Raising a well behaved conure

[BrianB]

So I've taken the step from finches to a Pineapple Green Cheek. Our little guy (don't know for sure yet, but for convenience sake...) will be a month old this Sunday. I've been hand feeding the last few days and everything is going well. No lack of appetite here. You can see the change from day to day. While feeding, I try to spend a little time touching the bird all over to get him used to it. Usually just running my hand down the back, scratching the chin, and touching the toes. I have also had him sitting on my chest with a towel over most of his body to keep him warm. He just sits there looking up at me. This is usually 10 minutes or so as I don't want him to get chilled.

I need some advice on socializing as he gets older and making the transition from the container to a cage. I figure I have another few weeks of hand feeding at least but hopefully I can start to introduce small bits of fruit by then. I work from home, so at the moment I have the time to put into raising a well behaved bird as best I can.

Any advice ?

Aside from that, my cat has decided that he's not impressed. When the squawking starts during feeding time, he leaves the room.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Congrats on your new GCC. They are wonderful little birds with such a big personality. I don't have any experience with babies that young, but I got both of mine when they were four months old.

They do develop a tendency to be nippy or bitey as they get older, so it's important that you don't react to their bites, calmly tell tell them no and place them back on their stand. Then don't give them any attention for a minute or so. Same thing with screaming. The key is to ignore the bad beahior and reward the good behavior.

My guys love trick training and will wave, spin, "shake my hand, comechere, go there, and fly here. Trick training is a great way to bond with your bird and it keeps their mind active and occupied.

 

[Monica]

Training! Lots of training! And when he/she starts exploring, start introducing fresh foods and sprouts!

The *ONLY* bite that can't be rewarded is the one that never occurs. In other words, don't get bitten! Distract and redirect undesired behaviors. Please do not ignore a behavior! Ignoring a behavior doesn't necessarily make it go away and can potentially make things worse!



If you can find out the parent's mutations, you might be able to figure out the sex of the chick... i.e. if the mother is not a pineapple, you have a little girl! If the mother is a pineapple, sex could go either way!

 

[Ninna]

What a beautiful little bird! You are very lucky.

I'm hoping to get my own soon, as soon as it is old enough, so I'm info gathering at the moment - this all really helps!

Good luck!

 

[BrianB]

Six weeks old yesterday. Growing fast and the attitude is growing just as fast. I transitioned him / her from the bin to a small cage. I still cover it at night and have the heating pad underneath. We've started on bits of solid food and there is less interest in the formula at each feeding. The morning feeding today was half of what it was last night. I put some blackberries in the cage to give something to nibble on. The cage looks like someone was murdered because there is stuff smeared all over the place. There was more of an appetite at lunch, so we'll see how the last feeding goes in about an hour. I think it's time to cut down to two formula feeding and add more veggies and such. I was away for the weekend and a friend fed him / her. There was a huge amount of interest in a clementine, but I haven't give this bird any yet.

Now the fun stuff begins. There is a lot of nibbling going on, especially my fingers and my ear when on my shoulder. There is also this strange fascination with my arm pit. If I'm laying back and have the bird on my chest, off it goes to the side and burrows in. I'm not sure if it is warmth of just a small closed off space to feel safe in. To deal with the nibbling I've been getting the bird back in my hand and rolling it over on the back. Each time there is less biting, so hopefully the idea is getting through. When it gets to be too much, then back in the cage he goes. I look at it like the stage where children put everything in their mouth. It's a learning period, and not everything is meant for the mouth, my ear being one of them. It's a work in progress.

Tomorrow the new conures are heading into the new aviary. Let's see how that goes.

 

[Monica]

Rather than rolling the bird on it's back, why don't you teach the chick what is acceptable to chew on instead? Redirect and reward desired behavior.

 

[BrianB]

It seemed to be motivated by hunger. The evening feeding was the full amount, not half like it had been earlier. I guess the nibbling on my ear was an attempt to say FEED ME! There wasn't any of it afterwards. I'll pay better attention next time.

The morning feeding was half the usual amount, so I put a small bowl of veggies in the cage and there is a lot of nibbling and tasting going on. One more step towards independent feeding.

 

[Donna turner]

When my green cheek is on my shoulder cuddled up she nibbles my ear gently sometimes, also my hands and arm when she's being lovie. It doesn't hurt and I take it as affection so I don't dis courage that, but if she bites I put her up if she doesn't quit when I say don't bite. I have taught her what that means and she usually quits because she'd rather be out of her cage. Have had her for 1 1/2 years and she's so sweet. Your pineapple is so cute youre just gonna love her sooo much

 

[BrianB]

My little one started flying today. I think I was just as surprised as he was. He jumped off my hand and landed on my shoulder and then had a bit of a melt down biting my ear and hair. That needed a time out in the cage and about 10 minutes later I brought him back out. He did it a few more times, and each time was a little easier, with far less bird drama. We worked on it on and off for part of the day, then he went back in the cage for a few hours while I took care of the other birds. There won't be anymore trips outside to the aviary now that flying is possible. This evening I made a game out of it getting him to fly from my hand to my shoulder in return for full body rubs. A few times he landed on my face, but eventually he got it that the shoulder was the best place. Now he's had his evening meal and is sitting on my shoulder quietly chittering to himself. I want him to be confident about flying before I clip his feathers. A friend at a local bird store has a green cheek that can do little more than hover for a few seconds before he drops to the floor. He was clipped for the first time very young, and never really learned to fly. He's 8 years old now and they don't even bother clipping him anymore.

 

[Monica]

I don't recommend using the cage as punishment.


If you *really* want to allow your chick to learn how to fly, then don't clip prior to 6 months of age, *AT LEAST*. Even experienced flyers can "forget" how to fly and have muscle atrophy if they were clipped after weaning but still a young age. Better yet, wait until the chick is at least a year old, and has better matured both physically as well as mentally.

