Advice for a newbie?

Hello! This is my second time posting in this forum in a short time period so sorry for that. I have a three month old greek cheek conure named Jethro that I recently got and I have a few questions.

•When it’s bedtime, I put him to bed around 8:30-9PM. When I shut off the light and cover his cage he makes a lot of noise and flaps his wings. He’ll stop after a couple of minutes. Is it okay to ignore him until he stops?

•His tail feathers look tattered. I’ve checked for signs of plucking and there doesn’t seem to be any. I haven’t seen him do it or found feathers. Should I be worried?

•How can I encourage him to stay and step up?

•He likes to preen a lot, is this normal?

I apologise for all the questions. This is my first bird and he’s so sweet, I want to make sure he’s cared for.

Some reading for ya!

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

General Parrot Information - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community

Young birds often tatter their tails!

Preening... probably a good thing. My guy preene for hours!

About lighting schedules...

Ever since the Rickeybird hit sexual maturity at about 3-4 years of age, I've had to manage his hormones! If kept on too steady a long day, and too much light, he stayed "in the mood" (aggressive, even louder than usual, pleasuring himself on my neck ) year round. If I keep him on a natural light schedule... up with dawn, down with dusk, year around... THEN he's only a little monster rooster from July to September). He has his own room, so I can do that easily.
If/when things get aggressive or risque, you may want to look into avoiding touching/rubbing the backside, regulating the light schedule, maybe even a quick time-out for unacceptable behavior... keeping in mind that a lot of parronts just tolerate quite a bit of this stuff as long as there is no aggression.

Good for you, for reaching out!

•When it’s bedtime, I put him to bed around 8:30-9PM. When I shut off the light and cover his cage he makes a lot of noise and flaps his wings. He’ll stop after a couple of minutes. Is it okay to ignore him until he stops?

You could consider trying a timer with dimmer or something so that it gets darker at a slower interval, rather than suddenly.


•His tail feathers look tattered. I’ve checked for signs of plucking and there doesn’t seem to be any. I haven’t seen him do it or found feathers. Should I be worried?

Probably not... he is a chick after all. Chicks tend to have pretty battered feathers. Bathes may help!


•How can I encourage him to stay and step up?

Station training and target training. Try using treats as a means of teaching the behaviors you want him to do!


•He likes to preen a lot, is this normal?

As long as it's not excessive and doesn't involve destroying feathers, then yes, it's normal!

I bought my guys an auto dimming light bulb. It's called the Drift Light. It will automatically dim and go off in 30'.

It's expensive but supposed to last a lonnnng time. Don't buy from Amazon. I did and they sent me a used one. Buy direct from mfg.

Hi! All of the above!
The nighttime routine, think of yourself going to bed.
I move my JoJo to a quiet room at sunset that has a dim light from an adjacent room. I only partly cover his sleep cage.
FYI I do have a separate sleep cage, it is in my bedroom, I never fully cover it. In the morning, JoJo can see me sleeping and he just taps and such until I wake.

Hi! I am also a newbie, and looking for specific advice that I couldn't find through a search. This looked like a good thread to piggyback on, if that's OK.

I've seen that it's a good idea to have a smaller cage for sleeping in at night, but I haven't been able to find a size suggestion. How big should a sleep cage be for a GCC?

TheAlexian said:

Hi! I am also a newbie, and looking for specific advice that I couldn't find through a search. This looked like a good thread to piggyback on, if that's OK.

I've seen that it's a good idea to have a smaller cage for sleeping in at night, but I haven't been able to find a size suggestion. How big should a sleep cage be for a GCC?

Click to expand...

It's not necessary to have a sleeping cage (one large main cage is fine and many birds do this) but some do like to offer a sleep cage placed in a spare bedroom. It should be big enough that the bird can open its wings all the way and stretch comfortably. Of course the main cage it lives in should be much larger to accommodate having to be gone for long periods of time.

I use sleeping cages for all of my guys, the sleeping cages are located in my bedroom, so they all sleep with me in my room, while their much larger, "main" cages are located in the main floor of my house in the living room/dining room/kitchen area. Their sleeping cages are much, much smaller than their main cages, I mean they are the size of a normal tabletop cage for a Budgie maybe? Their sleeping cages shouldn't have any toys in them, basically all that's in their sleeping cages is a water dish, a single perch, and a swing. That's it. They need to be able to fully open their wings up, turn around, and be able to walk around a little. When I'm ready to go upstairs to my bedroom and watch TV or read in bed, my Cockatiel hops on me (she can't fly), and the other 3 follow us up. They go right into their sleep cages, I kiss them goodnight, cover them, and they're out! Then first thing in the morning they get uncovered, I open them up, and downstairs they go to their main cages for breakfast. This isn't something that you have to do, but some people do. I like having them in my room with me, it's a lively bedroom, lol, it's me, my Australian Cattle Dog, and my Shar Pei on the bed, and my Senegal, my Green Cheek, my Quaker, and my Cockatiel in their sleeping cages, plus my Ringneck Dove in his cage....I guess I just feel better with them in the same room with me...

The only other thing I can add to the great advice already given above is regarding your Green Cheek's tail feathers...Sometimes when their tail feathers are tattered all the time, it's an indication that their cage is too small, and they're actually ripping them up on the cage bars every time they turn around. So you may want to make sure that this isn't the cause...How large is his cage?