New member from Alaska!

[theceltichorse]

Hello all,

I live in Alaska and am privileged to be owned by a male cockatiel, "Pepper", two parakeets, "Ronnie" (male) and "Sammie" (female), and as of last night two very cute Green Cheeked Conures. They do not have names as of yet. One is a Pineapple Cheeked color mutation (DNA'ed male) and is pretty shy. The other one is normal color and has not been DNA'ed. He/she is much more gregarious and outgoing. Loves to play in my hair. The Pineapple just kind of hangs out on the back of my neck. If I place my hand over his back gently he will stay still, but he doesn't seem to seek anything out yet. Of course, they are still VERY, VERY new to my and settling in. I normally leave them be for a week or so, but with them being so young I did not want to chance their regressing in their basic touchability. Let me know what you all think!

I would love to hear from those of you who have GCC's. My two are pretty young. The Pineapple was hatched on January 30th and the Normal was hatched on February 1st. They are not clutch mates, I called the breeder listed on the hatch certificates to verify just in case the normal is a female.

Thanks for listening and hope to hear from you all.

 

[Printer bird]

Congrats on your new GCCs! They are super fun. we have a little guy that we rescued in November. It hasn't been without its issues (including a serious illness and a feather chewing issue) but he is now healthy and is growing back his feathers. He is such a charmer that people who don't like birds (including my fiancee) love him and think he's great. You can train them quite easily, mine is very motivated by little bits of almond so find out what they like and start with step ups and go from there. They are very smart and playful. Our guy likes water as well and enjoys "talking" to it. He also says some words and its super cute when he does. Hope you are enjoying them and that you get them settled in soon. Feel free to ask questions there are lots of people with a lot of great knowledge on this board! Welcome

 

[MikeyTN]

I think your doing a great job working with them right away. Are you doing quarantine for your new babies???

Welcome to the forum!!!

 

[theceltichorse]

Yes, they are in my bedroom on the upper floor of my house.
My other birds are on the main floor. My bedroom door stays
closed as well. Talk about it being difficult to not go play with
them if I have to run up for something!
They are very young: the pineapple was hatched Jan. 30th and
the normal was hatched Feb. 1st. They are not clutch mates (I called
the breeder the previous owner had gotten them from).
I am going to separate them into individual cages so that it is
easier to work with them and to hopefully prevent them from
bonding with each other more than with me.
To be quite honest, I had NOT planned on getting 2! However,
they are already squirming their way into my heart!

 

[MikeyTN]

With them being that young, you shouldn't have trouble bonding with them. Just keep on working with them everyday, you'll get there!!!

 

[theceltichorse]

Thanks! I think they are doing remarkably well. Tonight they came out much quicker than before. My original little baby even acted like he was playing a little bit while on me!

It is nice to hear that I am not making a mistake by working with them this quickly. I am basically following my instincts with these little guys. I think I am going to make an appointment with my avian vet to check them out and possibly do a DNA test on the little original. I would like to know whether it is a male or female- especially since the other is confirmed male.
I will try to post pics soon!

 

[theceltichorse]

Well, I separated my little ones into their own cages yesterday. Neither was too happy with the new living arrangements, but both settled down pretty quickly. The little original will come out now. Last night and this morning he is even beginning to "step up" onto my fingers when I put my finger down at his feet and tell him to step up!!! I know that he doesn't know what he's doing yet, but each time forges a connection hopefully! The first few times I had him out he wouldn't step up at all. So, we are making progress.

My little pineapple- well, he is another story! He is much shyer and is going to take longer I think to decide that I am not so bad. I got him to go onto my wrist yesterday when I opened up the top of the cage and he went up. He is pretty unsure as to whether or not I am to be trusted I think. Has a very "ready to get the flock out of here" look on him. After a while he did settle down somewhat and did even do a little bit of preening of his feathers. I put him back shortly after as I really don't want to push it. He is going to take some finesse... But I am ok with that. Heck, I have only had the little gems for just under a week.

 

[MikeyTN]

Sounds really good!!! Your making progress.

 

[theceltichorse]

Now, to get the little pineapple to think the same way!

 

[theceltichorse]

I think I came up with names for them. Jasper for my pineapple (male) and Jade for the little original (unknown) as it can work for either male or female.

