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4-month-old green cheeks starting to fight each other

Marisa K.

Meeting neighbors
Joined
8/18/21
Messages
50
Hey guys,

I adopted a pair of green cheek conures from a local breeder some 2 weeks ago. They are a boy (Mac) and a girl (Linux), both hatched mid April this year. They are from different parents.

When they first came, they seem to get along really well. However, starting this week, I noticed them fighting occasionally. Mac sometimes bites Linux in her toes/wings (this happens ~3 times per day) kind of hard as I hear Linux squaks (not at the top of her lungs, though, just her normal volume). They do not fight all the time, and they still preen each other now and then. They still sleep next to each other on the prech at night, too. I'm kind of confused and not sure if they still like each other or not... Do I need to separate them apart?

Could this be jealousy? I do tend to interact with Linux more frequently since she's not afraid of me -- she eats from my hands since week 1, and is willing to fly onto my fingers; while Mac is still kind of cautious and won't stand on my fingers (he's a bit thick and nibbles me harder). But I did try my best to treat them equally and made sure they're given the same amount of treats (when Linux gets a sunflower seed, I give one to Mac, too).

Or could this be Mac's trauma? His beaks are fractured around his nose when I got him -- seems like he got into a fight with another bird back at the breeder's place. Plus there's some heavy construction going outside my apartment recently (but I can't remember if the fight started before the construction...) and I have to take them out in an outing cage. They seem pretty chill outside, though, and are willing to take sunflower seeds from my friends who haven't met them before.

They're pretty much free ranged in my living room -- I open their cage door at ~8:30 am and let them out, and send them back into the cage at ~9 pm each day to sleep. Sometimes I put them into the cage (a fairly large one, 30x20.5x54 inches) in the afternoon and leave the cage on the 8th-floor balcony so they can get some fresh air and sunshine. I feed them Hagen Tropican pellets as staple food, Hagen gormet seed mix as daily treats when I want to lure them into something, and bananas every other day (still trying to train them into eating carrots and peppers...).

Any suggestions would be really helpful and greatly appreciated!
 

flyzipper

Rollerblading along the road
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Steve
I adopted a pair of green cheek conures from a local breeder some 2 weeks ago.
If they choose to get along when they're both out supervised, then you could test the waters with housing them together when their relationship is established, but not before.

When they reach sexual maturity, it's also more likely you'll have to contend with fertilized eggs in the future if they're cohabiting.

His beaks are fractured around his nose when I got him
The comment above is doubly important if Mac has an injury that's not yet healed.
 

barbs0nly

Walking the driveway
Joined
5/8/21
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234
Real Name
lilly
get them separated. this could turn bloody very quickly, they probably seemed to get along in the beginning because they weren’t comfy enough yet to show otherwise, now that they’re more established they can show they don’t really have a relationship, at least that’s what i’m assuming. unless they’ve been bonded throughly i’d separate and introduce the same way you would an old and new bird. as for eggs i bet you know how to give dummy eggs and dispose of the eggs ect! i wish you luck with your babies :p
 

Marisa K.

Meeting neighbors
Joined
8/18/21
Messages
50
get them separated. this could turn bloody very quickly, they probably seemed to get along in the beginning because they weren’t comfy enough yet to show otherwise, now that they’re more established they can show they don’t really have a relationship, at least that’s what i’m assuming. unless they’ve been bonded throughly i’d separate and introduce the same way you would an old and new bird. as for eggs i bet you know how to give dummy eggs and dispose of the eggs ect! i wish you luck with your babies :p
Thanks for the info man, I'll keep them seperated. Probably Mac out in the living room in the morning, and Linux in the afternoon. Lucky I still have the smaller outing cage. Will get another large cage if needed.

As for babies, I'm ready for that. My grandma is a farm vet and dealt with farm birds, which might be somewhat helpful, plus I always have my avian vet. But I'm not planning to have them breed in the coming 1 - 2 years (too young to be mom and dad I think). I used to have a pair of Fischer's lovebirds as a grade 3 kid and they managed to live till my undergrad days. Only knew they're already adults when adopted, but no idea how old exactly. They bred twice, though I assume they might carry some genetic flaws that makes them unsuitable for parents. First time none fertilized, second time only 2 in 5 got fertilized but the fetus stopped growing at an early stage. We stopped providing them nests thereafter.
 

Marisa K.

Meeting neighbors
Joined
8/18/21
Messages
50
If they choose to get along when they're both out supervised, then you could test the waters with housing them together when their relationship is established, but not before.

When they reach sexual maturity, it's also more likely you'll have to contend with fertilized eggs in the future if they're cohabiting.


The comment above is doubly important if Mac has an injury that's not yet healed.
It's kind of healed, at least no longer bleeding. The outer black layer is chapped, exposing some flesh-colered tissues. I'm taking them to the vet next Friday to see if it could heal. If not, we probably need a surgery. Man the appointment system here in Canada is so slow...

I'm keeping a close eye when they're out. They seem to be getting along when chewing my clothes hangers together, still observing what caused them to fight.
 

Wardy

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Good advice above

I would add if they are preening and one go's a little to hard they will nip.at each other and emit a squawk if you scritch your bird and go to hard on a pin feather they will do the same to you.

