Just ordered a Turquoise green cheek conure

[Johnic]

I have a green cheek conure picked out from a breader in Ch IL and it will be shipped in about 4-5 weeks. He's being hand feed ans will have its vet papers as well.
Family is so excited!
Ive owned a cockatiel years ago but now my two kids (12 and 14) want a bird so we decided on this breed.
I also have a Prevue 24x24 white cage with playtop on order from Amazon with cover.

Any and all suggestions and tips are welcome esp tips on acclimating the new member of family.

Diet recommendations are a big question for me. Links to certain foods to buy would be awesome.

 

[Jen5200]

Welcome! Your new little guy is adorable .

There’s lots of great threads about building bonds and trust on here that I’d give a read. I’d let the little guy get used to the activity in the house and move at his pace. I imagine at his age it would be easy to overwhelm him with attention.

Do you know what food the breeder is weaning him on to? I’d stick with what he’s used to while he acclimates to your house. Then after he settles in would be a good time to start transitioning him to a more complete diet. I have two conures who eat a good quality pellet and chop (veggies, fruit and grains). Some good pellets are Zupreem, TOPS, Roudybush, Harrison’s, and Golden Feast. A lot of it will depend on what your little birdie prefers - mine tried several before figuring out what they liked. Many vendors will send you samples if you ask - so might be a good way to try some out. There’s lots of good recipes for chop on here and it’s nice to start them young - they’re usually more amenable to trying new food.

Good luck with your new addition, looking forward to updates!

 

[Johnic]

Welcome! Your new little guy is adorable .

There’s lots of great threads about building bonds and trust on here that I’d give a read. I’d let the little guy get used to the activity in the house and move at his pace. I imagine at his age it would be easy to overwhelm him with attention.

Do you know what food the breeder is weaning him on to? I’d stick with what he’s used to while he acclimates to your house. Then after he settles in would be a good time to start transitioning him to a more complete diet. I have two conures who eat a good quality pellet and chop (veggies, fruit and grains). Some good pellets are Zupreem, TOPS, Roudybush, Harrison’s, and Golden Feast. A lot of it will depend on what your little birdie prefers - mine tried several before figuring out what they liked. Many vendors will send you samples if you ask - so might be a good way to try some out. There’s lots of good recipes for chop on here and it’s nice to start them young - they’re usually more amenable to trying new food.

Good luck with your new addition, looking forward to updates!

Thanks so much. I'm reading as much as I can here and look forward to getting the little guy. I'll be sure to update.
Will those missing feathers on chest fill in ?

 

[Jen5200]

He looks pretty young, so I’m sure he’s still growing feathers. I wouldn’t worry about the missing feathers yet. In your post you mentioned he comes with vet papers, so it sounds like a vet will be involved at some point before he leaves the breeder?

Lots of great threads on here about diet, bonding, socializing, training - and tons of experienced people to answer questions. Can’t wait to see pictures and hear how it goes!

 

[Johnic]

He looks pretty young, so I’m sure he’s still growing feathers. I wouldn’t worry about the missing feathers yet. In your post you mentioned he comes with vet papers, so it sounds like a vet will be involved at some point before he leaves the breeder?

Lots of great threads on here about diet, bonding, socializing, training - and tons of experienced people to answer questions. Can’t wait to see pictures and hear how it goes!

Correct. I have his check up papers upon delivery. But I will also have a local averian vet have a look.

Thanks for info.

 

[MonicaMc]

Species, not breed. I would have recommended a flight cage!


My conure eats Harrison's Adult Lifetime food along with a sprout/chop mix.


Don't worry about the feathers - the crop is kind of big and showing bare spots. As your chick starts to wean and require less food, the crop will become smaller and the bare spot will "disappear".


Toss out any wooden dowel type perches and replace with natural perches. Mirrors are not recommended. Be sure to include a variety of toys - such as destructible toys, foraging toys, noisy toys, etc. It may even be a good idea to set the cage up in a way so that your new chick can "hide" in the cage when you first bring him/her home. That way, if your new conure is feeling scared, there's a "safe" place in the cage.

