I've had my Fancy Green Cheek Conure named Cleo for two weeks now. I am trying to wean her off the seed diet and I am not having much luck with it. She seemed really hungry when I tried to get her out. She kept biting me and did not want to train or anything. She just wanted food. She will also get to the top of her cage and not come off no matter what I do. It seems she is going through she's boss stage. I am a first time bird owner too, so all of it is new to me. I have two conure books but they are very limited on information. Is there any good books out there that can help with the seed diet weaning, taming and training?

With my limited experience weaning birds from seed to pellets is to soak the pellets in apple juice, just enough to make it moist then feed it first thing in the morning and evening. Some people mix the pellets with the seed then every few days slowly making the seed less and less. One way is the "cold turkey" approach where you abruptly remove the seed and introduce the pellets. When the birds get hungry and doesn't have any choice it will eat the pellets. This may work or may not work and also kinda unhealthy, but honestly I did thid on my CAG and just recently with my new Pineapple GCC. Maybe I'm just lucky to have a good birds that will eat anything.

Give your bird time to settle, dont train it yet. Let the bird trust you first before training. By the way how old is your GCC?

I don't recommend the cold turkey approach. First of all, birds can go down hill very fast. Secondly, there have been reports of organ damage to birds who's systems went into a form of shock by offering a complete diet change. Why not try sprouting the seeds and see if they are accepted. Sprouting is full of lots of vitamins.
You can make birdie bread with pellets and some seed in it as well as soak the pellets in juice or sprinkle on fresh foods and see if they are accepted.

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For a good book, try Parrots for Dummies, it's got a lot of good information. You can get it cheap on amazon, or I found mine at Ollie's for $5

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Cleo is 4 months old. I appreciate the advice. I do know the cold turkey is not healthy. I have been mixing it in her food and have done less less, but she keeps looking for sunflower seeds. How long should I wait until I train? The training I am trying right now is step up.

Thank you! That helps alot

I almost got that one and my boyfriend said it's for Parrots don't get it. I told him it was a smaller parrot pretty much. I will check it out on Amazon. Thanks so much

I've been told that sunflower seeds are not good to give a bird.
I can't help you with getting yours to eat the pellets. I just got mine Friday and she's eating the pellets. I give her seeds as a treat. Mine also loves fresh corn and broccoli. I was told to cut them really small and put some juice on them. She seems to really love it. When I talked to the vet's office today, they suggested that if she's not eating pellets to mix them with her vegies with some juice on it. Hope that helps. Keep us up to date on her progress.

Exactly! Conures are small parrots. But don't tell them that, they think they're big!!

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Train her when you think she is ready. You can use a dowel as a starter in training her step up and down if she is really biting. If it just a nip then I think it is only normal. Birds do test your finger if it sturdy and safe to stepped on. Running away from you when you offer your hand/finger is normal too since she doesn't know what that hand for. Patience and consistency is the best key plus lots of treats. Besides Cleo is still young.