I"m new I hope I"m doing this right?

[annemarie]

Hi I'm anne marie and I have a Cherry Head, a CAG and a Meyers. Im located in the San fran. bay area. Looking for info about the Cherry Head, specifically mating season behaviour. I have a mature Cherry Head that is a wild caught import pre 92. She's at least 20 years old. Any other Cherry Head owners are encouraged to say hello and tell me about their birds. I just acquired her when her original owner passed away. Thank you.

 

[cdog]

Welcome to the forum. Your not looking to breed her are you, because in my opinion she is too old to breed.

 

[suebee]

hey anne an welcome pics please,

 

[wenz2712]

Hello AnneMarie and welcome to the Forum

 

[Sulphiria]

Hi there, welcome to the forums

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Hi Annmarie. I noticed there were no Cherry-heads' humans replying to your inquiry. Are you still around the forum? I've been on a short time and am so enjoying everyone's insput and stories and compassion and willingness to share and help and support. I too am wondering if there are any folks with Cherry-heads aka Red-masked conures around the forum (not mitred, as they are not the same bird). Pritti is a male cherry head (CHC) and is a prominent member of our family at the ripe old age of 30 years. I saw your post from July. I haven't come accross more than a few posts from people that have cherry-headed conures. I would really like to see some more people with cherrry-head(s) postng and chatting about them. Pritti has been in the family since babyhood, first 10 years with my husband before we met, then with both of us for next 20 years. I love him - he's moody, funny. cuddley, smart, playful, indignant, curious, demanding and bold - super smart though. Cherry heads are not mired conures. Oh, cherry heads are loud, but Pritti has picked up on his own to ring bells when he wants our attn. If we don't give it, the screaming might start. We stopped reacting to the intensely loud non-stop screaming when he wanted us to do his bidding. After a while he got the message and all of a sudden would go inside cage and start ringing a big heavier sounding bell, dingle dingle dingle and he just clings on to the wall of the cage and watches in between jingles to see if we are coming over. If we don't after a minute or two, he starts to slam the bell into the side of the cage. Now that he's trained us to come when the bell rings, lol, he doesn't usually get to the slamming stage. He has other smaller bells he rings just for playtime attention or fun. He picks up new activities very fast and can be super stubborn when he doesn't want to be bothered. He's 30 afterall and has earned the right to be treated like an adult. . How has your experience been going with your CHC?

 

[annemarie]

no of course not. trying to understand her behavior in the summer months.

 

[MonicaMc]

Welcome back!

Wish I could add some information! Noel, my cherry head (age unknown but assumed at least 17-19 years in age, if not older when he passed away) was not your typical conure, let alone a typical cherry head. He wasn't very hands on at all, but he loved "his" apple tree and enjoyed a wooden box to sleep in. I had always assumed Noel was a female until I did a DNA test (after death), and then felt even worse for he never acted like a male conure should. There were behaviors he did that I never understood, either.


I have a mitred conure now (aquired prior to Noel passing) and greatly miss having a cherry head!


Anne Marie, would love it if you decided to stick around!

 

[annemarie]

hi so thanks for the reply -- months later ha ha ! I inherited my CHC from her first owner who had her 16 years, when he died in 2009 Sept. I have traced her open/inport legband thru DL Products in Glendora CA, (legband yahoo group) and learned that her band was purchased by SPF birds in L.A. in a lot of 3000 other legbands... issued to them between Feb 1991 and Jan 1992--no surprise due to the ban on imports Oct 1992. So it is safe to say she was banded sometime in 91 or 92 and although impossible to know her age, typically they would take the babies from the nest in Peru, hand feed to imprint, wait for the red cap to grow a bit, then sell to a broker, such as SPF birds. I did speak to USDA, I gave the legband # and they confirmed somehow that she came from their L.A. quarantine center but had no other data remaining since its now shut down. They were kept in quarantine for several months, banded, then sold.

Considering she is a pet and very tame pet, not wild at all, it is a good bet she came in very young, got banded pretty quick before the conservation act in Oct. 92, and was sold from SPF to a pet shop where Doug bought her probably in late 1992 or early 1993. If we do the math, 1993 + 16 years = 2009 and that is when Doug died.

