New owner to a lovely baby Green Cheek Conure

[keithattard]

Hi All,

I am new to this forum and hope to make some friends.

I am a 27 y.o. and just adopted a baby Green Cheek Conure [9 weeks old] who seamlessly became a part of our small family. He actually makes us feel as a complete family.

Had troubles sleeping the past two days just because I am worried that I might be a bad owner or cannot keep him happy. It's just a thought in my head...since he enjoys being cuddled and playing with us all day long. However whenever I put him in his cage he gets agitated and screeches to grab our attention.

Today I am feeling sick just because I left him at home in his cage since we work office hours. Can't wait to go back home so I can let him out and enjoy his companionship.

In the meantime I will spend the rest of the day being unproductive due to the thought of having him in a cage and alone :'(

 

[Scott]

Welcome to you and your new GCC! I applaud your compassion and worry for his comfort. A few considerations:

Nine weeks is rather young. Others on the forum are more knowledgeable of conures, but it is possible he is not completely weaned. He is clearly bonding with you, and his complaints of cage return seem to be separation anxiety.

We must work to pay the bills! While an ideal situation would have a human widely available at his age, the best alternative is to provide a stimulating cage environment to self-entertain. Again, his age is a factor, but many types of safe toys including chewable wood, hard plastics, and easily shredded items are necessary to determine preferences.

I am certain you'll have members with extensive conure experience stop by to give advice! Meanwhile, some helpful links to forum threads:

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

This is a recent thread about "conure loneliness" and may have application for you. Quality vs Quantity of time spent! http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/68341-concerned-about-gcc-loneliness.html

 

[keithattard]

Thanks Scott!

We have a dedicated room for him as well as if he was our first child. I would love to keep his cage open will we are away at work. so he can fly and roam around. I plan to have this room as his playground and we've already set it up for him. However he seems unable to make his way back to the cage on his own so far....so I would like him to familiarise himself as much as possible with his cage so as to be able to make his way back into it on his own to eat and drink even though we leave food and water outside the cage for him. I would really love to have him as free as possible and roaming around in his playground.

He has a swing in his cage which he seems to start enjoying as well. But in my opinion a cage will always be a cage and certainly he would prefer to roam around.

Hope I turn out to be a good owner for him that's my biggest concern so far. Previously owned a cockatiel with whom I had a strong bond....used to sleep on me as well at times. However it was a couple years back when i lived at my mum's and knew she would be home for long periods of time until i arrived home.

Btw he has been eating on his own for the past 2 weeks according to the breeder...with whom I am still in touch for obvious reasons....

 

[Scott]

Having a bird-proofed internal room as aviary is every bird's dream! However, I would caution against giving too much freedom too soon, particularly when he is home alone. Creating a safe environment while unsupervised is difficult and for many birds impossible. Many species are incessant chewers, eager to customize wooden baseboards, door jambs, window ledges, window coverings, etc. More worrisome are carpets (eating of fibers) gnawing painted walls, various electrical and telecommunications cables, etc. Once he is more comfortable in his environment, progressing to supervised time out of the cage alone while a parront is at the premises is ideal. If you wish for more line-of-sight time, a playstand in the family or living room is helpful.

All of that said, your goal is possible under controlled circumstances. Three of my Goffins cockatoos who are entirely trustworthy are out of the cage for hours while nobody is home. They get along well, and have only lightly chewed some wooden mouldings. (lead-free paint) The room is entirely open cages and playstands, tiled floor, and no furniture or wiring exposed. Keep in mind their behaviors are well documented as the mother is 40+ years old, and the two offspring are 21 and 19 years and born in my home.

Good to know he has been self-feeding for a few weeks!!

 

[Flboy]

Welcome to you!

 

[Inger]

Hi and welcome! The only thing i have to offer is that as a new parront myself, I understand completely! This forum is full of kind and knowledgeable people and it's been a huge help to me.


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