Advice on blue crowns?

Chudaism

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Jan 10, 2019
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Hi everyone, I'm looking to get into the world of conures and the species that I think would suit me the best are the blue crowned ones, but open to green cheeks too. Earliest I'd be picking one up (likely from a breeder, I don't see many up for adoption at all in the UK) would probably be sometime in August-September.

My main concern is how I work, since I do about 3pm-12am six days a week and there's nobody else in the apartment for now, but my girlfriend's moving in with me at the end of the year and she has her own bronze wing pionus.

Would I be able to adapt its sleep schedule around my own by using a cover, some lamps or anything else? Most nights I'll go to sleep around 5-6am, but when I get home I'll have all the time in the world for it with out of cage time if it isn't sleeping.

Thanks for any thoughts!
 

JamesC

Active member
Sep 3, 2011
591
41
Knoxville, TN
Parrots
Blue Crown Conures: Tootsie and Rosco.
Senegal Parrot: Sidney.

Feathers of the past:
Budgies: Sunshine, Digit, Kiwi, and Yahto.
Senegal Parrot: Kelly.
"Fly free, little ones. Love and miss you."
I have two blue crowns and they seemed to adapt well when I was doing a similar schedule for a while. I gave them out time and attention in the mornings and left them with treats as I walked out the door. The only minor issue I had was when I came home. They wanted out and didn't like it that I would cover them and head straight to bed. My old girl Tootsie usually complained to the dark for several minutes until she settled down again.

One thing that I think helped is that I have some home automation lighting. I had the lights fade in when there was still daylight so I could give them a bit more time with light in the evening since they were still covered after the sun came up in the morning. Around 9 I slowly faded them out to dark over a 30 minute period.
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
You need to be very careful doing what you're talking about doing, because all species of parrots need 12-14 hours of dark, quiet, restful sleep every single night, and if they don't get it they often become very unhealthy...Not to mention that whenever a pet/captive bird is not on a "Natural Light Schedule", which is dependent on the Sunrise and Sunset (not artificial/automated lights), this is one of the main causes of a bird's sex-hormones constantly going crazy, causing them to act every way from broody to aggressive to violent, and if you have a female bird this is the main cause of chronic egg-laying...So messing with a bird's Natural Light Schedule and trying to turn them into a "nocturnal" creature, or similar, isn't the healthiest idea in the world...

The other thing that you need to be aware of is is that all species of Conures specifically require many hours of direct interaction and attention every single day. They are called "Velcro Birds" for a very good reason, and they all need to be with their "Flock" and their "Mate" for a good part of the day....When a Conure isn't given adequate attention each day, meaning "out-of-cage" attention from their "Flock-members" and "their person", they tend to get extremely moody and "nippy", eventually full-out biting people, and they also commonly develop Feather-Destructive Behaviors and Self-Mutilation due to not getting enough out-of-cage-time each day, and in-particular not getting enough interaction with and personal attention from their "person"...

If you want a species of parrot that will bond very closely with you and want to be with you all the time, that is a more "clingy" type of parrot, then the Conures in-general are a very good choice....whether a Green Cheek, a Sun, a Nanday, a Blue Crown, or any of the larger Conures like the Mitered or the Patagonian Conures, they are all good choices. Just make sure that you know you are going to have plenty of time to spend with the bird each and every day and that you can provide them with a healthy light and sleeping schedule BEFORE you bring one home...I would advise that if you're planning on waiting until at least next fall to get a bird anyway, that you simply wait a few months longer and not bring your new baby home until your girlfriend moves-in with you, so that there won't be any question whether or not the parrot will be able to get the time, attention, and care that he or she will need every single day. This will ensure a physically and psychologically/mentally happy and more-importantly happy bird that will be a great companion and family member for the two of you.
 
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Chudaism

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Jan 10, 2019
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Yeah we've been talking about it, I think we're going to do what you suggested. We'll have a much more normal sleep schedule by then, since we're long distance at the moment so I stay up until dawn spending time with her. She'll be working from home and we'll keep similar schedules, probably sleeping at 2-3am, waking up around 11am. Plus it'll have company from her pionus while we're out too, so hopefully they won't get too bored once they're properly introduced. She puts on the radio for him while she's at work and he's perfectly happy until she gets home.

Last thing I want to do is bring home an animal, being unfair and not giving it the best life that I can. A friend of mine used to have a female eclectus and told me about complications with egg laying, so I think I'll specifically ask the breeder for a male.

Huge thanks for the insights. :)
 

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