Help with a new Green Cheek owner

[Ramses82]

Hello everyone, myself and my girlfriend will need some help with our new family member, a green cheek conure.
We both work full time and used forums and other tools to have as much understanding as we could on this topic before deciding what to get.

We went for a green cheek conure eventually, got her last week and she is 9 weeks old.
We planned on dedicating every late afternoon at least 2 hours to her after work and we have Wednesday (girlfriend day off), saturday (my day off) and sunday (both home) for some extra if required.

We got her home last week and as many people said, we let her get comfortable with the new cage and people. We have put the cage in a second small bedroom and visited her every late afternoon since.
The cage is a Rainforest Mini Santa Fe, it should be large enough (66 by 45, and quite tall), plus it is full of perches and toys which she started to play with almost immediately.

After 2 days she was coming out on her own and stepping on our finger. So the 2 hours started to be more interesting to her. After putting her back to her cage, she was starting to run around the bottom of the cage all stressed... but stopped in less than a minute.

Today I got her out in the morning for an hour or so. She knows I am here, but I thought it is not good to keep her out too much, it would create a huge difference from when we are not around... so I planned to get her out again later for another hour or so. Since this morning, she is calling (luckily not too loud) and constantly looking to come out. I can't keep her out all the time, I thought 2/3 hours a day was enough... If I let her stay with the cage in the living room it is even worse and never stop running around.

SHe is now calling on and off and I am starting to believe the 2/3 hours a day might be wrong, or probably she is too young?
I really don't know what to do, so any suggestion would be appreciated... I might be paniking for no reason, but I really like her and I feel bad if she is not fine. She definitely like being with me, but I thought she should be happy in her cage too

 

[SailBoat]

So what is the likelihood that you didn't get that information from this Forum, regarding a couple hours a day being enough time for your Parrot? Fairly high, is my guess.

I'm an Amazon Snob, and as a result my experience with Green Cheeks is far more limited. That said, my friends with Green Cheeks seem to always have them on them, running around on them, them hiding inside their shirts, pockets, hair, etc... Point being, the Green Cheeks I am aware of Loving being on their Humans, like all the time. And, their Humans seem to be just as happy with the arrangement.

Contact calls! If there is a huge error that we Humans make is not keeping in contact with our Parrots (all Parrots) when we are in the home. It is natural for Parrots to keep in constant contact with their group 'all the time.' Its what they do! When we fail to return their calls, we are setting our self up for a screaming Parrot.

It is not uncommon when I am getting ready to leave the home to start into a line of communication with my Amazon. Hey, I'm going out, I'm going bye bye. I will be back around 4:00 pm. etc, etc, etc... As I am leaving it changes to: I'm leave now, but I will be back. It all turns around when I come back: Hi, I'm back, I missed you, etc, etc, etc...

Point being, when you are communicating with them while you are home and having them with you as much as as possible and safe for everyone. You will have a much happy life and so will your Parrot.

Consider this all Preparation for having a Human Baby around. The only difference is that Parrots rarely get much past two year's old.

 

[Flboy]

Well said, SailBoat!
A GCC is a Velcro bird! Also, hopefully you don't still have the guy off in a separate room still! Main room, full activity!
Contact calling is important, but you can teach the call you like. If my JoJo yells for me, I respond with loud kisses, we always mimic each other with all kinds of calls. You do not want to accidentally teach your guy to scream for you!
An alarm call is very different, that I always respond to!

FYI, you may be approaching his testing phase, bratty and a bit nippy! Not a monster! Normal assertiveness that you need to redirect in a positive manner!

 

[Ramses82]

THanks Sailboat, it is very helpful indeed, especially the responding back thing.
About the 2 hours a day... do you think then I got it completely wrong? Did I just get a new friend that won't be happy because we both work?
I hope not, but I would rather be conscientious about this... because it would mean I would have to return it. There is not other way, we can't get around the fact we both work and have about the 2 hours free... Oh my god... Who is going to tell that to my girlfriend and poor baby parrot

 

[Flboy]

THanks Sailboat, it is very helpful indeed, especially the responding back thing.
About the 2 hours a day... do you think then I got it completely wrong? Did I just get a new friend that won't be happy because we both work?
I hope not, but I would rather be conscientious about this... because it would mean I would have to return it. There is not other way, we can't get around the fact we both work and have about the 2 hours free... Oh my god... Who is going to tell that to my girlfriend and poor baby parrot

I believe SailBoat was responding to,,

"Today I got her out in the morning for an hour or so. She knows I am here, but I thought it is not good to keep her out too much, it would create a huge difference from when we are not around... so I planned to get her out again later for another hour or so. Since this morning, she is calling (luckily not too loud) and constantly looking to come out. I can't keep her out all the time, I thought 2/3 hours a day was enough... If I let her stay with the cage in the living room it is even worse and never stop running around.