I would be very weary leaving them in the cage together especially overnight.

I think your right about allowing them out together so long you are there and ready to intervene.

Whilst you might not plan to breed them until they are two i am sure they are not aware of your plans, they can become sexually mature from 9 months not always but a possibilty.

Just be aware banana has a high suger content i feed fruit sparingly this week i have fed cherry a couple of days mixed into there chop twice last week they got some apple.

Trying to get them to take fresh food is important but can take a while especially if the breeder didnt feed them any fresh food.

Try cutting the carrot and peppers into different sizes i would also suggest adding a bit more variety, both of my conures get chillis,sugersnap peas,green beans,brocolli,radish,cucumber,squash,sweet potato,sweetcorn,kale,cauliflower and whatever fruit i have got for them that week.

Try sprinkling some millet over the fresh food this might encourage theml or maybe limit the amount of seed offered during the day and mix some of that into there fresh food this might encourage them to try the fresh whilst looking for the seed.
If you need to show them you adding the seed into there fresh.

The more variety of fresh food you offer the more chance you will have of them showing interest.
KiKi loves Brocolli Mojo wont touch it, changing there diet can take time so dont give up.

When you are up first thing in the morning remove there pellets and add the fresh with the seed mixed in they will be most hungry in the morning and might be more inclined to tuck into the fresh food option.

Do they have toys available when they are out together ?
This will help occupy them both.

Would stop them chewing clothes hangers if they are plastic you dont want them swallowing plastic, if they are wood you would need to make sure it hasnt been treated in any way.
 

barbs0nly

Walking the driveway
Joined
5/8/21
Messages
234
Real Name
lilly
Thanks for the info man, I'll keep them seperated. Probably Mac out in the living room in the morning, and Linux in the afternoon. Lucky I still have the smaller outing cage. Will get another large cage if needed.

As for babies, I'm ready for that. My grandma is a farm vet and dealt with farm birds, which might be somewhat helpful, plus I always have my avian vet. But I'm not planning to have them breed in the coming 1 - 2 years (too young to be mom and dad I think). I used to have a pair of Fischer's lovebirds as a grade 3 kid and they managed to live till my undergrad days. Only knew they're already adults when adopted, but no idea how old exactly. They bred twice, though I assume they might carry some genetic flaws that makes them unsuitable for parents. First time none fertilized, second time only 2 in 5 got fertilized but the fetus stopped growing at an early stage. We stopped providing them nests thereafter.
good scheduling plan! i’d introduce them after they settle in, i’d skip on providing nests, unless gcc aren’t in your local rescue is skip on the breeding. but that’s just my opinion :p
 

Marisa K.

Meeting neighbors
Joined
8/18/21
Messages
50
Good advice above

I would add if they are preening and one go's a little to hard they will nip.at each other and emit a squawk if you scritch your bird and go to hard on a pin feather they will do the same to you.

I would be very weary leaving them in the cage together especially overnight.

I think your right about allowing them out together so long you are there and ready to intervene.

Whilst you might not plan to breed them until they are two i am sure they are not aware of your plans, they can become sexually mature from 9 months not always but a possibilty.

Just be aware banana has a high suger content i feed fruit sparingly this week i have fed cherry a couple of days mixed into there chop twice last week they got some apple.

Trying to get them to take fresh food is important but can take a while especially if the breeder didnt feed them any fresh food.

Try cutting the carrot and peppers into different sizes i would also suggest adding a bit more variety, both of my conures get chillis,sugersnap peas,green beans,brocolli,radish,cucumber,squash,sweet potato,sweetcorn,kale,cauliflower and whatever fruit i have got for them that week.

Try sprinkling some millet over the fresh food this might encourage theml or maybe limit the amount of seed offered during the day and mix some of that into there fresh food this might encourage them to try the fresh whilst looking for the seed.
If you need to show them you adding the seed into there fresh.

The more variety of fresh food you offer the more chance you will have of them showing interest.
KiKi loves Brocolli Mojo wont touch it, changing there diet can take time so dont give up.

When you are up first thing in the morning remove there pellets and add the fresh with the seed mixed in they will be most hungry in the morning and might be more inclined to tuck into the fresh food option.

Do they have toys available when they are out together ?
This will help occupy them both.

Would stop them chewing clothes hangers if they are plastic you dont want them swallowing plastic, if they are wood you would need to make sure it hasnt been treated in any way.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions :D Especially for the getting them to eat veggies part! Definately will give a shot tomorrow morning.

I previously sliced the carrots to them, but they treated it more as a toy and chewed it without swallowing. I've been chewing carrots right in front of them to show it's edible, and honestly I hate that lol (I HATE carrots) ...

Toys -- They have some in the large cage and some on their playground. I also pass them foraging toys by hand (mixed seeds hidden in parchment balls/cuttlebones). Let me know if there's anything I could improve for them :) There's no permanent toys in the small outing cage at the moment, but if I were to keep Mac in there (he's the more aggressive one... Weird, right? Usually it's the females that tend to be aggressive), I'll add one or two. A larger cage for him is also on the way.

cage.JPG
playground.JPG

Clothes hangers: Removed. I hope they don't get mad at me tomorrow lol.
 
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