New GCC

[hiriki]

Hey all.

You may have seen my post earlier this week about losing a precious flock member. The cockatiel I lost was best friends with my jenday conure, Birdie, and my heartbreak was compounded with seeing her all alone--she doesn't seem to be mourning quite the same as I am, and has in fact been quite cheerful all week, but I just couldn't stand to think of her living alone long term. Next thing I knew I was putting down a deposit on a baby GCC.

I have very complicated feelings about this. I'm not done mourning my cockatiel yet, and while I love the baby and have visited them (DNA sexing hasn't come back yet) every day this week, I can't help but feel like I'm just trying to fill a hole. Not to mention, up until now I've been a rescue only household, with every intention to stay that way--but when I was in that vulnerable place of just having lost a friend, I couldn't imagine myself bringing a bird into the flock who might never bond with me, which has been the case with quite a few of my rescues (and which is OK! I still love them even if they're the kind of birds who just prefer other birds.)

The new GCC will be named Kiwi, and I thought I'd come here for day 1 advice. I've never handled a baby before. Kiwi is very tame as they were handfed but I anticipate them being nervous on their first day in my home, for good reason. I've seen numerous takes on the best day 1 strategy, including the classic "let the bird settle in for a few days before taking them out" advice, as well as the day 1 video on Youtube by Parrot Tricks suggesting that you interact as much as possible with the new bird on day 1 (although the example bird was not a baby, which feels relevant). I'm curious what you all have done with your new babies.

And I wouldn't mind some encouragement that I'm not doing the wrong thing as well. Logistically, the baby will be caged separately and the cage cleaned last every day for a month (maybe longer, depending on what my vet says). And Birdie will be seeing the vet this weekend, before the baby is brought home. Emotionally, I'm a wreck and I feel like I'm doing something terrible. I don't know.

 

[clark_conure]

Been there...

Quote:
"Kiwi is very tame as they were handfed but I anticipate them being nervous on their first day in my home, for good reason. I've seen numerous takes on the best day 1 strategy, including the classic "let the bird settle in for a few days before taking them out" advice, as well as the day 1 video on Youtube by Parrot Tricks suggesting that you interact as much as possible with the new bird on day 1 (although the example bird was not a baby, which feels relevant). I'm curious what you all have done with your new babies."


If the bird is tame take advantage of it!!!!! Don't let it sit in a cage if it loves human interaction. It might then feel unwanted. If it's happy to sit on you then by all means let it. Most birds IMO love to get out of the parrot shop and love being adopted.

IF THEY CHOSE YOU!

 

[ravvlet]

Wow, we just went through bringing home a new baby conure and I had a lot of the same doubts etc as you seem to have.

So far everything is fine here. We let him out the second day we brought him home - but only because we didn’t get back from picking him up until 3pm or so. The first time he was out we gave him an hour to explore, but he only wanted to sit with me. We have gradually increased that to two hours now! He’s actually flying around his cage and playing with toys, waiting for his “turn” to come out, as I type this. We have one other parrot who is too large to let him out with.

We are sticking to a minimum of two hours for now, because us humans need time to get used to having a second bird again, one who is much smaller than our Amazon, but hopefully it will be easier for you! Take a deep breath - you’ve got this.

Fortunately for both of us, conures go through puberty a little quicker than the bigger guys, so I expect you and I both will have a few months to get used to these little fellas before they hit the big hormone wall and are a little on edge for a few months. Remember to make sure he or she gets at least 12 hours of sleep, and has a well balanced diet!

 

[hiriki]

Thank you both! I think I'll plan to let the new baby out as soon as they're comfortable, which will likely be right away judging from their behavior at the store. I hope it goes well. I don't know when pickup day will be, but probably some time next week...

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Been there...

Quote:
"Kiwi is very tame as they were handfed but I anticipate them being nervous on their first day in my home, for good reason. I've seen numerous takes on the best day 1 strategy, including the classic "let the bird settle in for a few days before taking them out" advice, as well as the day 1 video on Youtube by Parrot Tricks suggesting that you interact as much as possible with the new bird on day 1 (although the example bird was not a baby, which feels relevant). I'm curious what you all have done with your new babies."


