What are the pro's and con's of a Green Cheek Conure?

Hi there, I've already about made up my mind that i want a green cheeked conure but just to make sure i'm wondering what are the pro's and the con's in on of those guys. I heard they're one of the best kind of conures out there. Thanks guys!

I will be getting a GCC soon, and can't wait!

Pro's include, cuddly, less noisy, etc...

Con's include, bossy, messy (as with any bird), nippy, etc....

Green Cheeks may have con's such as being bossy and nippy, but that can be controlled if tamed well.

Though I don't have a GCC yet, I have been researching for two months now. There may be other members here that can come up with better information though.

I'm not sure I'd say "best kind of conure", as that is purely opinion. Of course, I have a green cheek and I love him to pieces! But since he's all I really know, I can't say he's the best of all conures. I can honestly say, unless he wants a head scratching, he's not very cuddly. He was when he was still really young (around 2 months old until he was about 4 months?), but now he wants nothing of that silliness . He can also give you a really hard nip when he gets irritated, OR just plain excited! If he's in a heightened state, even if it's being happy, watch your fingers! And he'll do this a few times a day, even though he really likes you. I can't even hand feed him treats, because he gets so excited he bites me hard! But on the pro side of things, he is pretty quiet compared to other conures I have heard. But, he can still get piercingly LOUD! I was deceived when I got Cody by all of the information out there that called them "quiet" and great apartment birds. I live in a townhouse, and thank god the neighbors don't complain about the noise, or I'd hate to know what could happen. So yes, they really can get that loud. But I have also found, compared to my experience with other conures at the petstore, that green cheeks definitely do seem to be more clowny and full of themselves! There's just a level of charming arrogance in these conures that I just never see in other birds.

Thanks guys! Oh I was wondering................what kind of research did you guys do before you got a green cheek? Lemme know, i'd appriciate it!

I joined a conure forum (that was before I knew about this place ), and read all of the websites that I could read! I also made sure I went to a few pet stores and interacted with as many green cheeks as I could to make sure it's what I really wanted (my boy came from a breeder though, but you can't exactly just go over to a breeders place and start interacting with their birds ). But even then, all of the reading and preparing in the world won't prepare you 100% for the real deal! That just comes with experience.

Yeah but where do I start? They say research as much as you can so you're ready but i don't know what to research. I mean I have had bird experience before so it's not like i'm a begginner.........

There is a couple really nice conure forums on Yahoo groups. Try and find one that is just about Green cheeks or at least the Pyrrhura conure family which is what the GCC belongs too.
here is one
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Green_Cheek_Conure_2006/
it looks fairly active and looks to have a good group of people

here is another one that is not bad

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/PyrrhuraConures/


I own 2 Black Caps and they are cousins of the GCC's and i adore them
They can as can all conures learn Quick how to get over and you must be sure to train them from the start and not spoil them or you will end up with a screamer or biter
Clicker training is a wonderful way to deal with conures (and many others really)
While both are considered fairly quiet (compared to the Suns and the others in that family they are) They can still get up quite a lot of noise so do not assume this means they are quiet
They are louder in most cases than my parrots(all 4 together) unless Brooklyn the male that is set up in a pair is "guarding" his home than well he is louder than any of my birds except MAYBE Pancho

The things that make them good are their cuddlers,and their not as loud as others.They talk but sometimes you can understand them,but they are VERY good at copying sounds.So you have a bird that isn't going to learn cuss words.With any bird get one from a breeder because it's cheaper and then you can get one as young as possible the youngest you can get one is 10 weeks.The younger they are the quicker they bond to you if they where raised from a good breeder.To be honest i have done a lot of research about green cheeks for i want one as well and i don't really see any cons,All birds to the same things all birds can bite and all birds can be mean it depends on how they where raised and how you treat them.Oh and another good point they can get a long with more than one person,if you socialize them when their young.Look green cheeks up on youtube that is what i did i watched them all day.Another thing they LOVE water and need a bath at least once a week for emotional health if you look up green cheek conures taking a bath you'll see what mean the really LOVE IT.

Thank you very much. On the 30th of July I decided to get one from a very good breeder and i'll be picking him up on Monday! I'll post pictures for you to see and i'll also see how he acts.

You're right, I think it does depend a lot on how they're brought up.

One thing I don't think would matter if they were brought up wrong or brought up right is that some species are just naturally loud!!! I'm so glad that the green cheek conure is the quietest in it's family.

My GC hates toes, anytime im siting on the bed or shes walking on me, she attacks my toes lol.

Aww that sounds really cute!!

when i went to the place were i got my first conure i didnt even know i was going to buy a bird until i walked out with it luckily my relative had a huge bird cage and food then i researched after turns out the breeder said it was a quaker turns out it was a green cheek so i had to start over but all went well

Our GCC is great. Never bites or nips ever no matted what or who handles him. He trys to say hello, wolf whistles but is not noisy. Loves to snuggle. Truely an awesome bird.