Hi everyone. Meet Sunny

[hlasdf]

She's a 2 month old pineapple GCC and has been with us for 3 days now and is adjusting quite well. It seems like she's the polar opposite of Daisy so I had to readjust myself.
She gladly went from a mostly seed diet to a pelleted diet on the first day and is fond of occasional head scratches, though she doesn't seem like much of a cuddler, which is fine. So far I've taught her to step up and target though she's having trouble with waving and spinning. She was fidgety on the first day and I decided to slow things down and let her out only if she wanted to. Now, she usually looks forward to coming outside and playing on top of her cage or napping on my laptop.

But there are a few things that worry me. On the second day, I noticed she was "preening" her tail feathers like I saw Daisy do to her flight feather which was eventually chewed off. I watched Sunny more carefully and realized she was chewing on them and that they were damaged. There's also an almost-bald spot on her rump save for a single poofy looking white feather that she always goes back to preen. It doesn't look like a down feather though, which I find strange. She doesn't seem like an extreme feather picker/chewer but I'm afraid she might become one later on. Another thing that I'm curious about is that when I say "Hello!" she replies with a little growl/chirp noise in my same tone. But after we go back and forth saying hello and chirping a few times, she suddenly paces, her feathers go down, seems to panic, and tries to fly to her cage like she's become afraid of the word after hearing it a

http://imgur.com/8EF7fac

http://imgur.com/HbiCSJG

http://imgur.com/TRfzHbE

http://imgur.com/hLBhUvt

http://imgur.com/qP0Xfvp

http://imgur.com/FbWKZpk

http://imgur.com/bJrDfP7

http://imgur.com/cnlSNbA


If you look closely, you can see two minor(I hope) deformities of hers. Her left front-right toe's nail comes out from the top instead of the bottom, and her beak has two strange small bulges that leave a small gap in her mouth even when closed.

There's a chance he may be returned and we may come back with another parrot. The lady said we can try bringing home different birds to see which one we feel best with.

[mrbowlerhat]

Aw, she's GORGEOUS! The spot with the white feather is the location of her preen gland, so nothing to worry about.

[Pajarita]

My dear, are your parents OK with taking birds to the vet now? Because replacing a dead bird with another one while not committing to proper medical care is not the way to go... And the cage is still not good for such a small bird.

[cml]

Sunny is a very beautiful parrot! Congratulations .

The bar spacing shouldnt be too bad now though should it, surely a conure is bigger than a parrolet?
I cant judge if its ok from the pictures though, someone who owns conures would be better in that regard.

Pajarita brings up a valid point, vet care is important. I am not going to tell you what is right or wrong, but I am gonna suggest that you have a discussion with your parents, where you sit down and go through what needs to be done in certain situations, so you are sure they are onboard.

The "lets wait a few days attitude isnt going to work", make sure they understand that. I know you do .

Again congratulations on your new baby =)!

[hlasdf]

Yes, my parents agreed to take him to the vet if he gets sick or injured.

[Cockatielsongs]

Sunny is gorgeous. Congrats! You're such an amazing photographer!

[Pajarita]

CML, she had a lovebird before but a GCC is the same size as a cockatiel so the bar spacing in that cage is way too large PLUS GCCs are very active little birds which need an extra large cage. Please have your parents get the new bird an appropriate cage for it. Lovebirds don't move much compared to GCCs so they need much bigger cages with several levels and lots of toys.

[marie83]

Aww congrats on your new adorable baby. Glad your parents have come round to the idea that birds need urgent attention when unwell.

I have to agree with Pajarita that the cage is still not suitable as anything more than a temporary or travel cage for pretty much any species. As I said on another post that if it was sold to you as being a suitable "living" cage then I would get a refund on the basis that it is not fit for purpose, whatever country your in there should be some sort of legislation in place regarding the sale of goods. I do hope you see we are offering constructive criticism to help you and your bird rather than just pulling to bits everything you do for the hell of it.

Your going to have a lot of fun with your conure, they have enormous personalities

[paper_lantern]

Welcome to the wonderful world of GCC ownership, you will have your hands full, Green Cheeks have a "big bird" personality for sure . The feather you talk about is a preening gland, conures have a white feather type of thing over it, no need to worry.

[hlasdf]

UPDATE: As I stated as a possibility, I did switch Sunny with another PGCC. It wasn't because she was mean or anything! She was okay with being around humans and adjusted well, but we were looking for a parrot that was more interactive whereas Sunny was more independent and preferred to play alone. At first we were going to switch her with a linnie, but we met a very sweet PGCC who absolutely loved head scratches and being held sandwiched between two hands. We also named him Sunny and he seems a bit brighter colored than Sunny #1. I think Sunny #1 may have actually been a cinnamon and not a PGCC.

So far, Sunny(the current one) has also adjusted well, but he doesn't play with toys or take the paths I make with the perches to get to higher ground(he just climbs along the walls). I did target training with him since his first day and he grasps the idea of it but lacks motivation most of the time. Hopefully with more training he'll be able to learn more and look forward to it.

A big issue, however, is his screaming. If I put him in his cage and leave for even just a few seconds, he screams! They're almost as loud as the bigger conures. I'll be working with that and only let him out when he's quiet, but I recall that didn't work too well with Daisy.

As for the cage, I called the store to ask if I could return it, but they said no because it was already used. Understandable, I suppose. So unfortunately, we'll have to stick with the current cage for now. I definitely plan on getting a bigger one in the future. Remind me to come to you guys before I make any parrot-related decisions