SHe is now calling on and off and I am starting to believe the 2/3 hours a day might be wrong, or probably she is too young?
I really don't know what to do, so any suggestion would be appreciated... I might be paniking for no reason, but I really like her and I feel bad if she is not fine. She definitely like being with me, but I thought she should be happy in her cage too"
***
Most of us have the same type of schedule!
But, when I am home for the most part, Jojo is with me! If I am in the bathroom he is there, if I'm showeringhe is there, if I'm brushing my teeth he has his own toothbrush!
Make him part of your morning routine. Weekends? Party time!
I have multiple simple play stands in different parts of the house for him. This is also a way to introduce new foods and treats to him, each stand has something a little different!

 

[SailBoat]

Yup, David's got it 100%!

You will be shocked at how much 'on Human time' (whether you or your GF) your Parrot will be getting. After all, you're talking about a light weight here. I could see some concern if you have 500+ grams (about a pound) of Amazon wandering around you. But a GCC? The few times I was enlisted as a stand in perch by friends, my biggest problem was figuring out where he had gotten-off too. Oh, there you are in my shirt pocket!

Point being, no one is talking about one on one time here. It just being with /on my Human time. As I am responding, my Amazon is on my shoulder keep watch out the window should anything pass by unnoticed by his Human. That is just being on my Human time, not one on one time.

The having to take him back, that was humor right? So, my play on Humor back your way: Honey? Where is the baby? Oh, I didn't have the time last night, so I put him out with the cat! What? All I asked you to do was to sit next to him while you are doing (add whatever here).

 

[Britbryan87]

Do you have any extra time in the mornings to let them out before you leave for work?


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[ZephyrFly]

Green cheeks are very social, they in the wild would live in massive flocks and never be too far from other birds in the flock. That said, flock calling can be managed but it takes time, much like getting a schedule sorted out. Encourage the flock calling you think is appropriate as it is a natural thing for them to do.

Once you have a schedule settled in your little friend will settle into it; for me it's 15-30 min in the morning (i have mine out as I clean his bowls and feed him), and 1-2 hours out in the evening after work on week days. Weekends it's anything from 3 hours or more depending how busy i am. But that doesn't count the time my boyfriend puts into him, which probably isnt as much as my but it counts.

Goodluck, I underestimated how much my green cheek would velcro to me but I worked around/with it.

 

[JBassset]

When I'm home Stephen is out of his cage unless the stove is on. From the time I wake up till I leave, from the time I come till bed... He's out.

The.more time out of the cage the better.

Recent studies show that many animals process time differently that we do. You may be gone for 9 or 10 hours but to them.it might just be "I was in my cage and now I'm not"

Your conure will adapt. But he NEEDS to be with you when you're home.

 

[Ramses82]

All makes sense... maybe I espressed myself wrong. The 2 hours a day were meant for when we are at work.
If we are at home we can definitely spend more time with her! This morning we cleaned the cage with her out with us, we played a bit with her...
She is back in now for a bit, that's the point. But she will be probably out of that cage more than 4 hours today, the least. We are positioning the cage in the living room now when we are at home, it is actually a good point... She is still calling even with the cage here 1 meter from us, but as said, we can't let her out ALL day, especially if we are cooking or eating. The rest of the time of course she is out with us.
For when we are at work, routine is wake up, fresh water, fresh food if needed, a treat, open blinds, and "bye bye Maya see you later!" We have put an Amazon Alexa there so sometimes I put some chillout music now while we are working, and there is an IP cam that we can use to check on her... And then as soon as home she come out with us... My girlfriend tries to keep an eye while I cook, otherwise if she has to be in bed by 9 we won't have the 2 hours minimum with her.

The points are: she is still calling frequently with cage in living room and she is nippy... I guess it is because she is the little kid you guys talked about?

