"

 

[dralexandra]

i understand they may not like some people - my cousin has a sun conure, and he wouldn't come to me or my sister when we were visiting, he gave us a warning by sticking out his beak at our finger when we asked him to step up

 

[weco]

OK, I fully understand the time demands & crazy schedules a college/university student must endure.....and.....while I'll probably get some flack from other members, I used to travel extensively for work...I could be gone 6 months at a time, but I have an excellent birdsitter I can call on, but whenever a new bird joined the flock, I didn't spend a lot of time with them...if they knew how to play with toys & entertain themselves, I pretty much left it that way, though I did make a couple of CDs that would get played, along with radio & TV, and while I have received nips from one or two of my birds when I was able to get back home, for the most part, that worked for over 8 years.....now, when I would come home, I often did at night & that the birds would normally only make slight acknowledgment noises to the door being unlocked, I'd walk through & get almost to the bird room/office/den before asking if anybody wanted to stay up late & the cacophony started and for a couple of hours I have all the birds (up to 16) on me (after I changed into a birdie shirt & jeans) with nobody fighting or arguing, so if you do your planning & don't offer more than you're prepared to give, you could get away with it.....though your roommates are going to be your unknown variables.....

 

[weco]

The video you saw was probably from birdtricks.com and while that degree of training can be attained, it's probably not going to happen in the amount of time you're going to have available to you.....the birds you see on their videos are birds they've trained for shows/demonstrations and are not, like they would have you believe, fresh out of the hatchery.....their interested in getting you to buy their wares & there are much better video clips and better text available on the net for free.....

Again, good luck.....

 

[Conurefamily]

Hi everyone, i'm new here and i'm extremely familiar with generally every type of animal except birds, which is why i wish to get one. I'm in university and i'll be housing with my roommate from last year who loves birds, and 2 other girls who are also not scared or anything like that of them (although they're probably not familiar with them - i haven't met them yet lol)

anyways, so i have two breeders who have a QUAKER or a GREEN CC ready for me, i love both of these birds and i have done research about them but i still don't know which one to purchase. the quaker is a year old and i really am not sure if i should get a bird that age because i want to create it's own habits based on how i train it. so the GCC might be what i go for.
i have two snakes i bring with me to school, and for anyone that knows snakes knows they don't like attention, they kind of just tolerate it. i find animals help a lot with my stress which is why i'm into a bird who loves affection!!

1. because i want the bird to be friendly with everyone, i'll need him to like my family along with my roommates how do i go about doing this?

2. to make sure he doesn't feel like biting is a good idea, say he goes to bite me when i'm getting him out of his cage do i just leave him? OR if he bites while he's out of his cage do i put him back inside of it? (i don't want him to think that whenever he's out he has to bite me because he doesn't want to go back in though???)

3. how could i train him not to scream and be really loud..i understand they have their moments but it'd be hard for 4 university students to study while a bird is screaming - i plan on giving him lots of affection.

4. where do you guys usally potty train your birds? i kind of want him to be able to go on command. or for long periods of time out of his cage i'll have him in a flight suit, is that okay? or should there be only one place he's allowed to go to the bathroom?

5. i just saw pictures of the quaker and he's so cute!! the girl said he's only loud when he sees people because he likes to be apart of everything. this is gonna be a hard decision, can you guys help with a baby GCC or the 1 year old quaker

6. do you guys reccomend any videos for me to learn how to teach him "step up", maybe a wave and things like that?

7. i know quakers are good talkers, are conures capable of talking a lot and learning tricks as well? (i get mixed responses from everywhere else i have looked)

that's all i can think of at the moment, i'd love suggestions and tips for my first bird as well from you guys!

thanks a lot

I would worry about my education first, things change fast in life, you always have time to find your favorite bird after you important things have been accomplished