New Gold Capped Conure Owner

[TwoNames]

Let me start by saying up until about 3 days ago I haven't had good experiences with parrots, 'keets or any other pet bird ever in my life. That experience had made me not much of a bird person throughout my life. My fiancé has always asked if she could get a bird, a parrot, a cockatiel or parakeets and I've always told her I'm not much of a bird person and always said no.

So long story short a lady in a nearby town offered a free "parrot" with cage and other toys, seed and miscellaneous items due to a severe allergy. The missus immediately turned to bribery, promises of cooking and other things and I caved finally. The lady said she owned it for a month or so and that his previous owner stated he was 6-7 years old.

Her pictures were poor quality and we thought we were going to pick up a lovebird. When we showed up and I saw him, "conure" popped into my mind. We gathered his cage and items and she gave us a travel cage with him and headed home. When we got home, we put him in his cage with the door open to see how he responded.

Within 10 minutes he was out of his cage, stepping up, standing on shoulders, chirping and having a fun old time. I was shocked at how quickly he adapted to a new home! I was doubly impressed about how friendly he was. Day two and he was flying around landing on shoulders, near family on couches and just generally having a blast. Needless to say this cute little bugger has converted me.

I have done some research and he was fed a seed only diet with some apple and carrot. I already have requests into Harrison's, Lafeber and Roudybush for some sample pellets and other treats to start converting him to a more nutritious diet. Now of my questions:

1. He doesn't accept food from my hand, he hides from it actually. I am friendly and approach slowly, but as soon as he sees food he bolts. He has no other issues with hands near his head and actually allows head scratches, beak petting and other loving gestures. Is this normal? Can he be trained to accept hand feeding?

2. As I will be spending the most time with him being a stay at home dad are there ways to teach him to lay on his back? The missus has asked me this and I just don't know.

3. He prefers the company of the missus and my two sons over me when they are home, but loves to hang out with me when they are gone. Is this normal?

4. He does this weird head thing sometimes. He will look at you, move his head toward you and then turn away like he's being all dramatic. Is this normal behavior and what can it mean?

5. What is a good treat to use for training? Is there a way to find out one treat that works better than the other?

Here's a picture of our new family member with our oldest son taken about 15 mins after he came home for the first time! Thanks for any information you can help me with!

 

[Xraysrrad]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

I am a fairly new to forum and a new conure owner. I’m sure that there are better experts to answer your questions, but I will share my thoughts.

1. I started feeding my conure treats with a plastic spoon, when I first got him. (He LOVED white grapes and they were messy anyway when cut into small pieces.) It really wasn’t long before he would accept food from my hand. I also started clicker training him within the first week. It made a HUGE difference.

2. Laying on his back requires A LOT of trust as he/she is at their most vulnerable. This takes time as you build your relationship. Might I suggest beginning with a few other tricks/behaviors first. I have had Bodhi since May. He has learned step up, turnaround, waves hello, flips on his perch, flying to me on cue and “stickem up”. We have just started lying on his back to play dead. However, in the evenings, he loves to cuddle and will lie on his side while on my chest or belly and enjoys being scratched under his wings!

3. My husband was not Bodhi’s favorite person either, in the beginning. My daughter and I are leaving next week to go on a trip for her graduation. My hubby started working with the clicker, in preparation for us leaving and since then Bodhi has really started to warm up to him.

4. Not sure about this.

5. As far as treats, you need to establish what is his favorite. Bodhi LOVES white grapes, apples, and sunflower seeds. Sometimes he will choose one over the other. I provided several of his favorites on one plate and watched what he chose first, then trained with that treat.

Adorable picture and congratulations on the addition to your family!
Robin

 

[StarryEyedGirl]

Welcome to the forum! What a cutie! I have a black capped conure and let me just put this out there. I was afraid of birds until I met my little guy. I have had Harley since December and my goodness gave I learned A LOT!

1. When trying new foods (even if it's from your hand) let him get used to the food first. Then go to having it in your hand and staying still and let him approach. It had to be on his terms. My harley for the longest time would only eat seed. As the pet store had him on an all seed diet. Usually they are hungriest in the morning so that would be the best time to try and earn his trust for hand feeding.

2. A bird feels most vulnerable when they are in their back. So this is usually something that when they feel comfortable with you, you can try. I will have harley step up and then slowly put my hand on his back and slowly flip him over. At this point I put my other hand ontop while he's on his back as kind of a blanket. I keep it there and now he actually falls asleep like that because he feels safe and warm. So it's really a trust thing. Give it time.

