Starting out with my new Conure

[Taytortots]

Hey everybody,
I have some questions regarding my new Green Cheek Conure. Her name is Mags and so far she has been fairly sweet but there are some things i'm concerned about. This is most likely because I'm a new parrot owner and am still unsure. I realize these questions were probably asked before so bear with me as a new member on the forums
Some background: I got her only yesterday. She was not hand fed as a baby. This wasn't a conscious decision, in fact, we were there looking at another Conure who was hand fed so it would be more socialized, but this little girl caught my heart by the way she was behaving in cage, so cute! She's still only 7 months old.
My first concern is that she hasn't made a single sound since she's been home? When I was doing my research before buying I heard that these little guys could be quite loud, but we haven't even heard one little chirp. Is this normal because she is still getting used to me?
The second thing is that she is quite comfortable being pet, even around the beak, on her belly and her back but she seems to not like being held. Could this also be because she is new to the household?
Thirdly (I know, lots of questions) She doesn't seem to be eating or drinking that much. Once I put the blanket over her cage last night before I went to bed I heard some clicking noises that sounded like a beak biting, but that was it.
And lastly (sorry!) where should I be starting with her training? I definitely want to get her socialized and form a bond. I realize this takes time. Should I wait a little while longer to start training?
Again, i'm sorry for all the questions! I'm just a new paranoid mom I guess xD Thanks in advance.

[Eurycerus]

Congratulations on your new parrot buddy! :]

My first concern is that she hasn't made a single sound since she's been home? When I was doing my research before buying I heard that these little guys could be quite loud, but we haven't even heard one little chirp. Is this normal because she is still getting used to me?

Your new friend is nervous and getting a feel for the place. Let her have her space and she will calm down and start peeping and chattering merrily with the, hopefully, occasional scream. You will undoubtedly experience the full power of your buddy's voice at some point! Be patient and all parrots have different personalities too.

The second thing is that she is quite comfortable being pet, even around the beak, on her belly and her back but she seems to not like being held. Could this also be because she is new to the household?

My parrot does not like to be held. It's a parrot personality thing. Some parrots love it and others don't. Be careful about too much touching in places that aren't the head and beak. It is very stimulating sexually and can cause serious hormones that are both difficult to live with and can actually cause medical problems. The trust between Nika and I has taken a while, on both ends, so I rarely patted her in any place except the head till recently and I still have had hormonal problems. Then again your conure is a baby, but it's best to get in the habit of not touching parrots inappropriately often.

Thirdly (I know, lots of questions) She doesn't seem to be eating or drinking that much. Once I put the blanket over her cage last night before I went to bed I heard some clicking noises that sounded like a beak biting, but that was it.

You could try eating vegetables and fruit (parrot safe of course) in front of her or pretend to eat her food and if she takes an interest share with her! :] She's settling in. The beak grinding and clicking is normal parrot behavior. They grind when content or on their way to napping/sleeping.

And lastly (sorry!) where should I be starting with her training? I definitely want to get her socialized and form a bond. I realize this takes time. Should I wait a little while longer to start training?
Again, i'm sorry for all the questions! I'm just a new paranoid mom I guess xD Thanks in advance.

I would wait a bit to just let her settle in. Interact in a friendly way and provide small treats just for her coming over and saying hi. For me I had to start training within a week because of some behavioral problems, but you have a baby so for now you're probably in luck.

[Polarn]

I think its fairly common for birds to be quiet in new places and I think especially common with those not to well socialized yet as they tend to be cautious and not really wanting to draw attention to them until they know it's safe.

Anyways with the training I kind of agree and disagree with Eurycerus on this. I know you hear quite often to not train baby birds. But I think it depends on how you do it, putting a baby bird on a training diet and go all hard core may not be the best way to go (especially the diet thing, big no no). But other than that young birds learns extremely quick and is often quite eager to train, I mean the training is basically how we play with our birds, just as you would throw a ball for a puppy to get. I might be off but as far as I know there isnt really any drawbacks on starting training quite early, and a 7month old isnt really a baby any more is it? I mean its not an adult bird but it should be big enough to handle some training (if interested in it). Anyways for a concrete answer to where to start, I'd start with targettraining/touchtraining both in a search will provide you with information on how todo this. And michael has an article about it on this site too. Well clickerconditioning if youre gonna use a clicker is where I'd start but thats not even a full trainingsession if your bird does take treats from you. But seeing how you can pet it I suspect it has no problem taking a treat from between your fingers.

Oh another thing when it comes to you teaching stepping up or anything else for that matter, try to respect your birds boundaries, if it ever shows you it doesnt want to step up, do not force it. Ask for permission rather than demand kind of. (just mentioning this since it seems as if your starting out fresh and demanding behaviors rather than requesting quite often ends up in more biting and discomfort for your bird)

[Eurycerus]

Anyways with the training I kind of agree and disagree with Eurycerus on this. I know you hear quite often to not train baby birds.

