New here, GCC coming home soon!

[JLambert]

Hi everyone, I've been reading the forums for a few months but decided to finally say hello! A little background: I had cockatiels and parakeets as a child and have always loved birds. My oldest daughter (8) had been begging for a bird, so last year in February we finally got a Yellow Sided GCC. Nemo was not hand tamed and after doing a lot of research, we decided on the 'get him out of his cage and show him we aren't dangerous' method. It worked SO much better than the weeks we had already waited and tried letting him come to us. We allowed Nemo to become fully flighted and he loved having the run of the house.

Fast forward to this fall. Our nanny, who had always been instructed to NOT let Nemo out during the day, let him out. I got the call at work that Nemo had been accidentally shut in our front door as she tried to go out and get the mail and had forgotten he would follow. He passed quickly and peacefully as I rushed home to take him to the vet. We were absolutely devastated and so was she. We decided that having an empty cage was too heartbreaking, and since we couldn't find any GCC in the area we agreed on a cockatiel and parakeet. Sunny (cockatiel) and Rio (parakeet) have been amazing in the healing process! But we just couldn't help missing our funny conure babe, so I finally got in contact with an aviary that was hatching GCC!

If you made it this far, we are now anxiously awaiting bringing our baby home! We have named him Kiwi because my 3 year old can easily say it. He is a pineapple/yellow sided GCC and was supposed to be ready for Christmas but is taking a little longer to wean. I am SO impatient and can't wait to go pick him up! Looking forward to sharing pictures of our flock!

 

[Flboy]

Welcome to you! The accident had to be devastating!
Family sounds wonderful!

 

[JLambert]

Thank you! It was so horrible. Even my husband, who was against getting a bird at first, was so upset. Partly because it was so traumatic and preventable (telling our kids when they got home from school was the worst) and also becaues Nemo was such a little character and fully a member of the family already.

I keep trying not to bother the aviary for updates but it's SO hard!

 

[Taw5106]

Hi there. How hard, what a sad situation to deal with. I had to read your post three times to understand the accident situation. As Flyboy said, devastating! Can you visit the aviary and interact with your baby?

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I'm sorry for your loss. That had to have been devastating.

Though, personally, I would have fired that nanny. Accident or not, if she was told not to do something and she did it anyways - goodbye! But thats me.

 

[JLambert]

I'm sorry for your loss. That had to have been devastating.

Though, personally, I would have fired that nanny. Accident or not, if she was told not to do something and she did it anyways - goodbye! But thats me.

That was the hardest part about it. She's a sweet, grandmotherly lady and has been with our family for awhile. My kids absolutely adore her and she is super flexible with my schedule. She cried and I know she felt awful, she offered to pay for a new one (but we all know that wasn't the point). My husband and I discussed it at length (we were both ready to let her go too) and we decided it was just an awful, awful mistake. Nemo was pretty convincing when he wanted out of his cage, and she had felt sorry for him. On her own she decided she would no longer drive around with our youngest because she realized how quickly devastating accidents can happen.

Thanks for the condolences! I was trying to make the story short and not confusing but sometimes it's hard to explain through keyboard and words.

 

[JLambert]

Hi there. How hard, what a sad situation to deal with. I had to read your post three times to understand the accident situation. As Flyboy said, devastating! Can you visit the aviary and interact with your baby?

Thank you for the condolences! I actually found out our baby was ready on Monday afternoon, so I went to pick her up yesterday. The aviary is 2 hours away so we weren't able to go up and play with her before she was ready unfortunately. She seems to be settling in nicely though! I will share pictures when I get home from work, I can't access photobucket here.

 

[Tropical]

Can't wait to see photos!

Does your tiel and parakeet get along well? I only have one tiel now but cannot wait to get a just weaned GCC and am always curious to hear about other who have mixed species of birds.

 

[JLambert]

Can't wait to see photos!

Does your tiel and parakeet get along well? I only have one tiel now but cannot wait to get a just weaned GCC and am always curious to hear about other who have mixed species of birds.

We got them at the same time from the same breeder, and they get along really well! They ended up in the same cage because our parakeet kept climbing in the cockatiels cage and refusing to leave. We have to separate food bowls and plenty of perches. They don't squabble much and when they do it's usually just 'hey, get out of my corner' with some noise. We watch closely for any signs of biting but so far so good. It's sweet, the tiel (Sunny) loves to let Rio preen his head. He has to bend down so far!

