3 month old Maverick

Hi everyone! Last Wednesday I picked out my little GCC Maverick, then on Sunday picked him up and brought him home! He is a good little bird! Assuming its a he at this point The breeder did socialize him well, he is fine with being touched pretty much anywhere, he is not a big fan of having his wings messed with, but considering I've only had him a couple days I think that's understandable. He is 3 months old and I've never had a baby bird before!! I am a nervous mommy! I keep his cage covered at night but I was wondering what a good temp is for a young guy like him? My a/c is at 78-80 during the summer months, which is right now. Is that ok for him? Also he is doing well eating pellets with a little bit of seed mixed in, and he will "taste" fruits and veggies I offer, but then turns his face away and shakes his head. Any ideas to get him to not think they are repulsive haha. Today we have done 2 sessions of training, just working on step up right now, and he is a quick learner!! He was stepping up on command after just a few tries! He didn't even want to leave my hand and go in his cage he was having so much fun! He is nippy, as I've read most GCC are, but I think a lot of it is just exploring and "tasting" me, he is not nipping aggressively. Now that he knows step up I just kept telling him to do it when he would get to feisty biting, it seemed to keep him distracted. Is there anything else I can do to help him learn that my hand isn't a chew toy? Sorry for the long post, and thanks for reading!! I attached some pics of him too. One of him with his brother or sister the day I picked him out then a couple from earlier today.

Aww what a cutie! If he won't eat fruits and veggies you could try juicing them and offer it as a drink instead. I had to do this with my first baby and I made a batch and filled it in an ice cube tray and froze it to make it easier!

Congrats on one cute GCC!!!

Do you know the parents mutations by any chance? If you do, that might help figure out if you have a little boy or not! (I noticed some other GCC's in the cage of different colors)

Temperature should be about whatever you are comfortable with, although birds can handle colder temps better than they can handle hotter temps. If he's not panting or puffed up and shivering, he's probably fine!


Find out if the breeder offered any fruits and veggies and how those were offered. If not, be creative! Hang them like toys, mix them up together in tiny pieces, slice them, dice them, cube them, etc!


If he gets a little too bitey, don't force him to do step ups... instead, try to prevent him from biting too hard and redirect his attention! Foot toys, beads, bottle caps, leather strips, popsicle sticks and other things that are easy to hold in his feet would be a great way to encourage him to chew on appropriate things rather than your hands!


The thing is, you don't want to discourage your new bird from chewing on things... you want to encourage chewing on *appropriate* items! Play with him and his toys! Make it fun for him! This will help lead to better behaviors later on!

I will ask the breeder how she was introducing fruits and veggies to him for sure, the care guide she gave me said to shred them so I'm assuming that's how she did it, but even shredded he isn't buying it! He's just stubborn I think lol. Thanks for the tips on the nipping! He is doing really well about not nipping as much already, in only a few training sessions! He is amazingly smart! He has learned the step up today and he will spin in a circle on command now! I'm amazed by him. I'm not sure what his parents were, but there were yellowsided and pineapple mutations in his clutch, I can ask his breeder tomorrow when I ask about the veggies. Thanks for all the tips! Would an old leather belt cut into smaller pieces suffice as something for him to chew instead of my hand? He much prefers his seeds over the pellets I've come to find out today too! Can I try adding some apple juice or something to his pellets to get him to be more enthusiastic about them? Right now he will just wait until I take him out for training and eat those seeds before eating his pellets. Thanks again!

I wouldn't suggest using a leather belt.... you never know what it's been cured with....

It's great that he's learning so quickly! Be sure to teach him more behaviors!!!!


And yes, feel free to moisten the pellets with water or fruit juice!


Since there were opalines and cinnamon opalines in his clutch, it's safe to assume that his father was either split for both of those mutations or was a visual of one and split for the other... unless there were cross-overs!

So went and got a cheapy blender today and blended/chopped a bunch of different fruits/veggies/greens. Mav loves it! Also put apple juice( found some at the store that was not from concentrate and had no added sugar) on his pellets and he has been going to town on them, I figure ill just keep adding less and less over the next week until he is just eating them plain. Anyways those are my victories for the day! Thanks for all the help! Also have just been putting a toy in his mouth when he goes to nibble on me, he'll get the idea pretty quick I'm sure.

He is very cute!

Thank you!