Thanks for the nice tips by the way, give me more, I am all listening.
Sorry for the drama yesterday, I am really worried for her, we like her so of course I am desperate of making sure she will be fine with us Despite the tight schedule

 

[Flboy]

They will only nip when, they want your attention, they don't want your attention, they were in a bad mood, they are in a good mood, they are in a great mood, something startled him, it's too quiet, you moved too quickly, you move too slowly. At that age, just like an infant they really are testing everything with their beak not necessarily meaning to bite! For my wife's Bongo, his eyes roll up into his head if you give him a neck rub, Jojo will nail you if you try to rub his neck! But JoJo goes into a trance if you give him a beak rub!
This has some great information! It took me four reads for it to click! Bongo used to be 'Bongo the Barbarian', and it was my fault!
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

 

[Ramses82]

They will only nip when, they want your attention, they don't want your attention, they were in a bad mood, they are in a good mood, they are in a great mood, something startled him, it's too quiet, you moved too quickly, you move too slowly. At that age, just like an infant they really are testing everything with their beak not necessarily meaning to bite! For my wife's Bongo, his eyes roll up into his head if you give him a neck rub, Jojo will nail you if you try to rub his neck! But JoJo goes into a trance if you give him a beak rub!
This has some great information! It took me four reads for it to click! Bongo used to be 'Bongo the Barbarian', and it was my fault!
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

Thanks for that! She is very nippy, in a couple of cases she broke a bit my skin... I am putting her down or shake a bit when she bites, but she is stubborn I reas somewhere not to pull the finger away otherwise it looks like they achieved their scope... I'll have a read through your link too. I really think she is very young, she is only looking to stay with us, and bite us sometimes she doesn't want to play on her own. Which obviously doesn't work while you have to clean etc, that's why the cage time.
She also like to close her eyes and gets all puffy when she allows us to cuddle her on her neck...

 

[GaleriaGila]

You're already getting great advice...
So I'll just chime in and welcome you.
By the way, your bird is already far better behaved than the demon Rickeybird!

 

[EllenD]

I wanted to say welcome to the forum from a fellow green cheek conure owner! I have a male, named Bowie, who is just over a year old. I got him when he was 8 weeks old and had just finished weaning, from his breeder who hand-raised him from 2 weeks old. He is a Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure, and he is definitely a Velcro Bird! I love him dearly, and though you've already gotten great advice and everyone has already said exactly what I would have said, I'd like to point out the most important things you need to do to not only make your little guy happy, but to actually incorporate him into your family so that you and your girlfriend are very happy as well! I'm so sorry that you got bad information prior to choosing a bird and bringing him home (though I'm not surprised unless it was from this forum, which I highly doubt, lol), but honestly I don't know of any pet bird that 2 hours a day of interaction with it's people is nearly enough to keep them happy, except maybe a bird that is only to hear and look at and not to touch or interact with at all, like a Finch or Canary or something like that. That being said, I'm so glad that you joined this forum to work out any issues you're having with your new baby, and to get a much better understanding of what your green cheek needs and wants. This forum is just absolutely full of wonderful, knowledgeable people that have years and years of pet bird experience, and most importantly will be totally honest with you all the time. I would think of finding out that you got false information about the needs of your bird as a completely positive new chance! You and your girlfriend will be sooooooo much happier with your green cheek if you actually make him an official part of your family, and have a much closer, much more intimately bonded relationship with your new baby if you start thinking of him as just that: your new baby. To be completely honest with you, having a green cheek conure in your family is very much like having a baby or child. They aren't called "Velcro Birds" for nothing! I'll be quick with these points of what you said in your original post, as like I said they've already been well covered by members. These are just what I feel are the major, most important things that you/your girlfriend need to either change or start doing in order to not only keep your green cheek happy, healthy, occupied, and stimulated (they are very intelligent, loving birds and get bored and lonely very easily), but also to form a strong bond and a love that is reciprocated between you:

