New baby~

[revika]

Actually he's 6 months old and I bought him from a couple whose business is to hand-raise parrots. As you can see in the sidebar, he's a GCC.

Let me just start by saying, good lord. It's currently day 2 and he doesn't seem to want to even go inside his cage unless we (my fiance and I) are stubborn about it so that he'll finally eat his food (I started off with what the Parrot Place was feeding him, which are pellets and "Avian Science Super seeds"... trying very slowly to wean him more onto the pellets and fruits/veg, I want his diet to be 80% fruits/veg). For the most part, he will continually come to the top of the cage and fly (his wings are clipped so he goes downwards, I will be allowing them to grow) if we don't pick him up. This may also be because his day cage hasn't arrived yet (it's coming in tomorrow and I took the day off of work just so I can bring it in and try to put it together ASAP along with his play gym) and so he is currently in his bedtime cage so it's a bit more cramped because I have a few of his toys in there.

He seems to want to be with us fairly often, but if we have him on our finger too long (I didn't even think a minute was long but apparently to him it is) he will start gnawing. See pic, there's definitely a few more on each hand since I took that one. He's not biting to draw blood but he has broken the skin a couple times and a few are bruised. I want to say he feels like he has a better chance at having free reign over us so he's trying very hard to show us he's the boss. We've been using the technique the Parrot Place's couple were using on him and his siblings (gently moving the beak away and saying "gentle" or "no") but a few times he will chirp as if to say HOW DARE YOU and go right back to it with more fervor. I'm thinking if the moving the beak away doesn't show any signs of helping in a couple weeks, we will have to employ the "put him on the ground immediately and ignore him for a few minutes".

Today was a good stepping stone in that I have his "play area" (a small dog bed with a baby blanket on it and some chewables and a couple toys) set up and he actually entertained himself for a good hour and a half or so before trying to get to us. We have been trying to leave him alone to get him more used to the room and us before we tried to take him out or anything but he was insistent on being on us or in our immediate vicinity.

Also he also seems to prefer sleeping by hanging onto the cage with his toes and beak??

[Wolf]

Are we having fun yet?! Baby is!
So much for humor!
It sounds like you have a good, strong and healthy baby, and for the most part all is well. You will need to tell him "Gentle" or "No" or something of this nature and either remove your finger or sit him down next to you when he starts to bite too hard. He is probably not trying to be mean but his nips are meant for another bird and it is just not the same when it is human flesh instead, so he has to learn what is too hard. It is just a normal thing and they all go through this. He will in all likelihood climb right back up and start doing it again, it is going to be a repeat performance for a while, until he figures it out. You just need to be patient and understand that this is a natural behavior and he is not doing anything wrong as he is acting just like what he is, a parrot.
By leaving him alone you are making a mistake, so stop it now, before it does any more harm, he is young and in new surroundings and because of this he will be more forgiving. Parrots are flock animals and from hatching til he leaves the nest he is never alone and is rarely alone if at all til he/ she reaches adolescence.
Parrots do not recognize ( live in ) a dominance based flock hierarchy, in their world each and every member of the flock is basically equal. No one is either superior or inferior to the next. you will need to study this little guy because he will reserve the right to say no and he expects it to be honored just as you do. If you are to have the friend that you are hoping for, you need to extend to him the same respect that you want. You ask him to do something and he will choose to do it or not. Never try to force him to do anything, if you want him to do something you must gain his trust and cooperation. This must be given by him and cannot be forced or taken.
While this may be a normal sleep behavior for this bird, it could be that something in the room is scaring him. Start by facing the cage on the side that he is climbing on to sleep and look directly across from this spot and note everything there. Take him over to these things and show him these things and if one or more of them scares him he will let you know and you just remove the object(s) from the room.
He is climbing up to the top of the cage and trying to fly. This is normal behavior, he has to learn sometime and it is a shame that breeders insist on clipping their wings. This practice is entirely for the convenience of humans and does absolutely nothing good for the bird and in fact it appears to cause many more problems than it is intended to prevent.
I would also reconsider the diet that you mentioned wanting for your bird. Fruits should comprise about 30% of his diet according to The World Parrot Trust. Although pellets are recommended quite often they are recommended for the convenience of the owner and not the bird. The remainder of its diet should be vegetables and non oil type seeds and grains.

[revika]

Thank you for the reminder, he was more used to being with his sister and brother and didn't get as much 1v1 time with the couple as his brother did from what I remember.

