NEW HERE FROM SCOTLAND

[shadowq]

Hi All

registered here to find out more of the 2 newly birds i have been given
i do like animals in general, but never have kept a bird before.

anyway the previous owner was unable to tell me exactly what kind of birds they actually are
i know they are some sort of parrot family, but have been trying to pin-point exactly what they are

if anyone can help identify there real identity would be great, so i may research what foods are best for them, and how to get them to accept me, as they do not seem to want to be held or be approched at, and hopefully try to train them, etc.
i can email a picture to anyone willing to help, thanks.
the best picture ive found on the internet which resembles the birds i have is listed as a green-cheeked parakeet, but i would like to get a 100% confirmation from anyone here, thanks.

pic of birds

20110219_008.jpg (21.04 KiB) Viewed 2617 times

[GlassOnion]

What you have is indeed a green cheek conure or parakeet. Most refer to them as conures. I think you should spend time sitting by the cage everyday until he is comfortable with your presence then start target training with a clicker. There is an article on that on this forum/trainedparrot.com if you search it. This is a very helpful method to building a positive relationship.

And welcome to the forum!

[shadowq]

thanks for the quick reply, much appreciated, now i know exactly what bird sthey are, but i dont have any idea how old they might be at all?
also there is two of them, they both look exactly the same, although i have noticed one of them to be more dominant over the other one, could they be male and female?
also will they gradually let me handle them, as right now, its been a week and tehy still do not want me near them, i do sit near them, talk to them, also feed them regular, and let them out the cage etc, i did a day ago, had to grab them one by one to bathe them, using a towel to hold them, is this correct way to handle them for now? and will they gradually let me handle them, as them seem very scared yet for me to come near them, they wont even take food from hand, sorry for so many questions? for me its a new thing to have birds as pets, but so far delighted to have them and hoping if goes well maybe get another, something like a african grey, or a blue/gold macaw,
and yes will be searching the forums for info related to these birds.

[Roger P]

Welcome to the forum! Many of us have been where you are right now, so in my opinion there are no bad questions and the more you ask the better. This is a great place to ask them as well, there is lots of help here. My suggestion would be that it is early on in your relationship with your birds, and they are unsure of who you are and what that means for them, so grabbing and forcibly using a towel would not be advisable until they trust you more. Doing it too soon may actually damage the relationship with them. I would either hold off on the baths for a little while until they trust you more, or if they stay in the cage when you open the door, just place a large bowl on the floor of the cage and let them bathe in the cage. You don't need to dry them with a towel, they will dry themselves quite easily.

As for the male female thing, dominance does not necessarily mean that one is a male, they could both be either male or female and still have this. The only way to know for sure is to have them DNA tested, which might be a good idea if they are sharing the cage. Otherwise you could have eggs in your future!

For taming, if you are feeding any kind of seed mix as part of their diet, watch after you replace the bowl which seed they go for first. Then next time you fill the bowl, pick out all those seeds and use them as treats. Or try some small pieces of nut or fruit to see what they like and will take from you. Easiest way to start, after just sitting and talking to them to get them used to your presence, is just by providing the treat whenever you approach the cage to talk to you. That way they start to associate you being around with good things happening. After that is established, start with target training while they are inside the cage (there should be a post on this in the Taming and Training list). Once they are good at that you can start to let them out by targeting them onto your hand (best to do this one at a time).

The more they come to trust you that you are not going to hurt them, the more they will let you do. Go as fast as the birds will let you, not faster. It sounds from your post like these two have not had a lot of socializing in the past, so you need to start small to establish trust.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes

[greymatter]

Well you already got your answer on what your new little ones are

Welcome to the forum!

[Scarpath]

I have 2 green cheeked conures of my own!
What I found out that to determine the sex of a conure you should look at their head...if it is flat and square it is said to be a boy...if it is round then it is said to be a girl. That's just what I found out from 6 different sites and 2 books. I'm pretty sure they are right!
Good luck with your cute little babies!