 

[theceltichorse]

Got the DNA results today. Jade is a female GCC! Very happy to know- but it adds an element of challenge here in about 8-10 months when they grow up!

 

[MikeyTN]

Congrats to you with a baby girl!

In the months to come you'll have that girl spoiled rotten....lol

 

[Rio Mom]

Hello, and welcome to the forum! I have a pineapple green cheek, who will be a year old on the 29th of this month. I have had him since march 17th. I had him DNA'd. He's such a little sweetheart, loves being with me, goes to other people (hubby, guests, etc) He seems pretty clever too, in the 5 weeks or so I've had him he can step up/step down, shake, wave, and spin. I love both your name choices, I waited to give an official name to Rio til the test came back (I sent it the day after I got him, and the results only took a few days). If he had been a female, I was thinking of the name Jade too! (or June, but he didn't look like a June.... must have been because he's a boy! lol)

 

[theceltichorse]

Thanks everyone. I am very happy. Jade is very, very friendly and likes to cuddle. She is very funny- gets a spurt of energy and gets nippy and wants to play and then all of a sudden, after a bit, she runs back to me and snuggles up on my chest. It is very cute. Jasper, on the other hand, still is very leary of me and people in general. I open the top of his cage and he will eventually come over and step onto my hand, but he is very apprehensive. He will definitely take some time. I really am quite in love with these two little ones.

Wow Rio Mom- already stepping up and down, waving, and spinning! Care to share how you have taught him? I have been thinking of trying clicker training but am a little unsure as to how to go about it with two of them! Jade does ok when away from Jasper, but he does not do so well when away from her... much more shy. What treats have you found that they adore- so far mine seem to like apple the best. I guess I could keep a slice and as a reward let him take a bite out of it- not as small of a treat as you would like, but I really need to start to work with him on trust and such.

 

[Rio Mom]

Since the breeder I got him from handles her birds a lot, he was already pretty hand tame when I got him, which definately helped. She had already started him with the step up/step down, so first I just worked on making sure he had that one down, and would do it whenever I asked. The first few days, he fluttered around the cage a bit before stepping up. (The breeder said he had been doing this there too) It didn't take him more than a few days to figure out that there was no need to flutter, because he was getting what he wanted which was out! lol. I worked on shake first, I would have him standing on my hand, and bring my other hand near him and gently pick up his foot and say shake, followed by a treat. It only took him two days to just give me his foot on his own. Wave took a little longer for him to learn. I would move my hand like I was going to ask him to shake, but instead of taking his foot in my hand when he raised it, I just said "wave!" and gave him a treat. After a few days of bringing my hand near his to encourage wave, I would just wave my hand at him and give him the command to get him to wave without my hand near his. Once he figured that out he would stand there and wave repeatedly without me even asking if he could see I still had treats! LOL. Spinning, he just learned in the past week or so. While sitting on my hand I would kind of nudge him a little with my other hand and say "Spin!" He would turn around on my hand, and again get his treat. He seems very food driven, and does what asked for treats! During training I have been using sunflower seeds. I have some that are shelled, and break them into pieces so he's not eating as much of them. For treats he also loves diced fresh peppers (I diced a lot and put them in the freezer, that way he can just get a pinch at a time in his treat bowl), he loves apples, grapes (he seems to prefer if I remove the skin). I've also been giving him mixed vegetables, I have a bag of frozen ones, and just put a little in a bowl, and mic with some water. I made some birdie bread too and cut it into cubes to keep in the freezer. My dogs have decided that they also like birdie bread! Keep working on building up trust, and keep us updated on how it's going!

 

[theceltichorse]

Last night was great. Jade was on the play gym and Jasper had come off and climbed up onto the couch. He wandered around for a while and next thing I knew he walked up onto my shoulder. For the first time he actually put his head down and let me scritch him- for quite a while too. Even when he heard something and went on alert, he put his head back down after a bit and let me scritch. I do believe we are making a break through!!!

I am going to begin working with them one on one I think. I have had them for a month now and am thinking it would be ok to end the quarantine- then I can move them down into the family room where everyone spends most of the time. I hate having them up in my room because they are so isolated (totally support the quarantine, but want them where I can interact a lot more frequently!).