New Green Cheek Conure

[Calorious]

Okay, I am thinking that Calorious is a younger person, but I could be wrong. I would say that we should not be yelling at him/her or about the bird. Because this person is trying to enjoy the pet in the way it is used to from the ring neck. Yes, maybe the bird isn’t ready. But let’s not punish someone who obviously wants to do the right thing and cares about the bird.

I don’t see the bird biting in the video. I see what we call beaking, checking the feel of things with it’s beak and tongue. The bird is not inflating it’s head feathers and it’s definitely not attacking. Those of us with GCC know darn well that when they want to bite they will clamp down immediately. I am sure all of us with other GCC know the step up starts usually with them using their beaks until they are comfortable that we are not going to hurt them or drop them.

I am wondering if the bird is weaned. It looks like and based upon the age it should be. My opinion is it would be a mistake to try to hand feed this bird based upon age and also whether or not Calorious has experience.

I also think Calorious should read some background information on conures. The screaming (flock call) at night (sunset) is normal. Same thing should happen at sunrise to a degree too.

Don’t get discouraged. Don’t give up. Take your time. Let the bird take its time. And things will be the best they can be. Will it be the same as your ring neck was? Maybe not. But it will still become your friend if you go slow and let it adjust to you too. We have three green cheeks, and each is different. River loves to play and roll around, be scratched and falls asleep on his side when on my shirt or lap. He loves his beak and under beak rubbed. Summer, she prefers to just be perched and have her head rubbed when she’s sleepy. Rainbow is newest to family, and right now he just wants to be held.

So just go into this with no set expectations and let the bird show you what it likes and don’t. I personally feel based upon your video that it is starting to calm down and just don’t force the issue. Open cage. Let it come out itself. Then you go see if it wants to come to you. Let it be on the bird’s terms. Just keep trying and the bond will slowly form.

Don’t let anyone discourage you. And let’s all try to help our fellow new owner in the best way possible for her/him and the bird.

My 2 cents for what little it is worth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I am someone younger and I still depend on my parents.
I have experience hand-feeding but I'm mainly doing it because this GCC seems to go kind of crazy over food.
It just constantly wants to eat and goes back to his cage to eat the small amount of food I put it in his cage's food bowl when he can't get any more from me.



As for what Talven said, it's something I'll take note of regarding it's maturity.
Yeah I do feel that I'm pushing it a little hard. But I'm not really sure what else I can do with it if it were to just live in it's cage the entire time.
I'm not sure if the chain is really removable. I got it from the bird shop and they said that they had put the chain when they were just born. They also mentioned that they are probably not able to remove the chain. This bird has a purple metal band that contains something like a 6 digit identifier that I'm sure is used should this bird get lost.

The metal chain has to go through the leg and can't be directly removed from the side of the leg so I'm not sure how I would remove it too.

I'm fine with any sorts of messages and however critical they may sound.

 

[Talven]

To remove the chain you would have to go to a vet and have it cut off with wire cutters or something similar. Too much risk of serious injury to the bird to attempt to do it yourself.

 

[Calorious]

To remove the chain you would have to go to a vet and have it cut off with wire cutters or something similar. Too much risk of serious injury to the bird to attempt to do it yourself.

Is the chain going to be something very major?
I'm sure the chain wouldn't one day randomly clamp onto the parrot's leg because there's nothing in the parrot's reach that could possibly go into the small hole at the leg.
If it's outside, I'll be putting it in a smaller travel cage with nothing else but one wooden perch.
While it's inside, there's only it's stand to perch and it's cage.

 

[Talven]

The chain could get caught on the bars of the cage. If you allow your bird free time out of the cage loose about your house there are many potential things it could get caught on. At the end of the day though it's up to you what you do about it. Personally I would remove it because I know how much it would annoy me to have to drag around a length of chain attached to my leg.

 

[Matt_Sassy]

I've just bought a new green cheek conure.
I feel that it's already got a bad impression of me.
It refuses to eat and just sits there.
I try to get it on my arm and it goes on my arm for a few seconds and tries to fly off or it bites me.
However, it's wings are clipped.
How do I get it more used to me?
(It's currently 4 months old)

It also keeps on biting me very hard to the point where there's blood.
It bites whenever it's on my hand and I'm transporting it around my house.

Firstly, welcome to the forums, and welcome to your Conures! Sorry to hear about your loss, I can't even imagine what that feels like.

Was he like this when you picked him out at the petstore/breeder? I prefer to meet my birds and spend a couple days going back and forth to the petstore to get to know them before brininging the bird home to determine a good fit. Was he hand fed also?

My advice to you with any new bird you bring home is:

1) Put his/her cage in a quiet spot of the home away from your other pets (This will also help quarantine any diseases/pests your new bird may have from the rest of your flock")

2) Give it space and time to adapt. Some birds take 1-2 days to get used to their new environment, some take 1-2 Weeks.

