A lot of Green Cheeks being rehomed at 1-2 years old...

[Snowflake]

How did you find out she sexually matured?
How you described the feelings of despair is exactly where I am & I absolutely do not want to rehome mine, but my husband is getting upset how many time she bit our 3yr old recently.
We've only had Kiwi for two months, bought her from Petco & she had been there EIGHT months. I felt so bad so we took her. She just turned a year old a few weeks ago. Everything was totally cool, she was all lovey with everyone, playing in the kids' room with the kids', waltzing around the house all day, taking showers with us, etc. Well recently she has been going out of her way to be aggressive & attack (mainly my two daughters). She also had started to become infatuated with my husband.
I'm at a loss here & don't know what to do. We all adore her but the last couple days my husband's completely ignored her, we've kept her in her cage & moved her cage to ground level (she was at highest point 6 feet-the cage is big, especially with the legs)
So I was wondering if anything has worked out for you (or anyone) or what steps I can take. I don't know of shes sexually mature, molting or anything-totally clueless.
I'd appreciate any advice or words of wisdom

 

[khaiqha]

While I think many if not a majority of birds that are rehomed at that age has to do with puberty, 2 years is usually enough time for people's lives to change. People generally get pets at what they think is a stable time in their life, such as just started college, just graduated, just got a new job, just married, etc. What gets me is that these times are not stable. People will have to move, switch jobs, have children, divorce, etc. When someone gets a pet, they should think about what will happen if their life does change. I see so many ads on CL because people had children. It's like people are renting pets until their life changes, than they just pass their pet onto someone else.

 

[SoCalWendy]

We have 3 right now on CL in my area, 2/3 are under a year.

 

[faeryphoebe1]

I wish that I could win the lottery and adopt all the Green Cheeks & Suns that people no longer want. But Green Cheeks are not an easy parrot to care for, imho.

Ours is very demanding and sometimes likes to bully my son & hubby. She will fly and bite my 12 yr old son if he has been paying more attention to his video games than to her. Brandon knows that she cannot be punished. Once in a while he gets frustrated because this doesn't seem fair to a kid who knows that there are consequences for all non-fids for bad behavior in our home.
Hubby didn't grow up with pets but he never complains, even when she lands on his arm to bite him just because she's a little devil who can.

Trixie will bite anyone touching her cage (except my daughter) and charges and bites when we're changing her water or food. She flies to go pick a fight with my very sweet-tempered (larger) Sunny out of sheer jealousy (we protect him with a hand...ouch)!

Why do we keep her? She's an adorable, smart, little clown who cackles when we laugh, hangs upside down & quacks like a little duck and knows how to steal our hearts. Whenever one of us is sad, she'll sit on that person's shoulder and tell them "sweet nothings" in birdy talk & give them kisses on their cheeks. And she excitedly greets me when I get home from work and yells, "Trixie! Trixie!"

 

[MsPony]

I am THAT evil pet store employee (local owned and operated, 1 store, same owner for a million years that was get tech for a million years before that.)

It's the responsibility of the pet store employee to decide if the home is a right fit, and to stand up and say NO if not. It drives me nuts! That female GCC *I* spent hours and hours carefully weighing and feeding and stressing over multiple times a day, then spent weeks rehandling after she went out on the floor and got aggressive? If you're not serious about her, you don't get her. She's loud, opinionated, and takes work. She lives a long time, she can bite, shes like having a year old child for the next 20 years. She takes DAILY care, she does t care if you are late for work.

This is what drives me nuts about other stores (esp Petco...), while stuff happens that not everyone can forsee (ie Cricket was boughten from us, lived a good life, then attacked his owner and sent her to the hospital, that scared her so bad, she retook a look at his life and decided he needed something different), but it's a breeder/adopter/employees job and duty to scope out a potential owner and prepare them the best they can.

I don't see tons around here on CL, but there are 2 bird rescues and a specialty avian vet.

 

[baron1282]

It's a sad thing to me that people can't take care of the animals they purchase. Sometimes rehoming the animal is the best thing. If someone is unwilling to take care of the animal than I agree that they should give the animal up to someone who can. Unfortunately it leads to a lot of unwanted animals.

