My two very young Conures

[Stahlz]

Hello, my family and I brought home two young Conures Sunday evening and I have a few concerns. I'm not sure if I had my expectations too high, or if this is normal behavior for GCC's, but I'd like some input to determine what is normal and what's not.
Both of my birds came from the same hatch. The person I got them from did not handle them as much as they should have it appears. My two parrots were born in July so they are only two months old. One looks much younger than the other and acts younger too. When I first brought them home I placed them in the same cage, they get a long perfectly and it was cute watching them snuggle together and play together. But, I began reading posts online about them bonding together and not to humans which at that point I read that they wouldn't really bond to humans since they had a companion of the same species. So I went and bought a second cage and separated them so they would bond with me and my family. I have been working on gaining their trust with keeping them in their cages and talking to them while holding a treat through the bars. I have owned another bird several years ago but did not experience this with that bird due to it already being tamed. I want so bad for these two birds to bond with me and allow me to hold them and hang on my shoulder and to see their true personalities. I do not want to make them afraid of myself or anyone in the family so I have refrained anyone of us from reaching for them in their cage. Every time my hand would go into the cage they would not attack it, but they would scurry away. I did allow them to get out of their cage and they both can fly, but they kept flying into the walls so I have since caged them due to that. I do have a vet appointment this Friday to have them checked out and ensure that everything is good with them. Can I please get some insight on this behavior and if I am on the right track or if something I mentioned above sounds off please? Also, since I separated them yesterday, one of them have paced back and forth at the bottom of its cage from time to time, is this normal as well? I can tell a difference from the time I brought them home until now that they are getting more comfortable with their new environment but I hope they come around soon so I can enjoy their company outside of their cage.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome, Nick! Glad you found the best parrot site I've ever known. I posted in your other thread but thought I'd ditto it here.
Lots of Green Cheek owners and afficionados here, as well as parrot lovers and experts in general. I have experience only with having a single conure, so I'll be interested to see what advice you receive.
Again, welcome!

 

[Stahlz]

Thank you! I currently have my two conures playing together on one of the cages. I'm nervous that they will bond. After reading so many posts about it I am almost afraid to let them play together. They tend to cuddle up and it looks so cute, but have they already bonded? The breeder had the entire hatch in one cage when I picked the two of them up. The one that looks older of the two acts like a big brother/sister to the 'littler'/runt Conure. It's almost like the bigger one is protecting the littler one? I'm not sure.... It's weird. Part of me likes it but the other part does not for the sake of them bonding.

 

[GaleriaGila]

My guess (just from what I've learned here) is that human-bird bonding *is* possible, even when siblings are kept together, but as I said, I'm an "expert" in single Patagonians, and there are many here with direct experience involving multiple smaller conures. Hang in there!

 

[Stahlz]

Hello again. Thank you for your feedback. I have an update about my two Conure's behavior. This morning I got up and changed their food and water dish and proceeded to change their paper. The 'older' one was sitting on his/her perch and just watched me as I calmly talked to it and told it good morning. (S)he looked calm and didn't try running away or anything of that sort. When I went to change the 'younger' ones food, water, and paper, I found this one under it's paper in the cage. As I was changing the paper this little one got out of his/her cage and flew over to its sibling's cage. I let them chit chat for a few minutes as I calmly talked to the both of them. After I was done with the second cage I picked up the 'younger' one that was hanging onto the back of the cage and put him/her back into their cage. After I did this I noticed that both of them paced back and forth on the bottom of their cages for a good 10 minutes after I separated them. What does this mean? This is not the first time they have done this after separating them. Their cages are only several feet apart and they can see each other. Every now and then they will call for eachother and they will chit chat for a few minutes from cage to cage. I also notice that they both like to 'pick' at the paper in their cages. They will try and move the entire piece of paper and as I said, the little one will get under it at times. I did place a Klennex box in the 'younger' ones cage as a 'hut' to sleep in and (s)he does use it.

 

[janquito]

Congratulations & welcome!
What do you have as far as toys for them? They need toys to keep them from getting bored. I have a gcc & a sun.
I've not been a member for long here but hopefully someone with knowledge about this will be on here to help you.


Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

 

[Stahlz]

In both cages I have some rope toys, bright plastic chain link toys, a ladder, and another plastic ring toy with a bell. I have also placed an additional perch in each cage besides the dowel ones that can with the cages.

