New Green Cheek Owner! Help!

[Stellas Mom]

Hi All!

I'm not sure if i'm even typing in the right forum! So please bare with me!
(or let me know where I should be writing!.. Thanks)
I am Stella's New Mom! Stella is a 2 and a half year old Conure Green Cheek.
We got him last Tuesday! His original Mom changed jobs and is away from home weeks at a time and thus! I adopted him!... YES, Stella is a "he".
For the first year of his life, they thought he was a she.... Then they took him in to the Bird Wellness Centre for grooming (he's fancy!) and they did a DNA test and she is actually a "he".. (thought you might want to know why his name is Stella!...

I'm totally in-love with him! There was no adjustment period, he just fit in! He's been so much fun! Its seems much longer than a week (in a good way). I am discovering new things about him daily and have been doing some Internet research to learn more about him & his people LOL.... Unfortunately I am not in touch with his previous owner so I have been trying to find out what the heck he's saying! So far I know that everytime I turn on any water tap he says "wash up" once I figured that out, it was amazing! He actually says that alot! Other things too but so far I only understand "wash up"!!!


I also figured out (or he trained me!) that when I am washing up at night and he feels like a bath, he simply crawls down my arm and goes for it in my cupped hands! He did that 5 minutes after I brought him home last Tuesday... was I surprised! not to mention that I hadn't changed out of my day clothes and he soaked my top! LOL... now I just have a hand towel standing by for him! He also gives kisses, when I say "Stella, Kisses"! Ok now i'm just bragging! LOL

So thats a bit about us!.. now for a couple of questions (if you don't mind!).. He's been really good but last night he decided it was time to bite me! and get all nippy. He didn't do that all last week, although he has bit my fiancee a few times.... and really bites down on his ear loabs...
He's been very gentle with me.. until last night. He took a wee chunk of skin out of my finger and seemed too aggressive for my liking. I hear you can train them to stop nipping hard... can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks!...

Ok, only 1 more question for now! I'll give you a break!.. I also hear you can train them to only go poop in certain places.. this I need to know! He's been excellent at not making a mistake while he is physically on us... like on a shoulder or even when he snuggles inside my sweatshirt! Theres only been like 2 mistakes on my shoulder and that I can't complain about BUT he seems to just drop them everywhere else... I'd like to find out how I can get him to maybe only go in his cage (which is huge and filled with toys)... I do take him to his cage once an hour and I say "Stella Poop!" and its worked pretty good! but then 10 mins later, there it is on a counter or on furniture.. Help! Any good training book out there? ok that was 3 questions!

Thanks for listening, sorry if I bored you..

Stellas Mom (Marilyn... Toronto, Ontario...Canada)

[Valo's Moirana]

first of all - seems like stella is a lucky guy for finding his new home with you.... congrats to the new addition.

now to your questions (sorry, i have to be a little brief but i'm late for my dinner already )

*) gcc are nippy - it's really hard to get rid of that kind of behavior... seems to be part of the lovely spunky-ness they come with... i usually pay attention to valo - by now i can read his body-language and when the signs indicate "there'll be a bite soon", i take him off of me and put him onto a play gym for a little time out. i'd try to pay attention to figure out how he displays that he's "pissy" (as i call it), and just avoid the close proximity that would allow a bite when he's in that minute... (valo usually only has that for a minute)

*) same's true for potty training - a lot of it falls in your lap... i'm not a big fan of total potty training for birds, but at least partial... valo has to go every 15-20min, and when he's about to, he backs up and lifts his butt feathers... hard to miss. i watch him and about every 15min i put him onto his poop-perch and tell him to, well - "poop". by now he goes... he still does his business when i forget to put him there as i don't really reinforce pooping on the perch, but it works well for us...

hope this helps

[Stellas Mom]

Hi Valo!

Thanks so much for writing back! I think I need to go out and purchase a couple of books on Green Cheeks! Theres been a new chain of events with Stella. He decided 2 nights ago that my fiancee is his best friend and now I seem to be the enemy! He has been all bitey with me and everytime I go near him, he puffs up all his feathers and bites me hard. He bit my lip twice and yet another finger has been bite. I spoke to someone that said I should stay away completely until he decides to come to me but I'm so hurt! I am the main caregiver. I give him treats, clean up after him (my fiancee isn't always around) give him baths etc., and now, he doesn't like me! Since he's been with us, each morning he's had his bath once I finish my shower and this morning, he wanted nothing to do with me.. his bath or anything else that involves me....
Its a big responsibility and I haven't minded at all over the past week (or since we got him 2 Tuesdays ago) but now, I'm in tears! Not sure what I did wrong!.... and I really don't like it!.... Anyhow, thought I would update you on whats happening.. If you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know! I am frustrated and i'm at work today and all I can think about is what am I going to do with a bird that decided to not like me!
Have a great day! and again, thanks for writing me back yesterday!
Marilyn.......... (Stellas upset Mom!)

