Random conure questions

Hello all! I am new to the forum, and do not currently have a bird. When I was a kid I had 2 parakeets, and lately I have been thinking of getting another bird – either another parakeet(s) or a conure (GCC). But, no one I know has a conure! My only experience with them in real life has been at pet stores. I have been doing a lot of reading...but I have some questions if any of you actual-real-life conure-owners would be gracious enough to answer?


Right now I work part time (a few hours a day), but at some point in my future I will probably be working more hours – maximum 8 hour days with coming home at lunchtime. Is it possible to keep a conure happy while working full time? Do any of you work full time and have a conure?


Is it reasonable to take a flighted conure when one visits one's parents... do they tend to travel well (a couple hours in the car)? And then be in a strange (at first) environment? Alternatively, what are some arrangements you have used for care when you need to travel for a few days (boarding/vets/petsitter/etc)?


What is the activity level of a flighted conure like? I just don't know what to expect! What do they DO when you let them out of their cage for a few hours? I only have my parakeet experience to go on (and my friend's cockatiels).


I'm sorry if these questions seem weird, I'm trying to fill the gaps in the literature I have read and more importantly get thoughts from actual owners of conures! I want to be informed so I can decide whether or not a conure would be happy with me And feel free to ask my anything. Thank you so much!

Hello & welcome to the forums.....

It might be easier to answer your questions this way:

Hello all! I am new to the forum, and do not currently have a bird. When I was a kid I had 2 parakeets, and lately I have been thinking of getting another bird – either another parakeet(s) or a conure (GCC). But, no one I know has a conure! My only experience with them in real life has been at pet stores. I have been doing a lot of reading...but I have some questions if any of you actual-real-life conure-owners would be gracious enough to answer?

Well, that's no longer really true, you introduced yourself here & there are a whole bunch of conure owners around here...and...since we are real life conure owners, we will endeavor to answer your questions.....


Right now I work part time (a few hours a day), but at some point in my future I will probably be working more hours – maximum 8 hour days with coming home at lunchtime. Is it possible to keep a conure happy while working full time? Do any of you work full time and have a conure?

That's not a problem though when a bird realizes you are leaving it, going into another room, outside, to work, etc., our feathered friends normally acclimate themselves to the household routine, once they realize you are not abandoning them and will be coming back.....while some don't realize it, our birds do put two and two together.....I tell my birds that I'm going to the store, going to work or if I'm going out to the car, storage building or wherever, that I will be right back and they will squawk then be quite until I come back in & will again acknowledge me, I them & we all go about our routines, unless one or more want out.....


Is it reasonable to take a flighted conure when one visits one's parents... do they tend to travel well (a couple hours in the car)? And then be in a strange (at first) environment? Alternatively, what are some arrangements you have used for care when you need to travel for a few days (boarding/vets/petsitter/etc)?

I have always taken my birds riding in cars, vans or trucks, have never had any get sick or otherwise get upset, though you might want to start out with putting your bird in a smaller/travel cage, that it can see all around, out of and go on short trips, however unless you have someone to go with you, don't leave your bird in an unattended vehicle.....some jurisdictions will right you a ticket for doing so & if it is too cold or too hot, you might also get charged with cruelty and/or abuse.....all of my birds have traveled at least 200 miles, up to 2,000 miles.....


What is the activity level of a flighted conure like? I just don't know what to expect! What do they DO when you let them out of their cage for a few hours? I only have my parakeet experience to go on (and my friend's cockatiels).

They are often clowns & fun to be around, but there are couch potatoes in the bird world too.....

I'm sorry if these questions seem weird, I'm trying to fill the gaps in the literature I have read and more importantly get thoughts from actual owners of conures! I want to be informed so I can decide whether or not a conure would be happy with me And feel free to ask my anything. Thank you so much!

Not a problem, we all had to ask at least one question since we got into birds, though there may be one or two around here that might try arguing that point.....ask whenever you might have a question.....

Hello PieMaster! Welcome.

