New to birds

[mompopsicle]

Hi everyone,

I want to thank you all for the help that I hope to find in this website. I am new to birds and I have a Sun Conure that I just love but things has changed a bit in the last couple days, I will find the right place for that here in a bit but I just wanted to say hi to you all. I've had Popsicle for 2 and a half weeks and I just love him to death, I bought him at petco and they had lost his birth records and suppose to be in conctact with the breader but it was at 2 weeks when I called them back and they still haven't got the papers. They said Popsicle is about 6 months old. But I'm gonna go and try find the right forum to post my questions in. Thanks a bunch.

Mompopscile

 

[Spiritbird]

Welcome to a fantastic forum. We have lots of conure people. Not a good thing that Petco lost the Popsicle's papers. After he settles in I would take him to an avain vet for a welness check up. It gives the vet a baseline. We are happy you are here.

 

[parrotqueen]

Hi there, a very warm welcome to the forum! Pleased to meet you and Popsicle.

I'm sure that someone here will be able to answer your questions, and you've come to the right place. Enjoy your stay!

 

[madparrotwoman]

Welcome to the forum. Conures are awsome and I'm sure there's a lot of fun instore for the two of you.

 

[HRH Di]

Welcome to the forum. Lots of conure families here.

 

[antoinette]

A big warm welcome, make yourself at home. Awesome members, very informative post, loads of tips and advise.
Good luck with Popsicle :60:
Get the ic: rolling, we love sharing pic's

 

[boabab95]

WELCOME!!! ya, conures are great birds.

 

[_Cass_]

Welcome to the forum!! I loovve Conures.
I have previously owned a Sun Conure ( A bit too loud for my taste... but great birds).
and I own a Green Cheek Conure : )
Like antoinette says, we loovvee pics : )

 

[mompopsicle]

Thank you all for the welcome, and I will say that Popsicle isn't as loud as I thought he would be, for the most part he just chirps unless I leave the room or reenter a room but that only tells me that he loves me already after only 2 and a 1/2 weeks. And I know when I first seen him at Petco that I fell in love with him. I called Petco last night and they said it may take 6 weeks to get his papers from the breeder. But I wanted to thank you all for such a warm and wonderful welcome. Popsicle and I will be back often.

mompopsicle

 

[Bobby34231]

Hi MP and welcome to the forum, 6 weeks for papers??? unless your bird was bred in a galaxy far far away there would be no reason for that kind of delay, it is more than likely that your little conure was bred local to you, while its true that chain stores that sell dogs and cats regularly import them from out of state, (puppy mills in the midwest) they usually find local breeders for birds, the profit margin is to low to be shipping them across the country to the stores, if the breeder keeps records then it would just be a matter of photo copying or faxing a copy to the store for you, even if new papers had to be filled out and snail mailed, that would only take a week at most, seems they've already put you off for a few weeks, and now they want to turn it in to a couple of months, there really is no excuse....if you haven't talked to the manager about this that would be what I suggest, if its the manager that gave you that info then I would ask for the number to corporate headquarters, the squeeky is the one that gets the grease.......Good Luck

 

[mompopsicle]

Well Bob,

It was one of the managers I talked to and that is what he said. I thought it was kinda odd myself that it would take so long. But I also thought it kinda odd that Petco lost the papers on something like this. You would have thought they would be more organized then what they are, the assinstant manager that sold Popscile to us was kinda dingy headed. So I will get in touch with headquarters and see if I can get somthing going. Thanks Bob.

Mompopsicle

 

[Bobby34231]

Your welcome MP, I've managed a couple of Chain pet stores before so I pretty much know how they operate, chances are at least half of the people working at the petco there won't even be around 6 weeks from now....lol, anyway I would just explain to them that you want to take your bird to the vet and want to have as much info on him to take with you when you do your first vet visit, let us know how you make out with petco corporate............

 

[mompopsicle]

Bob,

I will do that. And since you probably know more about parrots the Petco i've got a few questions for you. Not sure where to post my questions yet so I hope all of you don't mind me doing it here.

