New pineapple GCC

[Kjacks]

Hello! We had recently lost our amazing little conure, so we decided to adopt another that was in need of a home. We have had this little one for about 4 days now, and this is our second conure. This baby is 8 months old, currently clipped wings (we will not be reclipping) and today it is starting to warm up to us and has started a very strange behavior compared to what we are used to. It’s stretching both wings almost like heart wings, head and neck out, mouth slightly open, and aggressively head banging up and down, over and over again. Has anyone ever seen this behavior or have any idea what the heck it is doing? I am attaching photos from the video but can’t figure out how to upload the video itself.

 

[Birdsare#1]

I really am no expert in this is just a guess, but I've heard that head bobbing sometimes can be a behavior that is left when the chick was fed by the parents. But I am really not sure!

 

[Deleted member 57370]

You can make a you tube and link .
Congratulations on your new one !


I have had 3 GCC, and I am also unsure of this behavior. It could be frustration at not being able to fly and wing practice? Frustrated at not being able to move about? Until wings molt ,which might be next year hopefully, I would make highway perches .

These cages that open from the top can accidentally shut on the bird, so use caution.

Putting perches in the outside of the cage can allow them to move more freely and give you a place to interact .

Looking forward to seeing more of you and your new one !

 

[Kjacks]

You can make a you tube and link .
Congratulations on your new one !


I have had 3 GCC, and I am also unsure of this behavior. It could be frustration at not being able to fly and wing practice? Frustrated at not being able to move about? Until wings molt ,which might be next year hopefully, I would make highway perches .

These cages that open from the top can accidentally shut on the bird, so use caution.

Putting perches in the outside of the cage can allow them to move more freely and give you a place to interact .

Looking forward to seeing more of you and your new one !

Hi! Yes, I am a worrier about stuff and the top closing is on that list! The wood that you are seeing bracing it open is actually an entire ladder toy hooked into it so it cannot fall and close! Her cage is on the floor due to not being able to fly yet, and she’s got a rope toy that bridges to the nightstand that’s against the bed where we sit and watch tv and let her come hang out. She (I don’t know yet it’s actually a she) seems to be really violent in everything she does, eating, drinking, preening, just overall very rough there is also a low pile shag rug just below in case she falls, she’s not very graceful. Frustration is something I kind of assumed too, she does a pretty good job hovering and fluttering, she likes to run hop and flutter to the bed instead of using the bridges I’ve left for her. She also does not want the food from the bowl, she wants you to give it to her, and she does not dip her food which is odd to me since our last baby didn’t eat without making soup so I’m wondering too if it’s some food thing/frustration/downright plain excitement and that’s how she shows it due to her aggressive movements she’s going to the avian vet in 2 weeks to get checked out so I will check with them when she goes and I’ll also see if she’s a she

 

[Kjacks]

I really am no expert in this is just a guess, but I've heard that head bobbing sometimes can be a behavior that is left when the chick was fed by the parents. But I am really not sure!

Thank you! I think she’s just really aggressive in her movements and this is either excitement or frustration. She’s still too new to us to really determine her personality but it’s shining through more and more each day of having her! I have an appointment for her in two weeks and I am going to show the vet the video and see if they know what the heck!

 

[Deleted member 57370]

Sounds good . You are definitely being a good parront!

Like you said only 4 days ! No soup ,just crazy and lucky ! Probably won't last

When birds are new , I still let them have whatever crap food they had and are used to , while still offering what I want them to even eat. I try and give 2 weeks to adjust to home before diet changes are started. I like to weigh them in arrival and and every day those first 2 weeks and then during diet changes. Then weekly for life as best practices. Tho it can depend on how stress free and tame they are to accomplish.

It's possible your new one feels stressed with cage on floor . Tho I completely understand your reasoning. You will be the one who can determine if that is causing stress.

Each parrot is such an individual even within a species! They are such incredible creatures.

Handing out lots of treats and love while you guys build trust and get to knowing each other.

