Change of plan - my new baby comes home today!!

Kjarva · Aug 2, 2012

I'm so excited! My other half had an unexpected day off which means we can go pick up our new green cheek conure over a week early. I'm almost bouncing off walls with excitement!

Apart from the obvious of leaving him quietly in his cage when we get home until he feels settled in a bit, does anyone have any advice?

Pictures will follow once we've got him home

Spiritbird · Aug 2, 2012

I know your are so excited. It is a very happy event. Just give the little one time to adjust. With GCC it should only take a few days.

AFP520 · Aug 2, 2012

Once he comes home he needs to stay in the cage for about 2 days. Give him plenty of toys!

Kjarva · Aug 2, 2012

His cage is so stuffed full of toys I doubt he'll get bored any time soon

I just opened up his kaytee bird food to put in his bowl in preparation for his arrival - it smells delicious!

antoinette · Aug 2, 2012

Kjarva said:
His cage is so stuffed full of toys I doubt he'll get bored any time soon I just opened up his kaytee bird food to put in his bowl in preparation for his arrival - it smells delicious!

Congrats !!!!!!
Hey there remember that food is for the bird

Very exciting time, glad about all the toys

wenz2712 · Aug 2, 2012

You must be so excited Dont forget to post some pics once he has settled in

Lovelyloribeth · Aug 2, 2012

Congrats!! It takes a few days to learn his surroundings. Once he's settled he will be fine!! I remember bringing chichi home! I was beyond the moon! Like everyone said, toys, toys, toys!!

MissyMe83 · Aug 2, 2012

So exciting!! Agree with everyone else...don't get discouraged when he isn't super friendly and he doesn't move around too much the first day or two. Once settled in and more comfortable he will be a new bird! : )

DebsFlock · Aug 2, 2012

Congratulations!!!!! We didn't do anything too special with Scooter when we brought him home, but he was already 11 months old.

I've heard advice given both ways -- absolutely leave them alone for a couple of days or go ahead and handle them if they seem comfortable with it. As I said, I don't have the relevant experience, but to me it seems to make sense to handle them a little, so they know that's part of the deal, unless they are very shy and reluctant to come out.

I've also heard, and this makes huge sense to me, that you should avoid giving them a lot more attention in the first few weeks than you will be able to spare in the long term -- try to start out as you intend to go on.

Can't wait for the pictures!

amysaviary · Aug 2, 2012

I think u should hold ur baby from the start. U don't bring home a baby or puppy and stick them in a room for a few days then start to play with them! If u got a hand fed baby that was well socialized he will have no problem wanted to be with u. Take ur time and don't push him but he needs to know u love him and want him to be there. I tell people when they take home babies to put them in their cage for a few hours to learn the cage. Then ask him to come out if he wants out great, don't push but if they want to be with u then let them, it will help to build a bond! Also it was said before but don't have the baby out with u the first few days for 12 hours a day then go back to work and he only gets 4. Start what works for u long term as soon as u get home.

Echo · Aug 2, 2012

amysaviary said:
I think u should hold ur baby from the start. U don't bring home a baby or puppy and stick them in a room for a few days then start to play with them! If u got a hand fed baby that was well socialized he will have no problem wanted to be with u. Take ur time and don't push him but he needs to know u love him and want him to be there. I tell people when they take home babies to put them in their cage for a few hours to learn the cage. Then ask him to come out if he wants out great, don't push but if they want to be with u then let them, it will help to build a bond! Also it was said before but don't have the baby out with u the first few days for 12 hours a day then go back to work and he only gets 4. Start what works for u long term as soon as u get home.

That is exactly what I was going to say!

Kjarva · Aug 2, 2012

Well we've got him home and he is absolutely gorgeous! There is a small problem though - the breeder we got him from keeps his birds in an outdoor aviary, so his contact with people has been minimal. We've decided to call him Largo. Once he got into his new cage he was interested in us and came over to the side of the cage where I was sat in the armchair. He peeped away at me several times but he does not want to be touched in any way and seems to be afraid of hands.

Can anyone point me to some threads on here on how to socialise an effectively unhandled bird? He is so beautiful and I don't mind putting in the work to get him to interact with us. Oh and he is fully flighted, which made it really fun trying to get him out of the box and into his cage!

DebsFlock · Aug 2, 2012

He was handfed? But co-parented? Can you be more specific about what his background is?

I have not dealt with a completely unhandled bird, just underhandled birds (we seem to wind up the birds that sat around waiting for homes for a long time) but what I've generally read is to go slow, start by just hanging out and talking, then offer treats, gradually work up to handling. But if he has been co-parented he will be used to being handled. What did the breeder say about this?

Kjarva · Aug 2, 2012

From what I can gather, he hasn't really had much human contact at all. His parents were outdoor aviary birds and him and his brother were the last two left from their clutch. He's 3 months old and is used to the breeder coming and going to change out cages, feed etc. but his handling has been minimal, if any at all. He was left totally for his parents to raise.

Like I said, he does seem interested in us and what we are doing, he just doesn't want any touching at all. I'm content to leave him alone for a few days until I'm sure he is settled. He was so cute earlier - he ignored all toys in his cage other than his bell (which he loves) and the best game of the night was trying to dislodge his food bowls. Just before I covered him for the night he was preening himself, peeping quietly away to himself and then he started getting sleepy.

DebsFlock · Aug 2, 2012

You're going to have to be patient, I think. You might try looking in the budgie forum -- budgies are most often completely parent raised, there may be a lot of good info there.

Kjarva · Aug 2, 2012

Thanks for the info Debs, It was really difficult to get hold of a conure here in Scotland in the first place

The breeder did have an excellent set up in his back garden and told me while I was there that he did use to hand feed all of his babies but unfortunately illness had made it a lot harder to look after babies properly, so they were now exclusively parent raised.

Change of plan - my new baby comes home today!!

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Pictures!

How I tamed my GCC

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