New Owner, and to the Forums!

[Althea]

Hello everyone! I just recently purchased a Golden Conure at my favorite bird store (Bird Smart in San Diego, CA) after visiting since I first moved to California in August 2013 with my husband after living in Maine my entire life (husband is the one from San Diego). We have gone to the bird store about twice a week for at least an hour each visit getting to know the birds by interacting with them. I finally met the perfect bird- Freddi the Golden Conure. We purchased him right on the spot and put him in boarding (same store) as we are currently on vacation visiting my family in Maine, and my husband has to travel for work.

When we return to San Diego on April 19th I get to bring home my new companion, I am thinking about renaming him Constantine. This will be my first bird not including the pet cockatiels I had as a young child (too young to know how to properly handle/care for birds!).. Since purchasing him I have ordered books on clicker training, and bird behavior.. so if anyone has any recommendations for books it would be much appreciated! So far I've been reading "Parrots for Dummies".

Here's some things about my new friend and myself;

He is extremely cuddly, friendly, loves to perch on shoulders and give kisses, he is very nippy/bossy when it comes to removing him from you--I suppose you could compare him to velcro! We'll be working on that bad habit of his when we bring him home. He's very talkative, and occasionally screams for attention-- that will also be worked on as well.

As for me, I'm a stay at home mum. My son (Gregory) is currently 3 months old. I spend my days caring for Gregory, doing laundry, cleaning, cooking, and playing my favorite game Everquest.

I apologize in advance for the poor grammar and punctuation. It's amazing what sleep deprivation can do to the brain.

 

[jenphilly]

Welcome and congrats on the new baby!

Constantine's issue with being removed from you may have more to do with his association of stepping up from a person to immediately going back to his cage. If he's been at a pet store for a while, guessing he had the same experience as one of our birds. We had the same issue with Ivory, tho guessing she was older (she was a rehome), but she would bite when asked to step up when with a person. We realized fairly quickly that she always thought stepping up meant going back to her cage because that's what she had known for so long....

So we used to play round robin with her She would get passed around, always asking her to step up, then hand off to the next person. I would put her down somewhere, then ask her to step up. Also do the endless step up, just keep asking to step up hand over hand.

Look forward to hearing more about him after you've gotten him home and settled!

 

[Althea]

Thank you!

That makes sense! When we last visit him I kept having him "step up" on my finger from my shoulder over and over again and my husband would do it too--he stopped nipping once he realized we weren't going to put him back in the cage or on his perch. Thank you so much for the advice, I find comfort in knowing that technique has worked with others I hope we get good long term results in doing this constantly.

 

[jenphilly]

It won't take long, especially once he gets home Post pics when you see him again, we all love seeing photos of everyone's babies

 

[MikeyTN]

Welcome to the forum!!!!

I also want to add that sometimes they won't get off as they're acting like brats. If you use a perch to tell them to step up, it would be a lot easier at times too. Or you can hold the perch with one hand block your head from the bird and then ask him to step up to your free hand.

 

[Althea]

Many pictures to come once we are home, I can promise you that! Thank you for the advice, Mikey; that will help a lot considering I already have a bite mark on my finger from where he bit me when he was being VERY stubborn! lol The plus side is he wont bite faces, he licks them and also cuddles. haha

 

[Terry57]

Hello and welcome! Congratulations on both of your new babies, human and fid
Golden conures are gorgeous and I can't wait to hear more about him and see more pictures when you get him home Glad you joined us!

 

[Blueridge]

Hey welcome to the forum ! He's a beautiful bird and Constantine is an awesome name. I hear that conures are very smart and great talkers.

The forums are a great source of information for new bird owners.

Good luck with him!

 

[tlfisher]

Welcome!! This is a great group. They've helped me learn they've helped me laugh. You'll find a lot of old posts have tremendous information. I'm just a beginner myself but I feel a lot more confident because of the friends I've made in this group.

 

[RavensGryf]

Welcome to you and Constantine
I love to go to San Diego every summer to go to the bird stores down there. I take an hour -1.5 hr drive to go there. There are so many stores in SD, compared to where I live. Have you been to Omar's? He owns 4 stores in SoCal from Los Angeles to San Diego, and he breeds and sells the Golden Conures

 

[Althea]

Thank you, everyone!

 

[Althea]

Hmm, I guess it didn't post my other response or I did something wrong.. lol. I haven't been to 'Omar's' but that will probably change soon! Have you been to 'Bird Smart'? It's in the same spot a store called 'Bird Crazy' use to be.

 

[witchbaby]

Welcome and congratulations on your new baby! Golden Conures are GORGEOUS birds. I can't wait to see pictures.