 

[Kjacks]

Sounds good . You are definitely being a good parront!

Like you said only 4 days ! No soup ,just crazy and lucky ! Probably won't last

When birds are new , I still let them have whatever crap food they had and are used to , while still offering what I want them to even eat. I try and give 2 weeks to adjust to home before diet changes are started. I like to weigh them in arrival and and every day those first 2 weeks and then during diet changes. Then weekly for life as best practices. Tho it can depend on how stress free and tame they are to accomplish.

It's possible your new one feels stressed with cage on floor . Tho I completely understand your reasoning. You will be the one who can determine if that is causing stress.

Each parrot is such an individual even within a species! They are such incredible creatures.

Handing out lots of treats and love while you guys build trust and get to knowing each other.

I'm not so sure she is stressed at this point, a little jumpy but not so much stressed. She is preening a TON, but I am seeing a ton of keratin flakes everywhere so I don't believe it is over grooming, I think she is just happy grooming, not a ton of feathers dropping, just some little fluffs! No soup yet but that kind of worries me, I feel like she's going to choke on her dry pellets -_- Update on the movement, when she gets really excited or hears certain songs, she does that movement. I think she is possibly dancing, and just a really really bad dancer. She had a HUGE bonding moment with us last night and as of this morning she is attached to me like glue, so I'm pretty happy with that! I bring her to work with me (hence the smaller cage being suitable, she's very very rarely in it, only at bedtime and if she absolutely cannot go somewhere with us). She also has a decent sized backpack carrier for transport to and from work that gets buckled in. She is in bad need of a nail trim but I do not want to break trust this early into earning it, so I will likely just try to wait out the vet visit and let them piss her off instead. Now that she is wanting to be upside down in my hair, the band has GOT to go as well, that is a danger at this point, it's getting caught. She is also already starting to come when called (as long as there is millet involved of course). Her previous food was what I believe to be rodent treats, it's the super colorful gummy like square fruit flavored garbage. That's all she had, no pellets, no seeds, no fresh fruits or veggies, nothing else. So I have cut that instantly, she has taken nicely to the pellets, she doesn't seem to know what to do with seeds, fruit and veggies are the enemy, as well as phone screens, anything that lights up like that she tries to eat.

She also enjoys scaring the crap out of me by climbing to the top of my computer screen and then leaping off to "fly" to the top of my head.

 

[Deleted member 57370]

Awwwww! What a cute picture! She definitely already loves you !
Scary what crap she had before! Such a lucky bird to be with you now ! On the way to such great diet love and care !
When be does nail trim , if you can get a drop of blood from a cut nail in a piece of paper . You can send out to animal genetics yourself for DNA sexing , less than 2o bucks I think . They are who I use

Avian DNA Sexing Services | Animal Genetics

Animal Genetics offers DNA sexing tests for birds using DNA collected from blood, feather and eggshell samples.

avian2.animalgenetics.com

 

[Kjacks]

Awwwww! What a cute picture! She definitely already loves you !
Scary what crap she had before! Such a lucky bird to be with you now ! On the way to such great diet love and care !
When be does nail trim , if you can get a drop of blood from a cut nail in a piece of paper . You can send out to animal genetics yourself for DNA sexing , less than 2o bucks I think . They are who I use

Avian DNA Sexing Services | Animal Genetics

Animal Genetics offers DNA sexing tests for birds using DNA collected from blood, feather and eggshell samples.

avian2.animalgenetics.com

Funny that you mention that! I actually just looked at one! $23 for feather testing and then I read up on it and you have to yank 8 feathers from the chest!!!!!!! Heck no!!!! $19 for blood test via a slightly clipped nail! It's a heck of a lot cheaper than the vet. $84 for the genetic DNA testing, and $200 something for a full panel blood with that includes DNA, it is likely I am just going to allow them to do it as I want the full panel. We lost our last baby at just over 2 years old due to some genetic issues that may have been manageable if we had of known right away. We did not because she seemed to healthy and happy until it was too late. I refuse to make the same mistake and I will error on the side of caution from here on.

