Worried for my new GCG Conure ;(

hello all new to the fourm here, just got my new GCG conure from a breeder, her (assume her cuz she loves to rip tissue paper apart) name is Mango and i'm already loving her to pieces; she is 8 weeks old when i got her, the breeder previously fed her mixed seeds and i'm trying to mix in Zupreem pellets for more balanced diet, she doesn't seem to like it...i'm not sure if she's too young to eat pellets or not because she'd sort through the dish for all the seeds she can find. Her nails are quiet sharp and long (making cuts everywhere on my hand) but breeder said she was too young to have her nails clipped so not sure when i can.

Overall i am still learning to take care of her as she's my first bird; our relationship is getting better i can tell, she gets on my finger, sometimes she'd let me stroke her back, rub around her neck and things like that...really nippy, she bites me really hard sometimes and so far everyday i get a bleed and i've tried researching everywhere to train her nippy phase, so far everytime she'd bite me super hard, i'd blow air into her face and put her on ground and walk away for a few secs before i come back.

And here comes the stressful part, I have an older brother that is not a fan of animals, he wasnt sure at first but he didn't deny anything; but our ways of handling a pet is different...he told me he tried to handle the bird and she bit him so he gave him a light "slap" as he quoted. When Mango kept squawking, i'd ignore it but my brother got annoyed, he went over and told Mango to shh and smacked the cage with his hand; I got mad and super worried now Mango is not going to like hands...she tried to slap my hand away with her wing when i tried to stroke her back later after.

My brother thinks that if he thinks the bird is annoying, he can just cover her up; and that worrys me the bird is going to be stressed and lack of interaction or too much sleep since my brother works Dayshift and I work Afternoon shift, he thinks that according to internet that he read, he will cover up when sun set and open in morning when i wake up so aka he will cover up when he gets home at 5PM and i get home at 11PM, he leaves at 6AM and covers will be opened ...that means Mango gets next to zero interaction with anyone but empty house basically...

he just tells me that we shouldnt care whether Mango gets attention or not or if the house is empty all day and gets covered as long as he gets covered when sun set and open when sun rises...now i'm just super stressed about how my brother will handle my bird ;(

I don't know what to do..

wow, this post made me so sad. poor mango.
your brother sounds like a terrible person and you absolutely cannot let this behavior continue. if he does these things while you are around, imagine what he will do when you are not? you need to seriously make it a priority to keep your bird in a safe environment and put your foot down with your brother immediately. you cannot sit back and allow this to happen, no matter what your brother says.
and how much time are you spending with your bird exactly? you need to dedicate at LEAST 1-2 hours per day. if you can't manage that then you need to let mango go to someone who will provide her with what she needs.
I put a blanket over Picos cage sometimes but ONLY during night hours. and defintely not just because I find him annoying. that's just not right.

Please, this is so beyond wrong! This baby has the intelligence of about twice what your brother has! A GCC WILL DIE! To defend his position! This is not a fault, but a fantastic strength in such a small package! If you cannot control your brother, please do everything you can to protect poor mango! We just had another tragic accident today, where we lost a green cheek named Mango, we do not want another!

I will address the pellet eating issue because the bad behavure of your brother has already been discussed.

Try soaking the pellets in juice (apple or grape) for about 15 to 20 min. before giving it to Mango. I have found this works for most of my birds that don't normally eat pellets.

Also try feeding Mango millet seeds by hand to get her use to your hands and less prone to biting.

Having two people treating her so differently is going to cause serious behavior problems, you need to have consistent (kind)treatment.

Solution !

Buy a big cage and lock up this bad brother ! Mango will be a much better companion as your brother ever can be !

thanks for replying My brother never handled a pet before so i'm trying to explain to him how it's ganna work, he's not a bad person he just didn't understand. My brother is slowly understanding his mistakes he told me and will try his best. I spend around at least 4 hrs a day with Mango so far and i will try the method with juice and pellet, altho im afraid i don't know which juice to start with because i thought it'd not good to give them something so sugary? Mango still comes to me when i wake up to get out of cage, she LOVES the grapes i feed her by hand and peaches we share when i eat it as well; she has no problem being on my arm but just seems weary still when my hand gets close to her wanting to pet her, she'd make little sounds and back away a little, still slapping my hand away with her wing so it'll take some time to mend.

on the other hand, she's perfectly fine standing on my arm while i surf internet, more like she only wants to be on my arm and nowhere else sometimes, falling asleep; when im stroking her on back of her neck, she makes low duck quack sounnds and her eye seems to fall asleep...til i stop xD

Crulety to animals is a zero tolerance issue for me.
Even if your brother is a child.
No slapping, no thumping, no unauthorized cage covering/whatever.
No learning curve.
Good luck, especially to dear, tiny Mango... sounds as if her life is in your hands.

