Akimi (and some GCC behaviour questions)

[Saerphe]

I am so glad that you are looking into a companion for Akimi. Taking into account what their natural lifestyle would be it is one of the single best things we can do for them.
I am somewhat worried about the conditions that the GCC male that you found are. It seems to me to be the way that a hoarder would keep them, even if that is not the intent of the party that has him. And it is so easy to fall into that type of trap when you care about them and you want to help all of them, that you end up not actually doing better for them.

That's kind of how I felt about the situation, and it's part of why I both really want to take him and why I'm a little bit hesitant to do so. I've never seen so many birds crammed together like that before. The owners said they clean every day though, and the birds seem to be in relatively good feather from what I could see, but you could hardly maneuver through all the cages, and there's definitely no way each bird is getting the individual attention they deserve. They even warned me before I went to meet the bird that while he's friendly and used to be tame, he's not really very tame anymore - which means he's not getting the human interaction he needs to maintain pet quality (though he was quite good while perched on my hand, if a little wary).

Part of the concern I have with both the GCC and the black-capped conure I've been looking at is that they're both ex-breeders (with separate owners). The BCC has raised successful clutches in the past, but the GCC didn't really work out as a breeder because he would imprison the hens in the nest box. I'm not sure if that's a result of them living in different conditions or not, and while I don't want to breed (especially cross-species as with the BCC), I am a bit concerned that the GCC's treatment of his previous mates might not make him a suitable companion for Akimi, especially during hormonal periods.

Also, the BCC is going to be much easier to tell apart from Akimi at a glance (though the GCC has a differently coloured band, so it wouldn't be that difficult to begin with). The BCC is much farther away though (a 4 or 5 hour trip, versus a 1 hour trip for the GCC), but is fairly close to my dad's side of the family so we can probably make that trip fairly easily if I can get the time off of work.

Both are willing to wait and hold the birds until I can get my life a bit more in order before I come to pick them up. The BCC's owners want me to pay the adoption fee in advance in order for them to hold him for me, but I don't think that's really all that unreasonable.

[Kakariki]

I love the pictures of Akimi. My GCC is Jasper. He will be 2 yrs Oct. 19th. I call him a variety of things which makes him 'bob' happily, my baby boy, which to him comes out BeeBo BeeBo ! also ''my little red britches' which he bobs furiously to. GCC are very special entities. Enormous personalities in a wee little body!

[Wolf]

Sometimes, I fail in keeping everything straight as far as what bird has what human and lives with what other birds and when I got to this post I realized that this had just occurred yet again when I replied to your post about Jasper.
It occurs to me that if Jasper is hitting puberty and is not best friends with Akimi already then his perception of her might change very soon. Many times two birds who are at different stages in their development might not have any use for each other but once they have both reached the state of adulthood that often changes. Just a thought.

[Kakariki]

Sorry to have confused you Wolf, Jasper and Akimi do not live together, I was just telling Saerphe that I like her pictures of Akimi and mentioning my GCC

[Pajarita]

I would not worry about not been able to tell the two GCCs apart, you will (they are never completely identical) and, actually, ex-breeders make the best companions to birds of opposite gender. I also would not worry about the previous abnormal breeding behavior as these things are always and without a doubt because of inadequate husbandry.

What you saw in that house is, without a doubt, a hoarding situation even when they clean every day. Poor, poor things...

I would not pay the rehoming fee in advance (a small good faith deposit, yes, the whole thing, no). But, if I were you, I would not start looking until I am ready and able to take in another bird... For one thing, it's futile, and for another, you would be depriving the chosen bird of the potential of an immediate good home -and that's not fair to the poor birdy (imagine the poor thing living in the hoarders home waiting for two more months to have a good home!).

[Saerphe]

Yeah, the benefit of being able to tell them apart easily is more for other people than for me. When my parents had chickens, they all looked very similar at a glance, but I was able to tell them apart pretty easily after a couple days of watching them. And when I went to meet the GCC, Jose, he definitely looked different to me.

