Tips on taming and bonding with a mean Green Cheek

Riverpet100 · Nov 26, 2018

Hi, I just got my green cheek yesterday. I already love her, but I bought her for the price of a hand raised baby, and she is extremely untame. I am giving her time to settle in of course. But I want tips for when she is settled in to start bonding. I hate to clip bird's wings, and my macaw has never been clipped. But with my smaller birds, I clip their wings for taming. But when they start growing out, I don't clip them again. I always say to not clip a bird's wings for your own reasons, such as bonding. But I need to have all my birds even the smallest amount of tame, so if a natural disaster happens then I can easily put them in a carrier. So if you have any tips, they will be highly appreciated.

Petunia :grey:

Cockatiel
Echo :white1:

Cockatiel
Oz :yellow1:

Cockatiel
Coconut :whiteblue:

Budgie
Mituna :orange:

Lovebird
Sollux :orange:

Lovebird
Jaden :gcc:

Green cheek
Diamond :blue1:

B&G macaw

Laurasea · Nov 26, 2018

Safflower seeds rule the soul of my GCC Ta-dah and my past friend Burt The Bird.

Scott · Nov 26, 2018

Congratulations on receiving your new GCC! The transition from breeder or store to home is uneven and challenging for both you and the bird.

How old is your bird, is she fully weaned? Her maturity status is critical to understand before proceeding from assumptions.

This thread contains many ideas for bonding: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html
If biting is a problem, pressure training may be of help: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html

The first two weeks or so are critical to formulating a relationship. Learning to fledge is crucial to development, so wing-clipping ought be a last resort until accomplished. Clipping for "attitude adjustment" is controversial but can be effective on one-time basis.

wrench13 · Nov 26, 2018

Best wy to a parrots heart is thru their bellies ( or crops). Find the GCC's favorite treat, and use that to become the new best friend.

Flboy · Nov 26, 2018

I also responded to your FB post! Please not mean! Terrified, yes, give her time and a reason to trust you!

Riverpet100 · Nov 27, 2018

Scott said:
Congratulations on receiving your new GCC! The transition from breeder or store to home is uneven and challenging for both you and the bird.

How old is your bird, is she fully weaned? Her maturity status is critical to understand before proceeding from assumptions.

This thread contains many ideas for bonding: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html
If biting is a problem, pressure training may be of help: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html

The first two weeks or so are critical to formulating a relationship. Learning to fledge is crucial to development, so wing-clipping ought be a last resort until accomplished. Clipping for "attitude adjustment" is controversial but can be effective on one-time basis.

She isn't from a breeder or a store. She is 1 year and from what I hear from the previous owner, has never been tame and is quite scared of humans. She has bitten me quite a few times, but that isn't the problem. Even though the biting does leave marks, I don't feel it. I have had many birds come to me like this, even my 20-year-old macaw came to me like this a year ago. But now he is sweet, I have worked with many birds that some say are hopeless in taming, and I tame the bird proving that person wrong. I know it is possible. But since I do like opinions from people who have experience with green cheeks, that's why I have asked here.

Petunia :grey:

Cockatiel
Echo :white1:

Cockatiel
Oz :yellow1:

Cockatiel
Coconut :whiteblue:

Budgie
Mituna :orange:

Lovebird
Sollux :orange:

Lovebird
Jaden :gcc:

Green cheek
Diamond :blue1:

B&G macaw

clark_conure · Nov 27, 2018

thats the problem to much time without human interaction.

The time out method I usually advice for biters is for bonded birds..... I'm afraid in this instance it's going to take time and patience and lots of talking and treats.

Don't worry to much about calories, work on the bonding. a young bird will burn em off. But only natural sugars like oranges or orange juice(preferably with calcium added), strawberries, apples, and bananas seem to be a GCC weak spot.

LaManuka · Nov 27, 2018

Please don’t start your relationship with this little one with the mindset that she is “mean” (you probably already regret the choice of that word!) I see countless GCCs offered for rehoming because of biting issues when they are simply misunderstood. You are yet to bond with her so you will need to work at her pace and try to end every interaction on a positive note so she will come to trust you - you don’t know how she was treated in her previous home. When my usually very sweet GCC got hormonal and totally unreasonable I found sultanas still worked a treat on him! A little later once she has settled in you can try working with her away from her cage as there may be some “cage-territoriality” at play here. I wish you both all the best!

