I might get a conure tomorrow, excited/few questions!

[Sarvesh]

Hey guys, I just joined this forum but I've been a bird lover all my life. I love aviation, planes, I was in the air force and I love everything about birds from how they look to the design of how their bones are hollow to give them less weight to fly better.

I currently do have a parakeet, I got her a year ago and have done a good job taking care of her (she's 1 parakeet living in a huge flight cage with tons of nice toys, being fed organic food and getting lots of attention daily ) but I want to get a bigger parrot and I seen the conures at petco and i love how even with strangers they just wanna play with you like they are flying puppies.

my parakeet is cool but she's kinda low key in that she doesn't like to get head scratches or be touched very much and prefers to stay in her cage even when i keep the door open... I'm thinking of giving her to my parents when they come next month because they are pretty low key and my dad loves birds too and maybe they can buy her another parakeet friend.

but anyways some questions i have - i currently have my parakeet in the prevue f040 cage and when I get the conure tomorrow i plan to buy a small cage and then when my parents come next month they can take the parakeet in the small cage and i can move the conure to the f040. will that be ok? i hear when moving a new parrot its better to use a small cage because they feel safer and more cozy, also im hoping after the first week i can just keep the conure outside with me and he can just use the cage to sleep at night until the parakeet move out of the f040 lol.

also i plan to feed the conure harrisons pellets, which size should i feed him? super fine or just fine? (been googling but can't really find an answer to this question)

im gonna get the conure from petco because even though i wanted a breeder hand raised one, i been searching for weeks trying to get in contact with breeders in a 6 hour radius, and they've all been extremely flakey and the ones that actually called me back weren't even breeders, they were just trailer trash that would buy or 'adopt' birds and try to flip them for a profit - i hate people like that so much

so even though i hate corporations too, and even though i will be overpaying a bit, i feel like petco will be a better option for me, also the manager and staff at my local store seem quite friendly and knowledgeable about birds (the staff at petsmart, didn't seem knowledgable at all, but my local petsmart only has finches and keets lol) and they say their conures ARE hand raised and the staff play with them daily to give them interaction and stimulation, and you can tell because as soon as you go to the glass, they come up to you like "hey how's it goin?? "

wish me luck, i hope i can get my conure tomorrow!

 

[Sarvesh]

also, do you think my parakeet will get jealous if she sees the conure? i don't want her to feel bad i live in a 1 bedroom apartment and have my parakeets cage next to my computer desk and plan to put the conure cagee either on the otherside of the desk, or across the room from the parakeet, or next to the parakeets cage, haven't decided yet - i do spend most of my day in the living room so i will be hanging around them both a lot. I don't have any other pets btw and I live alone.

 

[Flboy]

Our local Petco has one very knowledgeable worker, yes a bit pricey, but ours claims birds are vaccinated! Not the super fine pellets.

 

[Sarvesh]

Our local Petco has one very knowledgeable worker, yes a bit pricey, but ours claims birds are vaccinated! Not the super fine pellets.

not super fine? so you mean i should get the harrisons regular fine pellets?

 

[Flboy]

Ready to get pulled in a different direction? Take a look at this thread!
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/52392-goldenfeast.html

 

[Sarvesh]

Ready to get pulled in a different direction? Take a look at this thread!
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/52392-goldenfeast.html

thanks for the link, i never heard about goldenfeast before. I looked at their conure mix and it seems like it's a blend of seeds rather than pellets - how does it compare to dr harvey's? Though I was always told that harrisons pellets is better than any seed blend. though if goldenfeast gives full nutrients and my birds love it and it doesn't taste like crap, thats a win win! the price is nice to

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Welcome to the forum!

All I can suggest is that you do your research. Conures are a great species, and they really are as you stated 'flying puppies'. But they also require a LOT more care than a parakeet or cockatiel.

Your reasoning for getting a conure is the same as mine. I have a 20y/o cockatiel named Peaches who I absolutely adore - but she's very calm and content all day. She's super gentle. Skittles, my sun conure, is more like a toddler who just drank a 2liter bottle of Red Bull.

