Is a Green Cheek Conure good for me?

[happycat]

Does a GCC fit in with how I live you think? I am at home most of the day so I could give it as much attention as it needs. I live in a house with 2 cats and a dog (small pomeranian)and a hamster. I can tolerate noise as long as its not constant and it cant be ear shattering loud. Im used to cats (that do make me bleed sometimes) that bite or claw unexpectedly so im used to THAT (the biting) I have never owned a bird before. Is there anything else about Gccs i should know about? Thanks

 

[Cliffordsmom]

I have a sun conure. If he screams when he is on my shoulder it can certianly be ear shattering. He is a screamer, but I've heard with training and the right responses they can be broken of their screaming. Not sure if green cheeks scream too.

 

[suebee]

it depends on the bird, but though you may have lots of time at home now, what if your situation changed in the future??

but i would say research! not just what the species is suppose to be like?? owners experiance, avian vets near you, suppliers for food etc

i took on the nut with little research, no experience and its taken near a year for her to settle with us, it took everyone in the family to behave in different ways with her and when she attacked, its not like a dog attack, the fury an venom is frightening!

but i can happily say she is happy (ish) with us all, no attacks and very rare bite. so i look forward to 20years plus growing old with my little nut

i am not saying these negatives to put you off, just so you know how extreme it can become!

 

[Echo]

What I would consider is having the cats. The fact that they bite and scratch you doesn't make me think like they are laid back and harmless. Of course, cat are never really harmless and can kill a bird. However I know of people who can manage some harmony living with both cat and bird. Dogs can also be dangerous but they can't jump high or use they paws to open cages like cats can.

 

[happycat]

Oops,i guess that made them sound mean. I meant ive had cats my entire life and,if i can handle there bites then nipping is okay. (since itll probably hurt less then a cat bite anyway) Also the cats at the house the bird would be at are sweet and rarely ever hurt you. (one of the cats at my dads house used to be kinda mean and bite me a lot (he dosent anymore tho) (one of my cats is terrified of my hamster Lol!) Also does anyone know of anywhere to research gccs besudes here?

 

[Cliffordsmom]

I have never been bitten by a cat, but I can tell you that Conure bite can hurt pretty badly! I dont think Clifford has ever latched on with his full force, but hes drawn blood. I can only imagine what he is actually capable of.

 

[roxynoodle]

My cat wants to roll around with even the big birds and "play" with them. I have to put her in my bedroom to let the birds out for everyone's safety. She plays "terrorize" with my amazon daily. They lunge at and paw at each other through the cage bars.

One thing you need to do with the cats is NOT have bars wider than 5/8" on the cage to keep the cat from reaching in. I love them all, but honestly they could kill or maim each other easily.

 

[Beilana]

Definitely do tons of research! Every bird is different though! I did a TON of research before getting Chia (my cinnamon GCC) and nothing REALLY prepared me for her. Like Suebee everyone in the household had to adapt and change, including Fizz my pomeranian whos natural instinct is to attack. You could end up with a crazy-loud-non-snuggly-brat OR a laidback-cuddly-quiet-angel. Or somewhere in the middle. All you can do is research and plan ahead with your life. Make sure that its not an "until" bird as in "until I have a baby", "until I move", "until I go to school" or an "if" bird like "if its not too loud" "if its cuddly". GCC's are known as the "quiet" parrots but Chia is definitely not what I would call quiet. There are days I want to smack my head against the wall because the ear piercing shrieks! Cliffordsmom is probably laughing at this in comparison to her sun hehe but even still just because its quiet compared to other parrots doesnt mean its necessarily quiet.

Good luck and I hope this helped (even slightly)

 

[roxynoodle]

Everything Beilana said is very true.

Conures can be as difficult as larger parrots. They are large parrots in smaller bodies. If you want easy going and easier to deal with, the cockatiel would be a better choice.

Conures make a lot of noise. Even if the volume isn't on par with a cockatoo, they make noise off and on all day. Right now mine is playing but she's making little humming noises. I live in the country, but I can hear her when I'm at some of my neighbor's houses.

 

[Wulfgeist]

Green cheeks can be demanding at times. I have one in a home with three born feral cats. Most of the time mine is out and has access to his cage or the playground on top. He is in the same room with me and very well supervised with my cats. They are getting alot better than they were but not yet as good as the two cats the bird first lived with. (lost them both a couple years ago at 15 and 18 yrs old)

As far as noise, Tico has his moments but perhaps because he is out so much he really doesn't scream unless something sets him off. He is due to get a little noisier soon with the birds outside once it's warm enough to open windows, he hears them and like to try to call to them. Like Roxy said, when they do scream, they are loud enough to be heard some distance away.

As far as biting, I did have some problems with biting and it was bad, he was tearing up my finger. As soon as I identified the problems and fixed them the biting stopped. One of them was I was neglecting the attention he wanted and I also suddenly realized he had destroyed all his chewable toys and was only left with some big clunky wooden ones my friend bought him. Emergency run to petco...They also deserve patience and respect. When he was biting I was getting very frustrated and I think it was showing and making matters worse. As soon as I remained calm and dealt with his biting in a short, sweet and quiet way it stopped. Cold.

As someone said they have big bird personalites in a small body and no two are alike. I'm not sure what your bird experience is but Parrots for Dummies is a good book. I'm sure there are books dedicated to conures out there, maybe check Amazon or similar.

Good luck on whatever you choose!

 

[Roxy_9_2011]

Hey, I can give you feedback on having my yellow sided GCC for 6 weeks now. (so still a relatively new owner) To sum up Roxy in 1 word is "sass" and lots of it . She was hand raised by a wonderful breeder so warming up to me came easier for her. It took about 2 days for her to learn the step up command, but 4 weeks to train her to quiet down (to not squawk like crazy when I left the room). The only time she calls out is if I go in another room, and all I have to say is "hey, hey" and she quiets down or calls back a few times more. So yes she is quieter than most parrots, but she will do a flock-call for me if I leave the room. I have read many people having biting issues and clothes getting holes in them from their conures. I haven't had a problem like this yet. She does get nippy, but from advice on this forum I have trained her to do it less. I am gone 8 hours a day for substitute teaching and eventually I will be a full time teacher. Roxy has been perfectly fine with it because she has many different toys to entertain her while I'm gone. (So plan on spending money for many toys!) I have seen other teachers on here saying that their conures have been fine with them being gone most of the day as well. Here are the sites I looked at for researching before I got her:
Conures
http://conurecommunity.com/
An Avian Resource - HotSpot for Birds --this one gives a lot of quick info!