EllenD · Nov 27, 2018

I don't like that you're thinking of your Green Cheek as being "a mean bird", because that's just not at all true, and it's extremely important that you think of this in a totally different way if you ever want to form a close bond with him, because if you keep thinking of his current behavior as "meanness", then you're not understanding what is actually going on, and if you don't understand what is actually going on then you'll never be able to overcome this or form any kind of relationship with him...So the first thing you need to do is to stop thinking of your bird or his current behavior/personality as being "mean", but rather start thinking of him as being a young bird that was not hand-raised or given much human interaction at all after he weaned by his breeder (which is absolutely not his fault at all), and who is simply scared of people because he's not used to being with them or having much at all to do with them...Then you need to "Hit the Reset-Button" and when you wake-up tomorrow treat it like you just picked him up and brought him home.

It's not at all uncommon (unfortunately) for a young parrot to be sold as "hand-raised" or "hand-fed" by a breeder, to pay the average price that a hand-raised baby parrot costs, and then to find out that your new baby bird doesn't like hands or attention from people in-general...It's due to one of a few possible reasons: #1) The breeder could have just completely lied to you and the bird was actually "parent-raised" but they sold him to you as "hand-raised". This unfortunately happens every day, especially if you bought him from a "breeder" (and I'm using that term loosely) on Craigslist, or if you bought him from a big-box pet shop such as Petco, where they label ALL of their Green cheek Conures, Sun Conures, Jenday Conures, and Black-Capped Conures as "Hand-Fed". Notice the description tags on their cages do say "Hand-Fed", not "hand-raised", and that's how Petco gets away with charging $449 for a Green Cheek Conure that is seemingly wild and not hand-tame at all..."Hand-Fed" simply means that the vendor that Petco buys their birds from pulls their babies from the nest-box by 3 weeks old, but then they put the babies into huge Brooders that hold dozens and dozens of babies at one time, and that's where they stay and live until they are weaned onto solid food, and the ONLY human interaction/attention that any of them get is the 30 seconds it takes for them to pick the baby up and stick a crop-needle down into it's crop, fill-up their crop with formula, and then put them back into the huge Brooder. That's it, that's what Petco calls "Hand-Fed" baby birds. They are actually "Tube-Fed" or "Crop-Fed", they aren't handled at all by anyone nor are they paid attention to, as they are mass-breeders who are tube-feeding hundreds of babies on basically an assembly-line, and they don't have time to actually "Hand-Raise" them, which is totally different and is what produces tame, sweet baby birds that love humans...So that's one possibility....Another is that he was hand-raised, but then after he weaned the breeder stopped paying attention to him and didn't handle him much at all between the time he weaned and the time you bought him...This is probably the case if he isn't absolutely "wild" and seems to not be totally terrified by you, but just doesn't want to be touched...

Either way, it's completely possible to hand-tame your Green Cheek, but it's going to take time from you every single day, working with him, sitting near him and talking to him, reading to him, and figuring out what his favorite treats are and using them as Positive-Reinforcement every single time he does something like steps-up for you without biting/nipping...

****The first thing I would do is to make sure that you locate his cage in the "main" room of your home, which is whatever room of your home that you and others who live there spend most of their time when they're at home. Usually this is the living room, family room, TV room, den, etc. You cannot keep a parent-raised or non-tame, non-socialized bird in a "spare bedroom" or "bird room" that is not the room where the people of the house are at when they're home and then expect the non-socialized, non-tame bird to become friendly and like being around people..."Passive-Interaction" with him is going to be just as important as Direct-Contact/Interaction is, so that means that whenever you're watching TV, playing video games, on the computer, reading, talking with friends/family, eating your meals, having visitors over to your home, etc., that he needs to be in the same room with you and the other people who are there, even if people are not paying him direct-attention, just simply being among you, watching you, hearing you, having people constantly walking past his cage, etc. will do wonders to socialize hime and yes, tame him...This is especially true if he was actually hand-raised but was then ignored and not paid attention to after he weaned and before you bought him, because being around as many people as possible every single day will help to re-acclimate him to being around people and will bring a lot of that original socialization with people back for him...Plus, it will keep him from screaming whenever he knows that people are home because he can hear them out in the living room, but he can't see them because he's back in the "bird room"...