She is a stinker and I have gone back and forth on keeping her. I never had a conure, just african greys and meyer's so this ones a new one for me. Everything you said except the screaming; that seems directly related to something i want right now." Either, I want you or something is not in my dish." Also, separation anxiety and routine trigger it. She likes to be able to see me. I have moved her cage to an area where she can see me in the LR, DR and kitchen and it has helped a lot. I put a sleeping cage in my room, and she goes nite nite about 7pm, and so that takes care of disruptions in the LR during the evening, since she's asleep. She gets upset, if I do not put her to sleep on time and screeches. That is, unless she is happily eating safflower which cures all ills. <pause> Its 7:08 pm, I just took her into her sleeping cage. She does have night frights, and when this happens falls off her perch and begins screaming. This is the other reason for a nite time cage, which is smaller (18x18) and she cannot fall as far, only about one foot onto a newspaper placed below. She gets upset if I dont sing her the nite time song Rocka bye Izzy. Another gal I know that has two CHC told me she reads to them each morning for 5 minutes and if she doesn't they throw a stink. Clearly routine is key for survival for these guys and this keeps me on a schedule!
This bird truly typifies the "2yr old mentality" of parrots. Not like my grey at all of 12 years. The CHC likes to just test nip me all the time and I figured out she is just messing with me its a playful thing, does not bite down or draw blood. She likes to wrestle on her back laying on my chest, feet in the air. This I just discovered. She now chases a little green plastic 2" ball around like a soccer game, bats it back to me. Gets very testy if we are playing and she has to go back to her cage, then I do get a real nip. And try to potty train her! Argh. She holds it all night, waits to go up on the perch at 7am, then poops there. Holds it in her daytime cage if she can, til I take her out and then, Boom! Poops on me. I am the toilet. I pick her up to walk, Boom, poops on the floor. Seems she prefers to poop anywhere but her cage like, my sofa. Whats a mother to do I'm attached now and she is not screaming as much because I have figured her out better..... also, I have employed the 'squirch' bottle, a spray bottle that's what my grey calls it, "Squirch". About a month ago, when the CHC began to honk loudly, I squirted her from about 6 feet not a hard spray, just 2-3 squirts to stop her attention and said Shhh! Within a day, my african grey started telling the CHC Shhh whenever she began making noise. Believe it or not its working. I don't spray every time, only when she gets real bad but that is waning.. Maybe time of year or I've turned a corner. She is responding to positive reinforcement. She squarks, the grey gets a treat. That is working too. She shuts up. Their cages are across by 5 feet equal height but I do all for the Grey first number one in the pecking order and teh CHC is jealous. That's all for now.

 

[annemarie]

thank you, i have returned, we have moved me and the fids relocated busy 3 months

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Hi AnneMarie. Nice to hear the update. Perhaps your CHC was number one when she was with her previous family, which I could see making it hard for her to a) adjust to losing him, and 2) wonder why she went down a notch. But it sounds like you have been catering to her to get her well adjusted and that's heartwarming to hear. Many of the things you describe are pretty much the same with Pritti, schedule, nippy/testing, demanding, plays on back, rolls around a ball, gets loud as a means of manipulation and can cut it off in no time flat if I give him just "that look".

As far as the pooping -- Pritti was good about not saving up the poop for my husband to pick him up, but seems to be the opposite for me for years. Then my husband said I should carry him upside down on my finger when I first pick him up from anywhere. So, he steps up on my forefinger, then i kiss him and say good bird, then I hold on to one of his feet with my thumb and let him hang upside down from my finger and I transport him to wherever we are going in the house. That seemed to get him to start pooping just before he did the step-up, just like for my husband. Now, even if he doesn't have to poop, but he seems my finger for step-up, he'll bear down and try to poop before stepping-up. Maybe you can try it. I guess he by holding him upside down, he knew he lost his opportunity to poop on me, lol. He actually likes hanging upside down and I hold my hand up in front of my face when he is like that and i talk to him as we are walking to another room,etc.

 

[MonicaMc]

I wish Noel was banded!

First (?) home, no clue how long they had him, but he was attacked by a ferret, taken to a vet, couldn't afford vet bill and was told to be put down.

Vet gave bird to one of the vet techs who gave Noel to a friend.

Second home, got Noel from friend, never could take him, used a fake finger, used apple bitter spray, Noel had bonded to her cockatiel and they were supposedly buddies, cockatiel had bonded to ladies bf, bf moved out, bf took cockatiel... Noel was then left alone in a house full of cats and dogs and a person who didn't understand him... and had him for around 5 years.

I was given Noel on December 22nd, 2001, and had him until February 10th, 2010 when he passed away due to health complications. He had poor eyesight and getting worse with cataracts, probable bad kidneys, couldn't fly, had poor grip, and his immune system went to crap in his last year of life, so he kept getting sick.


Noel was actually pretty quiet as far as conures go, and if he screamed, he screamed for a reason. Sometimes I could figure it out, sometimes I couldn't. The only reason he bit (once we figured each other out) was if he was feeling unsteady and wanted to make sure I was a steady perch. I never discouraged this behavior, because if I tried to, it would only cause him to bite more and tell him that I'm not trust worthy.

I always wish I could have given him flight and great health... and wish I knew more about his past than what I was given.



Charlie was born around the San Fransisco or Santa Rosa area (I think) and I adopted him from a couple in Berkeley! He was supposed to be a cherry head, but I knew the moment I saw him that he wasn't a cherry head!



If you are contemplating giving her up, I would suggest not doing so! There's nothing quite like a CHC and you will probably miss her once she's gone!