If the bird is tame take advantage of it!!!!! Don't let it sit in a cage if it loves human interaction. It might then feel unwanted. If it's happy to sit on you then by all means let it. Most birds IMO love to get out of the parrot shop and love being adopted.

IF THEY CHOSE YOU!

Please handle you new hand raised baby bird frequently right away, as that's what they are used to and they crave this contact with their humans.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Please handle you new hand raised baby bird frequently right away, as that's what they are used to and they crave this contact with their humans.

If you think about it, wouldn't it be very distressing to a human-bonded baby bird to be taken away from the only home they've ever known by a stranger, put into a strange cage and not be touched, comforted or cuddled when they need it most?
It may be entirely different for a bird that's fearful of humans but hand raised baby birds don't fear humans. They want and need them.

 

[onamom]

I agree with the above for a hand fed baby. My advice is to visit the baby as much as possible before they come home. If the breeder allows it. This will make all the difference! It’s so incredibly nice to have your bird know you and be comfortable with you on homecoming day. I visited Ona 2-3 hours per week as she was being weaned.

 

[hiriki]

If you think about it, wouldn't it be very distressing to a human-bonded baby bird to be taken away from the only home they've ever known by a stranger, put into a strange cage and not be touched, comforted or cuddled when they need it most?
It may be entirely different for a bird that's fearful of humans but hand raised baby birds don't fear humans. They want and need them.

This is a very good point. I think I kind of knew this instinctively, but it's so common for people to advise new pet owners not to interact with their pets until after a few days of settling in, so I was second guessing.

In most cases, after bringing home a new member of my family I've always been inclined to coddle them right away, but I'm such a mess right now that I'm convinced I'm going to do something wrong lol.

It makes me feel better to hear everyone's advice.

 

[hiriki]

I agree with the above for a hand fed baby. My advice is to visit the baby as much as possible before they come home. If the breeder allows it. This will make all the difference! It’s so incredibly nice to have your bird know you and be comfortable with you on homecoming day. I visited Ona 2-3 hours per week as she was being weaned.

That's my plan! I'm not purchasing direct from the breeder, there's a parrot-only shop in my town that buys from local breeders and hand raises the babies themselves and they're very welcoming to visitors so I've been visiting on my lunch break daily. My wife is getting sick of me insisting we go to visit. She'd better get used to it though, she keeps saying this bird is going to pick her and if she wants that to happen she's going to have to step up her game!

 

[onamom]

That's my plan! I'm not purchasing direct from the breeder, there's a parrot-only shop in my town that buys from local breeders and hand raises the babies themselves and they're very welcoming to visitors so I've been visiting on my lunch break daily. My wife is getting sick of me insisting we go to visit. She'd better get used to it though, she keeps saying this bird is going to pick her and if she wants that to happen she's going to have to step up her game!

That’s great! This sounds just like the shop where I got Ona. Best of luck and congrats on the new baby.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

That's my plan! I'm not purchasing direct from the breeder, there's a parrot-only shop in my town that buys from local breeders and hand raises the babies themselves and they're very welcoming to visitors so I've been visiting on my lunch break daily. My wife is getting sick of me insisting we go to visit. She'd better get used to it though, she keeps saying this bird is going to pick her and if she wants that to happen she's going to have to step up her game!

I hope your wife understands that your new baby bird is going to need a lot of attention for a long time and that resenting that will be bad for all of you. The best way to get her totally on board is to to get her actively involved starting now. If the new baby bird seeks her out for playtime and affection, her heart will "melt" and she too will want baby bird to be happy.

 

[wrench13]

Unless you have experience with weaning a baby parrot, or have been trained by a qualified person to do so, I would let the parrot shop do the weaning process. Just because you are feeding the baby formula does not guarantee they will like you. My 'zon was hand fed by my youngest son, among the family, and now hates him on sight.

 

[hiriki]

Unless you have experience with weaning a baby parrot, or have been trained by a qualified person to do so, I would let the parrot shop do the weaning process. Just because you are feeding the baby formula does not guarantee they will like you. My 'zon was hand fed by my youngest son, among the family, and now hates him on sight.

Oh, I don't mean baby-baby. We aren't picking up the bird until they're weaned. So I suppose I should have said juvenile.