As much as I want to save every single animal, I know I can't. So the only thing that gives me comfort is knowing I give the best care and love to the animals I have. including my Conure. One can not save every animal, but you can care for the animals you already have. It's hard to not want to take in every single bird, cat, dog, or any other pet. But sometimes people that do that end up hurting the animal and themselves more. I would fall into that category if I let myself go and rescue all the animals I could.

I see cats and dogs on the streets all the time and I just want to take them home and care for them. I just know that if I do, the quality of life I already give the animals I have would go down. So I control myself and I don't take them in. I refuse to take them to a shelter because a lot of the times they just kill the animal. So them being out on the street is better for them than going to the shelter.

A lot of people don't see animals the way I do. I see each animal I take in as apart of the family. Only once did I have to rehome an animal. It was because of my roommates and not me. It killed me inside, but it was the right thing to do. I couldn't care for the animal the way I should have because of my roommates. So I gave my pet gerbil up. The poor thing stank so badly that it affected my roommates and they asked me to get rid of it. I couldn't figure out why, I cleaned the cage every day and the cage was in my room. But the little guy just stank and nothing I did changed that. I gave him to a family that had other gerbils so I knew he would be taken care of.

Its just a sore subject with me. I see people giving their animals up all the time without looking for a proper home for them. They try to get their money back when in reality they need to give the animal up for free to someone that is willing to care for it properly. It's just my opinion, but if you find that you can't care for an animal don't try and sell it. Instead look for a home and when you find that home give the animal up for free so you know it's in a good home being cared for. That's what I did with my gerbil, I paid close to $150 dollars for everything for the guy. I didn't care about giving him away because I knew the home I found was the right one. Other people that just ask for money without inspecting the home is not doing it for the best interest of the animal in my opinion. I guess my point is, you made the mistake of buying an animal you are unwilling to care for, live with it and don't try to get your money back. Find the home and give it up willingly. I know a lot of people that would take in an animal to give it a better life if the person that does not want the animal anymore would just do the right thing and give it up and not charge the price they paid for it.

Sorry for the LONG post. I just wish people would do their homework before buying an animal. Even FISH. I get so mad at people that buy fish and think they are just for decoration. So they don't care for them properly and they die when simple care will allow them to live a long happy fish life! Research the animal you buy before buying (Even fish have requirements and tank sizes). I want a Scarlet Wing Macaw, but I am not ready for one yet, I am doing my homework well before I buy one. I want to make sure I am ready for the responsibility of owning one!

 

[Pajarita]

There are lots and lots of GCC on CL here on the NE. I think it's a combination of things. GCCs are very inexpensive and small so people see them as beginner's birds but they are conures and require a lot of handling and a lot of enrichment to keep sweet-tempered and most people who buy them work all day long and the poor bird stays by him/herself for hours and hours and it's then handled briefly and at a time when it's not ideal (evening and night). Everything is OK when they are babies but, when they grow up and come into their own, they start showing their unhappiness by biting (and even though they are small, they can bite real hard!). Another mistake most people make with them is giving them too much protein (free-feeding seeds or pellets) when these birds are mainly fructivores and require little protein in their daily diet (high protein makes them hormonal).

I took in four of them, all around the same age, 1.5 to 2 years old, all owned by young people who thought they were going to be walking around with an affectionate, talking parrot on their shoulder and were disappointed by the way the bird 'turned out' not realizing it wasn't the bird but them that failed. All of them were actually sweet birdies which just wanted attention, a good schedule and diet, and plenty of out of cage time.

 

[baron1282]

@Pajarita

That is why we are going to get our bird another bird to bond with, or at least be friends. We work long hours, but we give our bird at least two hours a day right when we get home which is around 4 or 5pm. He loves us and is not that fussy. I don't know about most conures but mine does site on my shoulder and talks.

I don't think working long days is a bad thing for him, he is happy and has a lot of toys to keep busy. We also leave the TV on for him. We are going to get a cheap radio as the TV is expensive to leave on all day.

It's about the time you spend with them when you got the time. We allow our bird free range of our living area. He loves flying and jumping all around everything.

I think the issue is people don't want to spend time with them at all because they get bit and start to get scared. So they would rather rehome the bird than work with it.

I made the mistake of food (as evident in my other post), but I am learning and now I am correcting. Some people are just unwilling to learn about their animals and correct the mistakes they make.