 

[Kjacks]

Sounds good . You are definitely being a good parront!

Like you said only 4 days ! No soup ,just crazy and lucky ! Probably won't last

When birds are new , I still let them have whatever crap food they had and are used to , while still offering what I want them to even eat. I try and give 2 weeks to adjust to home before diet changes are started. I like to weigh them in arrival and and every day those first 2 weeks and then during diet changes. Then weekly for life as best practices. Tho it can depend on how stress free and tame they are to accomplish.

It's possible your new one feels stressed with cage on floor . Tho I completely understand your reasoning. You will be the one who can determine if that is causing stress.

Each parrot is such an individual even within a species! They are such incredible creatures.

Handing out lots of treats and love while you guys build trust and get to knowing each other.

I spoke too soon. I left her on her bag on my desk while I went into a meeting, I came back to finish my tea and there were food chunks in it. As of today she has started making soup... And as of today I will not leave drinks unattended...

 

[Deleted member 57370]

Funny that you mention that! I actually just looked at one! $23 for feather testing and then I read up on it and you have to yank 8 feathers from the chest!!!!!!! Heck no!!!! $19 for blood test via a slightly clipped nail! It's a heck of a lot cheaper than the vet. $84 for the genetic DNA testing, and $200 something for a full panel blood with that includes DNA, it is likely I am just going to allow them to do it as I want the full panel. We lost our last baby at just over 2 years old due to some genetic issues that may have been manageable if we had of known right away. We did not because she seemed to healthy and happy until it was too late. I refuse to make the same mistake and I will error on the side of caution from here on.

I myself am very hesitant to do blood work on a healthy GCC . It breaks my heart when a healthy GCC dies from routine blood stick ..with a quality vet team this should not happen. 25 years ago or so, there was a conure bleeding syndrome, it's not something I've heard about recently. But it put the fear into me for life . My current vet has not had issues or heard of issues taking blood from GCC. But my past vet who is in her 60s has , and she had a policy of not taking routine blood from healthy GCC or birds that size or smaller.

 

[Kjacks]

I myself am very hesitant to do blood work on a healthy GCC . It breaks my heart when a healthy GCC dies from routine blood stick ..with a quality vet team this should not happen. 25 years ago or so, there was a conure bleeding syndrome, it's not something I've heard about recently. But it put the fear into me for life . My current vet has not had issues or heard of issues taking blood from GCC. But my past vet who is in her 60s has , and she had a policy of not taking routine blood from healthy GCC or birds that size or smaller.

Oh no I was unaware of that! I’m going to look into that, that definitely makes me nervous especially with how skiddish she already is. We had a minor set back tonight where my husband asked her to step up and accidentally put a little pressure on her foot, he didn’t realize that she had one foot more forward when he put his finger down to step onto and she lost her mind. I really think she may have been abused prior to coming to us. Day 1-3 she was the meanest little gremlin I’ve ever seen in my life. She would come after us and attack us while we weren’t moving. She bit my face day one, took chunks, was so dang mean. It got better pretty quickly through shaming for biting, ignoring, and offering treats for good behavior. All it took was one accidental pressure for her to snap back and start going out of her way to go after us violently again ): once she calmed down she came back to snuggle me and was fine until I put her to bed at 9, but I do think she’s got some serious trauma associated with hands and fingers. We will get there, it’s just going to take some time

 

[T. gillii]

I do think she’s got some serious trauma associated with hands and fingers. We will get there, it’s just going to take some time

Meh, might not be trauma. Greenies are mean little guys (coming from a green cheek lover) sometimes they are just.. like that.
My pineapple, Koko, came from Petco and was owned by a loving couple since he was a chick. Hates hands. Refuses to step up. He will accept treats and headscratches and likes to hang out on my shoulder if his girlfriend is there. He lunges at me and is overall a very confident, "mean" bird. I love him dearly
On the other hand, I just brought home Sweetpea, a 5 month old mint green cheek. She is horrified of humans... but she has already made incredible progress. Here she is on my hand with some of Koko's chicks (the sweetest babies in the world). You can see that she isn't fully relaxed, but she is getting there.

