JUST GOT A BABY GCC HELP

[ntspamer]

I just got a baby GCC and he's enclosed in an 18w x 13l x 21h, I just got him 3 days ago and I've become very stressed to the point where I haven't slept for the first 2 days. I'm very concerned about his health and my moms health. We have younger children at our house and my main concern is that he'll get very loud and disturb the children. Right now he's fairly quiet he makes some peeps here and there and an occasional loud sound, but he doesn't do it often. He's very hand tame he can be grabbed on his back but not held. I'm worried that after a while he'll become very loud and disturb the children when they sleep and the neighbors (I live in an apartment). My other concern is that someday he'll get disobeidient, he knows how to step up and will step up when he wants to but not on command. Also is putting it in the living room okay, the children can get very loud, I also told my parents about not using nonstick Teflon pans. I'm going to school, soon and I don't want the bird to be too dependent, I think his cage might be too small. I need as much info as possible pls XC. I got myself into this so there's no backing down.

[ntspamer]

Also wanted to say that the children are VERY LOUD is this okay will this make them louder?

[Pajarita]

Yes, loud children will make a bird to scream louder. All parrots are highly social species which live in large flocks made up of their immediate and extended family and they all have loud 'voices' because they need to be heard over all the other birds so when you put, say, loud music on, they will scream louder so as to be heard over it - and it's the same thing with children, if they scream, the bird will scream, too.

Now, I don't know how old your baby bird is but, if it's younger than 6 months, you should be feeding it soft food. I also don't know what you mean by 'enclosed', are you referring to a cage? Because if we are talking about a tiny baby and the 'enclosure' is something like a small animal habitat, it should be OK for now as nests are small but if that is the size of the cage, you are going to need to buy a MUCH larger one. Rule of thumb is 5 times the bird's height (from head to tip of tail) for the height of the cage, 3 times their wingspan (the distance between one tip of a completely open wing to the other tip of the other wing) for the width and another 3 times their wingspan for the depth.

As to the bird becoming independent... well, I am afraid that this is not going to happen with a GCC. They are extremely needy little birds which need much more out-of-cage as well as one-on-one time than any other species except for the cockatoos.

But as far as the screams go, that should be a non-issue as long as he is getting the right food, a solar light schedule and enough attention because they only scream when they are unhappy. I now have one GCC, a female named Codee, but I had four of them altogether (the other three were rehomed -the two healthy male and female which had bonded with each other here to one home and the other, a handicapped male, to a wonderful couple with no children who adore him- and I still keep in touch with their owners) and none of them screamed after a few weeks with me. You also hardly hear a peep out of Codee all day long although, come dusk, you can hear her screaming for all she is worth asking for her dinner

[ntspamer]

Thank you so much, I needed that advice. I was wondering if I will be able to meet its need because I'll be going to school soon. I can give a minimum of 2 hours a day after school is that enough, and how many times should I give soft foods a week?

[Pajarita]

Well, I give all my parrots a type of soft food (gloop) as I don't feed pellets so, for mine, it's everyday. GCCs are mostly fruit eaters in the wild so free-feeding the high source of protein (seeds, pellets, nutriberries, avicakes, etc) is never a good idea with them as they can get aggressive because of it, that's why I feed all my parrots gloop and produce for breakfast and all day picking and a good quality seed mix for dinner. As to the two hours... well, if the bird is going to be alone all day long and you are going to be coming home from school mid-afternoon, I am afraid that it won't get enough out-of-cage time because they need more than other species and the minimum for the 'other ones' is 4 hour of out-of-cage (so the bird can explore and fly) and 2 of one-on-one. In my personal experience, GCCs can be very good fliers but seldom like to leave their human's shoulders so an effort must be made to exercise them properly. On top of that, you need to spend, as a bare minimum, 3 hours with the bird ON you (they love, love, love cuddling next to our neck or burrowing inside your top to take a nap). I spend a minimum of two hours with mine on me but she has a mate so she is never alone. And, what I do is put her on my shoulder and just go around doing my chores - she climbs down and hangs on to my chest when I bend over to clean something, moves back to my shoulder, goes around the back of my neck to reach the other side, goes down on my arm all the way down to my hand to take a bath under the faucet (like when I am washing dishes), that kind of thing (I am her human playground ), and every now and then, she would look up and touching me with her beak, make a kissy noise and, if I tell her "I love you!", she kisses me too!

[ntspamer]

Thank you soooo much, really glad you replied XD. I'ts been stressful,but my green cheek seems like its doing fine, its been getting plenty of exercise and fruits. He has a weird thing for being on of his cage tho and he doesnt like getting down.

[Pajarita]

Doesn't he fly to your shoulders or head or is he clipped?

[ntspamer]

He is clipped, I can get him to step up from pretty much anywhere else, but the top of the cage. He always flies to the top of the cage if im near by. And hes wings are clipped.

[Wolf]

Most of the time that you step him up from the top of his cage, what do you do with him?

[Bird woman]

Your baby looks to his cage as the safety zone. As time passes and he gets used to his surroundings and a little encouragement from you he will venture out of this safety zone. Great time to start teaching boundaries. Also loud households can be a little stressful for most birds but they to can learn to get used to it and enjoy all the goings on. Make sure there are plenty of toys , especially puzzle toys to keep him occupied when your not there.where is his cage placement? BW