Riverpet100 · Nov 27, 2018

LaManuka said:
Please don’t start your relationship with this little one with the mindset that she is “mean” (you probably already regret the choice of that word!) I see countless GCCs offered for rehoming because of biting issues when they are simply misunderstood. You are yet to bond with her so you will need to work at her pace and try to end every interaction on a positive note so she will come to trust you - you don’t know how she was treated in her previous home. When my usually very sweet GCC got hormonal and totally unreasonable I found sultanas still worked a treat on him! A little later once she has settled in you can try working with her away from her cage as there may be some “cage-territoriality” at play here. I wish you both all the best!

You've gotten me all wrong, I love her. I run an exotic rescue. Although I focus more on parrots. Mean was a word to describe that she is very untamed. I would never rehome her over such a simple thing such as biting. I don't mind the biting. Living with several exotics, you get used to bites. I just want some tips for when she is settled in so that our bonding can start.

Petunia :grey:

Cockatiel
Echo :white1:

Cockatiel
Oz :yellow1:

Cockatiel
Coconut :whiteblue:

Budgie
Mituna :orange:

Lovebird
Sollux :orange:

Lovebird
Jaden :gcc:

Green cheek
Diamond :blue1:

B&G macaw

Riverpet100 · Nov 27, 2018

EllenD said:
I don't like that you're thinking of your Green Cheek as being "a mean bird", because that's just not at all true, and it's extremely important that you think of this in a totally different way if you ever want to form a close bond with him, because if you keep thinking of his current behavior as "meanness", then you're not understanding what is actually going on, and if you don't understand what is actually going on then you'll never be able to overcome this or form any kind of relationship with him...So the first thing you need to do is to stop thinking of your bird or his current behavior/personality as being "mean", but rather start thinking of him as being a young bird that was not hand-raised or given much human interaction at all after he weaned by his breeder (which is absolutely not his fault at all), and who is simply scared of people because he's not used to being with them or having much at all to do with them...Then you need to "Hit the Reset-Button" and when you wake-up tomorrow treat it like you just picked him up and brought him home.

It's not at all uncommon (unfortunately) for a young parrot to be sold as "hand-raised" or "hand-fed" by a breeder, to pay the average price that a hand-raised baby parrot costs, and then to find out that your new baby bird doesn't like hands or attention from people in-general...It's due to one of a few possible reasons: #1) The breeder could have just completely lied to you and the bird was actually "parent-raised" but they sold him to you as "hand-raised". This unfortunately happens every day, especially if you bought him from a "breeder" (and I'm using that term loosely) on Craigslist, or if you bought him from a big-box pet shop such as Petco, where they label ALL of their Green cheek Conures, Sun Conures, Jenday Conures, and Black-Capped Conures as "Hand-Fed". Notice the description tags on their cages do say "Hand-Fed", not "hand-raised", and that's how Petco gets away with charging $449 for a Green Cheek Conure that is seemingly wild and not hand-tame at all..."Hand-Fed" simply means that the vendor that Petco buys their birds from pulls their babies from the nest-box by 3 weeks old, but then they put the babies into huge Brooders that hold dozens and dozens of babies at one time, and that's where they stay and live until they are weaned onto solid food, and the ONLY human interaction/attention that any of them get is the 30 seconds it takes for them to pick the baby up and stick a crop-needle down into it's crop, fill-up their crop with formula, and then put them back into the huge Brooder. That's it, that's what Petco calls "Hand-Fed" baby birds. They are actually "Tube-Fed" or "Crop-Fed", they aren't handled at all by anyone nor are they paid attention to, as they are mass-breeders who are tube-feeding hundreds of babies on basically an assembly-line, and they don't have time to actually "Hand-Raise" them, which is totally different and is what produces tame, sweet baby birds that love humans...So that's one possibility....Another is that he was hand-raised, but then after he weaned the breeder stopped paying attention to him and didn't handle him much at all between the time he weaned and the time you bought him...This is probably the case if he isn't absolutely "wild" and seems to not be totally terrified by you, but just doesn't want to be touched...

Either way, it's completely possible to hand-tame your Green Cheek, but it's going to take time from you every single day, working with him, sitting near him and talking to him, reading to him, and figuring out what his favorite treats are and using them as Positive-Reinforcement every single time he does something like steps-up for you without biting/nipping...