 

[Leaf]

I've had my Pineapple GCC, Auri, for about a month now, making her 4.5 months old. From what I've read I seem to have lucked out as far as affection and trainability are concerned because she stopped biting me on the second day, follows me around everywhere without flying into walls or getting into trouble, sits quietly on my shoulder and nuzzles my neck as I perform apartmenthold tasks and browse the internet (she's doing so right now actually), readily steps up/down, and can potty on command. So take my advice with a grain of salt as I'm still quite new to GCCs, I only needed to home *one* (you have two!), and I don't seem to have gone through the "bootcamp" of bird training since I apparently got lucky with an "easy mode" bird

For reference this is a video of Auri after three weeks: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fToh2LuMbKI"]Pineapple Green Cheek Conure Preening and Cuddling - YouTube[/ame]

(She has a jealousy streak and actually growled as the video came up, ha.)

So to answer some questions in your posts:

Auri didn't really warm up to me until around the 7th - 10th day. Around the 7th day she definitely started begging to be let out of the cage to explore, and around the 10th day she started begging constantly to hang around my actual person. I would leave her on the piano stand or on a chair and she would fly to my shoulder, and I used this to kickstart training to recall on command. To get to this point I firmly stuck to several principles:

1) I never picked her up or otherwise forced her to do anything after putting her in her cage the first night.

2) I always spoke to her softly/candidly/excitedly as appropriate in the morning, after getting home from work, and before wrapping her cage in a towel to signal bedtime, to get her used to my voice and presence.

3) I always left her cage door open when I was nearby as an open invitation and so she wouldn't feel hemmed inside her cage (this is related somewhat to point (1) in that while you shouldn't force her anywhere, it may be equally important on the reverse side of things not to let your bird feel trapped in their new environment). But the key word is "nearby" as in literally two to five feet from the cage. You don't want to give them the opportunity to just fly around unsupervised, and instead drive home the message that "you" = "get to explore and have fun with human companion". Essentially you want to convey openness and invitation without forcing the issue.

You also want to offer treats regularly, say 3-5 times a day. Nutriberries worked great for me, and are her favorite "regular" food besides her Zupreem pellets (I always make sure to "reward" her now for going back into her cage with a Nutriberry). Again, don't force. Hold it close by to them, and for the first few days they may not seem to notice or care. Keep doing it. If they don't accept, leave the treat nearby them (Auri has a hammock platform in her cage, just left the treat on that), or in their food bowl before exiting the cage. Once they get a taste of it from their food bowl and find out they like it, they should start recognizing that your hand = treats, and you should work your way into their favor from there.

Now, specifically for point (2), this is my own theory, but I think it's important to show your birds you're a multidimensional person, and I think a lot of mistakes made by beginners (though, again, grain of salt: I'm still a beginner myself) is they start out too "soft" and "gentle" introducing themselves to their new bird companions. I encourage you to be a little animated (still gentle, relatively predictable; don't startle them, of course) and show your excited side, slightly angry side, etc. GCCs are extremely socially intelligent animals, and, just like humans, tend to yield readily to the more animated members of their flock. If you're sheepish and coy and gentle 100% of the time, you might get stuck with birds that think they can walk all over you. But if you're more animated around them (again, this is different from being aggressive and mean - I'm talking more about laughing heartedly, talking spiritedly, etc), not so shy about your true colors so to speak, you'll have birds that respect you and look forward to your company as interesting and worthwhile.

To address some concerns you had about them pacing the bottom of their cage, I too have experience that seems to point to that act being a sign of depression or tiredness. Specifically, one weekend I had little brothers and a couple friends stay over at my apartment for the night, and they kept her up way past her bedtime. The next day she was definitely zoned out and hung out at the bottom of the cage. Another day I had to do a lot (5+ hours) of cleaning around the apartment that involved chemical sprays (bleach for the bathroom tub, degreasing stovetop, etc), so I had to put her in a safe, ventilated corner of the apartment while I did my thing. By this time she had a very distinct "whimper" sound, and whimpered a lot from the floor of her cage as she continued to think I was ignoring her throughout the day.

Now you do have a wrench in all of this, which is that you took on siblings! (Very cool of you, by the way.) I can't comment on if separating them was the right thing to do or not, but you want to be very careful and try to think from their point of view. First, I'm not sure if the literature you and I have read about birds bonding to each other instead of their owners and owners' families is directly applicable to hatchmates, who, while not necessarily "bonded" to each other, are definitely familiar with each other. If they were already close, be wary that you separating them may be an impression that will be hard for them to shake off. ("Human" = "I don't get to see my brother/sister for hours on end.") How far away are they separated? I at the very least recommend keeping them in the same room, maybe opposite ends.