3) Establish a schedule, (IE, bedtime, cleaning, feeding)

4) Avoid sticking your hands in the cage to catch or hold it, Once you're comfortable the bird is established in his new home, introduce your fingers first.

5) Attempt to hand feed, offer healthy treats.


Please! Remove the chain from the bird, this is awful and can result in an injured/dead bird. Do your research before buying these beautiful animals!
As our other forum members have stated, refrain from touching the bird anyplace but its head, touch below and you'll sexually frustrate your bird into thinking you want to court him/her which is a great way to ensure the biting continues.

 

[Calorious]

I've just bought a new green cheek conure.
I feel that it's already got a bad impression of me.
It refuses to eat and just sits there.
I try to get it on my arm and it goes on my arm for a few seconds and tries to fly off or it bites me.
However, it's wings are clipped.
How do I get it more used to me?
(It's currently 4 months old)

It also keeps on biting me very hard to the point where there's blood.
It bites whenever it's on my hand and I'm transporting it around my house.

Firstly, welcome to the forums, and welcome to your Conures! Sorry to hear about your loss, I can't even imagine what that feels like.

Was he like this when you picked him out at the petstore/breeder? I prefer to meet my birds and spend a couple days going back and forth to the petstore to get to know them before brininging the bird home to determine a good fit. Was he hand fed also?

My advice to you with any new bird you bring home is:

1) Put his/her cage in a quiet spot of the home away from your other pets (This will also help quarantine any diseases/pests your new bird may have from the rest of your flock")

2) Give it space and time to adapt. Some birds take 1-2 days to get used to their new environment, some take 1-2 Weeks.

3) Establish a schedule, (IE, bedtime, cleaning, feeding)

4) Avoid sticking your hands in the cage to catch or hold it, Once you're comfortable the bird is established in his new home, introduce your fingers first.

5) Attempt to hand feed, offer healthy treats.


Please! Remove the chain from the bird, this is awful and can result in an injured/dead bird. Do your research before buying these beautiful animals!
As our other forum members have stated, refrain from touching the bird anyplace but its head, touch below and you'll sexually frustrate your bird into thinking you want to court him/her which is a great way to ensure the biting continues.

He wasn't like this when he was at the pet store. He didn't bite when I got close to it at the petstore, but I think he may just be trying to adjust to his new environment.

1. Yeah, it's been a few days and he's started to get more relaxed while I handfeed him. However, his cage is beside my 2 -3 months old pineapple conure which hasn't weaned yet and he went in and bit the pineapple conure. That's when I finally realised that they can't stay together.

2. Today is about the third day. It's gotten more used to how I handle it and it also could leave the cage just with some food from my hand and recognizing me through my face.

3. Don't really have a schedule for my parrots because I usually play with them for about 2/3 of the day before allowing them at sunset at about 6:30pm.
From there I just bring them back to their cages and let them rest.
2/3 of the day I usually feed it by handfeeding and bring it to shower if there is the sun. Apart from this everything else is done at his own time.

4. It knows that a hand is coming in and it can't seem to recognize my face through the cage. So I usually just pop my face at the cage entrance for him to recognize me before putting my hand in, it seems to be fine like this.

5. I'm feeding it a Fruitblend (and sometimes seeds & pellets) (see the attachment for a picture of the Fruitblend) similar to my ringneck. I used Fruitblend to train my ringneck and offer it as his treat. However, now I'm just feeding it Fruitblend as it's diet.

I'll try to approach a vet to get the chain removed.
Yeah but I'm not sure how I would interact with the bird without sexually frustrating it actually.
wrench13 previously mentioned head and neck only (in another thread) but can I just touch it or stroke it or..??

 

[Talven]

No touching/stroking back, belly or under wings. Scratches on top of head or back of neck only. No letting it eat from your mouth (ew gross in my opinion) Avoid warm mushy foods or anything that is nest like. So no letting your bird into your clothes either. I'm sure there is more that we shouldn't do but I can't remember off the top of my head. If you can avoid all of those it will reduce the chances of a hormonal, sexually frustrated bird.

 

[Calorious]

Other questions

No touching/stroking back, belly or under wings. Scratches on top of head or back of neck only. No letting it eat from your mouth (ew gross in my opinion) Avoid warm mushy foods or anything that is nest like. So no letting your bird into your clothes either. I'm sure there is more that we shouldn't do but I can't remember off the top of my head. If you can avoid all of those it will reduce the chances of a hormonal, sexually frustrated bird.

I'll take note of this.
Something I've noticed for this past 3 days is that they eat a lot. Either they never stop eating or they overeat as I continuously feed them (while I'm handfeeding).

