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If a caique is what you really want, why not hold off a while longer and save up to get one?LITERALLY A BIRD posted:Sounds like you got your talking parrot! Your entire flock is adorable, I love how distinct the three birds' personalities are. I love it when he yells OH REALLY? in the middle of conversations, like he's the most sarcastic fucker on the planet out to put you down at every opportunity. He'll also make a kiss noise when asked, but he also does it when he hears the word "nice"-so you can be having a regular conversation, or say to the other birds "Is that nice"/"Be nice" and suddenly in the background MWAH! I wish he was tame already, a cuddly talking broken GCC would be the best thing.
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Aug 26, 2014 16:51
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Battle Pigeon posted:If a caique is what you really want, why not hold off a while longer and save up to get one? Well, I can afford one right now, but it just hurts my brain to pay over a thousand dollars for a bird. I know, I'll have it for years and such, and over the span of 20 or more years what's another 600 dollars? It's just sort of a mental thing though, I know I can love a conure as much as I would love a caique. Also, from what I understands caiques need buckets of attention. They are also just considered to be trickier in general. I work full time and my girlfriend is still in school. A less demanding choice seems to be the way to go. Chili fucked around with this message at 17:02 on Aug 26, 2014 |
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Aug 26, 2014 16:56
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Chili posted:3. Is there an alternative to a GCC I should be considering? I don't really want to go much higher than 400, and at that price it seems like a conure is probably the way to go. We definitely want to get a more substantial bird, sizewise anyway. I know there's a whole host of conures out there, but I'm not seeing too much variation in temperaments across the kinds. Dusky seems like another good bet as they're also more modestly priced and are considered to be reasonably quiet. 3. They are not as common as GCCs but Dusky Conures like my Alexis generally are quieter (not to be confused with always quiet) and are just as sweet and playful. They're also about halfway between a GCC and a Caique in size. I follow a Dusky Conure group on facebook and many of their birds are similarly sweet.
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Aug 26, 2014 16:57
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Kenshin posted:3. They are not as common as GCCs but Dusky Conures like my Alexis generally are quieter (not to be confused with always quiet) and are just as sweet and playful. They're also about halfway between a GCC and a Caique in size. I follow a Dusky Conure group on facebook and many of their birds are similarly sweet. Yeah, Dusky is absolutely another sort that is on our radar. The store we're looking at has a huge selection of conures: http://www.mdbirdfarm.com/Available_Birds_s/1834.htm?searching=Y&sort=2&cat=1834&show=40&page=1&f-Conures=1912 These look really cool, considering them too: http://www.mdbirdfarm.com/Turquoise_Green_Cheek_Conure_Babies_p/turq-green-cheek-conure.htm What'll likely happen is we'll be open to any of the quieter/more affordable types of conures (green cheek, dusky, turquoise) and just pick our favorite from those lots. Still up for ideas and alternatives from you all though.
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Aug 26, 2014 17:10
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Chili posted:Well, I can afford one right now, but it just hurts my brain to pay over a thousand dollars for a bird. I know, I'll have it for years and such, and over the span of 20 or more years what's another 600 dollars? It's just sort of a mental thing though, I know I can love a conure as much as I would love a caique. Purely from my experience, "conure" and "less demanding" don't go together very well  But if a caique is what you really want then you should go for that (circumstances allowing) if you can.Also, again only my experience: cockatiels are chilled, laid back birds, while conures are curious and always moving and always wanting to be involved in whatever is going on. The two personalities often clash-Steve tolerates Ohtori, (sometimes flirting with him) and Ohtori tolerates Steve but tried his best to kill him at first. They can forage together and generally hang out together if there's room enough for both to move and for Steve to get away, but there are still days when Ohtori decides he just doesn't want Steve about and will try to nip his toes or just walk into him to make him move elsewhere. Steve was very upset when Inko first came, but since they aren't out together and Inko generally hangs out in his cage not bothering him, he has ceased to exist for Steve. Chili posted:What'll likely happen is we'll be open to any of the quieter/more affordable types of conures (green cheek, dusky, turquoise) and just pick our favorite from those lots. Still up for ideas and alternatives from you all though. Blue-throated conure
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Aug 26, 2014 17:11
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Chili posted:Yeah, Dusky is absolutely another sort that is on our radar. Turquoise = GCC, it is just a color mutation like cinnamon or pineapple. Duskies are an entirely different species, more closely related to Sun and Jenday conures. Might I suggest looking on craiglist for a rescue GCC, Dusky, or even Caique though?
