Hello from Regina, Canada!

[Megnutt]

Hello everyone!

My name is Meghan and my boyfriend and I are the proud new Parronts of a 3 month old Pearly Conure named Jade! She is the sweetest!

We just got her yesterday, so she is still getting used to us, but she is showing a lot of positive signs (eating/drinking, playing with toys and tolerating people by her cage) so I am very optimistic!

She is still scared of my hand so we are working on training and her getting used to me. I've read about the target training and plan to start that.

Here are some pictures!


Her in the Birdie Box the breeder supplied for the car ride home. She was so good!


And here she is safe in her new cage the next day!

In the second picture she is puffed up, which is adorable, but I read somewhere that it might mean she is cold? She does this when I talk sweet to her and she relaxes, so I thought it was a sign of contempt, but I just want to make sure that is what it is and not that she is cold. She does not shiver.

I'm excited to post more about Jade in the future and explore the community more!

[Lady]

Hi Meghan,
Congratulations on your new baby! Her pictures are great. She is a real cutie. I am new to the forum and will leave the questions you posed to the experts~ Nice to met you and looking forward to reading about Jade and your progress.

[Wolf]

Sounds to me as if she is happy and content at this time. I would not get concerned about training just yet, take the time to enjoy each others company and get to know each other. At this early stage in your relationship becoming friends and earning her trust if far more important than training, which there is plenty of time for later on.

[Megnutt]

Thank you for the welcomes!

I promise to take it slow for the first while, I don't want to push her too hard! It's so difficult to resist her with that adorable face!

[Wolf]

You don't have to resist either, hold her, cuddle and love her. Let her wander about a bit and just be her buddy.

[Megnutt]

Getting her out of the cage so that she can wander is the tough part. The breeder said that you need to forcefully remove them from the cage in the beginning but that just frightened her so much she just kept trying to fly back to her cage and nipped hard when I tried to get her to step up. So now I'm trying to get her used to my hand (which she doesnt mind too much still, even after the ordeal yesterday) so that I can take her out with step-up instead of chasing her around. It just doesn't feel right, even if the breeder suggested it.

[Wolf]

No! No! And again No! You do not want or need to force her or chase her around those actions do nothing productive and destroy any trust that you may have been given. So given the situation as it stands, Here is how I would proceed, you may modify it some to fit your circumstances but, try to keep close to it.
When you enter the space that Jade and her cage occupy pause for a minute and watch her, kind of with a sideways glance, not straight on like a predator would do. Begin to slowly approach her cage, talking to her in a calm tone and as soon as she begins to move about especially away from you, stop your approach and just talk to her. This part needs to be done every time you go in to visit her. Also you should allow 15 minutes 2 or 3 times each day for this. It doesn't matter what you say but include words of praise for her telling her what a great little bird she is. When your 15 minutes are up say good bye and leave.
After a few times or even a few days , no rush, you will be at the front of the cage and will be able to offer her treats, just 2 or 3 will be enough. You need something such as thin slices of apple, carrot, or millet so that it can be offered through the cage bars. If she takes them great and you go to next step, if she doesn't take them be sure to leave them for her. Continue as before with your talks except that now you can go right up to the cage and once she accepts the treats from you through the bars you can open the cage and talk to her with an open door and offer her the treats. The goal is for Jade to take the treats from your fingers and when she does that , put your fingers in the door of the cage and if she still takes the treats from you place your hand in the door of the cage and when she takes these treats you begin to offer them so that she must step onto your hand to get the treat. Let her do this a few times and then when she step onto your hand for the treat say "Step Up".
As for getting her to come out of the cage, I would wait until about an hour before dinner time , hers, and open the cage door and retreat from the cage a couple of steps and sit down. She will come out on her own, It may take a few days, but that doesn't matter and if she watches you put her food in her cage just at dusk and you back off she will probably go back in on her own or perhaps allow you to pick her up to place her in.
Just remember to let Jade set the pace and by the time that you do these steps you will be well on your way to a great relationship together built on a foundation of respect and trust.

[Pajarita]

Wolf gave you good advice. Forget about training for now, she is a baby and babies don't go to school, they just bond with their parents, play and learn about their environment and themselves. Terrible advice from the breeder! Don't listen to him/her. I don't think this person took good care of her (see her tail feathers, all frayed and ratty looking? Babies feathers are new and strong and there is no good reason for them to look that way unless it's bad care). I also noticed that she is clipped and I hope that she was allowed to fledge properly before she got her wings clipped so short because their brain doesn't develop the same way when they never learn how to fly. I don't agree with handicapping an animal this way under any circumstances but, if you are going to do it, unless do it after they learned how to fly properly so no permanent damage is done.

One more thing: diet! Please make sure you are not free-feeding seeds (I see a bowl of seeds in her cage). All conures, and most especially pyrrhuras, are mostly fruit eaters in the wild so feeding them all that protein all day long is not healthy for them. Breeders wean them to seeds because it's cheap, easy and fast but it's not what's best for them. They need cooked whole grains, pulses, veggies, fruits and leafy greens for breakfast and all day picking with just a small portion of the high protein food for dinner (and that's how you get them to go back into their cage for dinner - because they love protein and know this is the time when they will get it). But, again, this is a baby and still needs soft food so, please, give her a couple of choices made fresh every day. It's not only that they need 'baby' food because they are babies, they also need it for comfort - and that's as important as nutrition for a baby bird that has lost his family and home and which is in new, strange place with strange people.

[Harpmaker]

Welcome Meghan and Jade! Your instinct to ignore the breeder's advice to force your new baby is correct. Good call! Wolf and Pajarita give excellent advice on taming and diet. We all get angry at breeders that put expedience over the welfare of the bird, but you can't be blamed for receiving bad advice, especially since you followed your better instincts.

We look forward to hearing your stories about Jade. She certainly is a cutie!

[Megnutt]

Thank you guys so much for all of your advice! I greatly appreciate it and love all the help!

Wolf; Thank you so much. I have started this technique this morning and it is already working great! The first time I did this I was able to get right up to her cage before she showed any signs of nervousness. After talking to her for a while she began walking around her cage again so a few minutes after that I said goodbye and left. The next time I tried (a few hours later) I was able to go into the room and grab something I needed whilst talking sweet to her and she didn't even flinch. Just went to her food and started eating. What a good girl!

Pajarita; besides the bad advice, the breeder was fantastic. She did flight training with them before she clipped them and she recommends not to clip them after. She says it's for their safety but I know there is a huge debate about it so I won't say much more on the subject except that I plan to have her fully flighted!
Thank you so much for your advice on Diet as well! That was very informative. The breeder had suggested 25% seed, 25% pellet and 50% fruits veggies rice etc. The picture above was her bird box for the drive home, but I did transfer it to her cage so I will definitely take the seed away and only give her some for supper (as she seems to really enjoy it! ) I do have a big bowl of healthy food for her in there as well but she prefers the seed. I will have to make sure she eats the good stuff.

Harpmaker; Awe you make me feel so much better! As a new birdy mommy I am worried I am not doing the right thing so hearing you say I have good instincts gives me confidence! Thank you! And yes she is adorable isn't she?!

Again thank you so much for all the advice! I will let you know how well the trust and eating process goes. I might come back with questions about getting her to eat healthier if she refuses the healthier stuff.