New Green Cheek Mom (Questions)

[Seppun]

I haven't posted in the introduction threads yet, but new to the forums here and also new to Conures. I've owned Parakeets and hand raised some wild Starlings that I rehabilitated and re-released (just the Starlings were reintroduced to the wild, not the parakeets obviously), but this is our first adventure with a larger bird.

Idris is our new six month old Cinnamon Green Cheek Conure that we adopted on Wednesday, making tonight the third night with us. I recognize that things are going to take time, and that's fine, but I did have some concerns that I'm not sure how to approach.

Idris was kept in a small finch flight cage with 5 other Conures, with one dowel rod perch and a food/water bowl. Nothing else. They clipped her wings wrong, too high up and all the way across, and her tail feathers were completely plucked by her cage mates.

Now that we have her home, she's a lone bird with a 30x30 cage, a variety of toys and different perch sizes. My concern comes in that we're on night 3 now and short of walking around the bars of the cage to get to her food and water, she has not touched a single toy or tried anything but the perch size she is used to.

She's checked out perfectly fine at the vets office, and she is showing signs of accepting us since last night. She seemed really restless last night, so I went ahead and let her out of the cage. She spent 8 hours exploring my room, high and low, and by the end of it was willing to sit on my lap and accept seeds from my hands if I didn't move. She also sways back and forth when I sing to her, often drifting off to sleep. Despite what I feel was a monumental leap for the amount of time invested and how much change she is going through, she still doesn't do anything but sit on one spot in her cage.

Is this normal bird behavior? Just too many changes? Weak foot muscles maybe? Soaking it all in? I'm hoping most of this is just in my head, she's just a chill bird, and I'm freaking out. Hoping for any advice or encouragement any of you can give. Thanks!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

It's not surprise the way she is acting, it doesn't sound like she was raised right at all It took me around a year and a half for my galah to really play with toys, and it's still muuuch less than most birds(but a lot for her).
Play with toys in front of her, find treats that she likes and stuff them in the toys, use foraging toys, paper is often a favorite with birds, be very creative and offer different types of toys to find out what she likes the most.

She hasn't been with you too long, she is in a completely new enviroment and most parrots are a little frightened. After 2 weeks(give or take) she should be settled in.

 

[weco]

Welcome to the forum.....Copper's giving you some good info.....

 

[Seppun]

I was watching your videos from the "My Bird Has Turned On Me" thread, do you think touch training would be the best method for a bird that's as disinterested as she is? And is that something you recommend to start with soon, or should I just let her relax a bit for the next week?
A bit off topic, but I see you use clicker training, I didn't like clicker training for my dogs just because I never seemed to have it nearby when I needed it and got sick of carrying it around everywhere. With my dogs I just use a clucking sound with my tongue, is that enough for a bird as well?
Thanks for your time! <3

 

[Tonkatiel]

Great advice from Copper

I had the exact same issues with my cockatiel when I brought him home - except he wouldn't even come out of the cage...
2-3 weeks later he FINALLY started exploring his cage... We discovered that he goes absolutely NUTS for millet - so to get him interested in toys and such we started hiding millet in them - toys designed for hiding food in are obviously the easiest for this, but we also wrapped millet sprays around his other toys, and put some on the bottom of the cage or next to perches other than his favourite to encourage him to explore. (We didn't do all of this in one day lol, spread it out a bit ), and now he'll happily explore without treats being there, and he doesn't always sit on his one favourite perch... I think a lot of his problem was simply that he needed time. He was parent raised in an outdoor aviary before going to the pet shop where he had much the same living arrangements as your conure. Coming to live in a scary new (loud) home in a cage by himself full of strange colourful toys and a crazy lady talking to him all the time was a lot to take in all at once I think lol...

Anyway, good luck! Remember it'll all be worth it in the end, and keep us updated!

 

[kellie]

Hello!

I just got a Sun Conure and when I first brought him home he exhibited the exact same behavior! He didn't start playing with any of his toys until about 4 days in and rarely used any of his perches. One thing that did help him start using his perches was moving one way high up in his cage. Conures like to be high up. He still favors his high perch.

Don't be worried that he hasn't been playing with toys. Just think about how much is new to him right now- new cage, new home, new owners, new things to look at. He will play with them if he gets bored, but with all these changes, he is probably far from bored!

 

[Bynnie]

Hi Seppun, I am brand new here too! In your post you mentioned that they trimmed her wings wrong...I got my Greencheeks last year with their wings clipped way too high also...
but it has almost been a year and most of those feathers grew in. My birds would just drop like a rock off the cage if they got spooked by a noise or a reflection from car windows driving by. Because they spooked easy usually the feathers that were growing in would break.

I think that conures feathers grow only in pairs (1 feather on each wing at a time) So now that I have had them for almost a year they are finally starting to be able to get some lift when they fly...distance of about 12-15 feet.

I would just try to make sure her cage is not too high so she breaks her new feathers when they come in...(My experience) and another thing, Every conure i have met (usually at pet stores) is really the sweetest birds that love attention. It is a really good sign she is socializing with you...it has only been 3 days...give her 3 weeks and she will show you her colors and in 3 months time you will wonder what you were ever worrying about.

Tip...my green cheeks love oat groats...I use these as treats for them to learn tricks. Conures are super smart...one of my girls learned how to flip in about 15 to 20 minutes. And they have learned how to "Give me 4" after a very short amount of time too.

Enjoy your conure!

Bynnie

 

[Seppun]

Thank you for all of the replies. Idris finally started playing with her toys today, and LOVED a nice bath last night.

I got her to first start playing with toys by putting two jingly cat toys (the hard plastic whiffle ball like ones) in her food dish, she quickly discovered she likes the noise and likes to toss and roll them around to get her food out, so she's eating with her feet now as well. Yay for less mess! She's been gleefully swinging and hanging upside down from her swing all morning.

As her previous owners gave her nothing but Zupreem, she was also leery of any other foods, but I've found she likes dried peppers, broccoli, and likes cracking her own unsalted peanuts for a start.

She's taken to touch training pretty well, we can actually have her step-up onto the stick and then let us carry her around by that. It's so much easier to get her back in to her cage now, thank God.

I'm a stay-at-home mom while my husband works, so I obviously get a lot more time to work with her than he does. He's getting a little disheartened seeing her making these steps with me, but I keep reminding him that we should take it more as a blessing. Seeing her reactions to me as compared to him are really showing how far she's come in just a few days. He accidentally startled her today while offering her a treat and she actually flew to me instead of her cage.

So, long story short, I think Idris is going to be great. It's a shame that her old owners didn't take care of what is proving to be such a good bird, we're super proud to be her new family. Thanks again for all of the advice, and please keep sharing any tips for a new parrot home.