I'm Back! With Questions...

[A.K]

Hello!

Boy, did I miss this forum!

It's been a few years (I think), life threw me around a little. I'm not going to share the deets, cuz they're mundane, but I am settled... and ready to bring home some parrots back into my lives. God knows I've missed having those dino-birbs with me.

As some might know, from both my pfp, and maybe a few old posts, I was looking for a CAG. That dream has since faded (No, I haven't "lost" interest, no, it wasn't a short little obsession that would have led to me rehoming some poor parrot, it was a genuine love for the species that led me to realising I might not be the right home). And so... we're getting two lovely hand-fed baby green cheeked conures this week!

I'm so excited to bring these babies home, I've done tons and tons and tons of research, and already bought them a huge flight cage, and two birdy backpacks for transport.

However, I did still have a few nitty gritty questions that weren't answered.

1. Pellets and Chop. I've heard great things about Harrisons, but the birds have been weaned onto ZuPreem pellets (the colourful ones). I will wean them onto the natural pellets eventually, but is ZuPreem a good brand? Proportions for pellets? And I've heard they are good for a second meal of the day - but around what time should I feed it to them? Chop. The birds are currently weaning onto veggies. I really want to use Bird Tricks Seasonal Feeding, I've only heard good things about it. Price seems decent (affordable for me) but does anyone here use it? It seems easier than prepping my own chop weekly. I also follow Bird Tricks religiously, and I am using their methods for training and other things.

2. Branches/Perches. I would love to be able to use my own wood for perches. I have red maple, silver maple, pine, sweet gum in my yard. Any of these to outright avoid? I've heard that silver maple (with bark removed) and sweet gum should be okay. Lmk.

3. PVC pipe DIY stand. Sorry, but there's not way I'm spending more money on a retired tree than on a cage... Yeah, so I've heard of PVC pipe stands wrapped in vet tape. Is any vet tape safe? I'm trying to be ultra careful here... Anyone here use PVC pipes in a stand?

4. General GCC advice wanted!!

A few more details, I am getting two of the same gender. The cage is a flight cage, kept near a window in my basement (which is finished). It's cooler in the basement, and honestly, my family spends most of our time down there. It is well lit.

Yep, thats all.
Thanks in advance <33

 

[A.K]

Update: Just got DNA testing results from my breeder.

I'm getting two male conures... One is a turquoise GCC, and the other is a pineapple GCC... they are almost three months old...!!

 

[Shannan]

AWWWW congrats. Conures are so much fun! Way more energy than my TAG was. I don't really have any major answers to your questions per se. I used vet wrap and co wrap brands only with my TAG and he didn't have any problems with them (of course he wasn't a big chewer so he never really messed with them). Walter spent many years on Zupreem as it was the only pellets he would eat (had him back in the day before there were pellets and ll parrots were on seed diets so he was a seed junkie). Good luck with your little guys and share pictures when you can.

 

[A.K]

Thank you so much!!

I'm gonna give this a little so that a few more people see it.


I am going to buy PVC pipes and sisal rope for a stand today, since I am picking up the birds on Friday

 

[PeterNPipe]

Congrats on your two cheekies! We have Peter and Piper. Piper is a turquoise green cheek and Peter is a yellowsided turquoise green cheek. They are 1 1/2 and 6 months. They eat TOPS pellets. Piper came to us on seed, weaned him onto the colorful zupreem and then onto Tops. He eats more veg when he is in Tops. We don't chop most of the veg, they enjoy "foraging" on larger chuncks of veg, but we do cut it up when it is a harder veg or has stringy stuff (like in kale)Kale.
One thing to watch out for with sisal rope is that a lot of sisal rope is treated, just something to be careful with. We once made a boing out of sisal for Piper but quickly removed it when we learned it was treated..
We do a lot of woodworking for our birds, so not much experience with pvc and vet tape. I think Red Maple is on the no go list? There are a number of safe wood lists on the internet we have used to double check our wood. If it is coming from an area where wild birds have access be sure to sanitize/cook the branch first.
We have our cheekies by the living room window during the day. One thing to consider with the window is possibly covering it initially when they are by themselves. With so many new surroundings to get used to, a window with neighborhood friends stopping by can be awfully scary (butterflies are terrifying apparently) When I am home I let them look out the window, and can be there to intervene should the neighborhood cat stop by.
Please post pics once your Lil dinos arrive

 

[A.K]

Thank you!!

Peter and Piper look adorable (in your pfp). The birds are currently weaned onto the colourful zupreem, so in terms of weaning them onto anothe brand of pellets, we're one step ahead..! They are also weaned onto a mixed vegetable diet, so I'll have to see how comfortable they are with the size of veggies, but they are currently on a chop diet (Thanks for the stringy veg warnings, I don't think I would have noticed it)

I believe I bought untreated, natural, biodegradable sisal rope - it says it should be pet (specifically cat?) safe, but thank you!

Yes, red maple is on the no-go list, and I will definitely wash/soak/sanitize/cook any branches first.

As for the window, I will prolly have the blinds down the first few days, just because they I would hate for them to fly into it, and to avoid any scares. Our neighbourhood is pretty quiet anyways, but there are butterflies...