I believe a lot of the problem is what you said. People want a cool looking animal to show off, but don't realize the responsibility it takes to care for it. It's the same thing with fish, they want the cool fish to show off but in the process they end up killing the fish or giving it a bad home to live in. The only difference is people tend to see fish as nothing more than decoration and don't care if they die.

 

[legal_eagle]

This thread, in my opinion, is an unfortunate example of how parrot owners contribute to this problem by perpetuating the idea that parrots are like children, so that instinctual behaviors are constantly recast as "bad" and the parrots seen as unruly kids when the don't "follow the rules." I wish there was more of an effort by the moderators and this website to put out good information about what parrots are really like, which might balance out the implication from so many posts here that you just need to "discipline" your "fid" who is going through his "terrible two's," etc. Someone posted a link to a great article on Sunday that was written by a veterinarian, and the article gave excellent real information about parrots and what to expect. I think the thread soon became buried and disappeared. It deserved to be a "sticky" thread. This board really should take more responsibility for what it puts out to the public, so as not to be contributing to the problem of dumped parrots.

 

[baron1282]

@Legal Eagle

I think education on how a bird acts and how to deal with it is important for any bird owner. Working with your bird when he acts out is important as to stop the behavior before it becomes permanent.

Spending time with your bird is important to stop most of the behavior problems, but I do agree with you on the fact that a Bird is still a wild animal, and some behavior is to be expected from a wild animal.

Working to correct some behavior is a wonderful way to spend quality time with your bird. You don't need to have your bird act like a wild bird all the time just because it's a bird. You and your Bird can be both enriched by training. Not only are you training your bird, but your training yourself!

I don't think any person on this thread is contributing to any problem. The only reason 2 year old children are used as examples because it's the closest thing that fits the bill of the bird behavior. I was told to expect a two year old for 20 to 30 years when I bought my bird. It made me really think about my purchases before doing it. I researched a lot and I came to the conclusion that a Bird was right for my family. If no one told me what to expect, I would have bought the bird blindly and I might be rehomeing my bird now.

 

[faeryphoebe1]

My son and I joke about our "evil Trixie" but it's just that... a joke. I didn't intend to sound flippant about her or our Sunny.

Our family has this view on our pet parrots: They are wild animals more closely related to dinosaurs than to humans. Parrots are intelligent, sentient beings with complex social orders and behaviors. They are prey, flighted animals who we have forced into living indoors with "us," (predator) humans.

Trixie and Sunny spend several hours daily, out of the cage and interacting with us. We feed them fresh fruits & veggies daily, seeds and pellets, too. They drink fresh spring water, also.

We don't punish our parrots. We're not supposed to! We have learned to read their body language and respect their boundaries. My son is a very literal person who sees things as black and white, so initially it was a bit difficult helping him to understand why we don't treat our parrots like dogs or cats in regard to behavioral issues.

I stand by what I said earlier: Green Cheeks are not easy pets! I would think that a Green Cheeked conure would be a terrible pet for a very young child. They can deliver a nasty bite. That doesn't mean that the parrot is behaving badly. It is what it is. Complex, instinctual behavior. Cockatiels are much more easy-going, in my experience.

MsPony's correct. There are pet stores that aren't committed to finding a good family fit for their animals. The employees go around telling people that Green Cheeks can get "nippy" instead of being more candid about realistic expectations. This can have such a detrimental outcome for both the parrot and the family.

We love our parrots and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. They are family. But, our kids are older and the dynamics at home probably make it much easier for us to have pet parrots, more so than for families with younger children.

 

[94lt1]

Wow.. reading all of the posts I have, about how green cheeks are not a beginners bird...I have to think...do j have the world's sweetest green cheek? My sun who is hormonal...doesn't like Rain..but he's the only one...


She's an absolute dream..my 11 year old can pet her, she steps up for him, she cuddles..she does all of this for anybody...we rescued her from petco...

My wife used to work for the..but couldn't stomach their bs...for all who don't know Rains story ..she was locked away and starved by a nut job that was supposed to be the avian specialist in the Beaumont store. .or so im told..anyhow ..she was starved.. ate her own feces and when we did take her ...she just stood there..swaying to and fro...SO WATCH THE BIRDS AF PETCO AND PETSMART!!! THEY'RE REGULARLY ABUSED!!

That said...