I'm going to try my best to respond to your post without being rude or harsh, as that attitude will not accomplish anything, and my number one priority in writing this to you is the welfare of your baby bird, and since I don't know where you live and I can't come and physically help your baby bird, the only thing I can do is to try to get across to you this way. That all being said, your post both upset me and angered me greatly, and it's hard to contain my emotions on this one.

You need to take this situation you're in very seriously. I don't know how old you and your brother are, but I'm assuming you are both teenagers or younger since you still live together. Now as angry as I might be or others might be at your brother for what he is doing, being angry at him does absolutely no good for your bird. You are the person that apparently bought the bird, you are the one that wanted a bird for a pet, you are the person that made a 30+ year commitment to be solely responsible for this bird's welfare. So I am talking to you directly and I'm going to talk to you like you're an adult, as you've done a very adult thing by bringing a living creature into your home and life and committing yourself to taking care of him. And if you are going to make adult decisions and take on very adult responsibilities like you have, then it is also your responsibility to handle the situation head-on and to make your first priority keeping your bird safe and out of harm's way. The least of your worries right now should be whether or not your little baby bird will stay on your arm or not, when you've already admitted that he is scared to death of hands. The fact that the little baby green cheek you've had only for what, a week or so, that was a hand-raised baby from a breeder, is already scared to death of hands, well honestly this should really upset you a great deal, as it is not at all normal. And I can assure you that making excuses for your brother's actions is not helping your bird and it's not helping your brother either. I mean come on, let's be seriously honest here, it makes absolutely no difference whether or not your brother has ever had a pet before or not, whether a young kid or a teenager your brother knows it's wrong to hit an animal, let alone a little baby bird that weighs only around 70 grams, or to hit that baby bird's cage, scaring it to death simply because the bird was making noise. Bird's make noise, that's what they do. I suspect your brother has seen and also heard birds outside. Either way I suspect your brother has some serious anger issues and has a lot of trouble controlling his temper. Kids/teenagers that physically abuse animals typically end up as adults that physically abuse people, or do worse. Hurting animals is usually how people start out before moving on to hurting other human beings. Either way your brother has anger management issues if he physically hits a little baby bird that is new to the environment it is in and is still in the adjustment period, trying to settle in and be comfortable. Your bird is scared to death right now and rightfully so.

I can tell that you really do care about your baby bird, I mean that, so I'm hoping you will be honest with yourself about what is potentially going on in your house. You absolutely cannot leave that bird alone with your brother. You have no idea what he is doing to that poor baby, regardless of what he says. I want you to take a few minutes and look at that photo of your precious little baby green cheek, look at his adorable little face, look at how small he is, and then ask yourself "How could anyone actually physically hit him?" And the other thing you need to ask yourself and take into serious consideration before this baby bird is exposed to this environment and to this way of life for very much longer is "What kind of quality of life does this baby bird, that I voluntarily became solely responsible for have on a daily basis?" Because you need to realize that pretty much everything you admitted to having happened in your above post is considered to be serious animal abuse, both ethically and legally. Obviously your bird cannot be physically hit, neither directly by being "slapped", or indirectly by "having his cage hit or shaken". You could quite literally have your bird taken away from you for just these actions, depending on where you live. Then when you combine the physical abuse with the poor thing being covered up and kept locked in his cage in complete darkness for 24 hours a day and not having any interaction at all, well I've got to ask you, why did you even get a pet in the first place? And I hope you're not so naive as to think that this only happened one time, because as a bird breeder and hand-raised, I just don't believe that a baby bird that was hand-raised and obviously fairly tame if he will sit on you, became deathly afraid of hands to the point where he actually "slaps hands away with his wings" after being "slapped" once. I'm just telling you so you know, as someone with decades of bird breeding, raising, and owning experience, the only time I have seen a bird slap hands away from themselves with their wings has been at the bird rescue I volunteer at, and only in much older, adult birds that were terribly abused for years. It is highly unlikely that your brother has only hit your bird one time and that it was only a "slap". So you need to make sure that your brother is not ever left alone with your bird (or any other animals) and that your bird's cage is not ever covered except at bedtime. I'm sure you already know you need to spend at least a bare minimum of 3-4 hours a day with your bird outside of his cage, giving him exercise, training, love, etc. But you need to realize that if your brother is home alone with your bird and he starts to make noise, it's likely that your brother will react negatively again. And with a little baby green cheek conure that only weighs around 70 grams all it takes is one "slap" and your bird has a broken leg, wing, pelvis, back, skull, internal injuries, or is dead. Period.

