Meet Phillip :)

[NightEule5]

Some of you have met Phillip in my other thread, but I thought I'd make a new one.

Here's a picture of when we picked him up:

His first day (today) went well. I let him out and he immediately went to my shoulder. I laid down on my bed and he perched on my knees for a little bit. He likes to perch on my laptop screen.

He bites my ears, face, and fingers a lot and I tell him no, but it's not too hard. I wouldn't expect anything less from a baby, as they're just exploring, right?

Then he started playing with tissues. I'd get some out and he'd start chewing on them. He doesn't know how to shred them yet, but he chews on them.

Then he flew up on my brother's head. He perched on his iPad for a while and then came back to me.

Now he's back in his cage because he was biting a lot so he's just chilling at the bottom eating millet because he dropped it. <3

Oh and I had a toy in there that I got from amazon.ca that's too big (for African Grays) so he doesn't like that in his cage. I'll have to buy some (hopefully) smaller ones for him, lol.

 

[LeslieA]

GCCs rock! Pineapples are so fun. He's gorgeous!

FYI, the cage minimums are 22"×22"×30" with a bar spacing of 0.5" or 0.6". Those are minimums! (NOT the bar spacing. That's a must!) Get the biggest cage possible!

Do you have other birds or other pets?

 

[NightEule5]

Ya his current cage is 18x18 so I'll get a bigger one.

I'm taking care of two budgies that my siblings lost interest in, but other than that I have no other pets. My brother has a cat that comes in the house once in a while but he's terrified of birds. Phillip was flapping when he (the cat) walked by and he just looked at Phillip like, "Don't do that again." And then Phillip flapped again. XD

The cat doesn't bother the chickens either so I'm not worried, but I'll keep a close eye on him just in case.

 

[Morty]

I just got my little Green Cheek a couple weeks ago, as well. He was much the same, constantly biting ears, fingers, etc the first week. I firmly told him no and kept removing him every time he went for my ears and he has finally mostly stopped now. Once in a while he will have a lapse of judgement and go for it again but he's gotten a lot better. He has learned that "NO" very firmly means he is being too rough.

 

[Laurasea]

Welcome Phillip!! Never ever trust the cat please! Keep your new baby away from the parakeets too, it's generally recommend 20 to 30 days quarantine, that means separate rooms and washing hands changing shirt between birds, and not sharing play areas. Baby birds more easily catch things like some if the viruses out there, that the parakeets might have but not showing symptoms, plus a new bird is stressed from all the new changes. Have the parakeets ever seen an avian vet? Just things to keep in mind. Take advantage if having a baby if you want them to learn to wear s. Avian flight harness this is the best time to teach them, follow the instructions on the video, positive reinforcement, never force them into the harness instead you are teaching them to accept it. Babies are more willing to try new foods so start offering every safe veggies there is will pay off for a lifetime!! My green cheeck always holds my finger with her beak to steady herself or test if I'm steady before stepping up. Rapidly moving your hand away if your bird looks like it might bite can actually teach them to bite. I read a book called parrots for dummies don't know if still in print but it had a surprisingly amount of good information and some outdated information as well. Young birds need lots of breaks to eat and nap, so don't keep them out to long with out giving them a break, about a half hour at a time, then a little break for snakes and nap, after they nap you can get them out again. or if not needing a nap they still need to eat a little. I would still treat them like a baby for the next couple of months, then you will notice them needing less naps. That really helps cut down biting, as they get over stimulation and need breaks as babies. Welcome to the wonderful world of GCC

 

[NightEule5]

I just got my little Green Cheek a couple weeks ago, as well. He was much the same, constantly biting ears, fingers, etc the first week. I firmly told him no and kept removing him every time he went for my ears and he has finally mostly stopped now. Once in a while he will have a lapse of judgement and go for it again but he's gotten a lot better. He has learned that "NO" very firmly means he is being too rough.

Welcome to yours as well! He's stopped climbing on my face now and is biting me less and less. He's a fast learner. He's also already potty trained. He has only pooped on my bed once, otherwise just in the cage.

Welcome Phillip!! Never ever trust the cat please! Keep your new baby away from the parakeets too, it's generally recommend 20 to 30 days quarantine, that means separate rooms and washing hands changing shirt between birds, and not sharing play areas. Baby birds more easily catch things like some if the viruses out there, that the parakeets might have but not showing symptoms, plus a new bird is stressed from all the new changes. Have the parakeets ever seen an avian vet? Just things to keep in mind. Take advantage if having a baby if you want them to learn to wear s. Avian flight harness this is the best time to teach them, follow the instructions on the video, positive reinforcement, never force them into the harness instead you are teaching them to accept it. Babies are more willing to try new foods so start offering every safe veggies there is will pay off for a lifetime!! My green cheeck always holds my finger with her beak to steady herself or test if I'm steady before stepping up. Rapidly moving your hand away if your bird looks like it might bite can actually teach them to bite. I read a book called parrots for dummies don't know if still in print but it had a surprisingly amount of good information and some outdated information as well. Young birds need lots of breaks to eat and nap, so don't keep them out to long with out giving them a break, about a half hour at a time, then a little break for snakes and nap, after they nap you can get them out again. or if not needing a nap they still need to eat a little. I would still treat them like a baby for the next couple of months, then you will notice them needing less naps. That really helps cut down biting, as they get over stimulation and need breaks as babies. Welcome to the wonderful world of GCC

Good advice, thank you. We only let the cat in when he's in the cage. When he is in we watch him closely to make sure, but mostly the cat just lays on my brother's bed. I wouldn't have thought about the quarantine, but it makes sense. They're in separate rooms and I'll make sure to wash my hands. The budgies haven't ever seen an avian vet, but they have seen a normal vet. I'll probably be taking Phillip to an avian vet soon, but we live 4 or 5 hours away from the city that would have one. I didn't buy a harness, but I'm planning to. I did hear that it's best to teach them early. I don't pull away until he starts biting hard, I'm ok with little nibbles. I have been putting him back in the cage for breaks frequently. I have too entice him with a treat because he doesn't want to get off me lol.