She was said to be a bad and very aggressive bird...she's an angel...she's so mild mannered that she's easier to handle than a budgie...she wasn't trained in any way shape or form..now. she is a doll..steps up, very quiet..loves to cuddle ..will let anyone who doesn't act aggressive towards her, handle her...

Green cheeks aren't a difficult bird in my book...but...all birds are harder to work with than a dog..or a cat...they're not as easy to figure out for some people..they have a mind and personality... many other animals are happy to obey..

Just my .02$

 

[Abigal7]

Sometimes I see Green Cheek conures on craigslist in my state but not that often. I want to point out to Eagle no one is saying you should hurt or discipline birds. I personally am surprised people think Green cheek conures are hard (I do agree cockatiels appear to be more easy going). Clover, did bite me at first but she became a bird I could handle and a easy going bird that the vet could handle easily. I never made a reaction if she did bite, At first I wrapped her in a little towel since that was the only way I could get her out. I watched her bite on the towel until it got boring. If she did bite me I just sat her on the ground and walked away. The lady I got her had clipped her wing feathers (so that helped curb aggression). If I saw a bite coming I distracted her or positioned her and myself in away that she could not reach my hands. For a small while I even feed her cut up pieces of apples and bananas (which she likes) from my hands. It apparently got boring fast when I never reacted, or when she could not follow through. I do not remember Paulie, (the green cheek conure I had through my school years) ever starting to bite me (after the two year mark). He did bite my dad, and step mom but they never showed a interest to spend any time with him from the start. He also did bite my step brother who flat out told me I was the only one the bird was nice to. However, since my step brother liked to tease animals by poking them and being rough with them, etc I can not say I blame Paulie on that one.

 

[faeryphoebe1]

Trixie favors my daughter mostly, but sometimes she switches allegiances, lol. She tends to favor those who give her the most attention!

Recently, I had to her a round of Baytril for a sinus infection. Now she's been avoiding me like the plague since associating me with that horrid, grape flavor. It makes me a bit sad because I truly enjoy her company. The Baytril was completed this past Sunday, so I'm still trying to get in her to see me in a positive light.

Trixie was in a cage with another GCC when we got her and she was a semi-tame adult. Maybe that's why she isn't a sugar-sweet bird? We let her flight feathers grow and now she's fully flighted. Could that be why she can be aggressive at times? Maybe it's just her personality. Spice girl, lol.

 

[sofiaee]

Green cheek conures are EXTREMELY common on Craigslist in my area. Parrotlets are becoming more common too. Sadly most of these are from irresponsible breeders who are only in it for the money, over breeding their birds in dirty surroundings and selling un-weaned babies to literally anyone. They can't even clean cages to take pictures for their adds! And all their birds are on all seed diets. This really irks me because I would love so much to breed birds as pets. I'm really interested in the genetics and in raising the most pet quality birds around but I would not feel okay doing this considering how many birds are already looking for homes. I wish the ignorant breeders would leave this sort of thing to the people who actually care.

I just got a new green cheek that they say is 2 years old but I really can't be sure if that's true. She may be a leftover baby that never got sold from a clutch or even a breeder. In my search for a new green cheek I have come across many liars and schemers just looking for cash. Mia, the new bird, isn't hand tame right now but I'm confident that with work she will reach that point.

When I got Oliver he was a little more tame than this bird but had quite an obsession with biting. He was also around a year old, the time people say they go through a hormonal roller coaster. It was really sad for me, a 14 year old who was expecting a sweet little bird who didn't bite to have blood drawn nearly every time I tried to handle my bird. But over time Oliver calmed down. I don't know if it's more to do with his hormones calming down or the training I gave him but either way he is the sweetest thing now. He really only bites me now if he's afraid of something or I'm ignoring his signs to leave him alone. He does still need work socializing with strangers though, I've neglected this part a bit.

 

[legal_eagle]

My son and I joke about our "evil Trixie" but it's just that... a joke. I didn't intend to sound flippant about her or our Sunny.

Our family has this view on our pet parrots: They are wild animals more closely related to dinosaurs than to humans. Parrots are intelligent, sentient beings with complex social orders and behaviors. They are prey, flighted animals who we have forced into living indoors with "us," (predator) humans.

Trixie and Sunny spend several hours daily, out of the cage and interacting with us. We feed them fresh fruits & veggies daily, seeds and pellets, too. They drink fresh spring water, also.

