Got my conure

[ExtraterrestrialGuy]

I just got my GCC (unnamed as of yet).
He's just under a year old and isn't tame.
Has lived on a seed diet with fruit and veg, but no pellets.

I was wondering if it's normal for him to be sitting at the bottom of the cage? When he was first put in the cage he crawled around the walls a lot, but for the past hour he's just been sitting on the floor.

 

[tab_xo]

he is very cute!
have you thought of any names ?

 

[change007]

Hi Extraterrestrial Guy

We are no conure experts but we do have a GCC called Pickles, she only forages on the ground but this took ages and is very rarely. she likes to be up top on a perch most of the time.

Do you have any ladder, swings, perches or hut for her to play on - it is hard to see from the photo.

We heard they like to be in a corner or have one side covered so they don't feel exposed from all sides especially when young getting use to their new environmnet.

We weaned Pickles onto pallets by mixing pallets and little seed together and eventually elimated the seed. We sometimes mixed the pallets with water. We now only give seeds as a treat.

Good luck with her, she looks like our Pickles!

 

[wenz2712]

Congrats. He is adorable

 

[ExtraterrestrialGuy]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

We went out to buy some pellets, and when we got back he was crawling all over his cage! He's still scared of us, but he's a bit more confident in exploring his cage.

change007- Yeah, we have a bamboo perch, a plastic perch and a large wooden swing (which he's sitting atop now). We got him a week earlier than expected, so I haven't had the chance to buy much else for his cage yet (though we have a few dishes for food and such).

tab- I've thought of a few, and I am able to name him whatever I want, but I think it'd be unfair on my family and friends to call him something too obscure. At the moment I'm thinking Flash Thompson, after my favourite comic book character.

 

[tab_xo]

I can see you like comics from your avatar and signature flash for short? and Flash Thompson when he's in trouble? hahah

 

[aliray]

congrats on your new baby. it will take a while for him to get used to his new environment. i would not change his diet for at least a month, give him what he is used to while gradually adding new fruits and veggies ,grains etc. i don,t feed all pellets .i feed higgens sunburst mix for conures. it has a picture of a sunconure on the front of the pkg. i bake ground up pellets into a birdy bread for the birds. he does need more toys in his cage . time for a shopping trip. he is a beautiful baby. time and lots of patience will build his confidence

 

[ExtraterrestrialGuy]

Yeah, I'll be buying some toys for him after college tomorrow. I already have a string of four hanging plastic balls with bells inside them, but he doesn't seem to interested in that.

He also isn't bathing. Is there any way I can prompt him to do this, or is it just a case of him doing it in his own time?

I think I've made a bit of progress today. He still hangs back on the far end of the cage when I'm sitting next to him, but after an hour of reading to him, I held a small piece of an apple into the cage. He stared at it and it slipped from my fingers and fell to the floor. He kept staring at it, so I offered him another piece, and he reached over and took it with his beak!

He's also making little squawking sounds more often.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Flash Thompson is cool! He is cute. I'm happy he is coming out of his shell so quickly. My new baby BCC likes this one corner of the cage so much (he picked it--he actually was hanging on the side of the cage, trying to nap there) that i put an additional perch there and a couple of his favorite toys nearby. It's now his little safe place he likes.

 

[AFP520]

Try a spray bottle, if he doesn't go for that, put a larger bowl with about 1/4" of water in the bottom of his cage and see if he goes for it.

After awhile when he trusts you, try to take him in the shower with you. Most birds like shower time!

 

[Mudkips]

It took Birdy a good few weeks before he had his first shower.
Just be sure to give him many opportunities to bathe and shower in a few different ways. Eventually he will pick one method and stick to it.

 

[Crazy4Birds]

My sun conure loves to bathe in the sink under running water. My senegal would only bathe in a dish and my cockatiel loved getting misted with a spray bottle. It all depends on the bird's preference. Try all of these and see what he likes best.

Conures also love to snuggle so you can get him a "birdy buddy" or a "happy hut" to sleep in.

 

[Lovelyloribeth]

Congrats! He's really cute.

Patience! There's tons of threads on how to build a bond with him. And after my experience, the only answer that I have is patience. And everyone's advice to me was the same! Good luck with him he looks very content!

 

[ExtraterrestrialGuy]

Thanks, guys.

I got his new cage today (first was temporary, as the breeder brought him around a few days early).

He's been crawling around all day, and I may just be overcautious, but is he trying to escape or something? He did get out yesterday (figured out how to open the door!), but he went back in a few hours later when he was hungry.

He seems to be fine with misting. I did it this afternoon.

 

[friedsoup]

As some on the forum know I picked up Tofu from his mommy Saturday and he is now enjoying time with me and Bogart getting treats and scritches . I picked him up at around 10am and we drove all day (it rained all day too) and he rode on top of his cage as Bogart and me enjoyed the ride at about 5:30 pm he decided he wanted scritches and jumped to my shoulder and finished the day sitting on my shoulder until bed time. The next day we shared some scrambled eggs and he took up his place on my shoulder for most of the day Sunday. Now all this was to show how leaving them to decide to join you is often the best way to become friends. Just sit close to the cage while eating popcorn and watching tv or reading a book with the door open (if wings are clipped don't want a wild bird flying loose in the house) and if he ventures out to see what your doing offer him a piece of corn (they don't so much eat it as shred it and make a mess but my how they enjoy doing it)

 

[Crazyformybaby]

isn't he adorable!!!! I love the name too. I think he is just settling in so don't worry about him sitting on the floor. try using a spray bottle, my friends GCC loves it!! just slowly introduce him to bathing if that's what you desire.