Honestly, even if they did clean every day it was pretty bad. I noticed with the smaller birds especially, there were often multiple birds kept in cages only big enough for one. There was one regular cockatiel cage I saw that had four or five 'tiels in it.

The GCC and the Black-Capped conure are from different homes. Having talked to both owners, I'm not really sure which I feel more sorry for - The GCC may live in a hoarding situation (which is bad enough), but according to the BCC's owners, he "seems like a nice bird" and "doesn't cause any trouble", but they don't handle him at all and he doesn't come out of his cage. He doesn't have a mate anymore and he's apparently pretty lonely. I DEFINITELY don't want my ultimate decision to come down to a pity contest, because if I let that be the main factor in my decisions to get a new bird (or birds) then I'm going to end up being one of those bird hoarders some day. :\

Also, honestly (even though it doesn't matter in the long run), I love the look of black capped conures. Their throat markings and black cap are just so pretty.

I've been looking around recently because I expect to get a job within the next week or so, and will either be able to move out of my parents' house altogether, or at least move downstairs into the basement where the birds won't cause my dad any bother. My mom is a little intimidated by her, but she doesn't mind Akimi, and even seems to enjoy watching her and talking to her. Ever since Akimi bit Dad though, I haven't heard the end of it. She's only bit him once, and didn't even break the skin, and she doesn't actively try to go after him if he leaves her (and me - she's protective) alone, but I never hear the end of it.

I've also been finding it surprisingly difficult to find an adult male pyrrhura conure needing adoption. Most of them are babies coming from local amateur breeders, which I don't want to encourage by purchasing. So I've been keeping an eye on Kijiji to see how many might be available when I do get a job in a couple weeks. Neither the owners of the GCC or the BCC are in a serious rush to get rid of their birds, so it's fairly likely they'll still be there when I do look to adopt.

[Saerphe]

I realized that it's been a while since I last posted, and figured I'd leave an update.

Akimi's doing well here at my parents' house. Having her cage in my room can be a bit of a pain just because she can hear but not see when things are going on in the rest of the house, so she's been noisier than usual the last few weeks. I got a set of Michael's training perches and have started working on flight training. Akimi's pretty lazy when it comes to flying - she can, she just usually opts not to... so it's been a slow start. I have a feeling she's probably a bit out of shape as well. She's finally starting to flutter across short distances with more confidence, so hopefully she'll get to some real flying relatively soon.

She's mastered a few tricks as well. She knows 'Turn Around', 'Dance', and hangs upside down from my hand easily, especially considering how poor her grip and balance were when I first got her.

Also, I finally got a job! I start tomorrow at 7:00 AM (meaning I have to get up at 5:00 to get ready and commute... bleh) and will be in training for, like, the first month. I'm hoping once I get my first couple of paychecks, I'll be able to start getting things set up to get a buddy for Akimi in the next couple weeks.

Hangin' Out.



Sleepy Birb. <3

[Wolf]

As much as I would like to learn that Akimi has a companion or a mate, please take your time with this and find a bird that lets you know that it wants to be with you. Also you will want to get accustomed to your new schedule and work out the difficult task of how to be able to give Akimi sufficient time with you and don't forget that she also will have to adjust to the new schedule and may even get mad at you for changing her current schedule. Parrots are not overly fond of changes.

[Pajarita]

Congrats on your new job! You might want to consider putting her cage in a room where she can see and hear your parents because it wouldn't be fair to expect her to stay in your room all alone, all day long, waiting for you to come back from work (which will be when it's already dark).

[Saerphe]

Congrats on your new job! You might want to consider putting her cage in a room where she can see and hear your parents because it wouldn't be fair to expect her to stay in your room all alone, all day long, waiting for you to come back from work (which will be when it's already dark).

I'm no more happy with the current arrangement for her cage than Akimi is. My parents were the ones who made me move her cage into my room to begin with.