****The first thing I would do is to make sure that you locate his cage in the "main" room of your home, which is whatever room of your home that you and others who live there spend most of their time when they're at home. Usually this is the living room, family room, TV room, den, etc. You cannot keep a parent-raised or non-tame, non-socialized bird in a "spare bedroom" or "bird room" that is not the room where the people of the house are at when they're home and then expect the non-socialized, non-tame bird to become friendly and like being around people..."Passive-Interaction" with him is going to be just as important as Direct-Contact/Interaction is, so that means that whenever you're watching TV, playing video games, on the computer, reading, talking with friends/family, eating your meals, having visitors over to your home, etc., that he needs to be in the same room with you and the other people who are there, even if people are not paying him direct-attention, just simply being among you, watching you, hearing you, having people constantly walking past his cage, etc. will do wonders to socialize hime and yes, tame him...This is especially true if he was actually hand-raised but was then ignored and not paid attention to after he weaned and before you bought him, because being around as many people as possible every single day will help to re-acclimate him to being around people and will bring a lot of that original socialization with people back for him...Plus, it will keep him from screaming whenever he knows that people are home because he can hear them out in the living room, but he can't see them because he's back in the "bird room"...

Mean was a word used to describe how she was acting. I totally undertsand her. Shes in a new home, she was servely mistreated in her previous home. I love her and dont think of her as ¨mean¨. I think of her as misunderstood. But the word ¨mean¨ was a simple term that I could use to give people an idea of her. These tips will be used after she settles in, I am not stressing her yet. Other than talking to her and showing her that I care by making sure she sees me changing her food, and changing her water.

Petunia :grey:

Cockatiel
Echo :white1:

Cockatiel
Oz :yellow1:

Cockatiel
Coconut :whiteblue:

Budgie
Mituna :orange:

Lovebird
Sollux :orange:

Lovebird
Jaden :gcc:

Green cheek
Diamond :blue1:

B&G macaw

Flboy · Nov 27, 2018

Riverpet100 said:
You've gotten me all wrong, I love her. I run an exotic rescue. Although I focus more on parrots. Mean was a word to describe that she is very untamed. I would never rehome her over such a simple thing such as biting. I don't mind the biting. Living with several exotics, you get used to bites. I just want some tips for when she is settled in so that our bonding can start.

Some thing to remember, a green cheek will die to protect his territory and rights! We all triggered on the word ‘mean’! For the majority of the members here, a parrot holds the same status as a very special child! Love/hate! Save yourself aggravation, and learn your new baby’s likes and dislikes! Work with and around! This thread changed my life with parrots!
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

Also, consider the possibility, that besides the turmoil and horror, your new baby may be also going through an hormonal change of life!

clark_conure · Nov 28, 2018

Basically everything EllenD said i could have wrote but.....I mean....wow...

(then I looked it up; car sales/financing and writer.....)

My world is back on it's axis....

I'm just trying to be funny; everything you said was perfect.

What EllenD wrote I also wrote, in my head. I was just too lazy to like type and stuff.

Scott · Nov 28, 2018

Riverpet100 said:
Scott said:

Congratulations on receiving your new GCC! The transition from breeder or store to home is uneven and challenging for both you and the bird.

How old is your bird, is she fully weaned? Her maturity status is critical to understand before proceeding from assumptions.

This thread contains many ideas for bonding: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html
If biting is a problem, pressure training may be of help: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html

The first two weeks or so are critical to formulating a relationship. Learning to fledge is crucial to development, so wing-clipping ought be a last resort until accomplished. Clipping for "attitude adjustment" is controversial but can be effective on one-time basis.

Click to expand...

She isn't from a breeder or a store. She is 1 year and from what I hear from the previous owner, has never been tame and is quite scared of humans. She has bitten me quite a few times, but that isn't the problem. Even though the biting does leave marks, I don't feel it. I have had many birds come to me like this, even my 20-year-old macaw came to me like this a year ago. But now he is sweet, I have worked with many birds that some say are hopeless in taming, and I tame the bird proving that person wrong. I know it is possible. But since I do like opinions from people who have experience with green cheeks, that's why I have asked here.

When scant information is provided in the opening post, we tend to ask questions to help formulate appropriate guidance.

I believe we can agree the "mean" reference was to specific behavior, not intent or Jaden's innate nature!

Riverpet100 · Nov 29, 2018

Yeah, she isn't mean her self, but the behavior is mean. But I completely understand why she is this way. She can`t really help it. All my parrots are my babies, so sometimes I love them and other times I wish they would mind better, Lol. But isn't that how it is kids.

