GCC - what to expect after puberty?

[hiriki]

Hi guys!

So I'm curious--I've heard some stories from other conure owners who bought their green cheeks as babies who said that after puberty, their conure "chose" someone new. As in, the conure picked person A as their favorite person during the juvenile months, and then suddenly during/after puberty they switched to loving person B and not caring about person A. In particular, a bird rescue activist I used to follow on Tumblr was vocal about this experience, I could have sworn I've heard the same story from other sources as well but I can't remember who.

I was just wondering if anyone here has experienced something similar. I do most of the bird care, so predictably our new juvenile green cheek has "picked" me after about a week of being home with us, and I'm just wondering the likelihood of that changing. Don't get me wrong, I want my wife to be picked by a pet... we have a lot of pets, and for the most part they've all picked me as their favorite person, so I do kind of want to throw my wife a bone here. But I'll also be sad if I lose this affection because Oh My Gosh this green cheek is so sweet. Lol.

Thanks!

 

[kme3388]

Hi there, my Jenday is the only parrot I’ve had as a baby. She really didn’t have a favorite person as a baby. She just enjoyed being held, and by anyone. After she matured she still enjoyed being held by myself, and my husband. She just dives at strangers, and screams. She isn’t particularly fond of strangers. She has dived at several people. We no longer let her out when there are guests over.

My sun conure is the same way. I got him at about a year, and a half old. He is friendly to the people he sees daily. Both myself and my husband can handle him. Strangers on the other hand aren’t welcomed, and Charlie the sun conure makes it well known.

In my experience with my conures they tolerate interacting with multiple family members just fine. They just aren’t particularly fond of strangers.

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

I would love to know the answer to this as well! I'm the only one my birds interact with on a regular basis but my crimson bellied conure doesn't like me at all since growing up and I don't want the same to happen to my gcc. I don't think I could handle two conures hating me.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I would love to know the answer to this as well! I'm the only one my birds interact with on a regular basis but my crimson bellied conure doesn't like me at all since growing up and I don't want the same to happen to my gcc. I don't think I could handle two conures hating me.

Curious- how old was your crimson bellied when you got him? How old is he now? Did he like you in the beginning and changed his mind?

I feel for everyone who gets a cute baby bird that loves to be held and cuddled but matures into a bird with an attitude that barely resembles the baby they fell in love wirh. It seems to happen very frequently. All the pictures we see and stories we hear about adorable GCCs that love to be cuddled and rarely bite can be pretty upsetting to those who got a baby GGC expecting that, and "did everything right", but still ended up with a bird that barely tolerates hands or outright seems to hate them after puberty. Sadly, many of these birds will end up getting repeatedly rehomed. Starting out with a newly weaned hand fed baby and "doing everything right" is no guarantee that the bird will remain the gentle, affectionate companion hoped for. If someone really wants a cuddly pet, i say get a cat or dog, not a bird.

 

[hiriki]

Curious- how old was your crimson bellied when you got him? How old is he now? Did he like you in the beginning and changed his mind?

I feel for everyone who gets a cute baby bird that loves to be held and cuddled but matures into a bird with an attitude that barely resembles the baby they fell in love wirh. It seems to happen very frequently. All the pictures we see and stories we hear about adorable GCCs that love to be cuddled and rarely bite can be pretty upsetting to those who got a baby GGC expecting that, and "did everything right", but still ended up with a bird that barely tolerates hands or outright seems to hate them after puberty. Sadly, many of these birds will end up getting repeatedly rehomed. Starting out with a newly weaned hand fed baby and "doing everything right" is no guarantee that the bird will remain the gentle, affectionate companion hoped for. If someone really wants a cuddly pet, i say get a cat or dog, not a bird.

Birds can certainly be cuddly! I think the point the rescue activist I used to follow always wanted to make telling her story is that if you adopt an adult, what you see is what you get.

