1,001 GCC Questions

[clackey02]

Hi Guys!

I've been stalking the pages for quite some time while I figured out what questions I need to ask and which ones will answer themselves. First, we've recently added a 7 month old GCC to our home. He follows one other bird, a parrotlet that we had adopted but was sick and passed away a few months after we got him. It was very sad. Our GCC was DNA sexed and is a male, but he does not have a name yet. We are looking for something tropical. So far, a few things are on my mind and I would love any advice you might have. I realize that you might need to know more about us, so if I've left something out, please ask!

Here is what our zoo looks like: My husband and I take care of all the pets, although we make the kids help. We have a 7, 5 , 3 year old and an 11 month old for human kids. Then, we have a miniature poodle and a bichon frise to round out the canine sector. It's all topped off by our Bengal cat and the GCC.

Here is more about Birdy (which is what we've been calling him in the absence of a name): He lives in a big Flight cage. He has tons of toys, fresh water and food. We offer him table food twice a day, but he does not eat much of it. He came from a breeder who did handle them, but probably not as much as I would like. He's on a seed and pellet mixture, but I'm trying to get more pellet and less seed because our former bird died of liver failure due to an all-seed diet and we want to provide a better life for this bird. He steps up well from his perch, but not so well if he's on the side or top of his cage. When he is on the side, I think it's just that he's not really sure how to get his little body onto my hand without biting me. He seems to be getting more social each day, coming to the front of the cage when I come near and calling to me when I leave the house. He's not loud and obnoxious about it, just greeting me. He does tend to be nippy. I can pet him on his back, but not his head. I can touch his feet, but not his beak. He will gently take seeds from my hands. He seems to have about a 10 minute tolerance for me and then he gets nippy.

What I've done:
- not been bitten in 2 days since I've learned his cues and take him back to the cage when he starts getting sick of me.
- started target training, which seems to be going ok. I just tried it today, but he seemed to dig it.
- felt bad that I am afraid of his beaking now because I've been bitten a few times and I don't like it. I'm not sure how to let him try again.

What I need to know:
-Should I encourage the girls (5 and 7) who want a relationship with him to handle him now, or wait until I get him settled in and learning not to bite me so much first?
-How can I let him explore with me without biting? He bites if he gets anywhere buy on my hand and I want him to step back up.
-He seems to like to step up over and over. Why? Is that ok?
-What is the best way to show him that he can trust me? (Other than the fact that I think I got brownie point for catching him as he almost fell off the top of his cage yesterday )
-What am I missing?

Thanks if you can answer any of these or offer me other advice that you think I could use. Sorry for the long post! The more advice, the better! I want this guy to have a great life.

 

[Anne & Gang]

I would wait and let him explore a bit and get used to things...as for biting..you need to completely ignore the biting...as hard as it seems. they want a reaction and when you react...they keep on doing it...sounds like you are giving him a wonderful life already...would love the pics!!!!!!!

 

[orphansparrow]

i would do just what you are doing, and learn his cues, and body language. i would let him figure things out at his own pace, but it seems as if you are doing that. and just DONT give up. even if you are scared of getting bitten.

duckie went through several especially bitey periods in the 2 years she's been with me. the only thing that worked would be to immediately put her back in her cage, off of me, when she did this. she quickly learned that if she bit, she wouldn't get attention from me for about 10 minutes or so.

if i was raising her alone (my best friend/roommate is involved with her too), this would've worked. but the training wasn't consistent, because not everyone would stick with it.

on the other hand, green cheeks are nippy.

i never gave up on duckie, and we came to a compromise. i have learned that she expresses herself through her beak, she has learned that i don't like it. so she still bites me, and she does draw blood, but she doesn't bite nearly as much as she used to.


ALSO - trick training! for a while i spent lots of time trick training duckie, just to do random tricks, to keep her mind occupied. each time she did the trick, she got a sunflower seed. she learned lightning fast, and this kept her occupied enough to not bite me while we did it, and it also increased our bond, so she wanted to bite me less because of that.

for the rest of your questions:

trust just takes time. and lots of patience and understanding and acceptance that he's a parrot. you might just have to accept that he's bitey for now.

if i had girls that young, i wouldn't let them handle duckie. no way would i trust her with kids that young. i would however encourage them to talk to him, feed him treats, and maybe with your supervision, lightly touching him while you hold him. also, make them understand that he bites, and it hurts.

that's all i know.

good luck and keep us posted!

