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Small Parrot BIG Personailty

Meggan

Checking out the neighborhood
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5/15/17
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Hello, My name is Meggan and I am a new owner of a very expressive Green Cheek Conure named Albie. I joined this group as a recommendation from an old friend. I am in need of some good resources for understanding my new friend better, I could deal with his mood swings better if I just understood where they were coming from. I do a lot of dog training and I made it a point to understand some dog psychology and the reasons behind their behavior. I tried to find resources on my own but I haven't been so lucky.

Albie is just a week shy of one years old. I purchased him from the local petco last October. We managed to get through his first molting without anyone bleeding. He has since learned to fly and him and my small dog are good companions.
 

WendyN

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Welcome!
 

Cynthia & Percy

cockatoo mania
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welcome
 

sunnysmom

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:welave:
 

schnitzle

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:hello1: and welcome!! I'm sure you'll get the help you need here. Everyone is so great :)
 

Tiel Feathers

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:hello:
 

iamwhoiam

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Welcome to AA. Post some photos of Albie when you get a chance.
 

Newbie GCC

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Welcome! We would love to see some pictures of your little one! What kind of issues are you having?
 

expressmailtome

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Welcome, and enjoy the site!
 

baserock love

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Colin
Look at the blog of and listen to everything you can from barbara heidenreich.
Here is a free webinar she did that helps address a lot of behavioral issues in birds Webinar Recording: Training Rescued and/or Re-Homed Parrots | InstantPresenter Web Conferencing, Video Conferencing and Webinar Service

Far as i can tell she's one of the most well known behaviorists and parrot trainers out there and using her positive reinforcement techniques i was able to make amazing progress in very short amounts of time with some rescue birds.
 

webchirp

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@Monica is fabulous when it comes to training. I wish she didn't live so far since I have 21 cheekies! But yes, please post specifics for more help. Welcome to AA!
 

Monica

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Already some great advice given! More can be found here.

Free Training Resources | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum


You mentioned that your GCC "bites out of the blue", in a manner of speaking. There could be some insignificant signal that you are missing. It could be a wider body stance, slightly fluffed feathers around the head and neck area, spread tail feathers, slightly open beak, eye pinning...

Something to keep in mind... the only bite that can't be rewarded is the bite that never occurs.

The very act of biting is self-rewarding, thus allowing the bite to occur is, in essence, "encouraging" the behavior.


If you can, keep a little diary of the biting incidents. What happens before the bite? What happens during the bite? What happens after the bite? Be sure to log where he was at when it happened, how long he's been out, and anything else that may be significant. Keep an eye out for shadows, reflections, sudden movements outside, anything that may be help (i.e. phone or water bottle) that could potentially set off the behavior.


Something that may help... clicker training. Teach him to target, turn around, retrieve an object, 'big eagle', shake head yes/no, etc. Teaching him tricks can be a great way to bond with him and have fun while stimulating his brain. Also, once he knows desired behaviors, if you see that he's about to do an undesired behavior, you could redirect his attention into something positive by cuing him to do a behavior that he could be rewarded for. This in turn can result in him doing more desired behaviors instead of undesired behaviors.
 
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