I have to ask since I'm assuming you and your brother are teenagers or younger, do your parents or whomever is your guardian know what your brother has been doing? Have they talked to him about it? You should be concerned for him as well, he may have some serious emotional problems. But regardless of whatever his issues are this abuse of your bird cannot continue. If that means putting a lock on your door so that he can't get to your bird, or perhaps deciding that your bird deserves much better and rehoming him to a loving family or person that can give him a high quality of life then so be it.



"Dance like nobody's watching..."

I am aware where all of you guy's anger are coming from, let's all calm down for a moment. First of all, i am infact fully aware of the commitment of getting a bird that lives 20+ years; I work full time to pay rent and bills since I live with my brother, away from parents for almost 8 years; aka i know what i'm in for, and taking full responsible for Mango. I forgot to mention that by "slap" quoted by my brother, he exaggerates words sometimes, he didn't really slap Mango like to the ground or anything hard, he gently rubbed her beak in terms of small discipline.

My brother understood and admit it was his fault when he smacked the cage, i know you guys said no second chance like he should be executed or something on the spot, by no mean i am trying to make any sort of excuse for my brother's action, there's a difference between not understanding and actual animal cruelty where the person fully understand what he is doing to the animal and have fun doing it. My brother is being more gentle and patient for Mango and she is back on his finger again, we will take small steps at a time.

I spent the morning from 9AM~2PM being with Mango outside of Cage, she even voluntary took a bird bath! She loves to cuddle with my hands again, it's so cute watching her trying to bend her head around for my thumb to rub the spots she wants me to rub, her face looks like one of those that had a super nice head rub at the hair salon lol. I also appreciate Mango trying not to poop on me! I love her

Mango Peek a Boo in my jacket

Well now that he didn't "slap your bird" but rather gently rubbed his beak, and since in a day's time "your bird was scared to death of hands, slapping hands away with his wings" and now loves hands and wants scratches, I feel so much better...

Don't ask for help and suggestions if you don't like the answers you are given. And please don't kid yourself, you're an adult (which is very surprising and disheartening) and to say that your adult brother doesn't know that hitting an animal is wrong, and so that makes it not animal abuse or cruelty, that's very naive and very sad. Your backpedaling and invention of a completely different story is ridiculous and insulting to every bird owner and caregiver on this forum. You would be much more respected if you stuck to the truth. "Slapping" is no where near "gently rubbing his beak"...That's infuriating to me. If he only "gently rubbed your bird's beak", and your bird is not actually afraid of hands after all but comes to you for scratches, then why did you come here?

I will be thinking about your poor little baby green cheek.



"Dance like nobody's watching..."

EllenD said:

Well now that he didn't "slap your bird" but rather gently rubbed his beak, and since in a day's time "your bird was scared to death of hands, slapping hands away with his wings" and now loves hands and wants scratches, I feel so much better...

Don't ask for help and suggestions if you don't like the answers you are given. And please don't kid yourself, you're an adult (which is very surprising and disheartening) and to say that your adult brother doesn't know that hitting an animal is wrong, and so that makes it not animal abuse or cruelty, that's very naive and very sad. Your backpedaling and invention of a completely different story is ridiculous and insulting to every bird owner and caregiver on this forum. You would be much more respected if you stuck to the truth. "Slapping" is no where near "gently rubbing his beak"...That's infuriating to me. If he only "gently rubbed your bird's beak", and your bird is not actually afraid of hands after all but comes to you for scratches, then why did you come here?