 

[NightEule5]

So, he's been out like 4 times today and he's been spoiled with treats. I had a toy in his cage (don't worry, I ordered more), but he's scared of it. His favorite toy right now is newspaper. I'll weave some in the bars and he'll comically rip it out and tear it up! So adorable.

Now before you go typing a demand for pictures, here you go:

He's starting to get more comfortable and showing the clownish nature of Conures. He'll do little flips and go upside down to rip up the newspaper up. The main reason I picked a Conure lol.

 

[LeslieA]

I really understood quarantine to be 30 to 90 days and with a small conure, 30 to 45 days. Was my AV lying to me?

 

[Laurasea]

LeslieA I think that's a great topic for a thread. Not that your veterinary lied to you! But what does your veterinary recommend?! My much loved previous vet recommend tests and blood work followed up by tests and blood work 30 days later but this was for an older adult parrot, maybe age plays a factor, or just like humans doctors they all practice slight different. Would make for an interesting topic, as I never hear anyone talking about end of quarantine testing...

 

[Jen5200]

Phillip is adorable - thanks for posting the pics before we could demand them

 

[Laurasea]

Phillip is adorable - thanks for posting the pics before we could demand them

Yes ! Cute cute cute!

 

[NightEule5]

I think the discussion of quarantines would make for an interesting thread. I don't mind thread hijacking at all though.

Phillip is adorable - thanks for posting the pics before we could demand them

I've been around here long enough that you guys love pictures, lol.

 

[NightEule5]

He's sleeping now, and can't help but wonder, do they sometimes only sleep with half their brain like other birds? I know chickens do that, they're documented cases of it like dolphins. But do parrots?

Sometimes we'll walk into the chicken coop at night and they'll know we're there, but they're lethargic like they're sleeping. I think one half keeps watch while the other half sleeps. Pretty interesting. There's even research showing that humans may do the same thing when you're sleeping in somewhere new, like a hotel room. I have a very scientific mind, so this sort of stuff really intrigues me.

 

[Sunnyclover]

A warm Welcome to you and Phillip. Please do not trust the cat around him or any cat...ever. It's too easy and too likely the cat decides to bother him and even the smallest of scratches can end your birds life.

 

[Scott]

What a magnificent buddy! Philip's personality seems ideal and he's definitely chosen you. Will be interesting to see how the honeymoon goes.... looking fine so far.

Awesome pics, thanks for sharing!

 

[Watters7]

Hello!

Thanks for sharing! FYI -- I have purchased some hanging "baby" toys for my GCC Booboo. Baby toys are safer than some of the toys for birds!

 

[NightEule5]

Thanks guys!

I found out why he's biting, and it's actually very smart. Turns out he just wanted snuggle in my hand like the breeder did in my profile pic. He was trying to manipulate my fingers so that he could snuggle in my hand. Once I did that, he went to sleep for a solid 30 minutes, and he's been biting much less now.

Him biting my ears was just thinking a few steps ahead. If he bites my ear I involuntarily put my hand up to stop him. Then he can try to bite my hand lightly to get me to put my hands around him.

The breeder also recommended that if he starts biting, we can cover his head. This was his goal all along, so if he bites my ear to get my hand up there and bite my hand to get me to cover his head, he can get what he wants.

Now I'm trying to teach him that that isn't ok and just giving him snuggles instead. He's biting a lot less now and even going in his cage more easily. What a smart boy!


He's already helping my anxiety too. Pretty much immediately after getting him my sleep schedule was corrected (I'd often not sleep until 3 or 4 AM) which is something two different medications were not able to do.

 

[NightEule5]

And about the cat: We watch him very closely. I went upstairs to change clothes and Phillip flew up to me. The cat had a predatory response and ran, but mom stopped him. He usually isn't in the house when Phillip is out, but when he is we watch him.

 

[Scott]

Thanks guys!

I found out why he's biting, and it's actually very smart. Turns out he just wanted snuggle in my hand like the breeder did in my profile pic. He was trying to manipulate my fingers so that he could snuggle in my hand. Once I did that, he went to sleep for a solid 30 minutes, and he's been biting much less now.

Him biting my ears was just thinking a few steps ahead. If he bites my ear I involuntarily put my hand up to stop him. Then he can try to bite my hand lightly to get me to put my hands around him.

The breeder also recommended that if he starts biting, we can cover his head. This was his goal all along, so if he bites my ear to get my hand up there and bite my hand to get me to cover his head, he can get what he wants.

Now I'm trying to teach him that that isn't ok and just giving him snuggles instead. He's biting a lot less now and even going in his cage more easily. What a smart boy!


He's already helping my anxiety too. Pretty much immediately after getting him my sleep schedule was corrected (I'd often not sleep until 3 or 4 AM) which is something two different medications were not able to do.

I wish all parronts had your sense of awareness! Understanding and accommodating Phillip's behavior is awesome!

I can see the headlines: Baby parrot delivers big blow to Big Pharma! Proves the point of how therapeutic companion animals can be!!

 

[NightEule5]

Lol, thanks. They really do help. I've seen so many posts on here saying the exact same thing.