Are Conures Right For Me?

[roxi]

hey! i just wanted to pop onto this section of the forum to ask a couple of things about green cheeks specifically and their potential compatibility with my family.

i know they're known to be nippy, so i was wondering if anyone would be able to go a bit more into detail on how that presents with green cheeks? how extreme does it get, etc. we just lost our lovebird who was super hormonal, territorial and trigger happy with her beak for most of her life so i'm trying to see if it would be anywhere close to that level with a green cheek. ideally the next bird we end up getting would be more handleable and less territorial if possible, hence asking on here for your personal experience!

and sort of related, but i know green cheeks might be more prone to picking just one person than a cockatiel would for example (cockatiels are the other choice for our next bird. i just love the spunky personality of green cheeks, particularly after having a lovie as they're such fun chaotic little beasts, though i equally love the sweet personality cockatiels have so it's 50/50!) how likely would the one person scenario be? and what experiences have you guys had with this?

thanks in advance!

 

[Emma&pico]

I’ve got a female lovebird that sounds exactly like your lovebird she will attack me for no reason what so ever and I would take a bite from my green cheeks any day of week over indie she bites to hurt and means busy not saying that green cheeks can’t and mine are still babies but then I’ve had indie since a baby and she always been same just upped it since losing my other lovebird

remi 8/9months pip 4/5 months but honestly they are amazing birds
My daughters 8 and she can handle them remi knows no bite and actually stops nipping if I say it pip got it but still tests me but pip was so much more nippy than remi from start

I find there body language so easy to read first so you can avoid nips

I love my green cheeks conure they are amazing little birds

 

[Rebel]

but i know green cheeks might be more prone to picking just one person than a cockatiel would

Thats not the case with ours. Our two conures chose my gf and i equally. That might be different if there was only one, i dont know. Our cockatiels chose me over her.

 

[Spearmint]

Hi!
My experiences might be different due to the fact Spearmint was a hand-raised, clipped pet-store bird and developed velcro issues.
However, Spearmint is pretty nippy- out of nowhere sometimes (but always for one reason or another). He bites hard, daily, but I think this is an issue on my part with some emotional regulation that I need to work on with him; he's very impatient and quick to get frustrated.

He isn't territorial of his cage in general, but he doesn't like me touching a few toys of his.
As for the choosing one person, Spearmint is close to all my family members, but has preferences, and somedays wants someone else more than another. He's been ignoring me this week and wanting to interact with another family member lol.

Best of luck with your new buddy!

 

[WillowNMurphy]

Hi, good questions for sure!
This has been my experience with my two.

Murphy is very friendly and loves EVERYONE, which isn't what I was expecting from a GCC, especially since he was mostly just around my mum and myself for the first 2-3 years of his life, everyone else in the household worked or didn't want anything to do with him.
He absolutely adores my husband, especially these past 6 months as he is now preferring my husband over me. He can be quite nippy, but I've not really had much experience with other bird species so I don't know if it's bad or not compared to other birds. He does frequently get a bit excited and gets nippy when playing or even when having a scritches session, as he tries to redirect you. His nips don't hurt, and even if they do they never draw blood. You can definitely tell when he's trying to "talk" with his beak vs escalating and actually biting on purpose/aggression. He very rarely will bite to hurt, even rarer still is his ability to draw blood, pretty much has only happened a couple of times in his almost-7 years of life, and was only in exceptional circumstances. I think GCC body language is quite easy to read once you know your bird, thus he isn't very aggressive as even DH and my SIL know when he's in A Mood.

Sushigirl was very bitey, even her "nips" hurt, even though it never seemed she was doing it on purpose, but her actual bites could be quite devastating. She was definitely a more choosy bird. She didn't like my husband, but she adored my SIL and I. She didn't like men, with the exception of her previous owner.

Sushi wasn't good with cage cleans or food changes and could be very cage aggressive, she never laid an egg in her life but we assumed she was a girl because of her behaviour. She also wasn't the best girl to sit and cuddle with, she always got a little too into it if you know what I mean. She was very velcro but not a very handle-able bird. To be fair she was 5 years old when she came back into my care, and we only had her for under a year before she passed so I honestly cannot predict whether she would've gotten better or not.

Murphy is a bit better with his cage, but I do believe that's because I've had him from a very young age and he is more laid back compared to how Sushi was. He was a bit aggressive to my husband at first when he became a bit more hands on with care but he's settled now and is very eager to step up to people even if he's on his cage. I've never had complaints about how he acts when he's been birdsat by my mum or any relatives. One thing he Does Not Like is touching The Bells when we rearrange his cage. But even with that he is quite good as long as he isn't in or on his cage at the time, and they don't make noise.

One thing about Murphy is, while he is the cuddliest bird and is very lovely, he isn't very cooperative with care like checking his wings, or feet, or clipping his nails. But this can be prevented with enough training, which unfortunately I didn't do enough of when he was younger.

Good luck with choosing a new family member!

 

[Burdlady48]

I do not own a bird yet, but I have read that cockatiels are very friendly and outgoing, and that GCC are more sulky, but not having owned one I wouldn't take my word for it! Good luck!