It sure is! While you are at work, you'd want to make sure the Green Cheek has plenty of good toys to keep him/her happy and interested. When you get home of course it will want lots of attention and probably cuddles as well. ^^

I don't work full time (or at all! *stay at home mum*) but I do know my Green Cheeks well.

Perhaps, however I would recommend training your Conure to wear an Aviator Harness. And only taking it out once it trusts you and has a good friendship with you.

They are almost like hyperactive children. As soon as mine come out of the cage, they want to explore everything, get a few kisses from me and then try and eat everything! Once they've burned off some of their energy they all like to snuggle with me.

I could say a lot more but I'm on my way out for lunch. ^^

NOTE: I breed and hand-raise Green Cheek Conures, so feel free to ask me questions.

EDIT: Also, what weco said is absolutely true as well. ^^

I have a fully flighted 14 year old female GCC who is extremely tame and friendly. I work full time so she plays with her toys and watches TV while I'm gone. I leave the cage door open whenever I'm home and she follows me around for hours, sits on my shoulder, or hangs out on top of her cage. I have driven with her many times from SF to So Cal to visit family, and she does just fine. I have qualms about whether harnesses are humane to parrots, and about the message they convey to people who don't own parrots, so I wouldn't use one. Instead, I'm really diligent about doors and windows.

I work part time, but am aware from home for full time hours and then some. I also have two conures now. Charlie I've had for going on 7 years. The first three years I had him I had a different conure, but he ended up passing away due to health complications. Charlie was then an only conure for 3 years until 3 months ago when I adopted another conure. As far as I know, he was an only bird for the first 10 years of his life! (he never did, nor does, get along with any of my other birds!)


Both definitely prefer it when I'm home but I know that at least one of them (the new girl) can entertain themselves while I'm away!


Charlie has gone with me on multiple occasions to the local bird club meetings and is typically pretty loud as we are going! On the way back he's typically quieter.

Jayde has only gone out once with me, and she seemed to enjoy the meeting more so than Charlie! Well, I thought she was going to adopt another human as her own! But she's pretty noisy when it comes to travelling.... we'll see how she is the next time I have a chance to take her out! (she's still getting accustomed to my own home and me)



Charlie is flighted and he's confident, but he's not difficult to handle. He spends more time glued to me than anywhere else! Right now, as I'm typing this, he's sitting on my right arm preening himself and just looking around. Sometimes he wanders, but typically not far.

Jayde on the other hand is stuck to my left shoulder and wont leave unless I place her on her cage! She isn't flighted *YET* (at least not fully) but we're working on it! I hope that as she learns how to fly again that her confidence will build up and she wont be so afraid... that she'll be ok wandering around on her own.

Thank you for all of your responses! It sounds like your conures really like to be with their people and interacting when they are out of the cage I am also glad to hear they seem do okay with travelling in cars (without being left alone in there!).

I have had many over the years.

Think of them as shrunken macaws and you've got the basic idea.

Big attitude, big personalities, very playful, very attention oriented, which makes them very trainable, and very sociable. Probably the best trick birds out there...

They are pair bond birds, which means they really, really tend to bond with one person, so you have to watch out for overbonding issues, or you will be the only one who will be able to handle the bird without getting pinholes in the finger...

PieMaster, definitely peek around the Conures section. A lot of us have or have had conures and there are a lot of stories about our babies. I am a fan of conures as pets.
And i do work a full time job....for a while, when Gilbert was very young, i had my full time plus a part time. I think they do well as long as they get plenty of quality time each day, and plenty of toys, a variety of foods, etc.
I don't take a "vacation" really, but I normally go every other weekend for a 3 day weekend on the Jersey shore at my friend's house. Gilbert and my 3 dogs go. I worried about him on the first trip but he absolutely LOVES to travel. He looks at the whole thing like an adventure and is so cheerful when we are away.
Both conures i have had were snugglers, but Gilbert is the more rolly-polly one. He will frequently be lying on his back in his cage, tossing toys up with his feet, chattering at them, rolling over, etc. Have to keep a clean cage or your bird has poo on him all the time!! haha

Lol I take my conure everywhere, and one of her favorite things to do is sit on my shoulder while we take short car rides. We also go on daily (weather permitting) bike rides in her backpack carrier. She's flighted and out all day, whether I'm home or not. It took several months to get her where I could leave her buts it's worked out. My budgies are unconfined as well. They all get along ok.