Again, I'm new, and my experience with multiple birds is scant, but I sincerely think the issue may not be so much "get each bird to bond with me and my family separately then reunite them once this is achieved", but rather "make their flock feel welcome in mine." If you approach that way you may have better and faster results!

 

[Piasa]

I'm also not the best person to give advice on this, as I've never had more than one young bird at a time, so take that into account.

I think there's a balance between making the babies comfortable (access to each other), and learning to interact and bond with the humankind.

Caging them separately is probably good because A) they are siblings, you don't want them to form a mate bond especially if different sexes B) you encourage them to be friends, but not to the exclusion of others.

I'd keep the cages somewhat close together so they know the other bird is okay, and can chat and parallel play. But you be there too for parallel play (and eat together). Make all your interactions with them low stress, don't push them but also spend a lot of time with them and give them opportunities to directly interact with you. Food is a great bridge. They can snuggle and spend some time together on a playstand too - this is healthy.

They sound darling. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Notdumasilook]

Kinda jealous here. I'd love to have me 2 "babies" to work with. You mentioned one bird was able to get under the paper in the bottom of cage?? There needs to be a grate there to separate them from the paper.(u don't want them to have access to poop and old food) My bet is the lil one was wanting to be covered.. like he would be with his momma bird in the nest box. I may have missed it.. do you cover their cages?? If not.. time to start. As for taming/training.. and this is just me.. Id start with the "step up" stuff right away. I might even take one bird at a time in to a small room... like the bathroom and work on it there. Surely they have been handled at least while being handfed by the folks you bought them from? Of course they may be a lil hesitant for you to handle/touch them right off but the sooner you do start interacting/handling them Id think would be better. They should learn to trust you in short order. This might sound weird but you can try this to get them use to you touching them. It relies on their instincts which is hardwired in them for life..
Being that they are still babies they will probably like a lil "hidey hole".. you can make one with a small blanket and/or pillow beside you on the couch or something. (This is like a simulated nest in a tree) Get one or both lil birdies to go under the cover and my bet they will snuggle right up in there and get real relaxed... Then put your hand in slowly and touch/pet the bird(s)..include some beak rubbing tween your thumb and forefingers. Its probable their lil "baby" instincts will kick in giving you the opportunity to be "adopted" by them as foster mommy. They will get use to your scent/touch right away and their fear of you should go out the window. Don't hesitate to have a few treats handy in case they start begging food. IF the lil "hidey hole" thing works as I think it will.. in short order your next challenge will be getting them to get off you and go back in the cage. It may also keep them from just bonding with each other later... because instead of you being just another big ugly bird in the flock, to them you become "mommybird". Good luck

 

[Stahlz]

Thank you to everyone who has commented and supplied further information. I do have some updates! I went to the pet store for their first examination and did purchase different food for them and they love it. I was recommended to feed them the Nutri-Berries as their regular food and also Avi-Cakes. I have been giving these two foods to them since the vet visit on Friday and they love the food. I was giving them just a seed mix up to this point with some fresh veggies. I also offer them 1 spray millet per week which they like as well. I did give them corn and some green pepper yesterday along with their Nutri-Berries on a plate on top of one of the cages and they ate everything on the plate. I have begun to show them a little louder part of me after reading these posts. They seem to listen a bit better but still have not really improved our relationship or bond. Also, I made some adjustments as far as the cage is concerned. I did have newspaper in the bottom tray of the cage along with paper on top of the crate inside the cage. Years ago when I had cockatiel the person I got it from had paper in both places so I did the same with these cages. I took heed and removed the paper from on top of the crate so neither bird could get to it and kept it in the tray underneath. I have also began covering their cage at night. I did this for the cockatiel I had years ago, but forgot about it. They were quiet when the lights went off so. Thank you for that tid-bit. Moving on to my main concern about the two birds bonding. I have not had them sexed but would like to just to know. So I do have them in two separate cages as I have mentioned above and it seems to be working alright. My previous setup the birds could still see each other but there was a large gap between cages by about 15 or so feet. After the vet visit I did move their cages closer together for the reason of them being closer so they felt closer when they were in their cages, and also because I had their wings clipped (along with their nails). By moving the cages closer together it appears to have made them a bit happier. With that being said, my main concern with them bonding, or not caring for human interaction is still a major concern. They both still really don’t want anything to do with myself or the family, they have each other. We have tried (and still are) offering them treats to bring them closer to show them that we are not scary. I did try the hidey-hole and it didn’t work that great, but I have only tried it twice thus far. I have also tried having them both on my chest at the same time and talked to them and they flew right back onto the cage. I tried it with both of them separately and pretty much got the same results. I did work with them yesterday for a while and I was able to get them to stop biting. I will continue this today and going forward, but the only thing I did not like with this was I had to take them off the cage as opposed to them coming to me. They are still nothing looking for interaction with ‘humans’ and are not asking to come out of the cage. As I sit here right now they are both on top of one of the cages looking out the window cuddled up to each other chit chatting. It will be a full 7 days tonight that we have had our two birds. We came up with names for them, the younger one we named Rocco, and the older one we named Pocco. I can see a noticeable difference in them compared to when we brought them home and they are cute and entertaining little things.

