Hello! Could really use some advice for my new baby GCC!

[Piromane]

Hey everyone, I'm Nick and I recently bought a now 9 week old GCC from a breeder named Archer (Assumed male) he was hand reared and I've had him for a week now,



Recently I turned to Greg Glendell, a companion parrot behaviorist here in the UK, I told him how my baby bird goes crazy, pacing and calling when he's in his cage to which Greg explained that Archer is a human imprinted bird and is afraid of being alone in there, so he gets frustrated when he can see me but he's not out, however I didn't get much information on the rest of what I asked,

Archer learnt to step up the day after I bought him home, which was the day the pacing began, he didn't really take time to settle in and I had no choice but to bring him out when the behavior started, not wanting him to hurt himself as he's still young and clumsy when he's in his cage,

He was stepping up just fine until one day, he just stopped, he'd jump over my fingers and bite me instead, no matter what I did I couldn't get him to do it, he'd even sit low so I couldn't touch him to encourage him to step up, he'd then jump to the floor or onto my shoulder (He's clipped),


Glen advised me to have Archer out almost all of the time and to talk to him to get him used to me, that this would take a couple of weeks,

Will it be too late to train Archer to step up by then? Should I leave the training until he seems a bit more relaxed? I feel like since he's out and about, he'll learn that he can do and go where he wants? (though I won't let him on my shoulder)

I did my research on these birds but struggled to find much information involving Conures who couldn't yet step up or who wouldn't stay in one spot, I know he can be trained properly, he's a lovely bird, he's not afraid of hands or aggressive (though he bites now and then pretty hard, as conures do), when I try to get him to step up using food he'll do it maybe once or twice, then just fly away, he also just doesn't seem interested in treats much anymore either.

I'm just so worried about... screwing up, really. Archer's my first bird, I want him to feel safe and happy but I also want him to step up onto my hand/ a perch without flying off of me, climbing to my shoulder or biting me, does anybody have any advice?

<( Thankyou!

[Wolf]

Parrots learn their whole lifetimes so he will never be too old to train. I would not be concerned with training at this point in your relationship. I would spend the first month on nothing but bonding with your bird. The biting that you are describing is because you are trying to force yourself on him and he is trying to tell you no to and you are not listening to him leaving him no option other than to bite. Now if you want to have a good relationship with your bird then you must learn to listen when he says no or all you will have is a bird that bites. Gcc's favorite place to perch on a human is their shoulder and he will always try to go there and if you develop a good relationship with him you will find that it is actually one of the safest places on you for him to be.
He is probably not motivated b treats because he is not hungry at the time, After you bond with him try training 2 or 3 hours after he has eaten or an hour before his feeding time in the evening.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum, Nick and Archer (I think it would have been wiser to choose a name that could be easily changed to a feminine or unisex one like Nicky). Ok, let's go item by item but, first of all, I want to make sure that you are feeding him right so, please, he needs two different kinds of soft food served fresh twice a day (he is a baby and should not eat adult food).

1. Too bad he is clipped, at his age, I doubt he learned to master flight before he was handicapped and that will work against him possibly for the rest of his life so, please, no more clipping, it's unhealthy for them and psychologically traumatizing.

2. Hand-fed birds do NOT need to be taught to step up (I don't know why people keep on saying this!), they do it on their own for the simple reason that they want to be with you. He did not 'learn' to step up on the first day, he did it on his own because he wanted to.

3. But, if you insist on it when he doesn't want to do it, it backfires (as you already found out) and you end up with a bird that resents and refuses training and which will learn to bite to get his point across.

4. Babies should not be trained until they are, at least, juveniles. Baby birds are like all other babies in nature, they need to play, to be fed correctly and abundantly and to feel secure and loved. Dogs are not trained until they are almost grown and toddlers are not sent to first grade for the simple reason that it's completely counterproductive - well, it's the same thing with birds. It's not as if they are not learning, they are, but they are learning on their own and what they learn are social skills, parameters, routines, etc.

5. Glen gave you the right advice, baby parrots have company every single second of their day and night and that's what you need to provide right now: love and company.

6. I am afraid that the "though I won't let him on my shoulder" is the wrong attitude because, I might as well tell you that, if you won't, you will have a very unhappy little bird in your hands and an unhappy GCC means a screaming one that will bite every chance he gets. Pet GCCs main purpose in life seems to be to ride their human's shoulders. It's what makes them happiest and they are the sweetest, sweetest things about it, they stick their body to your neck like glue, they cuddle under your chin, they rub their heads and bodies against you, they kiss you and preen you and, if you have long hair, they LOVE to hide under it for a good nap. Depriving them of it is not the right thing to do. Depending on the species, you can get away with keeping a large bird off your shoulder but not a little one unless it's a budgie, a linnie or some other flighty type but GCCs are famous for their 'shoulder time' need.

[Tman007]

Welcome Nick. I have a young GCC. One thing mine did for about a month was when he would step up on my finger he would test my finger with his beak. He would get bite harder and harder just to see if he could. When he would get to hard I would tell him to quit. I still would hold him but I would let him know to stop. It took about a month and now he just jumps right up with no biting. One thing is to make sure you have plenty of toys for him to chew up. They love to chew up and destroy their toys. My little GCC ( Andy) will destroy a toy in a heart beat. LOL Sometimes in one day when he gets his mind set on it. Also toys that he can pull out strings of paper. He needs about 5 to 7 toys in his cage. Also I put some small little plastic cat balls in Andy's cage on the bottom floor. He will go down there and start to throw them around and I will hear the little bells ring as he is playing with them.

[Piromane]

Wow, that was fast! Thankyou for all the information and advice everyone!

I definitely saw today that Archer was much more content, he played with his ball, stepped onto my hand a few times when I offered him a lift, he even came into another room with me where he enjoyed some quiet Harry Potter and head scratches (On my shoulder, too! Though, my hair pins seem to mysteriously leave my hair and there's a very proud GCC looking down at them on the floor), I had originally 'stopped' Archer from going onto my shoulder as a few people including Glen suggested that he'd be more likely to reject training in the future, but he does really love to be there or under my chin. I haven't been bitten once and he took a treat when he was done playing ,

I'm looking forward to a long and healthy bond with my baby so I really appreciate you all taking the time to help me out, and so does Archer!


(and Pajarita, As for his name, I quite like 'Archer' for a girl too! (: and I don't plan on Archers wings being clipped again when the feathers grow back)


Thanks again, it's a huge help and a big confidence boost,

<( Thankyou!

[Piromane]

Thought I'd add a picture of him ~

[Wolf]

Thank you for the picture of Archer, very cute little guy. Keep close watch on the cat ball as Archer may be able to bite hard enough to take pieces of it off and you don't want him to swallow any plastic and be especially careful of the cheap little bell inside of the ball as it has a very easily swallowed piece of metal to make it ring.
I used to let my Senegal play with them until she started destroying them.
I have never heard that one before and just don't see any correspondence between perching on your shoulder and rejecting training later on. It just makes no sense to me.

[Pajarita]

Same here, that's a new one to me although I guess that, if all you want is a bird that does tricks and not a loving companion, it would make a difference but, then, I would never suggest such a thing and I am surprised at Glen for even mentioning it!

[Piromane]

We won't be following the shoulder rule, Archer seems to love nothing more than a movie and a scratch under my chin/ on my shoulder ~

I can't thank you two enough for the help and advice ~

[Pajarita]

Yep, that's a GCC for you As far as they are concerned, there is nothing better in life than to cuddle under your chin or hair (impossible to resist little love bugs, aren't they?)