#1...Please do not keep him and his cage off in a spare bedroom where he can't be seen, and more importantly he can't see or hear you, and isn't an active part of your family and your home and daily routine. Please move your green cheek and his cage to the main room of your house immediately, whether that be your living room, den, TV room, etc., whatever room of your house that you and your girlfriend spend the most time and where the most action is. Yes he might start screaming when you first move him into your living room, but this will very quickly end and soon, probably in less than a week, both you and your bird will be so much happier you moved him!!! At first he will see you guys all the time and want to come out of his cage, and he'll wonder why he isn't out of his cage if you're at home (I'll get to this in a minute), but what will happen very quickly is he will be used to just being in your presence, which is exactly what he needs and wants. He'll be able to see and hear you all the time, he'll be able to watch the things you guys do and he'll always know where you are. He'll feel like he's a part of your family, and like you are including him in everything. Right now you have him off in a spare room, and he knows when you're home but not only can he not see you, but he feels like you're leaving him out of your lives, and he certainly does not feel like he is a part of your family. If you keep him where he is now he will no doubt develop behavioral problems and you will not form a close bond with him at all. This will surely become apparent when he hits puberty. The other thing that will happen is that he will see new people whenever they come to your house, and you'll be constantly socializing him, either by constant interaction with you or with new people. He will not be scared of new people and new people will not be a big deal at all, neither will sounds, sights, etc. You need to talk to him whenever you pass his cage, soon he'll talk back. Just you two constantly walking past him will strengthen your bond to him. In about a week after moving him you'll start to see his screaming for attention will stop, and he'll be able to see you guys sitting on the couch, watching TV, reading, etc. and he will be able to entertain himself by playing with his toys while you're doing your thing. All he wants, and he needs, is to be in your presence, to be a part of your family interaction. Just like you would do with a baby or a child.

#2...I'm sure by now you've been informed that 2 hours a day of interaction with your green cheek is not nearly enough, and not spending time with him when you're home just because it will be more than 2 hours a day is not good at all. I don't know why anyone with bird experience would tell you this, but it doesn't matter, again think of this as your chance to learn what he wants and needs, and how to make him a primary member of your family. If you haven't already fallen in love with him I assure you that you will, very quickly in fact, and I also will guarantee you that he already loves you dearly. The way that you and your girlfriend need to think from now on is "If one of us is home, our bird is out of his cage". This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be constantly interacting directly with him, though I would interact and play with him as much as you can. It's not at all about putting a time minimum on his out of cage time or the time you are actually supposed to be spending with him. That's totally backwards to the way you need to be thinking. Always talk to him when you walk past him. Always let him be with you, in the same room as you if you're at home doing something. Make him some T-stands out of PVC pipe or make a place for him to perch on in each room of your house. So if you're in your living room watching TV let him out on top of his cage or onto his play stand or perch. Put a toy for him to climb on or chew on his perches or play stands. You'll watch TV and he'll play on his perch, or better yet, he'll sit on your shoulder and sleep anytime you're watching TV...but if for some reason you don't want him on your shoulder while you're watching TV then at least let him out of his cage to play by himself and to be a part of the action. He may even go into his cage on his own to play, but just having the option will make him feel he's not missing out on anything. If his cage is in the living room and you're going to a different room to surf the net or to play video games on the computer or PlayStation, take him with you!!! Put him on his perch or playstand in whatever room you'll be in. Make sure he has a toy to play with or chew on. Give him some millet to snack on while you're on the computer. You could be on the computer for hours and he'll just be thrilled to be in the same room as his daddy is, doing his own thing too, while the two of you are still spending your day together. When you guys eat your meals, wherever that might be at, i.e. at the table, on the couch in front of the TV, wherever, make sure he's in the room with you, either in/on his cage if you're eating in the living room, or on his very own perch or stand in your kitchen or dining room, eating his own dinner. My birds love to eat meals with me, and they typically have their own little portion on my plate that they get to eat while I eat. You get the idea. Treat him exactly as you would your own child. You wouldn't put your baby or child in a spare bedroom away from you, you'd want him in the room where you are, even if he's entertaining himself while you're doing your thing. You'll not only form a very strong bond with your bird and earn his complete trust, but you'll find that your life will become so much fuller, and you'll start to feel alone and not right if he's not with you!

I have 4 larger birds, a Senegal parrot, a Quaker parrot, a cockatiel, and a yellow-sided green cheek conure! I also have 7 budgies that I bred and hand-raised/hand-fed myself. Each larger bird has their own cage in my living room, and the budgies all live together in a huge flight cage, also in my living room. They are let out of their cages first thing in the morning and we all eat breakfast together, them on their cages or their T-Stands that are beside their cages, and me at the coffee table. They are out until I leave for work, then they all go into their cages while I'm gone, and that is the only time they are locked in their cages, when I'm not home. I come home from work for an hour each day to eat lunch, and I let them out as soon as I walk in. We eat lunch together and then they go back in their cages. Then when I get home I let them all back out of their cages, and they do not go back into their cages until they go to bed. Yes, we do play together, yes I do give them all scritches and talk to them throughout the night, but I'm not always constantly interacting with them directly, they are simply just with me.

