gcconure11
Moving in
- Joined
- 10/22/19
- Messages
- 14
Hello, I bought a conure 6 days ago that is 5 months old. I bought him from a bird store. He was hand fed and kept in clear plastic cage with about 10 other baby conures.
I went to visit the bird several times before buying it. Every time the bird would seem quite scared being out of its bin but would let me give it scratches while it sat on my hand or a table.
I bought the bird and have since felt somewhat lost because I feel my birds behavior changes a lot.
On day one, I spent almost the whole day with my bird being in the same room. I would lightly talk to it. He was eating and drinking and things seemed great. The bird would cry and scream for a few minutes if I left the room.
At the end of day one, since everything seemed to be going well, I started hand feeding the bird some treats. I opened the cage and let him come to the top which he did! I thought he seems very comfortable.
Once when I was hand feeding him a treat, he quickly climbed up my arm to my shoulder and perched there. I thought this was a very good sign that he was already bonding with me. He played with my hair and made a clicking sound. I let him stay there for about 20 minutes.
It wasn't easy for him to come down. He tried to bite my fingers if i reached up to him (first time i saw biting behavior) and kept hiding behind my head. Eventually i got him back in the cage and we went to bed.
The first day seemed great but things seem to have gone downhill from there. I read that shouldering a baby bird is a bad idea and especially if they aren't well behaved. But now if I spend time in the room with him, he often cries unless i come right next to him. He tries to climb up onto my shoulder constantly, and has even almost hurt himself trying to fly up there.
I feel like I took things too far too fast on day 1 and I'm not sure how to correct it.
I'm really having trouble reading his body language too. When I give him scratches, he'll fluff up his feathers like he loves it and then 10 seconds later try to bite me. I give him some space then, but then he starts crying/screaming because I'm too far away. I feel like I'm constantly guessing what he wants.
What should I do? Do I leave the room? This is when he seems the quietest/calmest (after the initial screams) - but I feel like this is neglecting the bird.
Do I stay in the room with him and just deal with the screams?
Do I let him out of the cage? I work from home and have no problem supervising him. I am scared that he will try coming onto my shoulder again though. I also feel like when I try to play (like getting him to step up) I just make him more anxious.
Also, is my cage too small? Its about 17X17X22. Its what the store recommended but not sure i trust it to be big enough. Image: 20191022_150534.jpg - Google Drive
Finally, he constantly does a behavior where he squats down and acts like he's going to fly. (he often shakes too). He will do this, straighten up, pace a few steps, and do it again. He especially does it while looking at me if I'm near the cage. Heres a video: 20191022_145817.mp4 - Google Drive
You might not be able to tell in that video that he's shaking, but he is when he squats down.
Thanks for any answers and recommendations! I'm doing my best to take care of him, just having a bit of trouble figuring out what he wants
I went to visit the bird several times before buying it. Every time the bird would seem quite scared being out of its bin but would let me give it scratches while it sat on my hand or a table.
I bought the bird and have since felt somewhat lost because I feel my birds behavior changes a lot.
On day one, I spent almost the whole day with my bird being in the same room. I would lightly talk to it. He was eating and drinking and things seemed great. The bird would cry and scream for a few minutes if I left the room.
At the end of day one, since everything seemed to be going well, I started hand feeding the bird some treats. I opened the cage and let him come to the top which he did! I thought he seems very comfortable.
Once when I was hand feeding him a treat, he quickly climbed up my arm to my shoulder and perched there. I thought this was a very good sign that he was already bonding with me. He played with my hair and made a clicking sound. I let him stay there for about 20 minutes.
It wasn't easy for him to come down. He tried to bite my fingers if i reached up to him (first time i saw biting behavior) and kept hiding behind my head. Eventually i got him back in the cage and we went to bed.
The first day seemed great but things seem to have gone downhill from there. I read that shouldering a baby bird is a bad idea and especially if they aren't well behaved. But now if I spend time in the room with him, he often cries unless i come right next to him. He tries to climb up onto my shoulder constantly, and has even almost hurt himself trying to fly up there.
I feel like I took things too far too fast on day 1 and I'm not sure how to correct it.
I'm really having trouble reading his body language too. When I give him scratches, he'll fluff up his feathers like he loves it and then 10 seconds later try to bite me. I give him some space then, but then he starts crying/screaming because I'm too far away. I feel like I'm constantly guessing what he wants.
What should I do? Do I leave the room? This is when he seems the quietest/calmest (after the initial screams) - but I feel like this is neglecting the bird.
Do I stay in the room with him and just deal with the screams?
Do I let him out of the cage? I work from home and have no problem supervising him. I am scared that he will try coming onto my shoulder again though. I also feel like when I try to play (like getting him to step up) I just make him more anxious.
Also, is my cage too small? Its about 17X17X22. Its what the store recommended but not sure i trust it to be big enough. Image: 20191022_150534.jpg - Google Drive
Finally, he constantly does a behavior where he squats down and acts like he's going to fly. (he often shakes too). He will do this, straighten up, pace a few steps, and do it again. He especially does it while looking at me if I'm near the cage. Heres a video: 20191022_145817.mp4 - Google Drive
You might not be able to tell in that video that he's shaking, but he is when he squats down.
Thanks for any answers and recommendations! I'm doing my best to take care of him, just having a bit of trouble figuring out what he wants