overly energetic gc conure issue

[Sabo]

I've got a baby gc conure 3 days ago, and he's fully adjusted to his new home. Problem is that he kind of acts like he's on crack. He sleeps like 5 hours per day, and the rest he spends running around everywhere, climbing everything, and fluttering around (he came with his wings clipped).

I wouldn't have a problem with it, if he didn't crap everywhere. If I leave him in his cage, he creates all kinds of chaos in there. (Spills food and water everywhere, runs around screaming, and climbs to a high place and falls off, etc.) Do they calm down a little bit once they get older? OR is he going to be like this for like the remainder of 20 years of his life?

 

[labell]

Conures remain pretty high energy little birds, though babies tend to be a little more messy and clumsy. Napping during the day is pretty typical. Are you spending some time cuddling and training? That will burn up some of that displaced energy.

It doesn't take long to become immune to bird poop. It doesn't bother me in the least. I typically have a paper towel in my back pocket, fresh is of course easier to clean than dried but living with birds, poop is part of the package.

 

[Roo1130]

I just got my pineapple green cheek 3 days ago. He's 2 months old and I would say he acts like a birdy crack head too he's very demanding and wants to play constantly. When in his cage he runs around like a little monkey. Compared to my more stoic sun conure, I find this ill guy quite adorable in his antics. Glad to hear from someone else about their baby being crazy too

 

[ZephyrFly]

My Pazu was like that too, still randomly jumps off the highest perch in his cage only to land flat on the grate (this still worries me when he does it) but much less now he's happy and playing. Work on poop training too. I've have Pazu since christmas and failed to properly potty train his to a perch so far but he knows he gets treats for pooping there now! (probably end of january before I properly started potty training him though).

 

[Ann333]

I got my GCC three months ago when he was 2 months old. He was the same way. They are crazy excitable. Maybe try a different bowel for the food and water? Pumpkins cage came with feeding doors with a lip to prevents the birds from tipping them over and spilling everything. I love that, because he tries!! They make heavy ceramic bowels and also some that screw onto the bars of the cage.

As for the poop, It takes time. Pumpkin as a baby would poop all over me like every 5 minutes. I started saying go potty every time i saw him go and being really excited when he went somewhere other than on me. Now he doesn't go on me anymore. He will wait to be put down, or if im not paying attention and he really needs to go he will flutter to the floor, refuse to step up until he poops then look to me to pick him up. Such a smart bird. They learn quickly. Like i said i have only had him for 3 months. He is also my first bird, so it doesnt take a pro to train them, just some research patience and persistence. Good luck!!

 

[Sabo]

Mine has an obsession with my laptop; he keeps desperately trying to play with the screen and the keyboard. Sometimes he does like a sneak attack; pretends for one second like he's not interested, then he charges when I let my guard down. Really funny; he's a lot like my dog.

 

[Kiwibird]

Welcome to bird ownership They're all like crackheads with wings lol. Parrots may come home with an inherent trust in humans (if they came from a good breeder), but they don't come trained. The issues your having are simply a lack of training, thus the bird is running wild. I'd suggest starting with target training right away since he already likes you. Plenty of videos on youtube on how to start, and it can be worked up to trick training/recall/solving puzzles ext...

Parrots can also be potty trained (mine is), but that comes with time. There is no quick way to potty train a parrot in a healthy way. It may be quicker, but DO NOT train him to go on command, as many training programs promote. That can cause a lot of health and mental problems (how would you like to have to use the bathroom on command?). Potty training the *right* way takes much longer and requires a well trained bird. You want to train them to either alert you when they need to go (if you plan to keep him clipped) or to fly back to designated areas to go (such as a cage, play stand ext...), but the focus is on them going when they need to, not when you tell them to. I don't mind bird poop (though amazons produce abominations unlike some of their smaller cousins lol), but as renters, there is just no way we can have a non-potty trained bird. Kiwi is not flighted, and simply raises his foot when he needs to go, so we can return him to his "area"

 

[Sabo]

Welcome to bird ownership They're all like crackheads with wings lol. Parrots may come home with an inherent trust in humans (if they came from a good breeder), but they don't come trained. The issues your having are simply a lack of training, thus the bird is running wild. I'd suggest starting with target training right away since he already likes you. Plenty of videos on youtube on how to start, and it can be worked up to trick training/recall/solving puzzles ext...

The only problem with training him that I see is that he doesn't seem to have anything that he particularly likes eating. He's eaten apples, took a few chunks out of broccoli, a few bites out of a piece of grain cereal, etc. but there really isn't anything that he'll go crazy for. So I don't have any incentives to train him with. Plus he runs around like he has ADD, and when he wants to do something, he'll do anything to get at it (ie. playing with my laptop) Plus he does like to rub up all over me, play with my hair, shirt, etc., but he doesn't particularly like being told what to do. He'll resist if I try to have him step up; unless he WANTS to step up. Stubborn, easily distracted, and doesn't respond at all to rewards; I kind of have no idea how to go about training him lmao

Can you give me advice on how to get him interested in food, training, etc.?

Thanks for your warm welcome, and your advice.

 

[Kalidasa]

Have you tried (shelled) pine nuts? They are the perfect conure sized treat,and are irresistible.

 

[Puck]

Mine has an obsession with my laptop; he keeps desperately trying to play with the screen and the keyboard. Sometimes he does like a sneak attack; pretends for one second like he's not interested, then he charges when I let my guard down. Really funny; he's a lot like my dog.

My Quaker ripped a key off my keyboard and snapped it in half when I looked away for ONE second... And mine is the newest Mac laptop so you can't get cheap replacements yet! I'm going to have to take it to Apple. Sigh. Thanks, Samsung.

 

[veimar]

gcc-s are very high energy birds, but can be trained to be confined to a certain area. Mine is flighted and he has the whole dining room for him, but he knows that anywhere else is not allowed. He is mostly cage free and never stays in place for more than 30 sec. All my lil fids are like that except the cockatiel, so I guess it's normal. They never sleep more than 8-10 hours and fly around like crazy all day long. I wish I had that much energy!
5 hours is VERY not enough of sleep, so hope your gcc gets some naps during the day. But he is still adjusting to the new environment, so he could be a little nervous and sleep less. When we just got our gcc he was sleeping about 6-7 hours, and even now he rarely goes beyond 8-9. I had him for over a year and have actually NEVER seen him sleeping (he is covered at night and he never naps).

 

[Flboy]

My Quaker ripped a key off my keyboard and snapped it in half when I looked away for ONE second... And mine is the newest Mac laptop so you can't get cheap replacements yet! I'm going to have to take it to Apple. Sigh. Thanks, Samsung.

As an Apple certified tech, your screwed!

 

[Sabo]

btw should I prevent my conure trying to break my nail? I think he thinks it's some sort of a nut and grabs my finger with his legs and keep trying to break my nalis *he's not strong enough yet for it to even hurt

 

[ZephyrFly]

Mine has an obsession with my laptop; he keeps desperately trying to play with the screen and the keyboard. Sometimes he does like a sneak attack; pretends for one second like he's not interested, then he charges when I let my guard down. Really funny; he's a lot like my dog.

My Quaker ripped a key off my keyboard and snapped it in half when I looked away for ONE second... And mine is the newest Mac laptop so you can't get cheap replacements yet! I'm going to have to take it to Apple. Sigh. Thanks, Samsung.

My GCC did the same so now if he tries to take the keys I brush him off my laptop. If he can't play nice he can't be there, it's helped though, he doesn't try it as much anymore.