My jenday came from a rescue. She's the only bird that I really rescued "properly"--the others were petfinder finds that I saw pictures and fell in love. With my jenday, I volunteered a few times at a bird shelter and every time I was there she was a velcro bird, insisting on being with me. I really let her choose me. It's been almost a decade and she's just as cuddly as the day I got her, if not more.

I have high hopes that Kiwi (the new GCC) will be similarly friendly, but I do know it's not a guarantee. And if it doesn't work out then I'll be even more solidly adopt don't shop for the rest of time lmao.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Birds can certainly be cuddly! I think the point the rescue activist I used to follow always wanted to make telling her story is that if you adopt an adult, what you see is what you get.

My jenday came from a rescue. She's the only bird that I really rescued "properly"--the others were petfinder finds that I saw pictures and fell in love. With my jenday, I volunteered a few times at a bird shelter and every time I was there she was a velcro bird, insisting on being with me. I really let her choose me. It's been almost a decade and she's just as cuddly as the day I got her, if not more.

I have high hopes that Kiwi (the new GCC) will be similarly friendly, but I do know it's not a guarantee. And if it doesn't work out then I'll be even more solidly adopt don't shop for the rest of time lmao.

Your Jenday sounds like a delightful bird- you're so lucky she found you!

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

Curious- how old was your crimson bellied when you got him? How old is he now? Did he like you in the beginning and changed his mind?

I feel for everyone who gets a cute baby bird that loves to be held and cuddled but matures into a bird with an attitude that barely resembles the baby they fell in love wirh. It seems to happen very frequently. All the pictures we see and stories we hear about adorable GCCs that love to be cuddled and rarely bite can be pretty upsetting to those who got a baby GGC expecting that, and "did everything right", but still ended up with a bird that barely tolerates hands or outright seems to hate them after puberty. Sadly, many of these birds will end up getting repeatedly rehomed. Starting out with a newly weaned hand fed baby and "doing everything right" is no guarantee that the bird will remain the gentle, affectionate companion hoped for. If someone really wants a cuddly pet, i say get a cat or dog, not a bird.

Tequila was supposedly three months old when I got her (pretty sure she's a boy, but I haven't DNA tested her and up until last year I thought she was a girl). But she had a full red belly and they also told me Malibu (the cockatiel I got at the same time) was also three months so I'm not sure. It wasn't the best place to but them but I knew no different.

I wasn't the best owner and made a lot of mistakes with them (small cages, mainly seed diet), but they came out of their cage everyday and I gave them lots of treats and taught them tricks. Tequila was aviary born and raised and I worked hard to get her trust and she liked me for a while and would never bite me, even when she was scared. She got caught in some string from the bathroom light and I was prepared to lose my hand to rescue her but she wouldn't bite me even whilst I had to hold her and move her around.

Nowadays she comes up to me for no reason and bites me. If I look at her wrong she fluffs up and tries to get to me to attack me. She hates my hands even when I'm giving her treats. She still does tricks and accepts treats but I can tell she's not happy. Sometimes she'll come and sit next to me but then when I have to get up and leave she starts trying to attack me again. She contact calls to me but then when she sees me she just fluffs up and screams at me and tries to bite me.

She gets chop everyday, pellets, sometimes treats and a little bit of seed for foraging. She has loads of toys, I have another conure who she loves and they play together, she gets to go outside in the aviary everyday and chew up my plants (all safe), so I really am at a loss with her. The only thing I can think is that she has a lot of resentment towards me because sometimes I don't spend as much time with the birds as I'd like. I spend so much time cleaning up after them and getting them toys and making their food that I don't always have a lot of time to spend just sitting with them. They're only allowed in my room and outside and since I work full time and do shift work it limits the time I have. I also walk my friends dog since she's too sick to do it, and I was also studying the last few years so was busy with that. Plus my family is abusive (better now I'm an adult but my mum is mentally unwell and can be hard to live with) and I get down about not being able to move out, and even more so knowing I might have to give them up at some point because barely anywhere would let me keep them and I can't afford to buy a house.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Tequila was supposedly three months old when I got her (pretty sure she's a boy, but I haven't DNA tested her and up until last year I thought she was a girl). But she had a full red belly and they also told me Malibu (the cockatiel I got at the same time) was also three months so I'm not sure. It wasn't the best place to but them but I knew no different.