3. Harley is definitely a mommas boy and is with me where ever I go. He prefers me over my boyfriend because I am home with him all day. But he does go to my boyfriend when he knows he's in trouble. But as you spend more time with him, he will become more comfortable with you. They do tend to have a human they bond with more, but they will settle for second best if they have to. Again the more quality time you spend with him he will warm up to you more. So this behavior his normal.

4. It could be his personality. Harley does some weird dramatic behaviors. They are goof balls so they do silly things. As long as he isn't fluffed up and has his head down like he's going to attack, or he isn't biting to draw blood then just take it as a personality trait. Birds use their beaks to feel so if he nips lightly, it's not out of anger. He's feeling and testing to make sure it's safe for him. If you hear him do any beak grinding, he's happy/content. I'm not sure if gold capped conures 'quack' but harley does that when he's intrigued by something. He also 'purrs' when he's curious, or sees other birds.

5. It's all trial and error. Whatever he likes. Harley loves apples, pears, broccoli, carrots, Blueberry muffins, pasta, pretzels, cheese its, wheat thins, cheese and mashed potatoes. Keeping in mind when I first tried a few months ago to give him carrots, he didn't want anything to do with them. Would take them then throw them on the ground. But now he loves them. Try using seed as a treat only because there is no real beneficial health factors with seed. A pellet based diet is best.

Hopefully this had helped! Again, he's adorable! And looks like he'll fit right in!

 

[TwoNames]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

I am a fairly new to forum and a new conure owner. I’m sure that there are better experts to answer your questions, but I will share my thoughts.

1. I started feeding my conure treats with a plastic spoon, when I first got him. (He LOVED white grapes and they were messy anyway when cut into small pieces.) It really wasn’t long before he would accept food from my hand. I also started clicker training him within the first week. It made a HUGE difference.

2. Laying on his back requires A LOT of trust as he/she is at their most vulnerable. This takes time as you build your relationship. Might I suggest beginning with a few other tricks/behaviors first. I have had Bodhi since May. He has learned step up, turnaround, waves hello, flips on his perch, flying to me on cue and “stickem up”. We have just started lying on his back to play dead. However, in the evenings, he loves to cuddle and will lie on his side while on my chest or belly and enjoys being scratched under his wings!

3. My husband was not Bodhi’s favorite person either, in the beginning. My daughter and I are leaving next week to go on a trip for her graduation. My hubby started working with the clicker, in preparation for us leaving and since then Bodhi has really started to warm up to him.

4. Not sure about this.

5. As far as treats, you need to establish what is his favorite. Bodhi LOVES white grapes, apples, and sunflower seeds. Sometimes he will choose one over the other. I provided several of his favorites on one plate and watched what he chose first, then trained with that treat.

Adorable picture and congratulations on the addition to your family!
Robin

Awesome, thank you for the information. Have him trying out some Kale, Jalapeños with some apple to see if he will try the kale and jalapeños. The missus is bringing home some other fruits and veggies for him to try.

He hangs out with me no problem when the missus is out.

 

[StarryEyedGirl]

Non-toxic for birds list and a list of things that are toxic for birds.

Safe and toxic fruits, vegetables and trees for conures and parrots. It's very useful.

 

[thekarens]

Another thing to try is to have him hang out with you when you're eating healthy. My birds always want whatever I'm eating.

 

[TwoNames]

Non-toxic for birds list and a list of things that are toxic for birds.

Safe and toxic fruits, vegetables and trees for conures and parrots. It's very useful.

Thank you for the information! Now I can see what all he likes

Another thing to try is to have him hang out with you when you're eating healthy. My birds always want whatever I'm eating.

This is an awesome idea! I always eat healthy so maybe I'll bring him over. For some reason he doesn't like getting on tables though, couch, shoulders, perches, cage, and everything else he'll get on but not the table. Is this kinda weird?

 

[MyFlock]

The table might be too scary for him just yet but he'll get used to it.

 

[TwoNames]

Does anyone know what this behavior is? That dramatic head turn he does, he'll approach you and then do this. Or, he'll lean towards you and do this.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxwbkKEW6t0"]Baby Being Dramatic[/ame]

 

[StarryEyedGirl]

The only time I've seen birds do that is when they're in a dancing mood. He's probably just being silly. Doesn't seem threatening at all.

 

[StarryEyedGirl]

[ame="https://youtu.be/483fHb9-HVo"]Being Silly - YouTube[/ame]

My Harley being weird. He does this every time he sees himself in the mirror.

 

[Kyoto]

Such cute conures I love seeing the funny little quirks that other peoples' conures have