New member and conure. =)

[Kantia]

Hello all!

I've just purchased a beautiful green-cheeked blue conure who I have yet to name, and the gender hasn't been determined but I'll be branding it a 'he'.

He caught my eye out of the four conures and he was lovely, and had such a lovely temperament. Also hand reared, he's exactly 16 weeks old today since hatching.

He settled in rather well in his cage, considering the travelling and being moved. Whilst I was getting to know him with the breeder he was well behaved, he didn't bite or nip... Occasionally gave me little kisses. However, I've handled him once since getting him home and he's been biting quite hard. I'm guessing this is due to being in a new environment and the lack of trust? Is there anything I can do to discourage this or will it take time for him to stop doing it?

Here's a picture, he already loves his food!

 

[aliray]

Time and tons of patience. If he bites tell him no or no bite then distract him and give him something else to bite like a qtip. reward good behavior and ignore bad if possible. He is also brand new and needs time to settle in and get used to you . sit by his cage and talk to him. and most of all give him some time

 

[aliray]

By the way my personal experience with a green cheek conure consits of three weeks as I too bought aa new one a 5 month old hand fed partially hand tamed yellow sided green cheek conure from a breeder of the turquiose variety anf she breeds senegals. she was hatched in Miami but bought as a three week old chick then hand fed. she was going to start breeding them but she decided to just do the ones she already has. I think she also does some lovebirds pineapples and cinnamon green cheecks. There are a lot of conure owners here with a lpot of great info. Welcome to the forum and if I didn't say it already that is a beautiful bird. I named mine chiquita what is your birds name

 

[ConureCrazy]

AAH! Not a turquoise! You make me jealous! Haha just kidding. Got two green cheeked conure babies myself. Just give him time, you only just got him, so don't overwhelm him. Have you thought about DNA sexing? It's a very accurate way to tell whether he's a boy or a girl, and is very cheep too. $15-$35.

 

[LittleGreenBird]

Gorgeous bird! Really beautiful. I just turned away and ignored mine after every time she bit too hard and she doesn't do it anymore...she's an attention seeker for sure so it worked out for us.

 

[Lovelyloribeth]

Beautiful lil guy! Search at the top for biting. There's tons of threads with great advice!! Congrats on your baby! You surely are in for a ride!!

 

[AVM]

Welcome to the forum, your baby is beautiful!! I agree with everyone, you should give him time to get used to the new surroundings. Have you thought of any names?

 

[Kantia]

Thanks for the warm welcome and advice. :] He's settling in very nicely, and he really likes to cuddle up on my chest and sit on my shoulder! Seems like he's becoming very trusting of me already, always asking for attention, being very responsive when I come in the room, it's adorable! But I know he's still young and don't want to wear him out too much, hehe.

The names I've thought of were Archie or Tich. I think I'm leaning towards Tich but I'm not too sure yet. What do you guys think?

The breeder had two blue/turquoise ones and two green, but I had an instant connection with this one when I was handling him. He said he'd never had blue ones before, and I've read they can't be 'created' through breeding, so I thought it was an unusual and beautiful colour. :]

I'm not sure if I'll get 'him' sexed or not, as long as he's happy and healthy that's all that mattes to me. I think the only reason I'd do it would be out of curiosity.

I'm going to try to take some proper pictures of him today to send to the breeder, let him know he's getting on ok.

 

[antoinette]

OMG he is gorgeous, so cute
Baby steps one day at a time

[FONT=&quot]Your bird must have time to settle down and adjust. Just imagine how many new things he has encountered, in the last few days. So many new faces and voices, it must be so scary.
To gain your trust could take days, weeks, months even years. Each and every bird is so different. He obviously feels a comfort zone is his cage.
Sit near the cage, talking and singing to the bird. Let him become familiar with your voice. Leaving the cage door open, offer him treats through the bars at first. When he willingly accepts them, try placing a treat near the open door. Eventually he will starts taking the treats from the door, make no attempt to touch him. When he does come out, he will probably climb around on the cage. Let him explore in his own time. To get him back in, place a treat inside the cage, making sure it's visible.

Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures

[/FONT]

 

[VictoriaVague]

What a beautiful bird. I hope you have many, many happy years together.

Such a stunning colour, I can't wait to see your photos

 

[DebsFlock]

Hmmm, I can't see the picture! Bummer. Turquoise GCC are so pretty! I think the main reason for doing the DNA sexing, aside from curiosity, would be that you could be on the lookout for egg-laying related issues such as egg-binding.

 

[DebsFlock]

Oh, now I see the picture! He's adorable!

 

[Kantia]

I think the main reason for doing the DNA sexing, aside from curiosity, would be that you could be on the lookout for egg-laying related issues such as egg-binding.

I never thought of this, thanks for letting me know! I'll think about doing this in the future in that case.

Is there a certain time for them to be sexed, i.e too young? Or can it be done at any time?

 

[DebsFlock]

Since it's in the genes you can do it any time. You do need to get a sample with live tissue for the test, either by over-clipping a toenail or pulling feathers, so you might want to wait until you have established a positive relationship or else let the vet or groomer do it and be the "bad guy".

It's a whole different world than the "old days" a few years ago when sexing had to be done via invasive surgery. That would NOT have been worth it, but DNA sexing does seem worth it to me.

 

[AFP520]

I would have let him stay in his cage for about 2 days to get used to it. It is a new environment after all. Biting is inevitable. As others said, ignore it and give them something else to chew on. Praise/reward the good behaviors.