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Aug 26, 2014 17:13
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I know conures can certainly be more demanding. We're up for it though, with whatever time I have I'm usually in my office, which is where the birds live. The other worry I have with caiques is that they are somewhat notorious for not being kid friendly as they have a very hard time warming up to new people. I know that this can be a ymmv situation and it's not as though a conure would be guaranteed to be more kid friendly, but I am planning on starting a family someday and I would certainly like to go for harmony down the line, seems like the odds may be a little better with a conure. I'll keep my expectations in check, either way, but I loved my parrot growing up and she loved me too. The bottom line, a caique is something I like to think about, but isn't really what I want, for a variety of reasons; price, difficulty level, non-kid friendly etc. As for CL, I have looked. In fact, that's how I got Bubbles and Kima and although I love them to death, their previous owners/breeders were just incredibly sketchy. Also, it seems less that people are looking to find homes for needy birds and are more looking to turn a profit, when someone is asking for a "rehoming" fee of 500 dollars, they're barely trying to do any good. That isn't necessarily how it always goes, but seems to be how it generally goes. If I'm going to spend money, I'd rather do so at a store/breeder, with a reputation for being good to their birds, for selfish purposes, but also to support good bird treatment. Chili fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Aug 26, 2014 |
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Aug 26, 2014 17:32
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Hello all, Chili's girlfriend here. We've almost entirely decided on yellow sided green cheek conures. I've done a bit of research, it seems like lots of people have had good experiences with them and introducing them to other birds. Any helpful tips on how to introduce them to our tiels?
katdicks fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Aug 26, 2014 |
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Aug 26, 2014 19:18
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Chili posted:The other worry I have with caiques is that they are somewhat notorious for not being kid friendly as they have a very hard time warming up to new people. I know that this can be a ymmv situation and it's not as though a conure would be guaranteed to be more kid friendly, but I am planning on starting a family someday and I would certainly like to go for harmony down the line, seems like the odds may be a little better with a conure. I'll keep my expectations in check, either way, but I loved my parrot growing up and she loved me too. The bottom line, a caique is something I like to think about, but isn't really what I want, for a variety of reasons; price, difficulty level, non-kid friendly etc. If you're looking to someday introduce a kid into the picture, is there a way you can include kids in some way early on in your bird's life (whether you go with a conure or not)? My mom was a elementary school teacher, and when Pearl was growing up she would on some days go into the classroom where she hung out with the kids. I know it's just a single data point, but years later she is still great with new people and loves being in a social circle. Maybe if you have friends with kids some of them can come over and hang out with the bird (which I'm sure they also would love)-- just a thought. I'm excited to see who you both end up with! Post pics when you find your new baby.
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Aug 26, 2014 19:47
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!!! So, I called up the bird store I posted about earlier, just to do some probing about their facility. It sounded like a great place and when I asked her to talk about their stock of conures she immediately began raving about a an adorable yellow-sided green cheek that is so well trained and behaved that he/she has been promoted to "floor model". The store sounded great so we put down a deposit (that can be shifted from bird to bird) on the yellow sided! So for now, it looks like that's the direction that we're going in! New cage will be assembled by Friday, and we're going out to the store on Saturday! We're so excited! And greypearl, yup. Katdicks tutors kids in the house and they love animals. Good thinking!
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Aug 26, 2014 19:57
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greypearl posted:If you're looking to someday introduce a kid into the picture, is there a way you can include kids in some way early on in your bird's life (whether you go with a conure or not)? My mom was a elementary school teacher, and when Pearl was growing up she would on some days go into the classroom where she hung out with the kids. I know it's just a single data point, but years later she is still great with new people and loves being in a social circle. Maybe if you have friends with kids some of them can come over and hang out with the bird (which I'm sure they also would love)-- just a thought. Seconding this: Pookie the grey has never really interacted with kids at all and now thinks that they are weird, freaky, loud, short people.
