Potential new Conure owner - Help!

[mkearneydsp]

Hello,

I have owned and loved 2 lovebirds at different times in my life. The most recent one passed away a month or so ago and we are finally coming around to the idea of getting another bird to love. But I'm thinking of getting a different kind for the first time. And conures seem to be just the right kind, at least from the outside looking in. They aren't much bigger than the lovebirds we're used to.

But can you tell me more about them? The challenges? How much more difficult I should expect it to be to care for a conure versus a lovebird?

I can tell you all the challenges I had with my lovebird such as regurgitating all over furniture all day, doing mating dances and nipping my hand many times a day and for 30 minutes or more at a time, pooping every 5-10 minutes, etc.

The good things were how much he was bonded to both me and my wife. How friendly he was to everyone that walked through our door. How much he loved being with us. But he also was completely fine if we had to leave him alone for a weekend. We never clipped his wings but he wanted to be with us at all times when out of his cage (which was pretty much the entire time we were ever home except when sleeping).

Hopefully you can tell me how those above traits differ to having a conure. One of my main concerns with a parrot larger than a lovebird is if leaving it alone for a day or 2 or 3 would cause feather plucking. We never had to worry about that with our lovebirds. And is feeding them more complicated? Does a larger bird mean bigger poops just as often? Or are they easier to "potty" train?

Thank you!

 

[Puck]

I have never had a conure myself, but they are touted for being a great introduction to medium sized birds! Green Cheek Conures are especially popular. I don't consider their poops to be all that big even compared to a budgies, but then it has to be a DARN big splash of poop for me to consider it "big"--too many years riding horses, I guess. Conures are known for being very friendly and enjoying lots of time with their people, but this can also depend on the individual. In fact, most behavior things depend a lot on the individual, though there are generalities.

What kind of conure are you considering? I am getting a sunny in December. Sun conures are known for being very loving and clownish, but with a tendency toward being one person birds (and also very loud). Green Cheeks are known for being very personable and friendly without the tendency to be as loud as other conures. Blue Crowns are known as sweeties but love to tear things up like madmen. Cherry Heads are very friendly and vocal and can mimic well, but like most talky birds they are noisy. And those are all the "conure stereotypes" I know off of the top of my head!

EDIT: As for leaving them alone, conures are HIGHLY social. I don't think they would do well being left all alone for three days at a time. Not on a regular basis. They are also known to throw noisy fits when being ignored, especially the louder varieties.

 

[mkearneydsp]

I'm considering a green cheek conure or some variant of it, assuming the variants like yellow sided or turquoise are similar in size and temperament. Mostly because of size and how loud everyone says the suns are. I'm assuming it must be much louder than my lovebirds ever were which wasn't too loud at all for us. We live in a single family home, so noise when we're gone or annoying the neighbors is not an issue. But I don't want to be trying to watch tv and getting a super loud constant shrieking going on all day. That might drive us nuts. We also would be very sad if it bonded with only one of us. Which is also why the green cheek seems like a better option.

The leaving them alone for a weekend thing only happens a few times a year. Sometimes we get home late from work. But that was never a problem with our lovebird. And lovebirds are certainly well known to be social and have super strong bonds with their owners when you have just one, hence their name. So can a green cheek be much "worse" in that sense? Again, I don't care about noise when we're gone as we are in a house, but feather plucking is something that would be unbearable.

 

[Kyoto]

I love my conure. My only caution about conures to add is that they can be nippy. And moody. Some days Kyo is the most loving thing in the world, and others she just wants to rip my fingers off. I just take the good with the bad and just can't be mad at that cute little face. She is very cuddly and actually talks a lot for a little birdie!

 

[mkearneydsp]

Kyoto, your description above your post says you have had lovebirds. So you can really help with a direct comparison. Are green cheek conures nippier than lovebirds can be? I have been reading some of the posts on this forum of problems people are trying to solve in their conures, and well, reading forum posts that are mostly of negative issues is probably a bad idea in the first place and could turn you off of any type of pet bird you might be considering, because they can all have problems. But the territorial swooping, attacking, and biting of faces that seemingly can't be stopped is really worrying, haha.