 

[snowflake311]

Birds from the same Clutch will be a few days older or younger so for one to seem younger is normal because it is. They lay 4-6 eggs and they do not lay them all at one time. So the chicks will not all hatch at the same time.

It all takes time Don't push them too much. 7 days in your home and they are only 2 months old. You have a long ways to go and lots of time to work with them. I would not stress right now. I think separating them was a good step. Just keep sitting with them talking to them and feeding them from your hand. You might want to start working with the birds separating. If they have each other they do not need you.

My Black capped came from PetCo He loves people and I am not sure if he knows he is a bird. Sad that your breeder did not work with the bird to tame them. They are young so it should not be hard to do BUT it will take time.

I would love to see photos of these little baby birds.

 

[Flboy]

My go to!
Sign up for the following blog!
Barbara's Force Free Animal Training Talk: The Parrot Training Diet?

Also, great stuff here!

Parrot Behavior Myths: Building Trust | Learning Parrots

Lastly..

http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

 

[Stahlz]

Birds from the same Clutch will be a few days older or younger so for one to seem younger is normal because it is. They lay 4-6 eggs and they do not lay them all at one time. So the chicks will not all hatch at the same time.

It all takes time Don't push them too much. 7 days in your home and they are only 2 months old. You have a long ways to go and lots of time to work with them. I would not stress right now. I think separating them was a good step. Just keep sitting with them talking to them and feeding them from your hand. You might want to start working with the birds separating. If they have each other they do not need you.

My Black capped came from PetCo He loves people and I am not sure if he knows he is a bird. Sad that your breeder did not work with the bird to tame them. They are young so it should not be hard to do BUT it will take time.

I would love to see photos of these little baby birds.

Thank you for the reassurance. I do agree with you and I was thinking the same thing, I just didn't want to miss a critical time frame, but from what I have read that isn't too much of a concern. I definitely do not want to stress them out. We will just take it slow and steady, slow progress is good progress. Yea it is sad that they didn't work with them as they should. The initial contact with the breeder stated him and his wife handled the birds every day, but when I got down to their house the story changed. It's not that big of a deal we are working with them and they are not aggressive or mean towards anyone, they just aren't use to people trying to old them and love on them. I am looking forward to the day they stop scurrying away as soon as I come up to the cage, or get too close. The older one is a bit more skiddish than the younger one. Yes the breeder informed me that they began hatching on July 3rd and the last one was hatched on the 20th of July. I have uploaded some pictures of my two babies in my profile, go check em out

 

[Stahlz]

Our two babies.

 

[Flboy]

Love those guys!

 

[Puck]

GCCs are painfully adorable. Every time I see pictures of them I start saying all of these "who's a cute one? you're a cute one!" things and then every animal in my house things I am speaking to them instead of a picture on a computer screen, lol. Congrats on your kiddos! Sounds like they'll be just fine with some time, patience, and loving. That's the upside of the babies--still so much time for learning! Cute names, too.

 

[GaleriaGila]

MANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN, they're soooooooooooo cute!
I really get why they're so beloved and sought-after.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

How cute IS THAT! preening while you rub his/her head!​

Bonded already with you..Awesome!​

​

​

Jim​

 

[Notdumasilook]

Gosh.. indeed adorable youngins... me SO jealous!!.. Hmm don't worry about pushing the hidey hole thing. Its just something I ran across by accident when I had an aviary full of lovebirds some years ago.. Just one day when handling some (untamed) fledglings one scooted under a pillow on a couch.. and just messing around I slowly slid my hand in there. He was all cuddled up in the dark corner and I caressed the top of his head with a finger... and DIDNT get bit....( strange for that particular bird). He became quite tame quickly hence I tried the same thing with perhaps a couple dozen lovebirds over a period of time.. probably with 90% success. 10% would wanna latch on like a snapping turtle. IF you are not coming back with wounded fingers theres a fair chance it will work with your birdies...but yeah... if they go in to a panic screaming and/or get defensive and latch on I would not push them any further with it. Just had my fingers crossed you would have the same luck I had. Good luck