Baby conure not very balanced

[Zeebelt]

Hi all,

I was wondering, when do GCC babies learn to perch solidly? I brought my new GCC Ruby home about 5 days ago. His hatch date was March 25 so he's just on 8 weeks. I noticed immediately upon getting him home that he was a bit clumsy in his cage. I had a GCC before that was brought home a little older, from a taller cage, and I never really saw this with him although he did always slip and tumble a few times when he'd first get his nails clipped, all through his life. Ruby's nails were clipped just before I brought him home and he'd been in a very low-perching glass cage where he spent a lot of time on the bottom with the other babies.

I first replaced his larger rope perch with a thinner manzanilla perch because I thought the rope was too fat and new (slick) and also got him a scratchier short perch that he can sit fully on. Because I spent the first day with him quite a bit and he's bonded with me nicely and always wants to be with me, when I come in to work at my desk (I work at home) he flaps about and falls off his perches to the bottom of the cage, or a couple times from the top of the cage. So, I got him a playpen for the top that has the small wooden dowels and he is doing better, even falls asleep on one foot or the other and stays there for a long period of time, but once he gets active again he will fall off sooner or later. As I'm typing, he just tumbled off the top but caught himself halfway down and is trying to climb up but it seems slippery for him. Again, my other GCC seemed to have no trouble climbing all over his cage over the years.

So, being aware of all the medical things that can cause a conure to be off balance, I am wondering if this is normal for a baby? He steps up great, learning to step down, and putters around on solid surfaces. Eating, vocalizing great, sleeping good I assume (although I have no idea if he is falling during the night.) Each time he falls seems fine and scrabbles up but I hate seeing him do this -- my floor is tile and my former birdy love of my life died in a horrible accident from me tripping, so I'm all on pins and needles about this.

So, if this is normal, I am wondering what I can do to help him. Putting stuff on the bottom of his cage didn't work, as he constantly wants to go up to be on my level. Holding him on my hand only works while I don't have to type with two hands Shoulder riding, not a good idea for obvious reasons at this point in his training, although in desperation I did let him sit there a few times but once he fell between me and the back of my office chair I do have a plastic drawer which he seems content to be in (he is in there now as I type this out) but I don't want to just coddle him into never perching, plus it's boring in there.

Any advise would be appreciated! Thank you!

 

[SilverLining]

I think Ruby is ok. Some birds develop skills a little faster/slower just like humans do. I would try to help teach him how to perch and help get the bird some exercise to help strengthen its muscles.

Getting a checkup with a Avian Vet is not a bad idea either.

 

[Gamerparrot]

It is not uncommon in small birds. My senegal parrot also had this problem.

 

[EdgesofTwilight]

My Hahn's macaw was very clumsy and still is at times. I got him a little over a month ago and he was falling all over the place in his cage. I hear his wings flap and a small thud and found him on the bottom if his cage. Now he's more nimble in the cage but occasionally he tries to do some acrobatics on the play stand and ends up on the floor. He is 4 months old now. You should seem him getting his grip a little better as time goes on.

 

[Kyoto]

Kyoto my GCC was very clumsy (sometimes still is lol) when I first brought her home. Eight weeks is very young, is he fully weaned yet?

 

[ZephyrFly]

My gcc has just jumped into thin air in his cage. They can be silly and misjudge things sometimes, they live they learn

 

[OneHorseRanch]

I didnt think Sheldon would live the first year of life. He would play so hard in and out of his cage that sometimes he would fall, look around, crawl back up, squauk and continue to play. eventually his balance and judgement improved. He hardly falls, if ever, now.

 

[Zeebelt]

Thanks for the replies. He is getting better already, although I think he may end up just being a bit more clumsy naturally than my other bird was. He's still just a bit unsure going from place to place in his cage; even now he's trying desperately to figure out how to get from hanging on a rope to his perch so he can eat and he's got his two feet spread so far he looks like he's going to split, lol. We've been doing play stand exercises with him daily, and his nails and feathers are just a bit longer so I think that helps. To answer your question Kyoto he is fully weaned, I know it's early but I even waited a week after he was ready to go home, to make sure he didn't regress.