New dusky headed conure(Arantinga Weddellii)

[ArianJordan]

Hi! I'm going to be picking up a cage for tango my "soon to be" dusky headed conure and I have been getting lots of mixed information regarding bar spacing for him. The majority of the information I'm getting is conures should have a maximum bar spacing of 3/4", some people say you can go up to one inch. Can anybody tell me what is right because I want to buy a big cage, but obviously the bigger the cage the bigger the bar spacing. Can anybody help? The more input the better

 

[apatrimo94]

Congratulations on your new conure! And Welcome to the forum, loads of info here! I would recommend the 3/4 inch, but to be safe, go with a 1/2 inch. You have no idea how flexible birds are, and they can squeeze out, but also they migh get stuck if nobody's around to help, they could die.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Ah, another dusky victim!

I don't know what the 'recommendations' are, but Auggie's cage has 1 inch spacing. It has never been a problem except for one spot he has scared me with. There are little doors for food/water bowls that I don't really use. These doors are three bars high and the bars are offset from the rest so the spacing between them is closer to 1.25". Auggie has poked his head through these a couple of times - but only when I was putting him to bed and I was right on the other side of the cage.

These spots are very easy to cover (especially by simply having the bowl there).

The 1" spacing has never been a problem.

 

[ArianJordan]

Thanks for all the information. Auggies dad, I've always loved conures especially dusky headed conures, from your experiences do you think a dusky headed conure is a good choice?

P.S. I think I might just go with the 1 inch bar spacing because that just means I can get a bigger cage.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I'm a conure addict, and of course in my opinion duskies are the best. But are they a good choice? That really depends on what it is you're looking for in a feathered friend. Each species has their pros and cons.

Some of the cons with duskies, which would partially apply to the whole genus, are there screaming and their biting.

Auggie has his loud times, but that I haven't had much issue with. In fact I've lived with him in two apartments and apparently the neighbors never hear him. Biting ... there is much you can do to minimize or redirect that, but getting large chunks of flesh periodically removed is just part of life with a conure - especially as they go through a couple of their hormonal phases.

I've often used the nickname, which I believe originally came from TexDot, for conures: cuisinarts with wings.

Duskies are not known for their talking ability, though they'll certainly learn some words if you devote some effort to this. They are also not known for flashy colors (obviously). They are known primarily for their cuddly personality. Along with cockatoos ducky conures are the velcro birds. Auggie spends most of his time tucked climbing around in my shirt. For example: Jesse Don't mind some non working links on the page, it hasn't been updated in a bit.

 

[ArianJordan]

That's a cool site, thanks for sharing. Tango seems very similar to Auggie, he likes to venture down my shirt as well. He is very cuddly, just like a dusky should be, and very nice. I read a couple of books on conures, seeing this is going to be my first bird, and the dusky headed conure was one of the ones that caught my eye. It was between him and a jenday, and he was the one to choose me. I'm already in love with him and I don't even technically own him. Thank you so much for all the advice and help. He seems to be fairly quiet when he's not copying the jenday's scream, but I know that can change. He's fairly nippy now, only because he's going through his first molt. Other than that he's just a perfect little bird. I just can't wait to take him home.

P.S. I hope birds are not that much of a challenge(I did do research). I've only owned dogs and fish before. If anyone has any good tips or pointers to a new bird owner feel free to share

 

[GreenCheek]

Good luck on your Dusky! I remember how excited I was when I put my deposit down on Cody, who is my first bird. There's nothing quite like it!

And as far as pointers go, it is going to be challenging! But that's all part of the fun in owning parrots! They need lots of attention, lots of variety in their diet, and be prepared to have it quite noisy from time to time! But the love they give you in return is sooo worth any headaches you may obtain!

 

[apatrimo94]

Hey, when it comes to owning a bird, it's always a challenge, LOL. There's no easy way out. But here's some good tips that every parrot owner should know and will help make life easier living with you fid(s):
-When it comes to training, always stick to positive reinforcements. Never resort to negative punishment (e. hitting, yelling, taking food away) Reward the good, not the bad.
-Always feed a balanced diet
-Give them lots of love and care, and they'll return it.
I could go on forever, but those are some basics. Good luck with whatever life brings!

 

[Auggie's Dad]

As a pedantic point, hitting, yelling, and the like are technically positive punishment. Negative punishment can be quite useful as that is things like a time-out, withholding a treat, etc.

For anyone who cares (probably no one), behavioral terminology is as follows:
-Positive reinforcement: GIVING or ADDING something that leads to an increase in (the rate of) a behavior.
-Negative reinforcement: Taking away or withholding something leading to an increase in a behavior.
-Positive punishment: Giving or adding something that leads to a decrease in a behavior.
-Negative punishment: Taking away or withholding something leading to a decrease in behavior.

