Hi from Colorado and new bird owner

Hi everyone! I've been lurking for a couple of weeks as I did research on my first pet bird purchase. I'm 42, live in Colorado and I'm the father of three kids -- 14 yr old son, 11 yr old daughter and 4 yr old daughter (don't worry, she won't be handling the new baby bird - lol).

After a lot of research and an understanding of the unique and life-long challenges and rewards that go with parenting a bird, I decided to adopt a baby Pineapple Green Cheek Conure from a breeder. I'll be bringing baby home within the next two weeks.

I purchased a nice cage from the fine folks at mysafebirdstore.com (couldn't be happier with the service and personal touch), a play gym off ebay, and will be going to some stores this weekend with the kids to pick out some safe and appropriate toys.

Now, picking a name has been difficult. I thought we were going with "Peanut," but I've realized how popular that name is for birds. Baby may still end up being named Peanut, but here are a few others:

Comet
Dart
Celery
Lego
Bing
Skittle
Shallapinga -- my youngest daughter named one of her stuffed animals this and I admire her creativity, so it's on the list.

Thanks again for the great forum,
Steve

Congrats on your new baby! I have a GCC named Loki. He is a blast. He definitely likes my husband better than me, but I still love him. He is quite the acrobat. He loves to play with his toys. He especially likes his baby keys. As far as names I personally like Bing. Good luck with everything. This is a great forum full of really nice people and great info!!!

hi, there and welcome! i really like peanut and that is a name i am considering for my mini macaw lol. skittles and comet are also great, too!

please post some birdie pics!

I like dart and skittles, because green cheeks are very energetic and colorful. GCCs (green cheeked conure) are great birds. I have two and they are very cuddly and love to be around you. They love everybody they meet, and they are really playful.
Shallapinga!!! OMG so cute!!!!!!

Hello and welcome to the forum! I am also a Coloradoan. Conures are lots of fun and I'm sure you will enjoy your new baby. Don't be afraid to ask any questions you might have. There are lots of experienced conure owners here who can help you out!

I'm not sure where in Colorado you're located, but I know of a couple really good bird stores in the Denver/Metro area in case you're interested in checking them out.

hey steve , welcome to the forum.

welcome to the forum. we just purchased a yellow sided green cheek conure about 3 weeks ago from craigs list. heor she was 5 mo old and had been hand fed and hand tamed The person we got her from breeds several other types of green cheeks like the turquoise, pineapple and cinnamon. She thought that she is a female so I named her Chiquita, with all her beautiful colors she reminds me of a big platter of tropical fruits. She is a little doll and I think your are going to be very happy with your new baby bird

Hey Steve welcome to the forums its not on your names list but i thought I'd just say I have always loved the name gizmo lol like the gremlins I think when i get my next zon I'll call him/her that.

hello neighbor!

Hi everyone! Thanks for the very generous welcome. I've pretty much settled on Comet for a name, due to baby's coloring. I like "Flash" too, but I'm almost certain it will be Comet.

I live in Colorado Springs, but would love to hear about quality bird stores in Denver and even locally.

I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I've been reading a couple of books as well as what I've gathered here and elsewhere online.

Thanks again,
Steve

Welcome I called my newest addition "baby" when he first came home because we couldnt come up with a name right away , but of course , it stuck , lolol.

I love the Pineapple Conures , they are beautiful ! Please post pictures when the baby finally comes home I love the name Mango for a PC.
Comet is cute and so is Flash .

paulhanlon said:

I'd just say I have always loved the name gizmo lol like the gremlins I think when i get my next zon I'll call him/her that.

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Hi Steve and welcome to the forum. I named my first bird Gizmo. I see you decided on Comet, also a good name.

pastimesteve said:

I live in Colorado Springs, but would love to hear about quality bird stores in Denver and even locally.

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I can't think of any stores in the Springs off the top of my head, but like I said, there are some good ones in the Denver area. If you get a chance, you should definitely check out The Bird Brain in downtown Denver. It is the retail portion of The Gabriel Foundation and all of the proceeds go directly back to benefit the birds.

Another one I go to occasionally is World of Birds, which is in the Wheat Ridge/Lakewood area. The woman who owns it is very nice and she carries lots of good toys, foods, cages, etc.

Hi and welcome! My gcc is Beeker and the cgcc is Gizmo (should have named him road runner lol). Beeker is a year old and considers himself to be head of household. Nothing seems to bother him, crazy, fun loving, HUGE personality I am sure your family will have much joy with your new fid.

Thanks again everyone. So, I've been doing research on wing clipping, which I intend to do for Comet's safety, and I'm wondering about something. I've seen where people recommend waiting to clip a baby's wings until muscles to strengthen, etc. Well, how long does that take for a GCC? That was the one piece of information I couldn't find (probably not searching correctly).

Also, how long does it normally take for flight feathers to re-grow, thereby necessitating another clip?

Thanks again!
Steve

Hi Steve,

I know these posts are from about a month ago, but I thought I would check in. How did it go with Comet settling in to his new home? I also live in the Springs and got my 2 green cheeks from a wonderful breeder out in Calhan. As of a week ago, I became the proud mommy of a beautiful 6 yr old Goffin's cockatoo. It has been quite an adventure while he gets used to his new family and we learn him! Look forward to hearing how things are going for all of you. How is Comet with the children? Are they able to handle him? One of my green cheeks will try to attack any kids that are not mine...lol, while the other is pretty gentle with the kids. It's me he will bite just for the sake of biting...lol, they are such strange little birds! Talk soon!!

Tara

pastimesteve said:

Hi everyone! I've been lurking for a couple of weeks as I did research on my first pet bird purchase. I'm 42, live in Colorado and I'm the father of three kids -- 14 yr old son, 11 yr old daughter and 4 yr old daughter (don't worry, she won't be handling the new baby bird - lol).

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First, welcome to the forum! Second, my 4yr old handles our gcc all the time, one of his favorite games is playing "pirate" he will put him on his table top play stand and on the dining room table because that is their ship! Just today I was gigling because as my son went bouncing (he walks with a happy lil bounce in his step) through the house he had the bird on his shoulder and his little head and body was bouncing around too!
Point is, your 4yr old can do great with the bird, only issue we have is that sunshine will sometimes go after him in a not so nice way when he (the bird) is on my lap. But if my son has him step up the walks a couple steps away from me the bird is fine!
Ok, thats all. Hahaha. Congratulations on the future new baby, and good luck to you and your kiddos. These lil birds are alot of fun and are very entertaining!