riddick07
Well-known member
I have seen a lot of young conure threads lately on them biting and generally being a big pain in the butt. Which lets admit it they can be little bullies especially the little gccs. I know I mostly talk about my amazon and cockatoo anymore but...I just wanted to share my experience with my first conure because I know how frustrating it can all be especially when you keep getting attacked.
Monkey, my female gcc, was my first 'real' parrot. I had cockatiels before but cockatiels never prepared me for the little mini-macaw that I bought back in 2010. She was 6 months old when she came home and was a great little bird at first. Then, the little demon spawn emerged...the honeymoon period was over between one moment and the next.
I will admit I had done very little research before bringing her home. I had no idea about the maturity period, stick training, bite pressure training, socialization. I knew the basic diet, cage size, and toys. All I knew was that she was very pretty, available right now and the other breeder hadn't contacted me about the waiting list I was sitting rather impatiently on. So I contacted Monkeys breeder and had her within a week. Everything was perfect, like I said, at first. She stepped right up, went to other people, and played her cute factor to the max...before letting me have it.
Since I didn't know anything about training I hadn't started any before she went bonkers on me. So I got bit a lot, bleed quite a bit, pried her off my finger more than a few times, wondered what I got myself into, panicked a little, and then went online to try and figure everything out before I decided to have gcc for dinner one day.
I joined this forum back in 2011 which was when this all occurred. While I never posted asking for help I searched through the threads and muddled through it on my own. Monkey came out the other side and was not eaten for dinner by either me or one of my snakes. We muddled through stick training, toweling, butting heads, and I do believe there was some mutual screaming at each other a couple times....for such a little bird, actually my smallest, she will always be the biggest attitude in the house. It was just my kind of luck that she happened to be my first 'real' parrot.
I am glad I never gave up or threw in the towel. She has a crazy amount of character, attitude, and intelligence. She is stick trained, bite pressure trained, trick trained to a degree, and I cannot remember the last time she bit me. She follows me through the house, talks to me with the contact call we agreed on, and gives me attitude occasionally to keep me on my toes because that amazon just doesn't know how to give attitude like her
My Monkey is one of my favorites and she most definitely made me earn the bond we share today
Some pics of the little brat hanging out with me this afternoon because everyone's stories kept reminding me of the her back then
Video of our contact call! She actually refuses to do this with anyone else unless I'm around. When I left to study abroad in 2013 she was stubbornly silent even though everyone tried to get her to do it with them.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQw5rZTe_gc"]Monkey - YouTube[/ame]
My little brat turned 5 back in June though it feels like I've had her much longer
Monkey, my female gcc, was my first 'real' parrot. I had cockatiels before but cockatiels never prepared me for the little mini-macaw that I bought back in 2010. She was 6 months old when she came home and was a great little bird at first. Then, the little demon spawn emerged...the honeymoon period was over between one moment and the next.
I will admit I had done very little research before bringing her home. I had no idea about the maturity period, stick training, bite pressure training, socialization. I knew the basic diet, cage size, and toys. All I knew was that she was very pretty, available right now and the other breeder hadn't contacted me about the waiting list I was sitting rather impatiently on. So I contacted Monkeys breeder and had her within a week. Everything was perfect, like I said, at first. She stepped right up, went to other people, and played her cute factor to the max...before letting me have it.
Since I didn't know anything about training I hadn't started any before she went bonkers on me. So I got bit a lot, bleed quite a bit, pried her off my finger more than a few times, wondered what I got myself into, panicked a little, and then went online to try and figure everything out before I decided to have gcc for dinner one day.
I joined this forum back in 2011 which was when this all occurred. While I never posted asking for help I searched through the threads and muddled through it on my own. Monkey came out the other side and was not eaten for dinner by either me or one of my snakes. We muddled through stick training, toweling, butting heads, and I do believe there was some mutual screaming at each other a couple times....for such a little bird, actually my smallest, she will always be the biggest attitude in the house. It was just my kind of luck that she happened to be my first 'real' parrot.
I am glad I never gave up or threw in the towel. She has a crazy amount of character, attitude, and intelligence. She is stick trained, bite pressure trained, trick trained to a degree, and I cannot remember the last time she bit me. She follows me through the house, talks to me with the contact call we agreed on, and gives me attitude occasionally to keep me on my toes because that amazon just doesn't know how to give attitude like her
My Monkey is one of my favorites and she most definitely made me earn the bond we share today
Some pics of the little brat hanging out with me this afternoon because everyone's stories kept reminding me of the her back then
Video of our contact call! She actually refuses to do this with anyone else unless I'm around. When I left to study abroad in 2013 she was stubbornly silent even though everyone tried to get her to do it with them.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQw5rZTe_gc"]Monkey - YouTube[/ame]
My little brat turned 5 back in June though it feels like I've had her much longer