[Alyx]

Oh Marilyn, I do feel for you, but first and formost YOU didn't do anything wrong. What you have is a Green Cheek Conure, I have one myself. For such a small bird they pop a wallop of personality and a wallop of a bite! Your little guy might even be jealous of the time you and your fiance spend together and thinks you should know. You may never know why he got nippy but I think you are on the right track for correcting the behaviour. Continue being the one that provides the treats and meals ect, but let your fiancee be the one to dish out the time outs as punishments. If the bird misbehaves let him know from somebody he already respects, if your the one putting him back in the cage he might resent you even more. As for the rest of the maintenance and cleaning of the cage and area get your fiancee involved girl!! It may be that the bird sees you as a parent and your fiance as a potential mate and may be trying to say lay off mom there is a hottie in the room! Besides two set of hands at chore time are always better than one!!!

[Stellas Mom]

Hi Alyx!

Thank you for replying! I'm so happy that I found this site! Thanks for the kind words, its great to hear those things from another Green Cheek owner. It doesn't make me so alone! or worried that we got involved in something that is a huge committment and the last thing I want to do is regret it!... OK, so now the good stuff! (what a day!... so glad its over!) Stella actually brightened my day as soon as I got home! I came in, unlocked the cage door and within 30 seconds Stella joined me in the kitchen. He flew directlly onto my shoulder! He started saying "wash up" and I turned on the faucet, he had a bath! All is perfect right now as I sit & type this message to you, he's quietly on my shoulder all happy! My fiance comes home around 11:00pm tonight so we'll see what happens! But I think I learned alot today about backing off when I see signs that he's going to bite... Last night he must have had a blast with me because everytime he puffed himself up... I went nuts on him!... NOT in a harmful way but in a freakout kinda way! Moms yellin! woohoo!... (LOL) and those were the times I was determined to get him on my finger! One of my friends is a groomer and told me that Parrots get a kick out of that sort of human behavior. They enjoy it when they a rise!

Of course now I sit and laugh about it. The emotions with this bird is something else! I didn't expect to deal with me crying in the morning and all lovedovey with him in the evening.....

So thats my update! We'll see what happens over the weekend. I think it will all be fine, now that I know a heck of alot more about the rules! LOL

Thanks for your reply, it makes me feel so much better!

Hugz
Marilyn... Stellas happy Mom tonight!

[Stellas Mom]

Thanks for ALL the advise Alyx!
(forgot that in the last reply!)

[Alyx]

I'm so happy to hear things went better this evening!! But don't be surprised if tomorrow the sun doesn't rise in the right spot and it puts him in a mood I can actually say I don't remember the last time I was bit but it was only yesterday she took a chunk of flesh out of our tennant who she is normally quite affectionate to. All he did was try to get her off his shoulder but I guess she realized that once she was off he would leave..... I guess?

Yes do please keep us posted and I promise to impart what little knowledge I have. And if you can some pictures would be great!!

[Stellas Mom]

So far so great! He's been asleep in my sweatshirt down my arm for the past hour! I'm loving this! We'll see what happens when my other half comes home later....

I thought I posted his picture?

[Stellas Mom]

Ok, I think I got it right this time! I uploaded his picture to "member photos"
Oh this is almost too much fun!!! LOL

[Alyx]

HAHAHA in my shirt is one of Pogo's fav places to hang out, but preferably between layers as her claws and beak are a bit sharp on the bare chest

At this moment Pogo is trying to pick the keys off my keyboard

I've read a few books about Conures and Parrot's in general and to be honest, nothing compares with the advice I get here. Trust me, if you are going through it somebody else on here will have as well, and if it's an opinion your looking for there are plenty of those to go round too The best advice that you probably won't get from a book is to find a good Avian Vet and when health is in doubt contact them.

I'll go looken for the photo but I'm sure he's as cute as.... well as a GCC