Crimson bellied baby coming home next month - tips?

Hi, everyone! I'm ecstatic that we should be bringing a new feathered baby home with us in the latter half of next month. He was hatched in December, and is a Crimson Bellied Conure. I've done lots of research into what the best foods, habits, and toys to help him be trained early, but I find myself nervous in general! It's my first baby bird, and my husband's third (he has two conures, both around 16 years old), and I want to ensure I'm doing the best job I can in giving our little birdy the best start to his life with us.

Do you all have any tips or suggestions in regard to helping socialize and making him feel at home? It'll be a ~2.5 hour car ride home, so we'll be with him the whole time, but he'll still be put into a new environment and is pretty young. Is sitting by his cage and letting him walk around on a blanket ideal for introducing him to the apartment, or am I babying him too much already? Perhaps quietly letting him get used to his cage first would make more sense?

I am so excited, and want to do right by him. I don't want to baby or over-socialize him at first (I've read that can cause attachment issues and screaming later on), but I definitely want to ensure he bonds with us both, as well as feels safe at home, as soon as possible.

Any ideas, tips, or stories from your own baby conures would be most appreciated. Thanks so much!

I will be bringing home a CBC rescue on Saturday and would also love advice, suggestions and tips!

it's best to let the bird lead I think. you'll know if he needs space or interaction. my paisley was immediately ready for us and it's been fine since minute 1. we sat with him on the couch and let him explore us and play. he's never looked back.

just a few tips on safety. I'm sure you've read no Teflon, no avocado, no onion, no overheated cooking oil. but some care sheets forget to mention no candles or plug ins or potpourri and sprays. I also personally do not use wax warmers. I boil cloves, oranges, cinnamon and spices, or lemon and mint on the stove in a kettle. smells wonderful.

I do my absolute best to keep the air as clean as possible.

Janedeaux said:

it's best to let the bird lead I think. you'll know if he needs space or interaction. my paisley was immediately ready for us and it's been fine since minute 1. we sat with him on the couch and let him explore us and play. he's never looked back.

just a few tips on safety. I'm sure you've read no Teflon, no avocado, no onion, no overheated cooking oil. but some care sheets forget to mention no candles or plug ins or potpourri and sprays. I also personally do not use wax warmers. I boil cloves, oranges, cinnamon and spices, or lemon and mint on the stove in a kettle. smells wonderful.

I do my absolute best to keep the air as clean as possible.

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It's good to read that it's more reacting to the bird than it is something I should definitely do. Reading cues is (in my bizarre mind) much easier than trying to follow a set of "rules" on how to bond with a bird.

And indeed, no nonstick cookware; my husband has already said we can replace the three pots/pans we have. (Previously it wasn't a big issue, as the birds were in a completely separate room from the kitchen...but this bird will be much closer.) Is silicon a big deal? I bake a lot, and use silicon mats/pans/etc.

As for unsafe foods, yeah, avocado and onion are the two really big offenders, from what I hear. I fear I'm going to be eating like a bird for a few months while I try the "do you want to eat the broccoli/carrot/fruit mommy is eating" method of getting them to eat fresh food!

Oh, goodness. No plug-ins is a really good thing for you to point out!! I had read about the candles and was surprised, but thankfully the only candles we ever use are for power outages (and those are thankfully very rare). We do, however, use those Bath 'n Body Works Wallflowers. Now I know we need to avoid those.

Thank you so much for the tips. I will definitely remove all our Wallflowers and let my husband know they're not great for the birds!

When I bring in a new bird I leave him/her in the cage for three days. I know the temptation is to bring them out but I want them to get comfortable in the cage and think of it as a safe space if they get scared.

I walk by the cage often, talking to the bird and giving them treats. If they won't take treats out of your hand then dropping treats into a dish. All the birds I have rescued were taking treats out of my hand by day three and that's when I've opened the cage and taken them out.

you are welcome! I think some birds that end up passing away with no previous illness, or just suddenly, is because of things in the environment: candles, plug in, wax warmers, etc. I've read stories of people's bird suddenly suffering an attack, and they recognized it to be from an air freshener of some sort. I believe that a bird can live with some of these things for many years but will eventually catch up and make them ill or pass away before their time.

I hope you and your baby do beautifully! have fun.

Safe Kitchen, Safe Pet Bird

this is a great article with the information about silicone. it seems to be safe.

this article touches on burnt food as well, and some people don't think of that. I rush my bird right to the back and close doors and open windows if it gets smoky in the kitchen. Again, I just try to keep my air in the house as "green" as I can!

that's funny about eating like a bird. I still do it! paisley loves broccoli and grapes!



haha. Just edited this. Typed that response on phone and the typos were a bit much!

I've had my CBC for 7 months and he is a joy. Still nips occasionally, but not too bad. You will love your new bird