Congrats on your new green cheek, I know you'll soon wonder how you lived without him in your lives. Please try your best to make him a member of your family, keep him with you and near you always. He wants nothing more than to be with you and your girlfriend.





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[Ramses82]

Thanks EllenD, that is very useful indeed. Let me go through the message

I don't know of any pet bird that 2 hours a day of interaction with it's people is nearly enough to keep them happy,

We checked on various websites. I think what they meant was time out of the cage, not interactions. Like some posts before this, that someone replied he let them out in the morning for 15 minutes and another hour or 2 in the evening, and weekends he is all with them... But I guess he also meant out of the cage, with them being around anyway.

#1...Please do not keep him and his cage off in a spare bedroom where he can't be seen, and more importantly he can't see or hear you, and isn't an active part of your family and your home and daily routine. Please move your green cheek and his cage to the main room of your house immediately

Done that. We still got her back to the second bedroom for sleeping though... we put her to sleep at about 20:30, so she has got his 11 hours sleep until tomorrow morning.
Do you think it is ok to move her cage in the second bedroom to sleep and to stay while we are at work?
When we are back we can move her back to the living room until she goes to sleep again...
Or do you think she would prefer staying in the living room and use a cage cover? She would get noise while sleeping though...
The cage has got wheels so it is not hard to move it around for us.

At first he will see you guys all the time and want to come out of his cage, and he'll wonder why he isn't out of his cage if you're at home (I'll get to this in a minute), but what will happen very quickly is he will be used to just being in your presence, which is exactly what he needs and wants. He'll be able to see and hear you all the time, he'll be able to watch the things you guys do and he'll always know where you are.

I think at this moment this is another thing I was looking for. Today she has been all day in the same room with us, we didn't go anywhere all day. She was out a good few hours playing with us, and a few hours inside the cage. When inside the cage it was enough for us to move or say anything that she was starting running around the cage wondering why we were not letting her out. And then she was calming down for another few minutes. I understand from what you said then that being there as normal she will get used to the fact she might be in or out, and she will be fine also when being in?

Thanks for the help and the reassuring things about our new member

 

[Flboy]

Wow, EllenD nailed it!
For sleeping, some folks do use a smaller sleep cage for nights, wife's Bongo has this setup and it works very well! My JoJo stays in the family room covered at nights. We are in separate homes..
But for the day, keeping in the main area should be best.

 

[Sunnyclover]

I have a Conure also and we tried it with her sleeping in the living room but she had trouble sleeping if we were still up or if my husband got up for work early in the morning. We just got her a 2nd small sleep cage in the spare bedroom to put her to bed in a very dark quiet place at night but kept her main cage in the living room. There was a brief discussion of having her cage in the library permanently and I could not bare the thought of not having her with us all the time so that idea got a swift kick out of the door! Also...We got a play gym on wheels...Best purchase ever! We then got a 2nd smaller one for upstairs so she could be in my upstairs office and with me when I'm getting ready to go out or taking a bath ect. She can be out of her cage in a safe spot with me at all times even if I can't be holding her (which I do for hours upon hours a day ofc) she is with me/us. Amazing. Me and my fiance fight ocer who gets her In their office for our online French lesson on the weekends. Seriously...If someone told me I'd be doing these things 6 months ago I'd have been like "yeah right" but now that I have her I can't imagine my life without her! You'll feel the same if you don't already.

As for her acting erratic while in her cage... She'll be fine and calm down eventually. She is just young and very unsure of everything at this stage. She will be absolutely fine in her cage. Try not to make an extra fuss if she starts freaking out for no reason. She'll learn she can use it to get your attention and it will never stop
. Birds are smart like that. Just go on as things are normal and she'll get better! Molly was a bit like that at 1st too. Does your cage have an open top? Opening Molly's cage top helped her calm down a lot at 1st because she could climb around her whole cage inside and out and made her feel less trapped. Most cages have something like this. Try to figure it out...It might help!