Positive reinforcement should be the prime focus, but you really cant utilize that without also using negative punishment: if they do well you give a treat, if they do badly you take away the treat.

 

[HRH Di]

Congratulations on Tango. I think most of the basics are covered above. I equate getting a parrot to bringing home a newborn. It's so exciting, but your life will never, ever be the same...for good or bad. They need lots of attention and training...just like a child. They need freedom but they also need boundries - you might not mind that he steals bites from your plate at dinner, but will everyone? IMO, a badly trained/undisciplined parrot is much worse than a badly trained/undisciplined dog or cat.

All that said, I wouldn't trade my flock for anything.

 

[GreenCheek]

As a pedantic point, hitting, yelling, and the like are technically positive punishment. Negative punishment can be quite useful as that is things like a time-out, withholding a treat, etc.

For anyone who cares (probably no one), behavioral terminology is as follows:
-Positive reinforcement: GIVING or ADDING something that leads to an increase in (the rate of) a behavior.
-Negative reinforcement: Taking away or withholding something leading to an increase in a behavior.
-Positive punishment: Giving or adding something that leads to a decrease in a behavior.
-Negative punishment: Taking away or withholding something leading to a decrease in behavior.

Positive reinforcement should be the prime focus, but you really cant utilize that without also using negative punishment: if they do well you give a treat, if they do badly you take away the treat.

Ahh, feels like Psych class again

 

[ArianJordan]

You guys dont even know the trouble I just been through, LOL. I just drove 2 hours to pick up tango's bird cage, came home and opened the box to build it and realized they gave me the wrong one. Now I have to drive back tomorrow before work. I gave them **** but whats done is done.

Thanks everyone for the advice, it's really very helpful. I will make sure I train tango with positive reinforcement, seeing that's what I use because I'm a dog trainer. As for negative punishment, I already give him timeouts when he bites, or I just ignore the bad behavior.

I'm really glad I found this forum, everybodys been very helpful. Thanks alot everyone.

 

[HiroGcc]

I have a green cheek conure im not sure how much bigger or smaller dusky heads are BUT i just had to return his cage because my little ninja bird was squeezing through the bars and getting out which is very dangerous for so many reasons and he had 3/4 inch bar spacing, I unfortunatley had to downgrade his cage size just a litte because the smaller bar spacings mean smaller cage usually, but he spends so much time out of his cage that I only feel a little bad. Knowing he cant get out and get eaten by another pet or get stuck and strangle to death while we are sleeping makes me feel alot better about the slightly smaller cage.

 

[ArianJordan]

Your right Hiro I would not like Tango getting out of his cage even though I do trust my dog. You never know what a conure can get itself into to.

On another note, I finally got a cage. It's about 3 feet by 3 feet by 4 feet, and it's perfect. It has a play gym on top which makes it even taller then 4 feet. And the door is a full panel door so it's easy to clean. I've already started decorating it with perches and toys. I have a variety of perches, including rope, plastic chain, swing, branch, wacky wood, and a sand perch. Is there a type of perch I'm missing? Also are any of these perches not good for a conure? I was also told moving perches are good for conures because that's what they would perch on in the wild, is this true?

 

[Mrspy]

Hello there, congrats on the great decision. Well drs foster and smith say that bar spacing for conures can be from 1/2" to no more than 7/8".

 

[ArianJordan]

New Update:

My cage has been set up and empty for a while now. I was suppose to purchase Tango a little while ago but I couldn't because the breeder was treating him for a crop infection. I was pretty sure he was getting better, but we just found a small bump on his chest. I freaked out because I thought it might be a growth or tumor, but the breeder thinks it might be an ingrown feather. It looks like their might be blood plasma and, or pus. Which would probably lead to an internal infection. He is at the vets now and I haven't heard anything yet. I'm freaking out because I'm really worried. He's not technically mine yet but I've been visiting for the past few months and I'm really attached to him, he's already part of my family.

If anyone knows any information on ingrown feathers, please share. It might make this waiting for information less stressful.

Thanks.

 

[apatrimo94]

All I know is, he should be fine. Ingrown feathers are not fatal or life threatening. Just some treatment and Tango should be fine.

 

[ArianJordan]

He just came back from the vets and is now in the pet store. The vet did a crop wash and swabbed his crop to see what type of bacteria was growing in there. They dId x rays, blood work, and checked all his levels. They did a cytology on the bump on his chest. He is getting probiotics for mess right now. We are still waiting on the results for the bacteria culture and the results for the cytology.