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Aug 26, 2014 20:24
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Chili posted:!!! Aah how exciting! CONURES FOR THE CONURE GOD  I haven't seen the Wire but Snoop is an excellent GCC verb, for what it's worth.
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Aug 26, 2014 20:59
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My brother used to have a budgie he called Snoop. The personality fit perfectly.
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Aug 26, 2014 21:18
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Speaking of conures, I finally caught up with this thread having not been in for a long, long time and thought I'd reintroduce Montague the 7 year old gender-confused female Jenday (pre-egg lay surprise naming as you might have guessed). Tried to get a couple of good photos but she's busy rocking out to some Devin Townsend and wouldn't sit still.  She's still got a bit of a feather nipping tendency but nowhere near as bad as she used to be thankfully. Hopefully I can get some better pictures soon!
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Aug 26, 2014 21:43
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Chili posted:
There is a really nice parrot store in Chantilly, VA (Northern VA, not sure what part of MD you are in so I am thinking DC metro) called DJ Feathers Aviary (http://www.djfeathers.com/) They have birds for sale, take good care of them and encourage people to come visit the babies frequently before they are ready to go home. Also they have tons of cool bird toys. If they don't have a GCC for you, they would probably be able to put you in touch with a reputable breeder. Plus if you buy from the store their price for a bird will be marked up (potentially significantly) compared to getting one straight from a breeder. We got our GCC when Nugget was about 2 years old. Nugget doesn't seem to mind Ozzy too much unless Ozzy is actively invading her space because he is dumb. She just hisses and moves away. She and Ozzy seem to get along better since Sprite died earlier this year  I think your housing plan would be fine.Edit: Woops looks like you already got one, but I'll leave my post up anyway for other DC metro goons I guess v  v
Pip pip pip fucked around with this message at 22:45 on Aug 26, 2014 |
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Aug 26, 2014 22:42
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Update on Tokyo! She's still super shaky and bad at balancing, but she's doing a lot better. She's actively (trying) to climb all over the cage, even though she still sleeps at teh bottom of the cage if Fuji isn't propping her up. I've made her a little base of operations at the bottom of the cage to make it easier for her- she's got her own food bowl, water bowl and little perch thing to sit on so the bars don't dig into her feet. I don't know if she'll ever be super healthy, but I hope that I can at least get her back to her hellbeast self.
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Aug 27, 2014 00:00
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I'm so glad that Tokyo is doing well. You are an awesome bird mom!
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Aug 27, 2014 01:20
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C'mon, Tokyo. Pull a Zeke and resume terrorizing innocent rolls of paper towels soon.  (My desk is a battlefield filled with tissue carcasses and I am 100% okay with this.)
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Aug 27, 2014 05:36
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Budgie update: Citron and Myrtille are doing really well, with both of them warming up to me a lot. Citron loooves to sing, especially if I sing to him. I've gotten myrtille to eat seed from my barehands too, which is pretty great considering I've only had them for little over a week. My coworkers want me to go back to the petshop and buy 2 girlfriends for Citron and Myrtille, but they cost 90 euro each (p sure I got royally ripped off for "hand fed" parrakeets), so not for a bit. Besides, it'll probably be easier to tame them 2 at a time than 4 at once. Hope to have some more picture soon, I always forget to bring a camera when I hand feed the birdles. edit: As for the waste-paper, neither of them show an actual inclination for paper chewing (they're much more interested in lifting paper), so I'll keep using the toner but keep an eye out for signs of paper chewing. I got them a pumice perch and this one mineral perch, and they love them to death. The birds love to sit and nibble on the mineral perch, and they rub their beaks and nails on the pumice, but now I hear people say pumice is a bad perch and can cause bumblefoot and I should just stick to branches. Is this true? Condiv fucked around with this message at 11:03 on Aug 27, 2014 |
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Aug 27, 2014 09:57
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Putting a deposit down on a bird, knowing that you will get the bird on a Saturday and having to go to work as though the best thing in the world isn't happening... Terrible Idea. This is all I can think about, and I have so many patients to see and so much work to do! I WANT MY CONURE! Everyone better be ready for an insane mental backlog of pictures this weekend.