I will be thinking about your poor little baby green cheek.



"Dance like nobody's watching..."

Click to expand...

Oh i was asking for help and suggestions, i asked about how to get Mango to eat the pellets, about bird's timezone with the covers; suggestions and help on getting her to warm up to us. I did mention this is my first time having a bird pet, theres nowhere on any of my posts where i said that i DON'T LIKE the answers i was given, if i did please point it out to me! I am actually glad i got responses even though some were directly straight to animal abuse topics. I apologized if me being an adult made you surprised and disheartening, i do look young for my age! I was not backpedaling and inventing complete new stories, i was just saying what happened, why would i invent new stories or lie to cover up? What am i covering up?

I am sorry if my concerns and hope for suggestions and help turned out this way and somehow insulted to everyone on this fourm, i will leave this fourm and not post anymore, i thought people could be open minded and understand a little but turns out im just being accused of lying for no reason on this fourm, this makes me feel really heartbroken; I could care less about my reputation on a fourm than concerning for Mango. Thanks for replying anyways

joyjoy10531 said:

........And here comes the stressful part, I have an older brother that is not a fan of animals, he wasnt sure at first but he didn't deny anything; but our ways of handling a pet is different...he told me he tried to handle the bird and she bit him so he gave him a light "slap" as he quoted. When Mango kept squawking, i'd ignore it but my brother got annoyed, he went over and told Mango to shh and smacked the cage with his hand; I got mad and super worried now Mango is not going to like hands...she tried to slap my hand away with her wing when i tried to stroke her back later after.

My brother thinks that if he thinks the bird is annoying, he can just cover her up; and that worrys me the bird is going to be stressed and lack of interaction or too much sleep since my brother works Dayshift and I work Afternoon shift, he thinks that according to internet that he read, he will cover up when sun set and open in morning when i wake up so aka he will cover up when he gets home at 5PM and i get home at 11PM, he leaves at 6AM and covers will be opened ...that means Mango gets next to zero interaction with anyone but empty house basically...

he just tells me that we shouldnt care whether Mango gets attention or not or if the house is empty all day and gets covered as long as he gets covered when sun set and open when sun rises...now i'm just super stressed about how my brother will handle my bird ;(

I don't know what to do.......

Click to expand...

Please understand, this is what you said, very little room for misinterpretation!
This is what rallied everyone around protecting your baby. If it was a gross exaggeration then it is what it is!
You have a beautiful little baby, and you seem to be a wonderful person! In the long run you will find this form to be one of the better that are out there! Hopefully you will stay, all wounds heal in time!

Flboy said:

joyjoy10531 said:

........And here comes the stressful part, I have an older brother that is not a fan of animals, he wasnt sure at first but he didn't deny anything; but our ways of handling a pet is different...he told me he tried to handle the bird and she bit him so he gave him a light "slap" as he quoted. When Mango kept squawking, i'd ignore it but my brother got annoyed, he went over and told Mango to shh and smacked the cage with his hand; I got mad and super worried now Mango is not going to like hands...she tried to slap my hand away with her wing when i tried to stroke her back later after.

My brother thinks that if he thinks the bird is annoying, he can just cover her up; and that worrys me the bird is going to be stressed and lack of interaction or too much sleep since my brother works Dayshift and I work Afternoon shift, he thinks that according to internet that he read, he will cover up when sun set and open in morning when i wake up so aka he will cover up when he gets home at 5PM and i get home at 11PM, he leaves at 6AM and covers will be opened ...that means Mango gets next to zero interaction with anyone but empty house basically...

he just tells me that we shouldnt care whether Mango gets attention or not or if the house is empty all day and gets covered as long as he gets covered when sun set and open when sun rises...now i'm just super stressed about how my brother will handle my bird ;(

I don't know what to do.......

Click to expand...

Please understand, this is what you said, very little room for misinterpretation!
This is what rallied everyone around protecting your baby. If it was a gross exaggeration then it is what it is!
You have a beautiful little baby, and you seem to be a wonderful person! In the long run you will find this form to be one of the better that are out there! Hopefully you will stay, all wounds heal in time!

