Keeping conure busy while at work

[pinotthegcc]

Hi there! I just adopted a green cheek conure on Wednesday. She is very used to me as I work at the store I got her from. My question is, I live in an apartment, and I don't want her screaming while I'm at work tomorrow. It will be the first time she's home alone and I don't know how she's going to react. She's screamed a little bit so far but not a lot.

Would keeping tv/radio on help to keep her calm (not dead quiet and lonely), or would it just encourage her chatter?

Her cage is full of toys but she hasn't really touched them yet. I'm also going to throw some forraging toys in there with millet which seems to be her favorite thus far.

Any tips to keep her calm, quiet, and happy while I'm at work would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Banana]

I think it would be pretty challenging to keep your conure quiet, but here are a few ways: If you think your bird could easily be frightened by a shadow or a noise, put a cage cover on it. Conures are naturally loud birds, (i mean... all birds are loud) and birds are usually more prone to screaming when their owners are away. You could also see if you could bring him/her to work, and put it in a travel cage. My last suggestion is that you have a family member or friend that your bird sort of trusts come over for a little while just to speak to your bird. I hope I could help!

 

[BirdGeeks]

Keeping the T.V. on is a great idea. I turn on Disney channel for my cockatoo when I am at school, give her a variety of foods and put in her favorite and interesting toys to keep her occupied. However we have our own house and a cockatoos scream is a little louder than a GCC's scream so its a tad diffrent. Usually my baby screams a bit when I leave and than she's quiet, so I would expect a little screaming at first when you leave. Also even quiet chatter is to be expected and should not upset the other people in the building.

 

[itzjbean]

1. Try to spend around an hour with her before you go to work every day -- if she's flighted, take her out to fly and get some exercise. Otherwise, just letting her be with you while you get ready for work will help.

Leaving the TV/radio on will help!

Be sure to spend as much time with her as you can after work, be sure to greet her and tell her she's a good girl, and develop a routine she can get used to and learn what to expect. Have special times during the day where she may get a special treat or can enjoy some fruit or a tasty snack with you.

 

[wrench13]

Yep, TV on, not too loud. Try to get her into foraging , putting some millet into the pages of a small phone book so she can rip it apart is a good foraging toy.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Great ideas above!

Banana, I love your get-somebody-to-visit idea! But about cage covers... I'll respectfully add that sometimes, covering the whole cage might be a little stifling for some birds if done for long periods of time (which you probaby didn't mean), BUTTT, I have used a limited "cover". The Rb used to face a busy street... very busy. So I hung a sheet over half his cage so thst he had plenty of space to "hide" if he needed to. It worked really well.

 

[BoomBoom]

Great suggestions on here. To expand:

Foraging toys: I use several of those acrylic foragers with holes in various sections of the cage. I fill these w/ shredded paper and very few nuts. My sun conure gets to work for his treats.

Music: Great! I made MP3 playlists of classical music, bird and nature sounds and other songs my bird enjoys. I change the playlist every 2 weeks to keep it fresh.

TV: This is great! If your tv has access to Youtube, there are very good 1-2 hour long bird-watching videos made for cats. Just make a playlist of various videos and hit play. It would be more than enough for 8 hours. Just make sure there's nothing on there that would freak out your birds. For example, on one video I use, at the 4 hour mark there is a parade of noisy ducks that my sun conure got very upset about. Here's a good vid: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2EvpdSxOQg&index=2&t=2644s&list=PLF9Vzw0daRON07TDhfzyVH7eeqDkx8--6"]Video for Cats to Watch : Squirrels and Birds Extravaganza - YouTube[/ame]

Best of luck.

 

[EllenD]

All great ideas, I just wanted to add that keeping your bird's cage covered all day long, every day while you're at work is not a solution. That would be cruel and may very well cause different types of issues.

 

[Caitnah]

I purchased an inexpensive security camera when I first got my GCC. I wanted to make sure she wasn't being loud when I was away since I live in a townhouse.
I was happy to see that he seems to behave very well during my absence. But I will second what others have said about foraging.

I give my guy a lot of foraging toys to keep him busy. So far, ,so good.

 

[Sunnyclover]

I put on the TV to the Disney Channel while I'm out of the house because of the colorful shows and friendly noises. I also make sure I put a little bit of treats in a foraging wheel that both my conures have in their cages which helps keep them happy and busy. Another tip is that if your bird likes to shower with you or get a full soak it is nice to give them a shower before you leave so they can dry and relax in their cage while your gone and when you get back they'll be dry and ready to play and happy to be clean! I figure that they have to have a shower anyways and mine like to sit still while they dry for an hour or so they may as well do it while I'm gone.

This is the toy I'm talking about:
Paradise Toys Creative Foraging Systems Foraging Carousel, 6-Inch W by 6-Inch L https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001N2PU6I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_epmfBb2EG8K4