It is all about learning what your bird is comfortable with and shaping your expectations around that. Not every bird can be trusted with fingers or ears or noses. She is adorable and I look forward to more photos and updates of her- PS: most pineapple conures *are* female, so there is a good chance that she is a she The behavior in the beginning of the post reminds me of how sun conures and other larger conures (and macaws) will aggressively display, puffing up, wings out, and bite their ankles. It's a back off warning. Any clue on her age? Where she was raised? Maybe she learned it from a larger bird!

 

[Kjacks]

Meh, might not be trauma. Greenies are mean little guys (coming from a green cheek lover) sometimes they are just.. like that.
My pineapple, Koko, came from Petco and was owned by a loving couple since he was a chick. Hates hands. Refuses to step up. He will accept treats and headscratches and likes to hang out on my shoulder if his girlfriend is there. He lunges at me and is overall a very confident, "mean" bird. I love him dearly
On the other hand, I just brought home Sweetpea, a 5 month old mint green cheek. She is horrified of humans... but she has already made incredible progress. Here she is on my hand with some of Koko's chicks (the sweetest babies in the world). You can see that she isn't fully relaxed, but she is getting there.
View attachment 450792
It is all about learning what your bird is comfortable with and shaping your expectations around that. Not every bird can be trusted with fingers or ears or noses. She is adorable and I look forward to more photos and updates of her- PS: most pineapple conures *are* female, so there is a good chance that she is a she The behavior in the beginning of the post reminds me of how sun conures and other larger conures (and macaws) will aggressively display, puffing up, wings out, and bite their ankles. It's a back off warning. Any clue on her age? Where she was raised? Maybe she learned it from a larger bird!

She was a pet store bird originally and then in a home with some children (I met them in the exchange, those kids were absolutely awful). She came with a certificate card, hatch date of 8/21/2023. So she’s just over 8 months old, and definitely came from sun pets as she was from pet supermarket I’m definitely thinking she, as her first comfy night she kept trying to back up and put her junk on my arm which I nipped that immediately and put her to bed right then and there. She now has a 9pm bedtime with no exceptions until she learns not to be a hussy she has bonded with me entirely. She likes my husband but she is definitely deemed herself as my baby. She follows me around, screams when I leave, and RUNS to me when I sit down. She also is uh, a much better flier than I expected her to be with clipped wings. She’s got three clipped feathers on each wing but she has managed to chase me down the hallway at my job to make sure she didn’t get left behind. It’s not a short hallway. She collects paper clips from my desk and puts every single one of them in her water dish as well. She likes sitting on top of my screen and judging me silently.

 

[Kjacks]

She was a pet store bird originally and then in a home with some children (I met them in the exchange, those kids were absolutely awful). She came with a certificate card, hatch date of 8/21/2023. So she’s just over 8 months old, and definitely came from sun pets as she was from pet supermarket I’m definitely thinking she, as her first comfy night she kept trying to back up and put her junk on my arm which I nipped that immediately and put her to bed right then and there. She now has a 9pm bedtime with no exceptions until she learns not to be a hussy she has bonded with me entirely. She likes my husband but she is definitely deemed herself as my baby. She follows me around, screams when I leave, and RUNS to me when I sit down. She also is uh, a much better flier than I expected her to be with clipped wings. She’s got three clipped feathers on each wing but she has managed to chase me down the hallway at my job to make sure she didn’t get left behind. It’s not a short hallway. She collects paper clips from my desk and puts every single one of them in her water dish as well. She likes sitting on top of my screen and judging me silently.

12/21/2023, Not 8/21/2023, I've apparently got 8 on the brain!