As I said this is my first bird and I started out tell him ON instead of step up. I don't know if that will cause problems or not. But when he is in the cage he will not get on my hand, he has a couple times just for a second then he is off. But if he happens to fly anywhere he will get on my hand and go straight to the shoulder. But if he is sitting on the cage door and i put my elbow up and say on he would get on and go to the shoulder and lick and preen my neck and ear then he started chewing my shirts. But that all stopped about 3 days ago, I moved his cage about a foot and turned it caty corner. Well he will still let me pet him and all but very seldom get ON my elbow and if he does he then gets on my head and flys back to the cage in a matter of a couple minutes. He used to dance when I sang to him but he stopped that but I didnt notice today he was bobbin a little as I sang to him. So what would you suggest I do?

Then I was giving him dried fruit and some rasins I bought from the grocery store. I read that that could kill him. Is that so? I noticed yesterday he didn't look like he felt good but seems to be better today even though he don't want on me yet again another day. If I leave and come back he screams till I go open his door and talk to him for a while.

Also I noticed yesterday he was biting his feet alot. What could that mean?

Thank you bob.

MP

 

[Bobby34231]

"Step Up" is kind of a universal command that just about everyone uses, if "On" works for you and the bird knows what it means, I say go for it, no harm no foul, it would be the same as if you spoke another language other than english and gave the command, you'll just have to remember if anyone else besides yourself handles the bird they will have to use the same commands as not to confuse the bird...........as for stepping up from inside the cage, some birds won't, since he will from outside, I'd start there and work on it, for now open the door and let him come out on his own, if the "On" command bothers you, you can wean him off of it by starting with it and as he steps on to your finger say "Step Up" as time goes by you can eliminate the word "On"............There are many opinions about having your bird on your shoulder, I myself don't allow it, but many do, I feel its harder to control things while their up there and you can't observe what their doing while up there, biting, nipping, flight from fright, and soiling on your shirt are just a few of the cons of having them on the shoulder...as for raisins, I've never heard they are bad for birds, I know that grapes and raisins can be toxic to dogs, but as with all things, in moderation, since raisins are pretty dry, I usually soak them for awhile in water just to get a little hydration back in them, if you feed raisins I recomend all natural, no sugar added raisins.....birds are much like little kids in the aspect of being tempramental or cranky, sometimes their in the mood for certain things and sometimes not, as time goes by you'll learn your babys moods........I hope I managed to answer all your questions, if not ask the ones I might have miised

 

[mompopsicle]

Thank you Bob,

You have answered most of my questions. But should I be concerned about him not getting on me or is that just a set back because of the change in whre the cage was. And should I be concerned about him biting his feet. But other then that you have helped and I am so happy that I found you and the rest of everyone here. It is great knowing I have a place to go to ask if i'm right or wrong in doing something. I love my baby and I don't want to harm him in anyway.

I seen at a pet store today that they had some stuff that you spray on your birds to clean them but I've read that you shouldn't use anything kind of spray around your birds. And I guess he never had a chance to play in water because he won't play in the bowl of water I put in his cage and he hated when I put him in just to see if he would like it.

Thank you again.
MP

 

[Bobby34231]

I wouldn't be to concerned about him not getting up on you, and it could very well be that moving his cage has upset him, its hard to tell, just take it easy for a few days and let him make all the first moves, just show the love and attention you have been and things should come back around like they were before...as for the feet, its hard to say without seeing it, if there is no redness or sores or if you look closely and dont see any parisites such as mites ect then it could very well just be normal bird behavior, just keep an eye on it....as for any of those sprays they sell for bathing, forget them, waste of money, if you want to have your birds feathers have a healthy sheen, keep them on a good diet and bath them with warm water and a spray bottle regularly.......I have secondary cages for my birds to bath them outdoors, my birds are bigger so I can use a hose with a spary nozzle that has a fine spray setting on it, for your conure I suggest a spray bottle, just pick a nice sunny day, spray him thoroughly sit him in the sun, and let him dry off and preen himself, this can be done every day weather permitting, or at least a few days a week, during the winter it can be done indoors and using a blow dryer on low heat instead of the sun.........baths or showers are not only natural, but neccesary to good feather conditioning