Click to expand...

Flboy thank you for quoting her original post, I'm very confused as to how "she did not change her story", that kind of blows my mind. You weren't trying to change what you said? Please read this part of your original post and then read your reply after you got a bunch of responses from members that are only concerned for your bird.

I have no idea what response you thought you were going to get after posting the story about your brother physically abusing your bird, and that is exactly what you posted. You said you were "so concerned that your little Mango will hate hands now, as he slaps away your hands with his wings anytime you get near him". Really? And you now say all you wanted was help with timezones and blah blah blah? And please don't think I thought you and your brother were young teenagers because I saw you, I assumed this because you still live together and you sounded like a young teenager with a pet bird that was being abused by your brother, and you had no way of getting the bird away from him. I felt horrible for you and wanted you to realize the seriousness of the situation. And yes, all you did in your second post and this truly bizarre reply was backpedal and deny saying things that are already in writing and the reason anyone cares about your situation to begin with. I truly hope that both you and your brother get some help, as something is really not right here.

I feel badly for all involved, especially your bird.

"Dance like nobody's watching..."

EllenD said:

Flboy said:

joyjoy10531 said:

........And here comes the stressful part, I have an older brother that is not a fan of animals, he wasnt sure at first but he didn't deny anything; but our ways of handling a pet is different...he told me he tried to handle the bird and she bit him so he gave him a light "slap" as he quoted. When Mango kept squawking, i'd ignore it but my brother got annoyed, he went over and told Mango to shh and smacked the cage with his hand; I got mad and super worried now Mango is not going to like hands...she tried to slap my hand away with her wing when i tried to stroke her back later after.

My brother thinks that if he thinks the bird is annoying, he can just cover her up; and that worrys me the bird is going to be stressed and lack of interaction or too much sleep since my brother works Dayshift and I work Afternoon shift, he thinks that according to internet that he read, he will cover up when sun set and open in morning when i wake up so aka he will cover up when he gets home at 5PM and i get home at 11PM, he leaves at 6AM and covers will be opened ...that means Mango gets next to zero interaction with anyone but empty house basically...

he just tells me that we shouldnt care whether Mango gets attention or not or if the house is empty all day and gets covered as long as he gets covered when sun set and open when sun rises...now i'm just super stressed about how my brother will handle my bird ;(

I don't know what to do.......

Click to expand...

Please understand, this is what you said, very little room for misinterpretation!
This is what rallied everyone around protecting your baby. If it was a gross exaggeration then it is what it is!
You have a beautiful little baby, and you seem to be a wonderful person! In the long run you will find this form to be one of the better that are out there! Hopefully you will stay, all wounds heal in time!

Click to expand...

Flboy thank you for quoting her original post, I'm very confused as to how "she did not change her story", that kind of blows my mind. You weren't trying to change what you said? Please read this part of your original post and then read your reply after you got a bunch of responses from members that are only concerned for your bird.

I have no idea what response you thought you were going to get after posting the story about your brother physically abusing your bird, and that is exactly what you posted. You said you were "so concerned that your little Mango will hate hands now, as he slaps away your hands with his wings anytime you get near him". Really? And you now say all you wanted was help with timezones and blah blah blah? And please don't think I thought you and your brother were young teenagers because I saw you, I assumed this because you still live together and you sounded like a young teenager with a pet bird that was being abused by your brother, and you had no way of getting the bird away from him. I felt horrible for you and wanted you to realize the seriousness of the situation. And yes, all you did in your second post and this truly bizarre reply was backpedal and deny saying things that are already in writing and the reason anyone cares about your situation to begin with. I truly hope that both you and your brother get some help, as something is really not right here.

I feel badly for all involved, especially your bird.

"Dance like nobody's watching..."

Click to expand...

Seeing as you just won't understand, thanks for your concern about us needing to get help, i appreciate it.

joyjoy10531 said:

EllenD said:

Flboy said:

Please understand, this is what you said, very little room for misinterpretation!
This is what rallied everyone around protecting your baby. If it was a gross exaggeration then it is what it is!
You have a beautiful little baby, and you seem to be a wonderful person! In the long run you will find this form to be one of the better that are out there! Hopefully you will stay, all wounds heal in time!

