New Conure owner

[Carol]

I just obtained an adorable Green Cheek...she(he)'s a maroon belly & so sweet. I have been feeding conure pellets, peas, fruit, some pine nuts, and I wonder if I am missing anything that she should have? also, how long before they start talking?

 

[Adinafloyd]

Hi Carol and welcome. Sounds like she is getting a good variety. I had a maroon bellied years ago. She never talked much but learned my sneeze and would use it often, so often my amazon mimicked her. She mumbled alot and you could tell the difference in happy mumbles and you just made me mad mumbles... Anyway, you can learn alot from the folks on here. Welcome again.

 

[bumblebec]

Sounds like s/he's on a pretty good diet! My guys love all the things you mentioned, they especially love peanuts.

Some conures can learn to talk, they can talk from a few months old, some won't talk talking until a few years, and some will never talk at all! It just depends on the bird. Spend lots of time talking to your bird, put a lot of emotion into your words. Birds are more likely to pick up words that have strong emotion in them, which is why you often hear birds saying things like "hello!" "bath time?" "wanna treat?" "I love you!" etc.

 

[DebsFlock]

My green cheek talks a great deal. They are somewhat harder to understand than, say, a Grey, but if you talk to your bird, you have a much better chance it will talk back to you! Especially if you say things in a consistent context and with enthusiasm.

You could see if your bird enjoys other veggies, like carrots, squash, kale, chard, really most vegetables that you would eat. My gcc loves corn cut off the cob.