I am referring to the fact that it's a new parrot to the household, not that it's a young parrot. You don't want to overdo it or make it a negative experience. Not all parrots are gregarious, outgoing, and fearless. I don't know this parrot but if she's completely silent he's still adjusting and you don't want to push it. It's based on the parrot. I think the targeting/treat giving helped my aggressive parrot and i because it would distract her when she was thinking about biting me. Also "wait a bit" doesn't mean ages, it just means not today, the second day you have your parrot.

[Taytortots]

We're definitely hoping to do positive reinforcement and looking to do things on Mags terms. We don't want to overload her.
So I shouldn't be petting her on her belly? I read online (I did some research before buying) that some like to lay on their back and be pet on their chest and belly. She seems to like this, but if I shouldn't be doing it, I wont.
Thanks for the heads up.
I'm mostly starting from the beginning, I had parrots as a child but I did not take part in the training obviously. Thanks for all your help!

[Polarn]

I apologize for misunderstanding you then. And yeah I agree with waiting a bit however I forgot to say that you should not stress it but as far of an answer to the question where to start a simple wait with it seemed a little simple. Anyways same goes for petting the bird btw, unless it clearly shows you that it wants to be petted I wouldn't do it. And then if it clearly shows you it would like you to pet it, I'd say it's mos likely omftible enough with you to initiate some training.

Everything kind of goes hand in hand and comes back in a loop, petting a bird who doesn't really like to be petted will most likely if not before bite back at the step up training hence getting to know a birds body language does help you quite a lot.

And again sorry for overlooking some parts of the original post or leaving out parts that should have been in mine. By since I kind of, since I didn't read properly, assumed your bird was begging for scratches and not just accepting them. I considered it time to innitiate some target training. But as with any kind of animal training make sure to keep the training a positive experience. Wich means if the bird is scared it won't be, if your stressed out or feeling down, it won't be.

As for petting on the belly, most parrots (not most, but most who enjoys this) will become more hormonal and end up frustrated when petted on the body, kind of like a 14year old boy locked into the ladies locker but with his hands tied. Couse you cant really follow up on the promise you make by stroking him in those ways.

[Eurycerus]

As for petting on the belly, most parrots (not most, but most who enjoys this) will become more hormonal and end up frustrated when petted on the body, kind of like a 14year old boy locked into the ladies locker but with his hands tied. Couse you cant really follow up on the promise you make by stroking him in those ways.

Haha that's a funny way of looking at it.

You just need to be careful and pet sensitive areas in moderation. There are more than one parrot (two african greys I believe actually) that have ended up at the parrot rescue near me with serious medical conditions (cloacal prolapse meaning thousands of dollars in vet bills) due to the ignorance and well intentioned behaviors of their owners. This doesn't make their owners bad owners they just didn't know. :] That was all I was getting at. You can pat her just keep in mind that when she sexually matures that you need to watch her behavior and be careful to not confuse your feathered friend.

It sounds like you're asking all the right questions. You and Mags are going to do well!

[Taytortots]

Alright thanks.
He does seem to want us to pet him. He'll bow his head under out hands etc, so it's not forced.

[Polarn]

thats great, and (not to be pounding to hard on the same thing but...) the head is fine to scratch as much as she likes . And I'd say if she does come and beg for a scratch then I'd suggest you start reading up so that you know exactly what todo (what you want todo) once you decide you want to start training.

Michael has a post http://www.theparrotforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=227
This article/post contains a lot of good information for you when starting out. I'd say (assuming you will use a clicker, not everyone does) one important thing to notice (that is usually not retained when first looking into training) is the timing on when you click (or use a verbal bridge). But basically the click lets the bird knows when it did something right and if you click too late then your shaping an additional behavior, lets say the bird touched the targetstick and then turned the head to the right, if you have to drop the targetstick to grab the clicker, then clicks and rewards... the head turned to the right is what your getting pretty much. (overexadurated example, but hey, might get you to remember properly timed clicks )

[Taytortots]

Feel totally free to drive a point in. That's why I'm here, to learn. So thank you for the help.
She seems to be coming out of her shell a bit. She's making more noise but not too much. Sometimes when I whistle she'll make a noise back at me and at night before bed she seems to chatter. An additional note with this is that she seems to be trying to make more noise? I sing to her a lot and she acts like she likes it, coming closer, seeming very curious. She also moves her beak and closes her eyes, almost like she's trying to make noise? But things only come out some of the time. Is she trying to sing along or something? Is this normal for younger parrots? (I know, new mom syndrome or something xD)
She's also eating now, and she seems to love apples. She has also made a little game out of eating the apples when on top of her cage. She dropped it through the cage once and realized that I picked it up for her every time, so now she wont even take a bite and drop it accidentally, she does it on purpose for me to hand it to her and drop it again.
Thanks again everyone for your advice. We seem to be bonding a little now and I'm so excited. Singing and talking to her was what she really seemed to like and got her more comfortable, and I'm happy she's started adjusting to her new home.
-Oh- Also, I was quite scared that because she wasn't hand fed as a baby that she wouldn't like to socialize, but she is doing pretty well, already coming to us for a scratch etc (We have not pushed anything, we want her to feel comfortable), so one of my main concerns is not worrying me too much anymore.