As for the Harrisons, I feed my sun conure the 'high potency fine' pellets. There's actually a 'guide' on their website that tells you which size to get based on species. For conures, what they suggest is the HPF, which is what I feed Skittles.

Product/Species Feeding Chart | Harrison's Bird Foods

It looks a bit complicated, so to answer your question, the HPF (high potency fine) is what they recommend as well. Just be careful with the transition. Converting from store bought food to Harrison's organic is tricky. Some birds take right to it (both my tiel and my sunny took right too it) but that's not always the case. So just make sure you new fid is eating.

I order my pellets directly from Harrisons (I also buy them from the vet when I go there). If you have any more questions about Harrisons, the people at the company are very friendly and helpful. Not only that, I usually speak to the same people. Bobby or Penny. (No, I don't work for Harrisons- I just really love their foods. They saved my cockatiesl life back in '06).

 

[Sarvesh]

Welcome to the forum!

All I can suggest is that you do your research. Conures are a great species, and they really are as you stated 'flying puppies'. But they also require a LOT more care than a parakeet or cockatiel.

Your reasoning for getting a conure is the same as mine. I have a 20y/o cockatiel named Peaches who I absolutely adore - but she's very calm and content all day. She's super gentle. Skittles, my sun conure, is more like a toddler who just drank a 2liter bottle of Red Bull.

As for the Harrisons, I feed my sun conure the 'high potency fine' pellets. There's actually a 'guide' on their website that tells you which size to get based on species. For conures, what they suggest is the HPF, which is what I feed Skittles.

Product/Species Feeding Chart | Harrison's Bird Foods

It looks a bit complicated, so to answer your question, the HPF (high potency fine) is what they recommend as well. Just be careful with the transition. Converting from store bought food to Harrison's organic is tricky. Some birds take right to it (both my tiel and my sunny took right too it) but that's not always the case. So just make sure you new fid is eating.

I order my pellets directly from Harrisons (I also buy them from the vet when I go there). If you have any more questions about Harrisons, the people at the company are very friendly and helpful. Not only that, I usually speak to the same people. Bobby or Penny. (No, I don't work for Harrisons- I just really love their foods. They saved my cockatiesl life back in '06).

thanks for the advice! so you're cockatiel wasn't playful? i thought they are very playful and active just like conures :S

also i been wondering, is it safe to put a budgie and conure in the same cage or let them play together outside of the cage?

 

[tijya]

I might be the voice of dissent but I don't think it's so great to be getting a "better" bird and ditching the current one. Makes me feel sad. Have your parents agreed to take her?

Housing the two together is a bad idea.

 

[tijya]

It is hard not to fall in love with a conure though. We just brought ours home last week.

 

[LeaKP]

Be very careful introducing the conure and parakeet. They may never play together. It may be dangerous. Conures are energetic, inquisitive, and can bond fiercely with owners. I have had both species of birds and loved them both, it's just a matter of differences of behaviors and sizes. They are all amazing.

 

[SoCalWendy]

Ready to get pulled in a different direction? Take a look at this thread!
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/52392-goldenfeast.html

Hahaha thought I was the only one who plugged Goldenfeast.... I love it that much.

Check it out for your parakeet and the conure.

 

[Sarvesh]

Yes you guys are right. I got excited seeing videos on YouTube of conures and budgies preening each other, but its way too risky.

I don't think conures are better or worse, I still love my budgie and the more I think about it, I may end up keeping both birds...maybe put their cages across the room so they can see and chat with each other, I think they would like that

Also I notice goldenfeast makes many different kinds of foods, which one do you guys recommend in particular?

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

My cockatiel, Peaches, is sweet and loving - but she's more affectionate than playful. Plus, she is old - she's 20, but she's always been a very quiet and never 'super active'.

Tiels make GREAT pets, I'd never tell you otherwise. But they just aren't as 'demanding' as most conures in terms of their needs. They're a more 'easy-going' bird and some people prefer that, and that's great. I prefer 'high maintenance' birds, but many do not.