Depending on your conure's personality, it may be a good idea to leave your conure in the cage for a few days - or - if your conure is doing fine, bring out on the first day. Try and take clues on how your new bird is doing.

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums, what an adorable little one!!

 

[Flboy]

Awesome, a real sweetie! Ask breeder to harness train if possible!

 

[Johnic]

Species, not breed. I would have recommended a flight cage!


My conure eats Harrison's Adult Lifetime food along with a sprout/chop mix.


Don't worry about the feathers - the crop is kind of big and showing bare spots. As your chick starts to wean and require less food, the crop will become smaller and the bare spot will "disappear".


Toss out any wooden dowel type perches and replace with natural perches. Mirrors are not recommended. Be sure to include a variety of toys - such as destructible toys, foraging toys, noisy toys, etc. It may even be a good idea to set the cage up in a way so that your new chick can "hide" in the cage when you first bring him/her home. That way, if your new conure is feeling scared, there's a "safe" place in the cage.

Depending on your conure's personality, it may be a good idea to leave your conure in the cage for a few days - or - if your conure is doing fine, bring out on the first day. Try and take clues on how your new bird is doing.

Thanks for info. I've been reading a lot about chop and what it's composed of but what chop mix do recommend for a conure ?
Any brand or type of natural perch do you suggest?

 

[Jen5200]

There’s tons of options for wood perches - mine love bottle brush wood, java wood and dragon wood perches (you can get them on Amazon, My Safe Bird Store, Dr Foster and Smith, etc).

The possibilities are endless with chop and everyone develops their own way that works for their birds You can have fun with this, and there’s no precise mix that works for everyone. Proportionally use more veggies than fruit. Mine get a good variety of vegetables and I add a little bit of fruit. I also cook a few whole grains and add them in. I include stuff like cooked sweet potato, any kind of squash, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn, peppers, kale, collard greens, mango, apple, berries, pomegranate seeds, etc. My conures don’t like big pieces, so it gets chopped relatively small - but others love bigger chunks (experimenting will be required). Might want to start with smaller batches until you get to know likes/dislikes, preferred texture, size, etc.

 

[Johnic]

Awesome, a real sweetie! Ask breeder to harness train if possible!

Interesting. Never heard of it. Why?

 

[Kentuckienne]

Welcome! You seem to be off to a good start. I only will add, don’t give your bird a Happy Hut. So many people here have birds who died because of those things.

 

[MonicaMc]

Thanks for info. I've been reading a lot about chop and what it's composed of but what chop mix do recommend for a conure ?
Any brand or type of natural perch do you suggest?

Jen is correct in regards to perches and food!

There's really no one "recipe" to follow, as it can vary depending on time of year, what's available, what you pick up, etc. I do try to go for about 50/50 grains/legumes to vegetables with a small amount of fruits mixed in.

I've done the cooked grains and legumes, then mixed with vegetables and fruits. Right now, it's sprouts mixed with vegetables and fruits. Here's one I made several years ago.

vs a more recent one

And the sprouts that I've used.

Awesome, a real sweetie! Ask breeder to harness train if possible!

Interesting. Never heard of it. Why?

Harness training allows you a way to take your bird outside with less worry about them escaping. Even clipped parrots can get lost outside. I'd rather have a harness trained bird than a clipped one. Most breeders clip chicks when they are too young though.

 

[Johnic]

Thanks for info. I've been reading a lot about chop and what it's composed of but what chop mix do recommend for a conure ?
Any brand or type of natural perch do you suggest?

Jen is correct in regards to perches and food!

There's really no one "recipe" to follow, as it can vary depending on time of year, what's available, what you pick up, etc. I do try to go for about 50/50 grains/legumes to vegetables with a small amount of fruits mixed in.

I've done the cooked grains and legumes, then mixed with vegetables and fruits. Right now, it's sprouts mixed with vegetables and fruits. Here's one I made several years ago.

vs a more recent one

And the sprouts that I've used.