Since all of ours are so young, I did put Kiwi and Sunny on the floor together last night just to 'sniff each other out.' Sunny stared at her, crest raised in a curious position, and then squawked and flapped off to chew on some beads. Kiwi just stared at him and then climbed into my lap. I love their little personalities!

 

[Tropical]

Can't wait to see photos!

Does your tiel and parakeet get along well? I only have one tiel now but cannot wait to get a just weaned GCC and am always curious to hear about other who have mixed species of birds.

We got them at the same time from the same breeder, and they get along really well! They ended up in the same cage because our parakeet kept climbing in the cockatiels cage and refusing to leave. We have to separate food bowls and plenty of perches. They don't squabble much and when they do it's usually just 'hey, get out of my corner' with some noise. We watch closely for any signs of biting but so far so good. It's sweet, the tiel (Sunny) loves to let Rio preen his head. He has to bend down so far!

Since all of ours are so young, I did put Kiwi and Sunny on the floor together last night just to 'sniff each other out.' Sunny stared at her, crest raised in a curious position, and then squawked and flapped off to chew on some beads. Kiwi just stared at him and then climbed into my lap. I love their little personalities!

So cute! I WISH I had gotten my tiel and a GCC at the same time... as now I'm worried about getting a GCC since my tiel is almost 4 yrs old now.... I will be keeping very close eye to make sure the GCC doesn't injure my tiel (I'm very paranoid about that!). I'm curious to hear how well your tiel will get along with your GCC once your GCC has settled in

It looks like both your tiel and GCC are males? More than likely the GCC I get will be a male.

PS: I plan to name my GCC "Kiwi" also hehe

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

@JLambert

Well I can see your point. I mean if she let the bird out because she felt bad for him then it's a LOT different than being neglectful. I'm sure this experience has taught her something.

Who knows what each of us would do in that situation. But it sounds to me like you and your husband put a lot of thought into it and did what you felt was best, which is the important thing.

In any event, I'm glad to hear you are getting a new baby!

 

[JLambert]

Can't wait to see photos!

Does your tiel and parakeet get along well? I only have one tiel now but cannot wait to get a just weaned GCC and am always curious to hear about other who have mixed species of birds.

We got them at the same time from the same breeder, and they get along really well! They ended up in the same cage because our parakeet kept climbing in the cockatiels cage and refusing to leave. We have to separate food bowls and plenty of perches. They don't squabble much and when they do it's usually just 'hey, get out of my corner' with some noise. We watch closely for any signs of biting but so far so good. It's sweet, the tiel (Sunny) loves to let Rio preen his head. He has to bend down so far!

Since all of ours are so young, I did put Kiwi and Sunny on the floor together last night just to 'sniff each other out.' Sunny stared at her, crest raised in a curious position, and then squawked and flapped off to chew on some beads. Kiwi just stared at him and then climbed into my lap. I love their little personalities!

So cute! I WISH I had gotten my tiel and a GCC at the same time... as now I'm worried about getting a GCC since my tiel is almost 4 yrs old now.... I will be keeping very close eye to make sure the GCC doesn't injure my tiel (I'm very paranoid about that!). I'm curious to hear how well your tiel will get along with your GCC once your GCC has settled in

It looks like both your tiel and GCC are males? More than likely the GCC I get will be a male.

PS: I plan to name my GCC "Kiwi" also hehe

I'll keep you updated! Kiwi is actually a female but my tiel and keet are males.

Here she is! (Sorry, this forum is difficult to figure out how to upload/resize pictures. I'll get it one of these days.

 

[Tropical]

Totally cute GCC

I LOVE it when they hang upside down! I LOVE my tiel but for the same reason as you... I would LOVE to have a GCC as they are such little clowns. I plan to get my very first GCC in few months 9either male or female not sure yet). Did you purposefully decide to get a female GCC or it just happened that way?

 

[JLambert]

Thank you! She loves to hang upside down and swing by one foot. That's why we missed our other GCC so much. All birds are little characters but there's just something about them. I wasn't planning on getting a female (we actually don't know if our last one was male or female) but it just kind of worked out that way.