And his cage is right next to me (since I'm on my computer very often when not at my part time job) so he's not actually alone. I'm still beside him, giving him attention and offering treats. So his cage is against the wall with his tree perch to the left and a desk for his food and such to the right with me at the entrance.

We are trying not to force him to do anything he seems aversive to (except for getting into the cage when we leave the room to get food so we bribe him). He steps up willingly enough, just proceeds to chew on us quite hard afterwards. Or he will practice flying and jump around on the ground, and follow us as if wanting up, then we will attempt to get him up and he will bite, haha.

Ah really? There is some clashing info from elsewhere, but I'm glad the info you got from WPT seems to match what the Parrot Place couple told me, so I guess I will aim for that. Thank you!

[Wolf]

Welcome to the world of parrots !! If you spend much time researching your parrot and its needs you will find that there is a tremendous amount of clashing information about them in just about every area that you can imagine. Despite the fact that people have been keeping parrots as pets and companions for hundreds of years, there has been relatively little research actually done on them. Luckily for us, this is beginning to change but it has come much too late for many species of parrots as is attested to by the fact that many are on the endangered list.
The reason I like this forum above the others is that the members do not always agree, but instead of stroking egos, the majority of the members will present their views and honestly care more about the birds than the humans who have the birds. It really is a site for the birds.
By the way, have you worked out your birds preferences for getting a bath/ shower, yet? They will need this at least once or twice a week, maybe more depending on species.

[revika]

So, so true.

He doesn't seem to enjoy dipping himself in a "tub". I brought him with me into the bathroom and had some running water on to see if he'd like that. He got really excited but didn't want to go under the stream so I trickled some of that water onto him instead for now. I'm fairly sure the couple had been giving them a bath rather than a "shower", so I'll have to see if he'll get into an actual bathtub or a shower with one of us!

[Pajarita]

GCCs ALWAYS want to be with you, especially the young ones that still feel a bit insecure about things so don't worry about that, it's perfectly normal.

Yes, please have the 80% fruits/veggies/leafy greens as his diet goal. They eat mainly fruits in the wild and a high protein diet (if you free-feed pellets, he will end up eating too many of them) is not good for them. If you can get him to eat that much produce (I've found that their predilection for fruits makes it easy to transition them), you won't need to feed pellets and can offer a small amount of a good quality seed mix for dinner instead. I don't think that pellets are the best option for parrots, I feed gloop instead (cooked whole grains, pulses and veggies) and all four of m GCCs adored it and ate it with real gusto.

Don't worry about him bathing. He will. Just try different bowls with cold water at the bottom of the cage and, one day soon, he will go in and take a bath on his own. I say 'try' because some birds like big and shallow, some like small and deep, some like big and deep, and there are all kinds of combinations because the material the bath is made of would, also, sometimes make a difference (I have a bird that would only bathe in a plastic bowl, round, small and deep even though he can only fit his feet and legs in it, leaving just a small space for him to dip his head in it).

Get him a sleeping hut and he will not hang from the bars of the cage (it's a sign of anxiety over security). They all love their little sleeping huts, makes them feel safe and cozy... One of my pairs insist on sleeping inside the same hut even though it's a small one for a single bird. I've put larger huts and a second one in their cage but they always end up sleeping in the same one, one bird practically on top of the other as there is no room to be side-by-side -LOL-

[revika]

My hands have taken quite a "beaking" haha. He wants very much to step up but chews so hard argh. Just gotta bear through it I guess. I also think it may be because his foot was pinched when he was younger (he still has full use of it but it seems unsteady and not nearly as strong as his other for the most part) and wants to be THOROUGHLY sure what he's about to step up on (aka my finger/hand/wrist) is stable and won't break? Either way I am running out of spots that don't have a cut or bruise haha.
And sadly enough the clicker I had is nowhere to be found so I'll have to find another. Or maybe click with my mouth? hmm.

I've been getting him broccoli, squash for breakfast and today I put in some carrot to see if he liked it. He LOVED the carrot. I'll be taking a trip to the store this week and grabbing some easy fruits as well.

Sounds good, I've put the bowl at the bottom, he may be curious enough to give it a try when I'm at work (my quaker was like that- she never wanted to bathe until she knew no one was looking). And yes I've ordered him a sleeping hut, because I know he had one at the Parrot Place. Though the whole "fibers getting stuck" made me worried so I opted for the Large Polly's Love Nest and see if he'd like that instead. Though last night he opted to sleep on the boing so that's something.

Lol that must've been something to see!