 

[clackey02]

Thanks for the tips, guys! Geesh, now I feel lucky. Our guy has not bitten hard enough to draw blood. Maybe I should not be complaining about the bites after all! The thing is, he seems to bite and HOLD ON! He's really coming along and I'm excited about his progress though. We had some floor time today when I let all the kids sit in a circle and watch while I worked with him with a stick and some treats. He doesn't seem especially willing to please me, though. LOL that's ok, he's only known us a week. The girls know not to react if they do get bitten and they are SUPER about it. They sound young, but they are both really intelligent, so they act more like miniature teenagers. That makes things a lot easier with the bird. I want them to be able to work with him and train him too, since he will be around as they grow up and hopefully after they go off to school. They can let him step up and he will go to them, but I just have them pass him to me immediately before he has a chance to try any funny stuff with them. Of course, any time the bird is out of the cage, we are all here. He lives in the middle of the living/ dining room, so he is very much a part of daily life. He seems to enjoy hanging out on the top of the cage. I really need to get him a little play gym for up there. Right now he just has some carboard structures the girls make and a paper towel tube he likes to roll and throw around.

Orphansparrow, what tricks do you recommend? I'm so conditioned to cats and dogs, I find myself a little unsure of what to even ask him to do. I've read so much about Duckie and seen your wonderful videos. Do you have any starter tricks to recommend?

On another note, I am super excited! My brother, my husband and I were sitting in my living room chatting when the bird laughed with us! I said "ha ha ha" again and he did it again! We're all falling in love! I feel like he's trying to imitate a lot of sounds and I hear a lot of grumbling. It would be cool to have a chatty bird!

 

[orphansparrow]

hi christina.

you know, it's not that duckie bites hard so much, it's that she uses the side of her beak in this way that it just cuts like a knife. i call her "scissor beak", because its like being cut really. not fun. she really is SO sweet, but either she doesn't understand, or doesn't care about biting me like that when the mood strikes her.

for tricks, one easy one i taught her was "roll over". some birds will be more comfortable than others with this. by the time i started with her, she allowed me touch her all over with no problem. so i started by just gently nudging her over, which she though was fun. and i'd say "roll over" when she was on her back, and then give her a treat. she learned after like, 2 times, and has never forgotten.

some easy ones are "chase the ball", where you get a little cat ball, and roll it to them. when they touch it with their beaks, you give them a treat. eventually they will run after it, and pick it up.

you can also teach "wave", by either taking a wing, or a foot, and raising it up manually and say "wave!" they will soon learn to do it by themselves, and again, the key is treats!

oh! one that duckie does all the time is kissing. i didn't teach her this as a trick, but you could. you just lean in, touch your cheek to their beak, and make a kissing sound. eventually when you put your cheek to their beak, they will make the kissy sound, and it's like their kissing you. you could teach this using treats i bet.

a simple one is of course, step up, which your guy has down pat, but another you could do is "step down", which is usefull in getting them off your finger.

also youtube is a great source for bird tricks. i honestly didn't vary mine a lot. but what i did is just interact with her a LOT on a lot of the same things so she could get better at whatever it is, and then get rewarded with treats. they pick up SO fast what the game is.

one note: you said your guy is in the middle of the living room? is his cage up against at least one wall? if he really is right out in the open, he may feel very vulnerable, and maybe a little more "shelter" would make him feel more confident and secure, and could help with the biting.

just a thought.

 

[minirachie]

I can answer the biting!
Frankie came to me beaking, but recently he's been moody and hes moulting so I am starting to get BITES. None have broken skin as he is a twist burn and BRUISE. BUT I was at first scared to ever handle him....but I realised...I will get alot of birdie bites, and I need to woman up and take it in, no reactions allwed. Its hard sometimes...but its worth it~!!!!!!

 

[clackey02]

Thanks for the continued tips!

I worked with him more last night and got a couple of nips, but I do think he's already starting to not bite *as hard*, even when he is biting me to tell me NO!

He is not actually in the middle of the room. He's against a wall and I actually also have some pretty material across the back and the sides of the cage to keep the cat from getting on the table on either side of the cage and sticking his paw in there. Our old bird could fly, but this one came with clipped wings, so I feel more comfortable giving him the extra protection for now. I don't want him getting poked by a curious kitty.

He does not really like me touching him a whole lot right now. He's happy to sit on my finger and would really like to climb all over my clothes on his terms. I can touch his back- maybe three or four times in a row, and then he's done. He'll open his beak and give a little high pitched squeak when I try to do it too many times in a row and act like he's going to bite. I'm not sure if I'm moving fast enough to not get bitten or if he's moving to giving me more warning, but he's not actually biting when he does that, just telling me to stop. Which I do. I can touch his feet, no problem. If he's in a really good mood I can lift a wing. Once, but only once. I'm just working on it a little at a time.

I am a little concerned about sleep. Since he is in the living room, our day is kind of like this: we are up at 7, and there is a lot of activity from 7 until 8:30, when I take the kids to school. Then, I run errands so the house is quiet until somewhere between 11 and 1. Then we're basically home for quite a while. My husband and I don't usually go upstairs until 11. So, maybe he's not getting enough sleep? Would covering the cage and turning the lights off early be better for him, even though he is next to the TV? I do have a spare room/office that I could put a sleep cage in if I had to, but I really like the time I have with him now in the mornings before everyone else gets up. What do you think?