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Hi! Beginner Parrot Owner. I have a question.

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Re: Hi! Beginner Parrot Owner. I have a question.

Postby Bird woman » Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:54 am

It is so comforting to hear from all who is dedicated to putting in the hours of studying and careing for there feathered friends. Birds are pretty good at adapting so things will settle down quickly with the new move. Once they feel secure everything changes. All my birds have special calls for me for certain situations and you will become accustom to all the sounds over time. my experience is with the largest of birds , none BEING flock birds so I can't be much help to you , all I know is when it comes to my birds excepting another into the house things usually get much worse before they get better. BW
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Bird woman
Amazon
 
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Re: Hi! Beginner Parrot Owner. I have a question.

Postby Pajarita » Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:40 am

Louisa wrote:
Pajarita wrote:Hi, Louisa and baby GCC and welcome to the forum!

OK, let's see. At 6 months of age, she is still a baby. A big baby but a baby nonetheless so she needs the reassurance of your presence to feel safe and that's why she screams when you put her in her cage. It is great that you can have her out all the time but, as you have already learned, they do get into everything and that can be dangerous for them so cage time is necessary for their own protection. Having said that, the trick is to put them into their cage always at the same time. Captive birds benefit highly from a very strict schedule and routines. The fact that everything always happens exactly the same way and at the same time every day gives them a sense of being in control of their lives which, in turn, makes them feel safe.


Hi Pajarita! Thankyou for that information and the invitation to ask further questions. It is very reassuring to know there is a place to get support from people with extensive personal experience with your parrot species.

We keep a good light schedule, fortunately my GCC is a big help in that respect as she will put herself to bed at sunset (she loves her cage then :thumbsup: ). I will watch out for all artificial light, I thought it was only the blue light (from computers) that would affect birds, like how it interferes with melanin production in humans. :?

Admittedly, the rest of the day we are a little shakey on the routine, as we recently moved house and we are still settling in, so hopefully I will get some improvement there.

Even though my GCC eats the most in the morning and at dinner-time, I keep food out for her throughout the whole day (which she eats from regularly). I feed her an exclusive fresh food diet (with some supplementation), so I am always worrying that she is getting enough calories as she does fly quite a bit in order to follow us around all day. I weigh her to ensure she is a healthy weight. Are you saying I should remove food during the day, or at least keep the denser caloric foods away?

My GCC can usually entertain herself with foraging/chewing toys and acrobats, as long as I am in eyesight. She knows that if I am sitting down, she can fly in for scratches when she feels like it, as I will usually stop what I am doing for a few minutes. I feel like she engages in more independent play from having that reassurance, as I used to work overnight shifts and sleep during the day.
If I were to try to find my GCC another bird friend, would it be better to do it when she is younger? It worries me quite a bit that it will not work out. :gcc:


My birds have always food available to them except for the very early morning when I uncover their cages when the sky is beginning to light up (6 am this time of the year but, in reality, I should start doing it at 5:45 am) as I also take out whatever is leftover from their seed/nut dinner and their water at this time. About 30 to 45 minutes after that, I give them their raw produce (one fruit -larger portion than one would think it's good enough for a bird that size, one veggie and one leafy green, I never give them a selection because I have found that, if I do, they only eat what they like best and leave the rest), then about an hour after that, I give them their gloop and put them in their cages to eat it and, when they are done -about an hour later, they come out again until 12:30 or 1:00 pm when they go back inside for their noon rest so, they do have food available to them all day long except for the very early morning and I do that on purpose so they would be good and hungry and eat the produce.

I've been free-feeding gloop for many years now and all my birds are on the skinny side according to the avian vets but I think they are used to seeing birds that eat pellets or seeds and don't fly as much so they are on the plump side -wild birds are always quite skinny. I don't weigh them all the time, only when and if I feel they have lost weight. I just feel their chest for either a too protruding or a not protruding enough keel bone. That, their poop output and energy level is what I go by on a regular basis and it works just fine for me and them.

The blue lights do affect birds negatively, you are 100% correct about that and that's why I never expose mine to TV (they do have the radio on most of the day) but the dawn and dusk light is the one that affects the pineal gland which determines circadian as well as circannual cycles.
Pajarita
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Re: Hi! Beginner Parrot Owner. I have a question.

Postby AfricanGreyAfi » Sun Apr 23, 2017 5:51 am

So being six months old she still is a baby :hatched: I would not recommend you getting her a companion :sun: because then she will bond more with her companion rather than you! And as I heard you really enjoy being so close with your bird :cockatiel: . Plus getting older she will het used to this happening and not get as frustrated.
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