I think my bird is stressed??

[zeinasal]

Hi everyone!
I just joined this forum because I have a few concerns about my green cheeked conure!
She is turning 1 very soon, and we got her a few months ago in August. She's actually my moms bird and my mom LOVES her and shows her a LOT of affection. She cleans up after her twice a day (like the entire cage), she feeds her the normal pet store food for green cheek conures, but she also gives her fruits to eat as well twice a day - recommended by the vet! We take her out of the cage as soon as we get home, and we play with her, honestly, we treat her super well (I think anyways lol).
So about a month ago, she started biting like crazy and hasn't stopped. After doing some research, I came to a conclusion that it's normal. Then just last week, I noticed she's losing feathers - it used to be just small ones, but today she lost a rather long red one from the bottom of her tail (I had a minor heart attack when I came home to this). I did some more research and stumbled upon a website that had a "signs your bird is stressed" which included things like: losing feathers (yes), aggressive behavior (yes), fearful behaviour (she gets scared a lot whenever the phone rings, or simple things like this, so yes!) and I don't know but is my ird stressed? I'm starting to stress because of this! Please let me know what we can do to destress her. We also have 2 cats but they stay in the basement unless we're supervising, they haven't touched her or scared her, I doubt they're the reason for her stress.

Thank you in advance!
--> this is so cute haha

[LadySaphine]

Sounds like she's starting to become hormonal. I got Peanut when she was a year, and she was nippy to. Pajarita is the expert on this, though.

As for the feather loss, it's molting time. Peanut's losing her feathers too- she's got some really pretty flight feathers, such a gorgeous blue! However, if you notice any bare spots then she may be plucking. But she should be sprouting a lot of quills, which are new feathers.

It's natural to be fearful of loud noises. Peanut will squawk when the phone rings. If she is scared of hands, that is something you might want to train her out of. Find out her favorite treat and feed it to her when she's being a good girl.

Hope I helped a bit.

[pennyandrocky]

penny is molting too but the nippy stage is normal for try not to have a reaction my penny has been known to draw blood on children he knows are loud. he has stopped since I finally got the kids to stop screeching when he lands on their shoulder instead they calmly walk over to me or my son to get him off now it's not as much fun for him to bite them.

[zeinasal]

Sounds like she's starting to become hormonal. I got Peanut when she was a year, and she was nippy to. Pajarita is the expert on this, though.

As for the feather loss, it's molting time. Peanut's losing her feathers too- she's got some really pretty flight feathers, such a gorgeous blue! However, if you notice any bare spots then she may be plucking. But she should be sprouting a lot of quills, which are new feathers.

It's natural to be fearful of loud noises. Peanut will squawk when the phone rings. If she is scared of hands, that is something you might want to train her out of. Find out her favorite treat and feed it to her when she's being a good girl.

Hope I helped a bit.

yes you did help! im honestly SO relieved, this is the first time we have a bird and we're terrified of doing something wrong!
thank you SO much

[zeinasal]

penny is molting too but the nippy stage is normal for try not to have a reaction my penny has been known to draw blood on children he knows are loud. he has stopped since I finally got the kids to stop screeching when he lands on their shoulder instead they calmly walk over to me or my son to get him off now it's not as much fun for him to bite them.

ahh yes I was like that the first day we got her, now I LOVE having her on me she tickles me haha
thanks for your response!

[KimberlyAnn]

My Green Cheek Conure is molting now too. She always gets nippy when she's molting. This is her second molt. It's uncomfortable! They get irritable. That's what my vet said and she was so right!

Watch for new feathers to appear. I bet it's just a normal molt...it happens twice a year I've been told. Spring and fall. Fun times!

[LadySaphine]

Yeah, today Peanut bit me really hard. Hurt my feelings and in that few minutes of betrayal she got sent back into her cage a bit roughly. But it seemed to be out of the blue- one minute I'm stoking her head and the next she gives me the hardest bite I've ever received! I think I migh've hurt a quill or something.

And be a bit careful around those quills- some are probably blood feathers, which mean if they're broken, they bleed. I'd be a bit cautious before I preen any quills (which I do for Peanut- she can't reach the ones on the back of her neck.)

[Pajarita]

First of all, November is not the time to molt. Even cockatoos and grays, which start their molt later than other species, have finished by now. Secondly, although molt is a bit uncomfortable, they don't normally bite because of it. Molt is a normal, once a year occurrence for parrots (not twice, that only happens to pet parrots because of their unnatural life in captivity and it's not two full molts, it's a full one at the end of the summer and a partial one around January when their bodies notice the days are getting longer after the winter solstice) so it stands to reason that it cannot be 'THAT' bad (nature doesn't work that way).

It's possible your bird is going through 'puberty' and yes, they do act up when this happens but I've taken in four GCCs, all four because of aggression issues, but the birds were not really aggressive, they bit because they were despondent with their owners due to what they regarded as abandonment. Their owners all worked full time and GCCs do NOT like to be left by themselves all day long. There might be a few exceptions that resign themselves to a lonely life but most of them don't. All these birdies want is to be on your shoulder, with their little body stuck to your neck, scoot down the neck of your blouse and cuddle against your chest or go to sleep under your hair. They literally CRAVE physical contact. It's the way they are. These four stopped biting after a couple of weeks and became the sweetest things ever but I can't spend all my days with one single parrot (I have a number of them) so I got a male and female (Boca and Pichu) to bond to each other, another female (Codee) bonded to a handicapped Peach Front male (Pablo) and the fourth one (Leo) was given to a couple who stays at home all day long (she is in a wheelchair and he is an actor so he only works at night). He adores them and spends all his time on them from dawn to dusk.

[LadySaphine]

IAll these birdies want is to be on your shoulder, with their little body stuck to your neck, scoot down the neck of your blouse and cuddle against your chest or go to sleep under your hair. They literally CRAVE physical contact.

Yes, this is SO true with Peanut. She'd be the happiest bird in the world just to snuggle in my hair!