My First Bird! Help?

[FlockShallow1]

Hello! I just got my first bird last night and I am a bit nervous. He is a beautiful Cinnamon Green Cheek Conure and I decided to name him Finley. I've done a lot of research, but I still have so many unanswered questions. Can anyone help?

Should I leave Finley alone the first week? I read that you should, but he seems eager to come out. The cage we bought him allows the top to open and he likes to sit up there. Should my family and I leave him alone or should we try to interact with him?

How do I build trust? I want Finley and I to be friends, but I'm not sure how. Any suggestions on how I should start earning his trust?

Finley is only a couple months old and doesn't know how to step up yet and he is also a bit nippy. When he is perched on my finger he will sometimes grab hold of my skin and won't let go till I gently push his beak away. I understand that this is a bit natural because he is a baby, but I don't want to accidental praise him for biting so how can I discourage this?

Finally, when should I change his food and water dish? If he still has some seeds in his food bowl by the end of the day should I throw them out and replace them with fresh ones?

Thank you so much for your help! I truly appreciate it!

 

[FlockShallow1]

Oops, lil Finley just took a good patch of skin from my hand.

 

[Flboy]

Welcome to you and Finley! Work at his pace, yes feel free to love, cuddle, scritch!
Water replaced at least daily or more depending on his dunking habits.
You will want to work on his diet and introduce a pellet product or two. Veggies also. Quality human grade seed mixes as a lesser part of the diet are OK, I sprout mine first! If the mix has sunflower seeds in it, most likely it is of poor quality!
Don’t create a dictator by giving in on every yell for attention!

 

[Kentuckienne]

Welcome! There are some good threads on tips for bonding, bite pressure control, diet...dig in and you will find lots of good advice. I would say to let Finley control the pace at first - if he wants to come out, let him out, if he wants to be left alone, give him some space. If the cage is one with a lift off too, be careful! These can fall accidentally, be dropped if the bird lunges, and birds have been killed when the cage top falls on them. It happened to me once - and luckily the parrot was not hit by the falling top. After that I moved him to the perch off the cage, closed it, then put him in it.

 

[Flboy]

Very good point on the cage top! Also, if it is a bit sloppy when closed, bird’s are known to hang themselves, trying to squeeze through the opening! I had to wire mine shut!

 

[MonicaMc]

Should I leave Finley alone the first week? I read that you should, but he seems eager to come out. The cage we bought him allows the top to open and he likes to sit up there. Should my family and I leave him alone or should we try to interact with him?

How long you leave him should be up to you and him. Every interaction, even non-physical, can be a learning session for him.

If he wants to come out, I'd say let him! If he doesn't, leave him.

I'm not a big fan of open top cages as they can be dangerous. The doors to open top cages should be secured at all times, whether they are open or closed.


How do I build trust? I want Finley and I to be friends, but I'm not sure how. Any suggestions on how I should start earning his trust?

You can start through training activities, such as target training. From there, you can move on to step up training, turn around, retrieve, etc. These behaviors, aka "tricks", can be a great way to build communication and a healthy relationship.


Finley is only a couple months old and doesn't know how to step up yet and he is also a bit nippy. When he is perched on my finger he will sometimes grab hold of my skin and won't let go till I gently push his beak away. I understand that this is a bit natural because he is a baby, but I don't want to accidental praise him for biting so how can I discourage this?

This will be easier said than done... Don't get bit! The only bite that can't be rewarded is the one that never occurs. This means to avoid triggers to biting by avoiding putting your bird in a situation that you'll know will lead to a bite and/or redirecting the unwanted behavior into something else.

If he nips while sitting on you, then what could he do instead? Could he... be foraging for food? Playing with foot toys? Or?

In short, instead of trying to teach him what not to do, give him direction and teach him what you do want him to do!


Finally, when should I change his food and water dish? If he still has some seeds in his food bowl by the end of the day should I throw them out and replace them with fresh ones?

Minimum daily. I only feed enough to last my birds for one day, and a tad more. If they finish everything in a day, then I might not be feeding enough. If there's a lot at the end of the day, I'm feeding too much.

My birds are offered pellets, sprouts and fresh foods as part of their diet.

 

[SandraGroom]

I am a newbie to and nervous. My parrot (Buddy) was use to getting on the girls shoulder at the pet store, but wouldn't step up. I let him on my shoulder after a few days of bringing him home and I couldn't get him off of me. Every time I tried to get him to step up on my fingers he bit me. So today, I let him out, but wouldn't let him on me even though he was trying very hard to get on me. I want him to learn step up first before I let him on me again. From all the advice I received, the thing that stuck with me was give it time, "be patient"! He will live with me for a long time and I'm not going to rush it. I wish you good luck with Finley and let's keep in touch for support. thank you Sandra

 

[MonicaMc]

I want him to learn step up first before I let him on me again.

Learning step up wont teach a parrot to step up from your shoulder, unless you train it right.



To put it into perspective, think about a kid who goes to school and learns while they are in school. They do fine "in school". However, the moment they leave school, everything they have learned they have forgotten like it never existed.

This is how animals can be. In other words, just because they learn a behavior in one setting doesn't mean that behavior will transfer to another situation or environment.



In order to get compliance, you need to each a behavior in a variety of situations. Step up for example should be worked with at, on and in the cage. This is 3 separate scenarios! They all involve the cage, but each situation is different. It's also good to work on step up from the floor, a chair, or even a cabinet above your head. Again, 3 more scenarios! Your shoulder? That's another one!


The more you generalize the behavior and teach your bird that stepping up results in good things (aka a reward), the more that behavior is likely to repeat itself, even in new and unfamiliar situations.

 

[Mindy]

I want him to learn step up first before I let him on me again.

Learning step up wont teach a parrot to step up from your shoulder, unless you train it right.



To put it into perspective, think about a kid who goes to school and learns while they are in school. They do fine "in school". However, the moment they leave school, everything they have learned they have forgotten like it never existed.

This is how animals can be. In other words, just because they learn a behavior in one setting doesn't mean that behavior will transfer to another situation or environment.



In order to get compliance, you need to each a behavior in a variety of situations. Step up for example should be worked with at, on and in the cage. This is 3 separate scenarios! They all involve the cage, but each situation is different. It's also good to work on step up from the floor, a chair, or even a cabinet above your head. Again, 3 more scenarios! Your shoulder? That's another one!


The more you generalize the behavior and teach your bird that stepping up results in good things (aka a reward), the more that behavior is likely to repeat itself, even in new and unfamiliar situations.

So true! Chicky got stuck in a loop, she finally started to step up but only on one spot and facing the same direction. Took a bit to reteach her step up and I didn't mean just from that one spot facing that door ; )

 

[clark_conure]

I came late to this i've been busy, Flyboy and MonicaMC know their stuff. On the bites if you set him on the floor does he walk back to you? if so whenever he bites *hard* put him on the floor and make him walk back to you it imprints on him that it a behavior that will get him shunned. Say the word no out loud as well. let him come back and he will be sweeter and calmer.

 

[SandraGroom]

You are right about the stepping up. I have been working with Buddy everyday on stepping up on a wooden spoon handle. At first her only put one foot and grabbed his food. yesterday and then again I was able to get him to step up with both feet on a wooden spoon handle and transport him to the top of the cage and then back into his cage. He glided to the floor and I was able to get him to step up and put him back on his cage. I was very happy with his progress and learning. I am surprised over how fast these birds learn.

 

[clark_conure]

Sandragroom I put clark in charge of house finances and state and federal income taxes...makes my life easier....give it about a week or less.