I wasn't the best owner and made a lot of mistakes with them (small cages, mainly seed diet), but they came out of their cage everyday and I gave them lots of treats and taught them tricks. Tequila was aviary born and raised and I worked hard to get her trust and she liked me for a while and would never bite me, even when she was scared. She got caught in some string from the bathroom light and I was prepared to lose my hand to rescue her but she wouldn't bite me even whilst I had to hold her and move her around.

Nowadays she comes up to me for no reason and bites me. If I look at her wrong she fluffs up and tries to get to me to attack me. She hates my hands even when I'm giving her treats. She still does tricks and accepts treats but I can tell she's not happy. Sometimes she'll come and sit next to me but then when I have to get up and leave she starts trying to attack me again. She contact calls to me but then when she sees me she just fluffs up and screams at me and tries to bite me.

She gets chop everyday, pellets, sometimes treats and a little bit of seed for foraging. She has loads of toys, I have another conure who she loves and they play together, she gets to go outside in the aviary everyday and chew up my plants (all safe), so I really am at a loss with her. The only thing I can think is that she has a lot of resentment towards me because sometimes I don't spend as much time with the birds as I'd like. I spend so much time cleaning up after them and getting them toys and making their food that I don't always have a lot of time to spend just sitting with them. They're only allowed in my room and outside and since I work full time and do shift work it limits the time I have. I also walk my friends dog since she's too sick to do it, and I was also studying the last few years so was busy with that. Plus my family is abusive (better now I'm an adult but my mum is mentally unwell and can be hard to live with) and I get down about not being able to move out, and even more so knowing I might have to give them up at some point because barely anywhere would let me keep them and I can't afford to buy a house.

I wish we could read our birds' minds when they don't make sense to us. I don't think there's much more you can do to make her happy- you've already done so many things right. Good food, free flying time, toys, and a decent amount of attention. Would more attention help? Maybe, but you must have a life outside of your birds.

 

[Guest46745]

I've had different birds for decades now. My experience is that gender opposites are nice to each other. My male GGC (who is 20) was so nice before puberty and became mean (towards me) after. I still love the little guy, but he is aggressive with me. I thought he was just a mean bird until... I met my wife. He loves her! Doesn't bite her, excitedly yells when she comes home, and is just nice as can be with her. Years later my wife bought a female GGC thinking it would be "her" bird. Nope, the female GGC and I do everything together and she is so gentle with me, yet will bite my wife. Seems like birds understand who is the male and female human and treats them as they would other birds. Males fight with each other for dominance, and females have a pecking order.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Birds can certainly be cuddly! I think the point the rescue activist I used to follow always wanted to make telling her story is that if you adopt an adult, what you see is what you get.

My jenday came from a rescue. She's the only bird that I really rescued "properly"--the others were petfinder finds that I saw pictures and fell in love. With my jenday, I volunteered a few times at a bird shelter and every time I was there she was a velcro bird, insisting on being with me. I really let her choose me. It's been almost a decade and she's just as cuddly as the day I got her, if not more.

I have high hopes that Kiwi (the new GCC) will be similarly friendly, but I do know it's not a guarantee. And if it doesn't work out then I'll be even more solidly adopt don't shop for the rest of time lmao.

There are some birds that still love cuddles as adults. Cockatoos come to mind. The problem sometimes as it was with the Goffin I had was she insisted on being cuddled all the time and would bite if when stopped! I'm sure I cuddled her too much when I got her as a newly weaned sweet baby.