I would never put two birds of different species in a cage together. It's too risky. But if you introduce them to each other right away, they should be able to get along. I'd definitely have them both in the same room (separate cages) so they can see and talk to each other and get used to each other. Then, I'd take one out at a time and monitor how they react/interact with the caged bird and eventually try letting them both out.

I can't do that with Skittles and Peaches. She's too passive to stand up to him and he can be very aggressive towards her. So I don't even let them 'see each other' for that reason. I don't want him stressing her out. So she has the run of the bedroom and Skittles has the run of the living room. I can leave Peaches unsupervised, Skittles I cannot.

I've no doubt Skittles and Peaches would get along if I hadn't listened to my stupid veterinarian.

 

[Sarvesh]

Excited!! hoping today's the day i get my conure!! i like the videos where people feed them snacks and they stand on one foot and hold the snack in the other foot and take bites out of it with their mouth LOL - do all conures do that or do you have to train them to do that? that is SO COOL imo!! what snacks do you recommend i can give that will have them hold it with one foot and take bites from it?

 

[Sarvesh]

hey guys im bout to start driving 1 hour to the petco to buy the conure, its gonna be 399$+tax and they say its about 5-6 months old but idk if htey have exact hatch date - i will check though

wish me luck and pls input any advice you can, i'll stay in touch on my cellphone.

i randomly felt like listening to 2 blue oyster cult songs on youtube today and im thinking i will name the conure godzilla cus they kinda look like godzilla, i will call him zilly cus all bird names have to have a Y at the end imo (lol jk)

and i dont think they have dna test and even those tests are frequently wrong - so i will do what every conure owner does - consider him a He until he lays an egg

first im gonna go to petsmart and buy a small travel/quarantine/temporary cage, some toys and zupreem fruit blend pellets

 

[Doublete]

Actually DNA testing is 100% accurate.

 

[Notdumasilook]

Just thought I'd toss my 2 cents in for what it is worth. I recently adopted a pre-owned sun conure and already have a bluefront amazon in the house. It was one of the best moves I have ever made. My male amazon "adopted" the lil sun conure as his "baby" and they spend a great amount of time preening and playing with each other...visiting each other in their respective cages. The amazon male actually "feeds" the lil conure and the conure accepts and begs for more )~. One might think that once 2 birds became close like that..the human/bird relationship would suffer a bit..but that has not been the case. Just dont rule out keeping both birds and see how they get along. Of course introduce them slowly and watch the body language. Its usually real obvious fairly quick if they will not get along..but do not mistake a lil excitement for aggression. As far as keeping them in the same cage.. that can be iffy depending on personalities of the birds. I experimented a lil with these two just watching..and the lil conure becomes a bit overbearing, not in a bad way.. but the amazon has a limit on the snuggling the conure enjoys and will politely (and patiently) shove him away with his foot. Other than that they interact amazingly well... with the bluefront being like a patient loving bird daddy. Another plus.. when they are playing together my wife and I get a break.. trust me conures (at least sun conures) are very "busy" and demanding. Best of luck to you on your new family member.
.

 

[TacoNTiki]

I have a female cockatiel and a gender unknow YSGCC. The cockatiel is around 2 years old and the gcc is 17 weeks. They have their own cage and are side by side a foot apart. They get along very well and will eat and play at the same time but not together. We got tiki the gcc at 6 weeks old and s/he has bonded to both my daughter and I and we are working on him bonding to my hubby as well. Tiki would love to snuggle with our tiel,taco, but taco only tolerates him and will fly away if he gets too close.

Two birds are a lot of work but I wouldn't give either of them up for the world. Like you I was drawn to the gcc personality and finally gave in after almost 2 years, until I was ready to care for two birds.

They learn to hold their food in their own and they can hold pretty much any size not too big. Tiki couldn't do it until around 7-8 weeks old.

We use harrisons fine for both birds and found the super fine too crumbly.