First time owner:)

[Kalinka]

Hello everyone from Cleveland Ohio! I just brought home my first parrot-green cheek conure. I was reading a lot of materials, but still would love to get some info from real owners. So, please, tell me everything about this breed.
Thank you very much!

P.S.
Hope, it will talk:)

[Kristin]

Hi Kalinka!

How old is your baby? What is his name?

[Kalinka]

Margo, 7 months!

[pennyandrocky]

there's no guarentee any bird will talk so i hope that wasn't your reason for wanting a parrot. no offense but many birds end up in rescues or neglected when they don't live up to the funny talking bird they wanted. my penny is a very good talker he says "hey baby" "i love you" and "mommy" when he's feeling possesive and someone get's too close he tells them "my mommy!". they are called by many who share homes with them velcro birds because they love to cuddle. they are a huge bird personality in a small package very entertaining. they do go through a nippy stage i solved mine with a gentle shove off my shoulder when he started it didn't take long for him to figure out biting means losing his favorite place on mommy's shoulder. never scream when they bite it will only make them attack drawing blood.

[Kalinka]

there's no guarentee any bird will talk so i hope that wasn't your reason for wanting a parrot. no offense but many birds end up in rescues or neglected when they don't live up to the funny talking bird they wanted. my penny is a very good talker he says "hey baby" "i love you" and "mommy" when he's feeling possesive and someone get's too close he tells them "my mommy!". they are called by many who share homes with them velcro birds because they love to cuddle. they are a huge bird personality in a small package very entertaining. they do go through a nippy stage i solved mine with a gentle shove off my shoulder when he started it didn't take long for him to figure out biting means losing his favorite place on mommy's shoulder. never scream when they bite it will only make them attack drawing blood.

Thank you very much!
Certainly, the talking part was not ever the reason to take the bird home. I am just saying, that I would love to teach my baby some words and if not, it does not affect my love towards my pet. I wanted to have a parrot for a long time:)

[friend2parrots]

welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your new GCC! (i have one too! )

Green cheeks are just wonderful, adorable, and very affectionate birds, everything you would ever want in a parrot but in a really tiny and supercute package. they have all the emotions and quirks and crazy antics of the big guys, though, so you do have to be just as careful with them about reinforcing positive behaviors, training, etc.

just wanted to also mention the following:

-make sure you keep your bird fully flighted, with all his wing feathers intact, never clipped or trimmed.
-read ALL of Micheal (blog and forum owner)s blogs, to get a sense of where youre starting from in parrot ownership.

theres a particularly helpful blogpost about what to do in the very beginning:

http://trainedparrot.com/Taming/

I've described my GCC in the context of the species in the following thread, which may be helpful for you:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9505&p=64542#p64542

also, it would be helpful for you i think to also just enter the terms "green cheek" or "GCC" in the search box at the top right corner of this page, just to read what others are saying about their GCCs.

Good luck with your new little cutie. I'm looking forward to hearing more about him! and also, there's a new thread just started recently in the "Parrot Species" section of the forum, called "The GCC appreciation thread" - check it out, i'm sure youll have lots to add to it!

[Kalinka]

welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your new GCC! (i have one too! )

Green cheeks are just wonderful, adorable, and very affectionate birds, everything you would ever want in a parrot but in a really tiny and supercute package. they have all the emotions and quirks and crazy antics of the big guys, though, so you do have to be just as careful with them about reinforcing positive behaviors, training, etc.

just wanted to also mention the following:

-make sure you keep your bird fully flighted, with all his wing feathers intact, never clipped or trimmed.
-read ALL of Micheal (blog and forum owner)s blogs, to get a sense of where youre starting from in parrot ownership.

theres a particularly helpful blogpost about what to do in the very beginning:

http://trainedparrot.com/Taming/

I've described my GCC in the context of the species in the following thread, which may be helpful for you:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9505&p=64542#p64542

also, it would be helpful for you i think to also just enter the terms "green cheek" or "GCC" in the search box at the top right corner of this page, just to read what others are saying about their GCCs.

Good luck with your new little cutie. I'm looking forward to hearing more about him! and also, there's a new thread just started recently in the "Parrot Species" section of the forum, called "The GCC appreciation thread" - check it out, i'm sure youll have lots to add to it!

Thank you soo much!!!!

[Kristin]

Be careful about keeping your bird fully flighted, a lot of accidents can happen. I have heard a lot of stories of parrots breaking their necks flying into windows. Definitely train your bird to minimize the chances of accidents

[pennyandrocky]

i've never had a bird break it's neck in 20 years of full flight. show your all the windows tap on them they're smart enough to figure out they can't fly through solids.as soon as he settles work on recall flight. when it's nice out bring him out in a carrier or a small cage. my boyfriend went out to get a pizza delivery with my on his shoulder he flew up in a tree but i got him right back with a simple whistle that we worked on.had he been clipped he would have been stuck in that tree and froze to death. taking him outside gets him used to what goes on in your neighborhood so he won't be so scared and try to fly farther away.i've heard plenty of injuries caused by clipping even lost birds where the people had a a false sense of security thinking they can't fly. recovery for lost birds who are flighted is higher from what i've seen unfortunatly most are clipped after as punishment.

[marie83]

I disagree about the accidents. Harlie is less accident prone since she has learned to fly but yes you need to teach them about windows, they soon learn. There are many discussions on here about clipping vs flighted and i strongly recommend you read them before making a desicion. I've kept birds for around 14 years now, I've had over 23 in all that time and never had an injury never mind a death although Harlie did a few crash lands when she started flying- just like any fledging wild bird would.

Ollie my green cheek doesn't talk much, he says "hello" and mutters other stuff that sounds like he is trying to talk but I can never make out the words. Most will learn a few words but they dont have a reputation for talking. Either way you have taken on a species with a massive personality, they learn very very fast and will try to manipulate you if you let them, most of them will go through a nippy phase and are clingy to the point of being annoying. I suggest you make time to read how to deal with these issues because prevention is so much better than trying to fix a problem. Don't let this put you off because like I say, they learn fast so they are willing to be taught and will learn from you using positive reinforcement to encourage appropriate behaviours. They really are great little birds.