Crimson bellied conure

[daizedoo]

So far everything is going ok. She adores my husband, while he was not a fan of getting a bird, you can tell he secretly likes how much she likes him when he walks in the room, she looks for him and flies to him. She likes to preen us and is maybe still figuring out how strong her beak is. Ouch. One question I had for you all was about toys. She is not interested in play at all. The only interest I've seen, is most recently she tries to chew on plastic food packaging if we have something out on the counter. She has a sea mat swing in her cage that she'll sit on, but doesn't play with the dangling toys. No interest in foot toys. She almost shies away from everything. She either is snacking, or sitting on one of us. Will that come in time as she keeps adjusting to her new situation?

 

[camelotshadow]

Encourage independent time & play. They are not big on foot toys. Try to observe & find the interest.
Some chew or shred. May be some cardboard or paper cups with treats inside to start.
Try to keep your interactions to a level that you can maintain for the rest of your lives.
Too much interaction in the beginning & then taking some of it away can lead to frustration.

Lily sounds like a doll. Do encourage her to play on her own etc in her cage so she is happy in it & can entertain herself when you can't.

Give her cut up veggies & fruit to chew. Rio likes apple & carrot. He's not a big chewer but has taken in the last year to playing on the bottom under his cage papers. He rings his stainless bells but is not a wood chewer.
You just have to find out what works for her.

Since she is food motivated try to hide food in things. Wrap them in cupcake wrappers etc to keep her busy,

Good Luck

 

[daizedoo]

Hi guys, any tips for excessive beaking? she loves sitting on shoulders, nibbling on ears and necks, which is fine when she's just nibbling but then will take a hard bite out of nowhere! My husband has a mole on his neck which she really would love to remove... lol....and then when he instinctively puts his fingers near it after she bites, she squawks at him and tries to bite his fingers. What's the best way to deal with this?

 

[NightOwls]

Maybe try moleskin over the mole?
Over time, my quaker learned not to preen moles.

 

[ParrotJoy]

Hello! I'm new to the forum, and you guys seem to be a wonderful, caring and knowledgeable group that I'm hoping to learn all I can from! I came across this thread in researching Crimson bellied conures since I am hoping to get one as a companion in the near future. I was wondering now that these beautiful CBCs are a bit older and probably out of their baby stage for the most part, what yalls experience has been with them as adult birds?
I've heard quite a few different opinions, some saying they are the sweetest thing ever and wouldn't hurt a fly while others say they experience wild mood swings out of seemingly nowhere. I know each bird is an individual and thus subject to different personalities but I would love to hear you guy's personal experiences with them! Thanks in advance!

 

[SumitaSinh]

My Rio is a baby, only nine months old... I'm going to follow this thread.

 

[swimming]

Hello! I'm new to the forum, and you guys seem to be a wonderful, caring and knowledgeable group that I'm hoping to learn all I can from! I came across this thread in researching Crimson bellied conures since I am hoping to get one as a companion in the near future. I was wondering now that these beautiful CBCs are a bit older and probably out of their baby stage for the most part, what yalls experience has been with them as adult birds?
I've heard quite a few different opinions, some saying they are the sweetest thing ever and wouldn't hurt a fly while others say they experience wild mood swings out of seemingly nowhere. I know each bird is an individual and thus subject to different personalities but I would love to hear you guy's personal experiences with them! Thanks in advance!

We have two crimson Bellied parakeets and a green Cheek. The green cheek is going on 18 years old and the crimson bellied siblings will be 2 years old this fall. We have our suspicion That the crimson bellied were not hand fed though they were sold to us as hand reared. They have been a real challenge compared to our sweet little green cheek and the other parakeets and cockatiels I've had in the past. They are very flighty and easily startled. Nothing seems to bother the green cheek. He's very easy going and calm. One of the crimson bellied is so viciously protective of her cage that cleaning it, or even putting in their favorite treat will trigger an attack.
There are times when they are friendly but they are totally unpredictable. You can be feeding them a treat and when they finish it they will bite hard enough to draw blood. I've Had many parakeets of different species in the past but none as unpredictable as these two. Our green cheek is sweet, loveable and cuddly. The CBs are very beautiful, smart and pretty quiet for a conure. They actually make some very cool noises. I'm making some progress with one of them (it's been days since I was last bitten!) but I'm not sure I will ever be able to trust the other. She has to be out of the room when I feed them or clean the cage or I can count on being attacked. We regret not getting another green cheek. I know they can be nippy also, but I would call the crimson Bellied viscous Not nippy. I realize they haven't been bred for as many generations as the greencheeks but hand fed birds should be calmer and tamer than these two. We are hoping they will chill out some as they get older.

 

[SumitaSinh]

Are girl CBCs cage protective? Rio is a boy, he's also unpredictable about biting but he's not cage aggressive.

 

[swimming]

That may be the case. Ours are supposed to be DNA sexed females but I'm thinking about having them tested again. Ellie is the most aggressive and protective of the cage. Zinny, her sister is not at all protective of the cage and is not as nippy. I had read that Male crimson bellies are slightly bigger and Zinny is. Their personalities are pretty different. I'm beginning to think we have a Male and a female.