Awesome, a real sweetie! Ask breeder to harness train if possible!

Interesting. Never heard of it. Why?

Harness training allows you a way to take your bird outside with less worry about them escaping. Even clipped parrots can get lost outside. I'd rather have a harness trained bird than a clipped one. Most breeders clip chicks when they are too young though.

All great info. Learning a lot here. I'll ask the breeder about the harness.
As far as feeding, do I leave this chop or pellets out all day for him to graze or certain amounts and certain times of the day ?

 

[Johnic]

Welcome! You seem to be off to a good start. I only will add, don’t give your bird a Happy Hut. So many people here have birds who died because of those things.

Got it. Was wondering about them.

 

[Jen5200]

As far as feeding, do I leave this chop or pellets out all day for him to graze or certain amounts and certain times of the day ?

I’ll share what I do, and I’m sure that others will chime in with more info. I don’t leave chop out all day, as it could probably grow some bacteria with it being “wet” food. My two start their day with a portion of chop and some sprouts, which they have for an hour or two. I clean the bowl and put out pellets (mine eat Zupreem and TOPS) for all-day grazing. When I get home from work, they get another portion of chop for dinner. I clean any leftovers out at bedtime. After they’ve eaten their chop, there’s usually a little bit of seed in their bowl on their play stand that they pick at while they are out and about in the evening (they never eat much of it, but they’ll zip over and grab a couple here and there). Some days they polish off all their chop, and other days I throw some out - like us, they seem to have moods and preferences

Another random thought - not sure if you’ve read that you can freeze chop in portions? Personally I’m “anti-kitchen” and my birds eat far better than I do, so I’m a big fan of freezing my chop. I buy tiny little ziploc containers and freeze chop in them. I pull them out of the freezer a day ahead and leave it in the fridge to defrost. I always have one I’m using in the fridge and one defrosting in the fridge. One container lasts around a day, so nothing is sitting in the fridge very long. I wash the containers and stack them until I’m down to my last couple - then I spend a few hours in the “dreaded” kitchen and make another batch. You’ll figure out a system that works for you - there’s lots of ways to make sure your new addition is eating well!

 

[Johnic]

As far as feeding, do I leave this chop or pellets out all day for him to graze or certain amounts and certain times of the day ?

I’ll share what I do, and I’m sure that others will chime in with more info. I don’t leave chop out all day, as it could probably grow some bacteria with it being “wet” food. My two start their day with a portion of chop and some sprouts, which they have for an hour or two. I clean the bowl and put out pellets (mine eat Zupreem and TOPS) for all-day grazing. When I get home from work, they get another portion of chop for dinner. I clean any leftovers out at bedtime. After they’ve eaten their chop, there’s usually a little bit of seed in their bowl on their play stand that they pick at while they are out and about in the evening (they never eat much of it, but they’ll zip over and grab a couple here and there). Some days they polish off all their chop, and other days I throw some out - like us, they seem to have moods and preferences

Another random thought - not sure if you’ve read that you can freeze chop in portions? Personally I’m “anti-kitchen” and my birds eat far better than I do, so I’m a big fan of freezing my chop. I buy tiny little ziploc containers and freeze chop in them. I pull them out of the freezer a day ahead and leave it in the fridge to defrost. I always have one I’m using in the fridge and one defrosting in the fridge. One container lasts around a day, so nothing is sitting in the fridge very long. I wash the containers and stack them until I’m down to my last couple - then I spend a few hours in the “dreaded” kitchen and make another batch. You’ll figure out a system that works for you - there’s lots of ways to make sure your new addition is eating well!

Perfect. Great advice. Learning so much here. Thanks Aot.

 

[Flboy]

A good harness is $30+, so don’t feel cheated if the breeder agrees but wants 50 bucks! A great deal!

 

[Johnic]

A good harness is $30+, so don’t feel cheated if the breeder agrees but wants 50 bucks! A great deal!

Ok. Thanks. So,it's worth harness training ?