Green Cheek Conure Hormone Questions

[faeclarinet]

Hello, I am looking into adopting a Green Cheek Conure this summer and have read about how they can become a little aggressive during puberty. I'm wondering what age puberty normally hits. From what I've found this can be between 1 and 2 years? I'm also wondering if they stop being grumpy after puberty is over or if they are just grumpy from then on out.. haha

One reason I ask is it is hard for me to find adoptable GCCs in my state and the couple I have found are both around age 1. I would prefer to adopt one that is past puberty if at all possible.

Also, one last question, how hard is it to tame an adopted bird that has not been handled much for a while?

[Wolf]

OK, lets address the easiest question first. This species normally goes through puberty between the ages of 1 and 2 years of age. This is as variable as it is due to genetic factor same as with us, and is also affected by the food that they eat and the quality of light they receive and it seems to me that the female goes through puberty sooner than the male on an average. Puberty does not last a lifetime and the hormones subside just as they do in humans. The bird will continue to get hormonal every year as breeding season approaches and subside after the end of the season. Puberty is a difficult time whether you are a dog or a cat or a human or a bird and it does bring some lasting changes if you are a bird. At this time the bird releases their bonding with their parent birds or in the case of being in captivity with the figure whom it bonded as its adopted parent. This happens so that it can bond with a mate and in captivity the bird may reestablish its bond with the adopted parent if their in no other suitable person for it to bond to, but their are no guarantees with this either way. This is the primary reason, I believe for the huge number of birds in bird rescues. The bond that everyone is looking for with their bird only occurs after puberty although most people are not made aware of this fact. It is my opinion that not only should breeders not be allowed to sell a bird that is not fully weaned, but that they should not sell a bird until the bird has achieved puberty. But that is me and things are not done this way.
Finding a suitable bird can be difficult, depending on what you are looking for, I drove from the northwestern corner of NC up to NJ to pick up a bird that I wanted to give a home to.
There is no way that I can adequately answer your last question as there are just too many variables involved. First there is the matter of how much experience you do or do not have, then there is the matter of your personality and the birds personality. diet and light type and quality also play a role in this, which takes a lot of time both to explain and understand and we still don't know all of the effects of these last two things. Some birds will respond to you very quickly and others the going can be slow and rocky. And there is not much to go on as to how it will go until you try. In the matter of choosing the older bird, I would say choose the species that you want and then let the bird pick you and not the other way as that puts the odds in your favor.

[Pajarita]

Yep, what Wolf said so just a couple of things to add. Hormones are not a problem as long as you keep them to a strict solar schedule which you cannot really do if you work full time. And that's also another reason why so many birds are rehomed. Not because of the natural hormonal period during the breeding season but because people keep them producing sexual hormones all year round and the poor things end up sexually frustrated and in constant pain.

A hand-fed bird is already tame because it has imprinted to humans at the critical stage in their infancy. A bird that has not been handled will revert to been mild-mannered and affectionate easily as long as there are no other issues (hormones, long-term neglect, abuse) and it's handled properly.