Hell!

[PadawanTano501st]

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[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum. Beautiful birdies! There is one thing that concerns me and I tried to find the information on it but I couldn't so I hope I am worrying over nothing. You mentioned
a Critter Nation cage and, as far as I know, they don't make bird cages, only ones for small mammals so I am not sure the bar covering is safe for parrots. Do you know for a fact that it's safe?

I am sorry to hear your male is chewing the female's feathers... are they clipped, by any chance?

[PadawanTano501st]

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[Wolf]

since it has been brought up, I thought that it only fair to let you know that this forum is the same as many other bird forums, actually, the same as every other bird forum that I am aware of, in that the topic od clipping a birds wings is a highly controversial one. Most bird "owners" tend to feel very strongly either for or against clipping a birds wings. The majority of the ones that I am aware of are mostly polarized as being against clipping a birds wings and most will not hesitate to try to convert you to this way of thinking, while others feel just as strongly for clipping and many of these to will try to convert you to their way of thinking.
Sometimes it may get a bit overbearing and I do not want you to be surprised if you get a few comments of this nature here. I am not here to convert you to any way of thinking, I will honestly tell you that I do not agree with clipping a birds wings unless there is a valid medical reason for it as I believe that it is harmful to the bird. Despite my beliefs about this, it is a practice that you must make your own choices about, in accord with what you believe to be in the best interests of your bird. If you would like to know more about why I believe as I do I will be happy to discuss the topic further with you.
Basically I am writing this as I do not know if you have had any experience with bird forums or not, and I do not know if you may have had a less than positive experience with any other forum over this topic or any other of the more controversial topic. If not then I want you to be somewhat prepared for the comments that may or may not be made.

[liz]

Humans who are owned by parrots are odd people. We love our kids and put them first before ourselves. They mentally range in age from 2 to 6 years old and we treat them as that age kid.

The reason we do not clip is that a flighted bird feels more secure that he has the ability to get away if something happens that scares him. Because he knows this he will be more social and loving and much less fearful. Clipped birds can still fly but have less control and get into more accidents. If a clipped bird gets out he has less chance to survive until you find him.

Those of us who rescued clipped birds then let their feathers grow out (including me) have found that their personalities change and they become more social and trusting. Flighted birds seem to bond to their humans faster and with a stronger bond.

[Pajarita]

Well, the reason why I asked if they were clipped is that, usually, when they have FDBs (been their own feathers or their mate's), they do it out of frustration and GCCs been the way they are (clingy, needy and obstinate), they don't react well to clipping (not that any bird does but some are more docile than others). If your birds were not clipped, the female could get away from the male and they could both fly to your shoulders, which is what they live for and which, when they don't get when they want it and for as long as they want it -which clipped birds never do- it causes all kinds of problems with them. GCCs might be conures but they are unique in their need and kind of one-on-one relationship with their owners, they are VERY needy (I always compare them to cockatoos) and require hours and hours of shoulder time as well as a diet VERY high in raw fruit and low in protein (makes them hormonal -read bitey and screamy- and messes up their livers something terrible). When they are clipped, they can't get to you and can only ride your shoulder when you want them and for as long as you want it... and this never sits well with them. It's the way they are. I have a yellow sided female (Codee), she has her own mate (a severely handicapped peach fronted conure, Pablo) so she has company and love 24/7/365 from him but she still spends, at least, 2 solid hours riding my shoulder every day as well as another 2 hours of out of cage time which she uses for climbing and flying (they are excellent fliers!).

I understand your concern for their toes if they happened to 'land' on the macaw's cage. I have parrots in three sizes: small, medium and large and I have come to the conclusion that little ones don't mix with big ones... I now have them in separate rooms and even though I still have to partially cover one of the cages (Sunny sun conure) because Naida (BFA) still dislikes her and would go over to her cage to bother her. Sunny's cage is open and she usually flies away when Naida comes over but she had not been exercised for many years so she is not as good a flier as she could be yet - thus, my covering the upper back of the cage so she has a little hidey-hole place where Naida cannot reach.