I know there's something called the bird's crop that should be larger and rounder so as to show whether the parrot is full.
However, I don't know if I'm feeding it too less. But even as I let him eat by himself, his crop just never seems to grow very large, making it hard for me to see whether he actually is eating too much.

Secondly, I am handfeeding it instead of letting it eat on his own accord because he seems to ignore every human in the world as long as he has food.
This means that I can't even get him out of the cage if I were to let him eat by himself and he becomes full. Is this something normal or can I change this habit so that he doesn't just ignore the world when he has food?


Thirdly, I can't really understand bird's body language that much. (View attachment 1)
My bird looks like this very often.
This is what my bird looks like when it has no food and doesn't have anything to do. It just stands there with his eyes almost closed, both feet on the perch and his tail is like drooping down almost fully straight (Time was 5:00pm, about to begin raining, so I had to increase the camera brightness).
Can anyone give any idea on what this parrot may mean by doing this?
(Is he sleeping? I thought parrots would sleep with one leg up.)
If he's actually bored, I also am not sure what I could do with him as an activity. I would ask for some ideas too.

 

[Alembic772]

Re: Other questions

No touching/stroking back, belly or under wings. Scratches on top of head or back of neck only. No letting it eat from your mouth (ew gross in my opinion) Avoid warm mushy foods or anything that is nest like. So no letting your bird into your clothes either. I'm sure there is more that we shouldn't do but I can't remember off the top of my head. If you can avoid all of those it will reduce the chances of a hormonal, sexually frustrated bird.

I'll take note of this.
Something I've noticed for this past 3 days is that they eat a lot. Either they never stop eating or they overeat as I continuously feed them (while I'm handfeeding).

I know there's something called the bird's crop that should be larger and rounder so as to show whether the parrot is full.
However, I don't know if I'm feeding it too less. But even as I let him eat by himself, his crop just never seems to grow very large, making it hard for me to see whether he actually is eating too much.

Secondly, I am handfeeding it instead of letting it eat on his own accord because he seems to ignore every human in the world as long as he has food.
This means that I can't even get him out of the cage if I were to let him eat by himself and he becomes full. Is this something normal or can I change this habit so that he doesn't just ignore the world when he has food?


Thirdly, I can't really understand bird's body language that much. (View attachment 1)
My bird looks like this very often.
This is what my bird looks like when it has no food and doesn't have anything to do. It just stands there with his eyes almost closed, both feet on the perch and his tail is like drooping down almost fully straight (Time was 5:00pm, about to begin raining, so I had to increase the camera brightness).
Can anyone give any idea on what this parrot may mean by doing this?
(Is he sleeping? I thought parrots would sleep with one leg up.)
If he's actually bored, I also am not sure what I could do with him as an activity. I would ask for some ideas too.

First off, they are still little birds. They will eat a lot. Those little hearts and lungs burn a ton of calories. The birds should always have access to some type of food. Birds will eat when they are hungry, and not allowing them food can make them upset and sick.

The hand feeding is okay, but they should always have some type of normal food for them in case they are hungry or wanting to forrage. If this bird is truly 4 months old, it's crop should have shrunk now, as it should be feeding itself. Based upon my own experience, if hand feeding at all this late, it would be a small amount, like 4ml maybe twice a day. The rest of the time the bird should be feeding itself.

The bird looks like it wants to sleep. You should always have toys for chewing and playing on around the bird. Conures are super active birds, and should be encouraged to play with their toys. Otherwise, things you don't want chewed might get chewed... well, that's going to happen anyways In the picture you sent me, it looks like he wants to rest. Most parrots sleep between 10-14 hours a day. So, it's normal for him to want to take a rest in the middle of the day. It's 10:24am here, and my eclectus is on his tree stand, eyes closed and sleeping. This is normal.

As far as an activity. Get a small cotton ball or plastic ball, and roll it and see if he will go get it and play with it. One of ours loves cotton swabs, and plays with them (cotton and cardboard type, no plastic).

Not all birds sleep on one foot. Some do, some don't. Our turquoise will actually sleep on his back or side if he can find a place to prop himself up.

 

[Matt_Sassy]

I've just bought a new green cheek conure.
I feel that it's already got a bad impression of me.
It refuses to eat and just sits there.
I try to get it on my arm and it goes on my arm for a few seconds and tries to fly off or it bites me.
However, it's wings are clipped.
How do I get it more used to me?
(It's currently 4 months old)

It also keeps on biting me very hard to the point where there's blood.
It bites whenever it's on my hand and I'm transporting it around my house.

Firstly, welcome to the forums, and welcome to your Conures! Sorry to hear about your loss, I can't even imagine what that feels like.

Was he like this when you picked him out at the petstore/breeder? I prefer to meet my birds and spend a couple days going back and forth to the petstore to get to know them before brininging the bird home to determine a good fit. Was he hand fed also?