Click to expand...

Flboy thank you for quoting her original post, I'm very confused as to how "she did not change her story", that kind of blows my mind. You weren't trying to change what you said? Please read this part of your original post and then read your reply after you got a bunch of responses from members that are only concerned for your bird.

I have no idea what response you thought you were going to get after posting the story about your brother physically abusing your bird, and that is exactly what you posted. You said you were "so concerned that your little Mango will hate hands now, as he slaps away your hands with his wings anytime you get near him". Really? And you now say all you wanted was help with timezones and blah blah blah? And please don't think I thought you and your brother were young teenagers because I saw you, I assumed this because you still live together and you sounded like a young teenager with a pet bird that was being abused by your brother, and you had no way of getting the bird away from him. I felt horrible for you and wanted you to realize the seriousness of the situation. And yes, all you did in your second post and this truly bizarre reply was backpedal and deny saying things that are already in writing and the reason anyone cares about your situation to begin with. I truly hope that both you and your brother get some help, as something is really not right here.

I feel badly for all involved, especially your bird.

"Dance like nobody's watching..."

Click to expand...

Seeing as you just won't understand, thanks for your concern about us needing to get help, i appreciate it.

Click to expand...

My concern was and still is completely sincere because I do get it. I can read, and "he slapped my bird" is not in any way the same as or even close to "he rubbed my bird's beak gently". That is only one of the many descriptions of abuse to your bird that you initially wrote about, and what you don't seem to get is that you sincerely sounded concerned for the well-being of your bird while in the presence of your brother, and you also sounded very emotional and very worried about whether or not your bird would ever be OK with hands, especially when you described your bird "slapping your hand away with his wings every time you tried to touch him or approach him with your hand".

I do not at all understand why you are so surprised that a forum made up of experienced, caring, loving bird owners were both horrified and deeply concerned after reading the description of your bird being both physically and psychologically abused at the hands of your brother. More so, anyone that read that first post felt nothing but concern for both you and your bird, and we wanted to help you in any way we could. Unfortunately, rather than continuing to open up and accept help, or if nothing else get some suggestions as to how to handle a situation that at best is heartbreakingly sad and at worst is an extremely blatant example of animal abuse that will most likely and very sadly end up in great tragedy and horrible regret, you chose to immediately go on the defensive and make a very poor attempt to completely change the scene, which you had already clearly set, from one of a very concerned, new pet owner needing help dealing with a relative abusing that pet to a new pet owner that has no problems at all, has a completely happy, tame baby bird that loves hands, and a brother that did nothing at all wrong and just needed a bit of experience under his belt because he's never had a pet before. It was a sad reaction that was completely transparent in it's backpedaling. Then after completely changing and denying the story of abuse you told in your first post, you then in your third post tried to deny the fact that you completely changed your initial story and acted like you had no idea what backpedaling and denials were being talked about. And you epically failed all the way around. So yes, I completely and totally get it, and even so I'm still sincerely concerned for your bird and for you, because you did not make the effort to write your original post and then post it publicly in a forum full of bird lovers. You sounded like you were sincerely very worried for the welfare of your bird, and that even though you had discussed the abuse with your brother and he had "fully admitted to what he had done" and "he was completely honest about it" you were still concerned that he was going to continue to physically abuse your bird. And the end of your initial post is what really made me feel both sad and worried for you and your bird, when you said that your bird "is just still scared of hands" so much that "he slaps hands away with his wings every time you try to touch him". That broke my heart as both a bird owner and a rescue volunteer, because that is a defensive action that I've only seen from birds who have been severely physically abused. And I was certainly not the only member that was worried, angry, sad, and who felt an entire other host of emotions after reading your post. That being said, all any one of us wanted was to help you and your adorable little baby green cheek.

Even though you've gone on the defensive and are now completely denying that your bird is being hurt in any way (and I hope that's true) I just want you to know that if you ever need help we are all still here for you and will be more than willing to help you in spite of that. I know the people of this forum well enough to be able to confidently say that, so please, if you need anything at all, either post or private message any of us or any of the extremely knowledgeable and caring moderators. If you ever again have any concern for the welfare of your bird we are here to help the both of you.

"Dance like nobody's watching..."