Do green cheek conures make good loving and training pets, ?

[Acka]

I am just thinking about purchasing a green cheek in may but I would like a bit of information on them firs, thanks.

[marie83]

theres a recent post here about green cheeks which may help you viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7568

[Michael]

Do green cheek conures make good loving and training pets, ?

No. Just my four half pennies.

[marie83]

Out of interest what are your reasons for saying no Michael?

[Michael]

From my limited experience with them I have found them to be quite erratic and bitey. Also from discussions of many many members here with GCC, it seems that they are more difficult than expected. I don't like their high pitched shrieks or their nerve pinching bites. Some people love em and that's totally fine. But from all I've seen/heard I would never get one.

This does not mean you shouldn't consider one but you do need to research all the troubles people have with them and consider if they are acceptable to you.

[marie83]

fair comments, they are pretty changable with their moods and nippy, we certainly wasn't expecting how nippy even though we were warned. Before we got Ollie I just assumed it was people didn't train them properly with them being smaller birds. I can see now I was wrong, that said I did spend the time on training from the first bite and now Ollie is well behaved in that he rarely bites but we do have to keep a close eye on his body language. I'm pretty glad his little beak can't do much damage tbh.
I disagree with the high pitched shrieks, I dont find mine to be high pitched at all but everyone has different tolerance levels, for me its the sun conure and caiques that I dont feel I could live with but that just comes from the birds that I have heard.

As much as I love Ollie I don't think I would have another one, never say never though.

[Acka]

Thanks guys, I will start reaserching them, (:

[Andromeda]

As Marie mentioned, "Green Cheek Conure questions" is a good place to start.

My GCC doesn't make any high-pitched noises. He has a "conure scream" that is rather loud but he doesn't do it very often.

He was very bitey when we first adopted him (he was 2) but now he rarely bites.

I wouldn't call him erratic. I can usually predict when he's going to bite based on his body language. I also know that he tends to bite when he's over-excited.

He is nippy, but a nip is just that: a small pinch that doesn't break the skin. He is a strong-willed and opinionated animal to be sure, and he nips me sometimes to let me know he's unhappy, doesn't want to do what he's being told to do, etc.

That being said, I think my GCC is very loving. He wants to spend most of his time cuddling my ear/neck/arm/hand or getting a head scratch. He does a hilariously adorable dance whenever he's excited, and he gets excited whenever he sees me or my husband in the morning, when we come home, etc. Even if I only leave the room for, say, 20 minutes, he'll do his little dance when he sees me enter the room again.

He reminds me of a puppy: he's adorable, he loves attention and human interaction, he's full of energy and loves to play, but he's also needy and demanding and will nip when he's over-excited. Also, just like a puppy, you have to keep a constant eye on him to make sure he's not getting into something he shouldn't be.

As far as training goes, I never tried to train mine until a week ago and on day 2 he could target a stick and on day 5 he could turn in a circle on the verbal command "circle" (with no hand cue). I'm working on "wave" now. He loves his little training sessions. Today when I would say "cirlce" he would do a circle and then wag his tail immediately afterward when he heard the clicker (but before he got a treat). He must have wagged his tail 15 or 20 times in the span of a few minutes.

Michael is right in that you need to research their personality traits and potential behavioral issues before you will know if it's the right bird for you. As an owner of a GCC, my opinion is different than Michael's (although I understand why he has the opinion that he has). Yes, I think that GCCs can make good, loving, trained pets. BUT! Do your research first. The key word is "can"...

[Cage Cleaner]

Gl

[Naurthon]

Nikko was my first bird, and while he's a Black Cap Conure, not a GCC, they're very similar.

He did bite a good deal when I first got him. He often did break the skin, but about as much as a paper cut does. That has declined over time. He can still be nippy, but he doesn't bite any more.

As for training, he's honestly the easiest of my birds to train. Here's a video of him running through several tricks. In each case, it took him less than 10 minutes to learn the trick. He was about 10 months old when this video was taken, and I'd had him less than a month at that point. Dante, by comparison, seems always to be trying to find a way to manipulate me into giving him a treat without him having to actually work for it, and Maxwell frankly can't be bothered to do anything more than a simple target.



Nikko is quite loving and can be very cuddly. He isn't fond of having his head scratched, though, and lets me know it if I do something he doesn't like.

As for noise, he's a conure, so there is screaming. It isn't terribly often, though, and I've worked with him to get him to say "I love you" rather than screaming when he wants attention. I've lived in three different apartments with him and asked neighbors at each of them and none of them said they could hear him. Honestly, since the only time he makes any noise at all is during daylight hours, I was never ESPECIALLY concerned about it. As long as it isn't constant, some noises during the daytime are just part of apartment living.

BCCs and GCCs are big parrots in little bodies. I've never regretted getting him, and never wished I'd had a "starter" parrot first. He's a fine companion. My only advice to someone considering one is that they be prepared for some occasional LOUD screaming (how can 72g of bird make THAT MUCH NOISE???) and understand that they can be nippy, especially while your relationship develops.