My sun conure used to live inside my shirt with just his head sticking out.

And there were times when I had all three of them in there...

Hello PieMaster...

I have a 2 1/2 year old Sun Conure. I work full-time on a 4/40 schedule which is 10 hours, 4 days a week. When I got Bowser a year and a half agoby so during lunch I go home and uncover him and go back to work and return a lil after 5pm and I let him out. and he was fine and always very excited when I get home. He would scream his head off at first but once im out the door he pretty much stops. He has learned the sound of my alarm and my car door closing so when I get home and he hears me he starts again until I walk in the house. By the time I get in he is so excited it looks like he's gonna tip over his cage. It's funny. I don't let him out though until the loud screaming stops and he starts making what I call his piggie noises. Since he is between 2 homes he does get car action a lot and loves it, especially when he is out he usually just sits on my shoulder looking around. He use to be able to fly but he was becoming a little aggressive and territorial but I loved when he could fly, especially when needing to go potty he could just fly to his cage or play area and fly back to me. He would fly around the house a little but mostly only if I left a room and he wasn't on me he would take off after me. Bowser is out most of the day. I have tried leaving him uncovered and cage door open but once i'm gone he just goes right back in his cage and that's where I find him when I get home EVERYTIME! He does love his play yard it has a swing, lots of other toys, ladder and posts to hang from. I highly recommend one of those, they also have small food and water bowls on there as well. But yes you are right Conures love love love to be with people!!! If Bowser is not on my shoulder chances are he is in my shirt...I swear I think their part dog with all the cuddling and affection they give and want in return. If you can get past the screaming (and if you train his right can be reduced to a minimum) then you should be very happy with a conure.

Thanks again, everyone, for your input. Yes, I have been reading lots of the old posts in the conures section (and other sections)! There is much to absorb And so many adorable stories. And tales of being bitten XD

Birdman666 said:

They are pair bond birds, which means they really, really tend to bond with one person, so you have to watch out for overbonding issues, or you will be the only one who will be able to handle the bird without getting pinholes in the finger...

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This is something I am a little concerned about because I live alone for the most part. I'm not sure yet if I would choose an adult bird or a baby, but if an adult at least I could try to find one that is reasonably well-socialized to other people already. What would happen if I were to adopt an adult who had been too closely bonded with its previous owner? Would he/she resent me? Would the bird inevitably become overly attached to me? Basically, would it be a disastrous situation for an amateur, heh heh...

Charlie was supposedly a mans bird. He could be defined as a "one person bird" but he's not... he just doesn't like strangers! He only warms up to new people if they spend time earning his trust, otherwise he really couldn't care about them! When he was in a pet store for about a year he did form a bond with a young girl and was bonded to his foster parents. He's now bonded to me. Granted, before I took him home I spent some time with him and his foster parents in their home and he wanted nothing to do with me!

Jayde on the other hand is a social butterfly! Just can't easily be handled by anyone! She loves verbal interaction from women (don't know about men yet... last guy to try to interact with her she bit him! but she also bit a couple of women that she did warm up to!). I'm hoping that the more accustomed she becomes to being handled and friendly, the more easily it will be for people to physically interact with her. We'll see about that!

I will say though that she was not bonded to her foster parent of 6 months. In fact, Jayde being Jayde, her foster mom couldn't figure out how to interact with her physically beyond scritches without getting a nasty bite! (I've gotten them, too!). I don't know what she was like in her first home, though.




Honestly, it doesn't matter if you were to get a baby or an adult bird, you wont know how that bird will react with you until you get him or her home. You could buy a young, friendly bird, get the bird home and then being in a new environment the bird freaks out and doesn't want to be handled. You could buy an adult bird that no one can handle, get the bird, then not be able to detach the bird from you! Or it could be the opposite in both cases! Or maybe the bird will act the same way as when you first met the bird!