 

[BrianB]

My little guy (or gal) is 9 weeks old now. He had his last formula feeding this past Sunday. He took only a few ML's and wasn't interested in the rest, so that was the last day I hand fed him. I keep track of what he's eating on his own. I know he's digging in the seed dish because I find them all over the floor. I can't tell if he's eating pellets or not, but he gets a good mix of both, as well as carrot chips and either kale or spinach. I have tried a few other things to see what he likes. No go on the papaya and banana, but he loves raspberries, blackberries and grapes. He's quite proud of his ability to fly and will now fly to anyone who comes in the room if he's out of the cage. A few times he's mistaken someone on the TV for a real person and goes right for them. He realizes they aren't there and end up on top of the TV instead. A few times he's freaked out and ended up behind it fussing up a storm. In general, the behavior is pretty good. We're working on not biting, which is a constant process. He loves my rings, so I don't mind if he bites at those. I have a bandage on my finger because I had stitches in it. He always after that, but it won't be there forever. I just transfer him to the other hand. He will sometimes get wound up and just start biting everything. When that happens he goes back in the cage for a while to calm down. It usually works.

Any suggestions ?

Two out of three pairs of the conures I've had for about 3 weeks have started laying eggs. I'm guessing we will have a full clutch by Saturday or Sunday and if all goes well, there will be chicks by the middle of May.

 

[Monica]

Try and make sure he has plenty of things to chew on that are acceptable! Sometimes, he just needs to be redirected to *GOOD* behavior. It's not always good to punish a bird that is exploring and chewing on things, as it is very easy to punish the *wrong* behavior. This is why it's always good to try and redirect before undesirable behavior can occur and keep rewarding desired behavior.

 

[Pipsqueak]

Will you let the parents raise the chicks? Are you in the breeding business now?
Is there a reason why you want to clip your bird if he is enjoying flying so much and becoming pretty good at it? I would not feed the pellets mixed with the seeds, you will never know if he eats the pellets. You could feed fresh chop in the morning with some seeds on it to get him interested and feed pellets for dinner or leave them available for whenever the bird wants them.

 

[BrianB]

I'm trying to redirect the behavior as much as possible, and when he gets too wound up and I try to put him back in the cage just to calm him down for a few minutes. I think a lot of it is just learning what works for him. Some of it is for his safety as well. I have two monitors on my desk with my iMac in the middle. I'm trying to reinforce to him that the monitors are ok, the iMac is not. The difference is the side monitors are cooler and the top of the IMac is hot, and I don't want him to burn his feet. After a few trips back and forth with me saying NO when he's on the iMac he got the idea and moved to the side. Things like using the beak for stability when landing on my shoulder is different from trying to bite a hole in my ear. One I don't mind, the other isn't acceptable. I'm trying different things to redirect behavior. I have a metal ring on my desk to play with instead of the ring on my finger. When he goes for my finger, I put him down in front of the metal ring and move it around to get his attention. The bandage on my finger I can't really do much about. It won't be there forever, but I don't want him biting it just because it is different from the other fingers. When he goes towards that finger I close my hand or get his attention another way. It's kind of like a toddler puts everything in their mouth. I just need to find alternative and safe things for him to explore aside from my flesh.

The others I'm going to breed. I have friend interested in having their own. If that goes well, then I know someone at a local pet store who is interested in buying birds from me. I'm going to hand feed and ween them before sale so they are socialized before they go. I work from home, so I have the time to invest in it. I'm trying to find birds that no one has locally to create another market for them. The market is flooded with Love Birds right now. I see them for sale for $5.00 because people have so many they can't get rid of. There are also feral flocks here and I don't want anyone to contribute to them. There is someone local who has a few Queen of Bavaria chicks each year. With the permits involved, it's not something I'm ready for yet.

 

[BrianB]

I have one unhappy bird today. We had to clip his wings last night because twice he's flown into the sliding glass door. He's sitting on a table top play stand at the moment, but he's not happy with me at all. He jumps off the stand and has just enough lift to get to me, but I keep putting him back. I put some greens for him to nibble on and he seems to have gotten the hint. Now he's exploring and climbing, but he keeps giving me dirty looks when he's facing me. I didn't want to clip him so early, but it has become a safety issue. He flies around the house like a little fighter pilot, weaving in between the hanging lights and people, but I'm afraid he's going to get hurt.

 

[CrazyBirdChick]

I have one unhappy bird today. We had to clip his wings last night because twice he's flown into the sliding glass door. He's sitting on a table top play stand at the moment, but he's not happy with me at all. He jumps off the stand and has just enough lift to get to me, but I keep putting him back. I put some greens for him to nibble on and he seems to have gotten the hint. Now he's exploring and climbing, but he keeps giving me dirty looks when he's facing me. I didn't want to clip him so early, but it has become a safety issue. He flies around the house like a little fighter pilot, weaving in between the hanging lights and people, but I'm afraid he's going to get hurt.

May I ask where you got that playstand?

 

[Appolosmom]

I also would like to know where you got the playstand I have been looking for one like you have but have not been able to find

 

[BirdGuy21]

That is a sweet playstand!

 

[BrianB]

I bought it at a local store called Birdz & Beyond here in Phoenix. They have a vendor that builds them as well as larger ones for bigger parrots. They have a FB page that they haven't updated in years and a website that they don't update either. Your best bet is Yelp - Birdz and Beyond - Pet Stores - Phoenix, AZ - Yelp where you can get the phone number and location. They also have an Instagram page that gets updated at random. It's a small shop, family owned and operated. Really knowledgable and friendly.

 

[Appolosmom]

thanks for the inf I really like that playstand