New Bird Family

[Christa K]

My son, 16, purchased Finley, a Black Capped Conure at 6 months of age from a wonderful "caretaker". She had him on a pellet diet (ZuPreem) and Nutriberry treats as well as fruits and vegetables. He chose my son and bonded instantly. Finley as been with us 6 months and he will soon be 1. Over the past 6 months he has bonded with my husband and recently likes Me! We have a lab and a westie in our home as well. They are kenneled when Fin is out.
My concern is his feathers. I see other pictures and our Fin has quite a bit of black on him.
He gets a mash daily of fruits and vegetables and greens. His pellets at all times. Fresh water daily. A big cage that we move around for a change of scenery daily. He is out every morning for one hour and each night for 2 to 3 hours. Bedtime is 7:30 and he is up between 6 and 7 am. I have removed scents and scentsy burners from the house. His poop matches up to "healthy" pooh. He bathes every day to every other day. And now we are trying misting...which he is not the most fond of. We recently have put a cage at our work and working to take him every day. At work he can be out all day. We have toys and ropes that I swap around every 2 weeks. He does chew the dinger out of every bell toy he has had, we now have a bird bell for him. We call it his stress reliever. He is a happy bird for the most part. But I can't tell if he is molting, pruning or over pruning. I did watch him pull a couple of large feathers out yesterday, in which he chewed on them.
The feathers in the cage are mostly small light gray fuzzies, and then we find big ones.
We have never had a bird before and open to any suggestions.
We really have become quite fond of him and want to be sure we are doing all we can.
Thank you!!

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome to the forum. Your bird is a cutie. I think your bird is molting. If a feather is loose (about to come out) I think it's common for a bird to help it out as it's uncomfortable. My cockatiel used to do that and when a big tail feather would come out, it would scare him and he'd run away from it. LOL. Then, he'd go back and claim it. Birds that pluck tend to do so in a specific area. If he's close to a year, it's probably about time for his first big molt.

 

[zoo mom]

Finley is handsome. I think the black on his feathers is bronzing. When birds play hard they can rub the color off there feathers.

I am not sure how big his cage is, but it looks like he could really use an upgrade to a larger cage if you can afford it.

 

[JosienBB]

Yeah, it looks like bronzing. I agree that he could use a cage upgrade -- it looks like an 18"x18" and 32"X21" is usually what's recommended for a small conure.

 

[karen256]

It sounds like you probably just have a happy, playful conure.
The green color in conures isn't from a pigment - it's a structural color (meaning it's the way the surface structure of the feather reflects light that gives it the color). That means old, worn feathers will start to lose the nice green color, that's called bronzing.
It's normal, though his feathers look more bronzed than usual.
The usual cause in a baby is just active play - if he's rolling around on his back playing. Sometimes it can also be from a delayed molt, but he's too young for that.

 

[nu2birds]

Sounds exactly like my birds right now..........at almost one year old I'd say he's molting. If you look close at him you might see some tiny pin feathers. When my birds lose that downy green fluff I can usually see tiny pin feathers on their heads at the same time. Some birds molt slowly and gradually and some birds just look like they got hit by a train when they molt, LOL.

 

[Christa K]

I can't thank you all enough! I am so glad I found this forum! We have always been and still are huge dog lovers. So when Finley joined us, he has made us come to realize we are bird lovers as well as we don't have a clue...but we are willing to learn!
The bronzing makes so much sense as he is very playful and the things he does in his snuggle house we often wonder if he has gone crazy! He prefers to be at the top of the cage and does some funky acrobatics up there. His cage is an 18x18...we will be looking into a larger one for sure! I didn't realize they can be slow to molt...I kept waiting to see the "hit by a train" look! Lol This makes sense now! Again...thank you!

 

[Christa K]

Cage question...Can it be too big? I am leaning towards the larger just in case Finley gets a buddy someday. I have to have a cage with wheels and most important that "splatter" pan around the bottom...not only because he is a messy eater but it is the perfect height to prevent our Westie from getting too close. Our lab could care less...but the Westie is way to interested in Finley...and Finley, I kid you not, teases the Westie. Thank you for your insight!

 

[Cat The Great]

Christa, there is no such thing as too big of a cage! Birds always find ways to use their whole cage. Anyways, welcome to the forum and I hope this helps you in your cage decision.

 

[orphansparrow]

I agree - no such thing as too big of a cage. After all, their life in the natural world is as big as...well...the whole sky. Good job on the variety of toys though! You're wonderful new parronts. =)

 

[karen256]

You can't really have too big a cage - as long as you can reach to clean it and hang toys.
But... of the two you linked, the smaller one (30x22") would be fine, especially if he's out a lot and goes with you to work and everything - time spent out of the cage is more important than cage size. I can't tell what the spacing is, but you don't want bar spacing over 5/8" for safety, and I suspect the larger one has bar spacing wider than that.

 

[echobird]

Avian adventures makes really nice cages. I purchased the You and Me petco Cage (used to be called mink brown cage) and it’s perfect for my three conures.

 

[Monica]

Looks like both cages have 3/4" bar spacing which may or may not be an issue. I'd err on the side of caution and look at different cages with 1/2" bar spacing instead. There are several flight cages or similar cages available with good bar spacing for less. The You & Me cage for example - especially when it's on sale!

 

[JosienBB]

Looks like both cages have 3/4" bar spacing which may or may not be an issue. I'd err on the side of caution and look at different cages with 1/2" bar spacing instead. There are several flight cages or similar cages available with good bar spacing for less. The You & Me cage for example - especially when it's on sale!

Prevue cages measure their bar spacing from the centre of the bars, so 3/4" is more like 5/8".

 

[webchirp]

Congrats on your new baby

You can get a really nice flight from Home They have the extra large flight that is 38 x 24 x 67. It's a nice space for a conure.