It would be best to try and stick with a well socialized young bird or an adult in whichever decision you go with, but if you fall for a bird that doesn't match your criteria and you still want the bird and you're willing to work through any issues, then that will be your decision to decide!

Hello piemaster!

PieMaster said:

Hello all! I am new to the forum, and do not currently have a bird. When I was a kid I had 2 parakeets, and lately I have been thinking of getting another bird – either another parakeet(s) or a conure (GCC). But, no one I know has a conure! My only experience with them in real life has been at pet stores. I have been doing a lot of reading...but I have some questions if any of you actual-real-life conure-owners would be gracious enough to answer?
Welcome to the forum. If you decide to get a gcc I would suggest finding a local breeder rather than purchasing from a pet store for a few reasons. Pet stores usually charge more than double and feed them seeds, where most breeders will start them on pellets.

Right now I work part time (a few hours a day), but at some point in my future I will probably be working more hours – maximum 8 hour days with coming home at lunchtime. Is it possible to keep a conure happy while working full time? Do any of you work full time and have a conure?
Having a full time job is fine as long as it had plenty of toys. Foraging toys will keep them busy for a longer period of time.

Is it reasonable to take a flighted conure when one visits one's parents... do they tend to travel well (a couple hours in the car)? And then be in a strange (at first) environment? Alternatively, what are some arrangements you have used for care when you need to travel for a few days (boarding/vets/petsitter/etc)?

I take mine in the car all the time. Car rides are his favorite! I have a small cage to transfer him to and from the car but once we're in the car I let him out and he either stays on my shoulder or sits on top of the travel cage. If you are planning on taking him to other people's houses there are many things you need to keep in mind . Make sure they aren't using any air fresheners (spray or plug in), candles, pots and pans with Teflon coating,

What is the activity level of a flighted conure like? I just don't know what to expect! What do they DO when you let them out of their cage for a few hours? I only have my parakeet experience to go on (and my friend's cockatiels).
My conure is out almost all day and if he isn't on me or my boyfriend he usually stays on his cages . I have two cages in two different rooms that are open to each other and a play stand in the same room as one of the cages so he goes back and forth between all of that. When selecting a cage remember bigger is better!

I'm sorry if these questions seem weird, I'm trying to fill the gaps in the literature I have read and more importantly get thoughts from actual owners of conures! I want to be informed so I can decide whether or not a conure would be happy with me And feel free to ask my anything. Thank you so much!

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Welcome!

I'm realtively new to both this forum and owning conures as well. I've learned alot from the people here and am always grateful for the advice they offer.

My sweet baby is 9 months old. I've had him for 3 months now. I do work full time so our schedule goes a little something like this. we wake up around 6:30 and Loki is let out of his cage. Sometimes he stays on his playtop other times he rides around with me while i clean out his food and water bowls and cut up his freash fruits and veggies. He stays out while i get ready for work (about an hour) before he heads back in his cage. I leave a radio on or an audio book running to keep him company. My father is home, but is a heart patient, so on his good days, he'll visit with Loki and let him out of the cage for a little bit if he's feeling up to it, but mostly Loki is content to eat, sleep, talk to the wild birds outside the window and play with the many toys in his cage until i get home from work. Once i get home (around 6pm) he's out of his cage for another 2 -3 hours and this is when we have some training time and plenty of play and cuddle time. between 8 and 8:30 pm its time for Loki to go to bed. i try to keep him on a regimented sleep schedule.

Now for traveling.... my boyfriend lives in another state (45 minutes away) so every friday we pack up Loki in his pet taxi and he and my dog make the trip to our "weekend" home. Loki has a second full size cage set up there so his home away from home isn't much different. And we make the return trip home each sunday. Loki has no trouble with the trip and is comfy in his taxi (a modified cat carrier with perches and a bowl for treats).

I find that sticking to a schedule with him keeps him a happy bird and he gets lots of love from us all even though i work full time.

Good luck with your research and we all look forward to pictures of your new little buddy once you decide to get one.