My advice to you with any new bird you bring home is:

1) Put his/her cage in a quiet spot of the home away from your other pets (This will also help quarantine any diseases/pests your new bird may have from the rest of your flock")

2) Give it space and time to adapt. Some birds take 1-2 days to get used to their new environment, some take 1-2 Weeks.

3) Establish a schedule, (IE, bedtime, cleaning, feeding)

4) Avoid sticking your hands in the cage to catch or hold it, Once you're comfortable the bird is established in his new home, introduce your fingers first.

5) Attempt to hand feed, offer healthy treats.


Please! Remove the chain from the bird, this is awful and can result in an injured/dead bird. Do your research before buying these beautiful animals!
As our other forum members have stated, refrain from touching the bird anyplace but its head, touch below and you'll sexually frustrate your bird into thinking you want to court him/her which is a great way to ensure the biting continues.

He wasn't like this when he was at the pet store. He didn't bite when I got close to it at the petstore, but I think he may just be trying to adjust to his new environment.

1. Yeah, it's been a few days and he's started to get more relaxed while I handfeed him. However, his cage is beside my 2 -3 months old pineapple conure which hasn't weaned yet and he went in and bit the pineapple conure. That's when I finally realised that they can't stay together.

2. Today is about the third day. It's gotten more used to how I handle it and it also could leave the cage just with some food from my hand and recognizing me through my face.

3. Don't really have a schedule for my parrots because I usually play with them for about 2/3 of the day before allowing them at sunset at about 6:30pm.
From there I just bring them back to their cages and let them rest.
2/3 of the day I usually feed it by handfeeding and bring it to shower if there is the sun. Apart from this everything else is done at his own time.

4. It knows that a hand is coming in and it can't seem to recognize my face through the cage. So I usually just pop my face at the cage entrance for him to recognize me before putting my hand in, it seems to be fine like this.

5. I'm feeding it a Fruitblend (and sometimes seeds & pellets) (see the attachment for a picture of the Fruitblend) similar to my ringneck. I used Fruitblend to train my ringneck and offer it as his treat. However, now I'm just feeding it Fruitblend as it's diet.

I'll try to approach a vet to get the chain removed.
Yeah but I'm not sure how I would interact with the bird without sexually frustrating it actually.
wrench13 previously mentioned head and neck only (in another thread) but can I just touch it or stroke it or..??

Have you ever sprinkled salt from a salt shaker with your fingers? Do this to the top of your Conures head(When he's used to you and not running away). He'll let you know if he likes it. Some parrots love it and will respond with resting their head on your hand while you do it and start to fall asleep, some will growl/nibble at you. They're like Cats, each bird likes something different.

You should SERIOUSLY consider sticking to a schedule as just like one of our members stated, parrots need 10-12 hours of sleep if you want to avoid a nippy, angry parrot, right now My "flock" wakes up at 8 AM, I put fresh water/food mix at 9AM, they get fresh fruit+veggies at 12PM, I remove the fruit dish and clean it for use tommorow at 7PM, bedtime is at 8PM, A full 12 hours, you'll benefit from it yourself and your birds will benefit from it as well.

Please, the next time you invest in getting a parrot, please do your research. This shouldn't be an afterthought. You should be doing tons of research and spending time with the parrot before you go and pick it out. Your bird is stressed beyond belief.

 

[Matt_Sassy]

Can we get an update?

 

[Talven]

I believe the bird in question is currently lost.

 

[Matt_Sassy]

Very sad. Conures are amazing little parrots.

 

[Calorious]

I believe the bird in question is currently lost.

No he isn't lol.
Sorry for not updating but

I just never really checked back to this thread. Either I'm blind and can't find the close thread button or there isn't one.
This bird is currently doing okay now. He seems to be pretty comfortable with my family.
Only one problem is regarding his biting habits and how hard they are. So I'm currently doing bite pressure training. Sometimes he listens to the keyword, sometimes he just continues to bite. But most of the time he is able to understand the keyword and follow accordingly though.

Here's how he's doing now. Taken a few weeks ago but he doesn't seem to have many physical changes.

 

[Matt_Sassy]

I believe the bird in question is currently lost.

No he isn't lol.
Sorry for not updating but

I just never really checked back to this thread. Either I'm blind and can't find the close thread button or there isn't one.
This bird is currently doing okay now. He seems to be pretty comfortable with my family.
Only one problem is regarding his biting habits and how hard they are. So I'm currently doing bite pressure training. Sometimes he listens to the keyword, sometimes he just continues to bite. But most of the time he is able to understand the keyword and follow accordingly though.

Here's how he's doing now. Taken a few weeks ago but he doesn't seem to have many physical changes.

So glad to hear everything has worked out with you.