 

[SassiBird]

Do you think it is ok to move her cage in the second bedroom to sleep and to stay while we are at work?
When we are back we can move her back to the living room until she goes to sleep again...
Or do you think she would prefer staying in the living room and use a cage cover? She would get noise while sleeping though...
The cage has got wheels so it is not hard to move it around for us.

We actually have a situation very similar to yours. Hubby and I both work fulltime 9-5. We have a black-capped conure - very simliar to GCC. We keep her large cage with all the toys in a spare bedroom. She uses this cage while we are at work and for sleeping. We have a smaller cage in the main living area. When we're home she is usually shoulder surfing, but if I'm cooking or just want a break she plays in or on the smaller cage. If you can roll the same cage around, I think that would be fine. Ours is up a flight of stairs so that wasn't an option. We chose to keep the bigger cage in the spare room because we wanted her to have the big cage while we were gone and needed a way to secure it from other pets in the house.

I think I read that you have a webcam on your bird. We do too. It's been very useful. I keep it up on my desktop at work. It lets me see what she plays with, what she doesn't, how much she naps and when. It gives me peach of mind that she doesn't sit home alone depressed all day. Only once have I had to rush home - she had a paper cup stuck over her head and shoulders! No more dixie cups!

 

[Ramses82]

Do you think it is ok to move her cage in the second bedroom to sleep and to stay while we are at work?
When we are back we can move her back to the living room until she goes to sleep again...
Or do you think she would prefer staying in the living room and use a cage cover? She would get noise while sleeping though...
The cage has got wheels so it is not hard to move it around for us.

We actually have a situation very similar to yours. Hubby and I both work fulltime 9-5. We have a black-capped conure - very simliar to GCC. We keep her large cage with all the toys in a spare bedroom. She uses this cage while we are at work and for sleeping. We have a smaller cage in the main living area. When we're home she is usually shoulder surfing, but if I'm cooking or just want a break she plays in or on the smaller cage. If you can roll the same cage around, I think that would be fine. Ours is up a flight of stairs so that wasn't an option. We chose to keep the bigger cage in the spare room because we wanted her to have the big cage while we were gone and needed a way to secure it from other pets in the house.

I think I read that you have a webcam on your bird. We do too. It's been very useful. I keep it up on my desktop at work. It lets me see what she plays with, what she doesn't, how much she naps and when. It gives me peach of mind that she doesn't sit home alone depressed all day. Only once have I had to rush home - she had a paper cup stuck over her head and shoulders! No more dixie cups!

It is a very similar setup indeed. We live in a flat so yes, can be physically moved around. I am only waiting now for her to get used to the fact that sometimes we might be home and she might be in the cage, she shouldn't go crazy about it... she will be out most of the time when we are home anyway. I agree with the toys, I am checking if she is playing while I am in the office. We both have got the app on the phone to watch and hear her 😂
Hopefully she will be fine... I am keeping an eye on her to make sure she is happy, which is ehat matters. If I couldn't make her happy it wouldn't be fair to keep her in the first place

 

[PickleMeDickles]

Hi, and welcome! Just the fact that you are on this forum shows that you have a deep need to fulfill the needs of your new fid. Congratulations! The more information the better.

My biggest piece of advice is to set up multiple stations that you can place your bird on. They can be PVC stations with a gripable surface or the tree stations or various stand alone perches. The tree perches are my favorite. They are quite pricey, although if you check CraigsList for perches. Just make sure that you disinfect them thoroughly. That way you have a place for your Fid to hang out.

Also, Birdie Backpacks are great! They are REALLY pricey but if you and your girlfriend want to go shopping or get a bite to eat, you can pop your fid into the backpack and take her with you. I got one for my bird and my gcc gets carsick. I was actually going to get her a therapy pet certificate but she is so miserable in the backpack. My Suns do fine in it.

Remember, you are this birds ENTIRE world. Just imagine living in a tight space with limited social contact. Sometimes I feel guilty that I even "have" birds. It is such a huge responsibility. It is the same with my horses as well. I think I spend 1/2 my day switching birds and horses from place to place. But I work at home so I have the time.

I so think your situation is workable, with patience, time and effort. It is okay to make mistakes, especially when you are willing to reach out and get advice (which you obviously are). Just hang in there and don't be afraid to ask more questions.

Good luck.

-Jen