 

[MyFlock]

If you love lovebirds like I do and want a different bird check into another African species like a Red Bellied parrot! This is only my personal opinion of course, but sometimes they kind of remind me of big lovebirds. They are also fairly quiet, whistle and talk.

As as nippiness, well lovebird hens can go for blood! It also depends on the Green cheek, some are nippy and challenging while others are pure sweethearts. They are louder than lovebirds but lovebirds constantly chatter and chirp while green cheeks seem to get going once in awhile with loudness but it's not constant.

 

[Kyoto]

If you love lovebirds like I do and want a different bird check into another African species like a Red Bellied parrot! This is only my personal opinion of course, but sometimes they kind of remind me of big lovebirds. They are also fairly quiet, whistle and talk.

As as nippiness, well lovebird hens can go for blood! It also depends on the Green cheek, some are nippy and challenging while others are pure sweethearts. They are louder than lovebirds but lovebirds constantly chatter and chirp while green cheeks seem to get going once in awhile with loudness but it's not constant.

I actually find Kyo WAY quieter than my lovebirds were! And I actually enjoy the noises she makes.
I had one lovebird hen that was an absolutely sweet girl, even with babies was never nippy. But her mom, my god, was a fluffy yellow velociraptor.

Kyo is more nippy, but less territorial than my lovebirds were. I find her a bit similar in some ways, but she is way more cuddly and interested in being with me. She is being a little turd right at this moment, attacking my hands when I try to type. Sometimes I have to just put her in her place and get mr towel out for a visit.

 

[Birdman666]

It helps if you stop thinking of them as conures and start thinking of them as SHRUNKEN MACAWS... which is kinda what they are.

I personally never had much luck with lovebirds, and really worked primarily with the big guys... Amazons and above. But I did have three conures, who I dearly loved...

They should be easier to potty train, and train period than a love bird. In fact, my conures were all trick trained. They loved it! Py was flighted and recalled. All three were "out and about trained" and would go to anyone, and interact with everyone... (but that, of course, depends on who is socializing, and how much you put into it.) These are also pair bond birds, and if allowed to pair up, they have a propensity to become one person birds.

 

[mkearneydsp]

"I had one lovebird hen that was an absolutely sweet girl, even with babies was never nippy. But her mom, my god, was a fluffy yellow velociraptor."

hahahaha, well said.

I never had them tested, but since they never laid eggs, there's a good chance both my lovebirds were males. So I may have just lucked out and never had to deal with a territorial nippy lovebird. They never bit hard enough to draw blood, though in rare occasions they bit hard enough to hurt quite a bit. Most of the "nipping" was when he was doing mating dances or being playful and that was never painful.

 

[mkearneydsp]

Birdman666, That was something I was hoping for when considering a conure. That they might be easier to train. So that is good to know.

Lovebirds without bird-mates are prone to bonding with one person. But we think ours loved both of us equally and was so friendly to friends and family because we both showed him equal amount of attention from the time he was a baby. Hopefully that would also work with a conure. Am I wrong?

 

[Puck]

I'm considering a green cheek conure or some variant of it, assuming the variants like yellow sided or turquoise are similar in size and temperament. Mostly because of size and how loud everyone says the suns are. I'm assuming it must be much louder than my lovebirds ever were which wasn't too loud at all for us. We live in a single family home, so noise when we're gone or annoying the neighbors is not an issue. But I don't want to be trying to watch tv and getting a super loud constant shrieking going on all day. That might drive us nuts. We also would be very sad if it bonded with only one of us. Which is also why the green cheek seems like a better option.

The leaving them alone for a weekend thing only happens a few times a year. Sometimes we get home late from work. But that was never a problem with our lovebird. And lovebirds are certainly well known to be social and have super strong bonds with their owners when you have just one, hence their name. So can a green cheek be much "worse" in that sense? Again, I don't care about noise when we're gone as we are in a house, but feather plucking is something that would be unbearable.

It sounds to me that you know what you want deep down, and I say go for it! There is no "perfect" bird, but GCCs are super awesome and it seems from your responses that you know in your heart that you want one. Leaving them for a weekend now and then will probably be okay as long as you get someone to come and feed them and spend a few minutes talking to them. Of course it is better if birds can be with you 24/7, but the truth is that most parronts work and our babies manage. You just have to make sure that you make time for them. Good luck on finding your new fid!