Petunia :grey:

Cockatiel
Echo :white1:

Cockatiel
Oz :yellow1:

Cockatiel
Coconut :whiteblue:

Budgie
Mituna :orange:

Lovebird
Sollux :orange:

Lovebird
Jaden :gcc:

Green cheek
Diamond :blue1:

B&G macaw

tytbody · Nov 29, 2018

Riverpet100 said:
LaManuka said:

Please don’t start your relationship with this little one with the mindset that she is “mean” (you probably already regret the choice of that word!) I see countless GCCs offered for rehoming because of biting issues when they are simply misunderstood. You are yet to bond with her so you will need to work at her pace and try to end every interaction on a positive note so she will come to trust you - you don’t know how she was treated in her previous home. When my usually very sweet GCC got hormonal and totally unreasonable I found sultanas still worked a treat on him! A little later once she has settled in you can try working with her away from her cage as there may be some “cage-territoriality” at play here. I wish you both all the best!

Click to expand...

You've gotten me all wrong, I love her. I run an exotic rescue. Although I focus more on parrots. Mean was a word to describe that she is very untamed. I would never rehome her over such a simple thing such as biting. I don't mind the biting. Living with several exotics, you get used to bites. I just want some tips for when she is settled in so that our bonding can start.

Petunia Cockatiel
Echo Cockatiel
Oz Cockatiel
Coconut Budgie
Mituna Lovebird
Sollux Lovebird
Jaden Green cheek
Diamond B&G macaw

you've already lost your audience on "mean".
if you are a rescue person, and it appears you have many, why not take the time learn this particular bird?

Ive learned when you say the wrong word to parrot caregivers they bite the heck out o you. so I no longer ask.

I don't know if my parrot is hand raised or parent raised.. I'm just dealing with what I've got.

Riverpet100 · Nov 29, 2018

tytbody said:
Riverpet100 said:

LaManuka said:

Please don’t start your relationship with this little one with the mindset that she is “mean” (you probably already regret the choice of that word!) I see countless GCCs offered for rehoming because of biting issues when they are simply misunderstood. You are yet to bond with her so you will need to work at her pace and try to end every interaction on a positive note so she will come to trust you - you don’t know how she was treated in her previous home. When my usually very sweet GCC got hormonal and totally unreasonable I found sultanas still worked a treat on him! A little later once she has settled in you can try working with her away from her cage as there may be some “cage-territoriality” at play here. I wish you both all the best!

Click to expand...

You've gotten me all wrong, I love her. I run an exotic rescue. Although I focus more on parrots. Mean was a word to describe that she is very untamed. I would never rehome her over such a simple thing such as biting. I don't mind the biting. Living with several exotics, you get used to bites. I just want some tips for when she is settled in so that our bonding can start.

you've already lost your audience on "mean".
if you are a rescue person, and it appears you have many, why not take the time learn this particular bird?

Ive learned when you say the wrong word to parrot caregivers they bite the heck out o you. so I no longer ask.

I don't know if my parrot is hand raised or parent raised.. I'm just dealing with what I've got.

Click to expand...

I am taking the time to get to know her, as I have stated. I want tips to start using when we get to know each other.

Petunia Cockatiel
Echo Cockatiel
Oz Cockatiel
Coconut Budgie
Mituna Lovebird
Sollux Lovebird
Jaden Green cheek
Diamond B&G macaw

Laurasea · Nov 29, 2018

I talked in the other post on fear of hands, and in the beginning of your thread about safflower seeds. Try them!!! Not kidding it like the ring (precious) rules her soul!! My past GCC Burt the Bird it was the same thing! But if not that treat watch what she chooses to eat first in her bowl, and use that!

Riverpet100 · Nov 30, 2018

Laurasea said:
I talked in the other post on fear of hands, and in the beginning of your thread about safflower seeds. Try them!!! Not kidding it like the ring (precious) rules her soul!! My past GCC Burt the Bird it was the same thing! But if not that treat watch what she chooses to eat first in her bowl, and use that!

What makes them so enjoyable?

Petunia :grey:

Cockatiel
Echo :white1:

Cockatiel
Oz :yellow1:

Cockatiel
Coconut :whiteblue:

Budgie
Mituna :orange:

Lovebird
Sollux :orange:

Lovebird
Jaden :gcc:

Green cheek
Diamond :blue1:

B&G macaw

Laurasea · Nov 30, 2018

They must be birthday cake wrapped in a shell! Try them with your cockatiel, I had my neighbor offer them to his cockatiel , because he couldn't find a training treat. She loved them too! I think I see Salty using them as a training treat in his Amazon videos too. They be magic!!

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