Need help with a GCC

[Breepup81]

Three or four weeks ago my mother purchased a 3 month old pineapple green cheek for my 16th and she/he has warmed up really quick and is super comfortable. My mother has had plenty of parrots in her childhood, but most of them hated her guts (not her fault). My parrot was the first parrot to love her in a long time but she didn’t want to hog my birds attention or risk the bird bonding to the wrong parent so she purchased her own Green cheek.

We literally purchased Griffin, my mother’s 9 week old green cheek, yesterday and in the store the employees allowed my mother to open the cage and handle the bird. Griffin was very comfortable and let my mother pick him up but once we took him home he was exhibiting behavior we think is called “pumping”. He was bobbing his head and jerking his wings around. This morning he has bit my mother very hard and is acting very aggressive, yet he is eating from his dish and has taken a bath, does very well with target training, and will even take a treat from my mother’s hand, (through the cage bars).

My mother is very discouraged and is worried the bird will never like her. I have told her multiple times this morning that he just needs time to adjust and she is taking things a bit too fast, we got him not even 24 hours ago and that my bird wasn’t snuggly and loving the first day she was home. Is there something I’m missing or is there anything I can tell her to make her feel better?

 

[T00tsyd]

Welcome. You are absolutely right. Ask your Mother to look at it from the baby's point of view. It doesn't know where it is. Everything is different and strange. He is a prey bird so assumes that anything larger than him will eat him and you and your Mother are giants.

Let him alone to get used to where he is and who everyone is. Remember too that parrots choose their owners. There is no guarantee that yours will choose you or hers will choose her. In fact if the two birds like each other you might both be ignored.

The advice is always slow down. It seems to us that nothing is happening, but what might seem ok one day will freak them out the next. There is such a lot for them to get used to. The advice goes something like this. Sit near the cage and chat quietly. Read out loud, chat about what you are doing anything that gets them used to your voices.

Offer treats by hand but only if they come to get it, and it seems silly but also keep your look the same. When Syd was new I found that if I changed the colour of my clothes suddenly or put on glasses he freaked. It took him a long time to understand that I was the same person just dressed differently. If I wore red he was beside himself with fright!

Be prepared for the long haul. Some take months to get comfortable in a new home. Don't expect anything from them.

Lastly check back there are so many very knowledgeable people here with far more knowledge than me.

 

[Scott]

Welcome to you, your mom, and pair of conures! Perfect advice above from T00tsyd!

Please consider this excellent thread offering bonding and trust advice: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

 

[brownterri83]

I’m a new GCC mom too so all I can tell you is what I did for Blake. He bit me so hard when I first got him I had to just leave him alone. I decided that Monday to roll him into my office and open his cage while I work. It took 3 days of doing that but I went at his pace and just let him come to me. This includes my hands. Now we are in our second week of knowing each other and he now lets me pretty much do what ever. He lets me know when he has had enough and goes and plays. I just learned to read his body language in a short time frame. Each day the biting got softer the more I let him explore my hands on his own. Now, He licks them to death and steps up with little or no coaxing. Tell your mom it will be fine. Go at his pace.

 

[Laurasea]

You are right a burd has a lot of stress when going to a new home. It’s always best to spend lots of time just talking to them and sitting near them and offering treats. Pushing their boundaries will get you bit, trust takes time
I’m going to look for an article I have that is just great, it talks about stress in parrots and just has lots of good tips. It talks about clicker training that I think works without having to click , you can use the same word like good birdie as the “ bridge” instead of a clicker , but the concept of shaping behavior is very sound
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/