We don't punish our parrots. We're not supposed to! We have learned to read their body language and respect their boundaries. My son is a very literal person who sees things as black and white, so initially it was a bit difficult helping him to understand why we don't treat our parrots like dogs or cats in regard to behavioral issues.

I stand by what I said earlier: Green Cheeks are not easy pets! I would think that a Green Cheeked conure would be a terrible pet for a very young child. They can deliver a nasty bite. That doesn't mean that the parrot is behaving badly. It is what it is. Complex, instinctual behavior. Cockatiels are much more easy-going, in my experience.

MsPony's correct. There are pet stores that aren't committed to finding a good family fit for their animals. The employees go around telling people that Green Cheeks can get "nippy" instead of being more candid about realistic expectations. This can have such a detrimental outcome for both the parrot and the family.

We love our parrots and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. They are family. But, our kids are older and the dynamics at home probably make it much easier for us to have pet parrots, more so than for families with younger children.

I (obviously) agree with your viewpoint on always keeping in mind that parrots are essentially wild animals in an unnatural (for them) environment. Trying to treat them like "feathered children," and talking about them as if they were, verges into crazy-cat-lady territory, IMO.

I suppose Green Cheeks can be considered as difficult as many other parrots in terms of their ability to draw blood, their boldness, and their messiness. But if one can establish a respectful bond, I think they are extremely sweet and sociable.

 

[CrayZbirdlady]

Hello I'm new to this site and came across it because my YSGCC, KC, has been more difficult than before and I'm looking for help to keep the peace in our home.
He/She (sex unknown) is going to be a year old next month according to the breeder we got KC from. Bed time has always been a bit difficult since we got KC in July. Not as bad as lately but usually there was some random squealing after he/she was covered. Lately there is ALOT of difiance during bed time and some sexual postures like others have discribed too of fluttering wings and backing up with the butt to things and giving a low squeal. I'm wondering if this is a girl wanting to be mounted by a mate? Not sure with out a DNA test though. I've had cockatials before but this is my first Green Cheek. What can I expect for how long the hormonal period lasts? Are there any calming supplements that anyone has found helpful?
We all LOVE this little one and want to keep our KC happy and get through this as stress-free as possible. There is some nipping that is being paired with this but no excessive biting yet anyway. I hope that doesn't happen.
Please Help!

 

[Kalidasa]

Hello I'm new to this site and came across it because my YSGCC, KC, has been more difficult than before and I'm looking for help to keep the peace in our home.
He/She (sex unknown) is going to be a year old next month according to the breeder we got KC from. Bed time has always been a bit difficult since we got KC in July. Not as bad as lately but usually there was some random squealing after he/she was covered. Lately there is ALOT of difiance during bed time and some sexual postures like others have discribed too of fluttering wings and backing up with the butt to things and giving a low squeal. I'm wondering if this is a girl wanting to be mounted by a mate? Not sure with out a DNA test though. I've had cockatials before but this is my first Green Cheek. What can I expect for how long the hormonal period lasts? Are there any calming supplements that anyone has found helpful?
We all LOVE this little one and want to keep our KC happy and get through this as stress-free as possible. There is some nipping that is being paired with this but no excessive biting yet anyway. I hope that doesn't happen.
Please Help!

You may want to get the bird sexed. There are options at the vet for birds that are extremely hormonal and chronic egg layers. But you need to start somewhere, and figure out the triggers that make it worse. Birds get hormonal, it happens every year like taxes.

 

[alcmene]

Here's how naive i am- i had no idea people sold animals on craigslist! I just looked at my local listings, just to see. There are a TON of cockatoos on there. Mostly umbrellas. Makes me think there has to be a breeder near by just in it for the money selling to people who aren't ready for a cockatoo.

One person was looking to trade their cockatoo for an HDTV.

Now i wish i hadn't looked. The whole thing made me feel sick to my stomach

 

[alcmene]

He/She (sex unknown). Not sure with out a DNA test though :

Go to Avian Biotech's website. They will send you a free sample collection kit for DNA sexing. All you have to do is either slightly overtrim one toenail and get a single drop of blood or else collect 6 feathers, put them in the sample bag, mail them back to the company, and within 24hrs of recieiving the sample they'll email you the results. Only costs $19.50