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Aug 27, 2014 15:08
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When we go to the store on Saturday are there any super awesome toys that conure owners can recommend? We're probably going to buy way too many things, having something to focus on may help.
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Aug 27, 2014 16:34
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Chili posted:When we go to the store on Saturday are there any super awesome toys that conure owners can recommend? We're probably going to buy way too many things, having something to focus on may help. They're parrots. Give it things it can shred and destroy, thus fulfilling his or her inner dinosaur urges. Also one or two foraging toys I think are a must. Basically, let it destroy and solve puzzles.
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Aug 27, 2014 16:56
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I've taken the advice of this thread: Bottle caps. Boop loves the poo poo out of them. Also little cat balls. I give her a carton of red bull too, she loves playing around in it and chewing it to hell.
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Aug 27, 2014 17:13
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Chili posted:When we go to the store on Saturday are there any super awesome toys that conure owners can recommend? We're probably going to buy way too many things, having something to focus on may help. Jingly balls! Just beware they don't start to direct the aggression towards you, or start mating with them like Inko did. Kitchen roll rolled up and tied to the bars of the cage. You can shove coffee stirring sticks in the knot for extra fun. Sheets of kitchen roll on the bottom of the cage to rip up and/or sleep under. Condiv posted:I got them a pumice perch and this one mineral perch, and they love them to death. The birds love to sit and nibble on the mineral perch, and they rub their beaks and nails on the pumice, but now I hear people say pumice is a bad perch and can cause bumblefoot and I should just stick to branches. Is this true? Bumblefoot is potentially caused by perches all of the same size/width, preventing the bird's feet from getting exercised and putting pressure on all the same spots. Pumice is fine, the only problem is if they used it as their main perch and get their feet roughed up by it (same with sandpaper covered perches). You can easily prevent this by making sure the pumice isn't the highest perch, and move it to a less favoured spot if they use it more than any other. If they've got rope and branch perches there shouldn't be an issue.
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Aug 27, 2014 18:07
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In order to prevent problems with a pumice perch, we change ours in any out. When Mindo's nails get sharp, we move it into his cage for a few weeks, then we take it out again. Toucans have soft nails, though, so this may not be as necessary with other birds.
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Aug 27, 2014 18:29
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Awesome advice. I need this bird now.
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Aug 27, 2014 19:12
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Staryberry posted:In order to prevent problems with a pumice perch, we change ours in any out. When Mindo's nails get sharp, we move it into his cage for a few weeks, then we take it out again. Toucans have soft nails, though, so this may not be as necessary with other birds. Steve's nails seem to be really soft when filed, but his favourite napping spot is his pumice perch by the cage door (or the exact same perch in Ohtori's cage when he can get to it) and yet his nails still become horrible needles that make it uncomfortable to have him perched on bare skin. They don't seem to do anything for Inko or 'Tori either. Maybe the size/foot shape also has an effect, as well as bird species? A while back I moved Inko's pumice perch from it's usual spot where it was never used, to next to his pellet and fresh food bowl. Instead of perching on the bowls or hanging from the bars above and eating upside down, he now sits on the perch instead and it seems to be really good in terms of grip for his messed up feet. They don't slide around and his non-working toes don't get squished up or curled about. Battle Pigeon fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Aug 27, 2014 |
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Aug 27, 2014 19:21
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Chiming in to say that conures are the beeeest kind of demanding. More like "Hey whatcha doin buuuddddy, I see you have space for one more and I should be in that space" rather than "THE BIRD GOD DEMANDS YOU CATER TO ITS NEEDS"
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Aug 27, 2014 19:47
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Teeka the too had a pumice perch for a bit and it didn't help with nails. We just burrito and dremmel him whenever the nails turn into talons. Tasty_Crayon posted:Chiming in to say that conures are the beeeest kind of demanding. More like "Hey whatcha doin buuuddddy, I see you have space for one more and I should be in that space" rather than "THE BIRD GOD DEMANDS YOU CATER TO ITS NEEDS" Honestly even cockatoos, which have a reputation as demanding, just want that as well. My bird will be quiet all day so long as he is near me. It's when that's not possible that I turn into a sinner in the beak of an angry birdgod.
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Aug 27, 2014 19:58
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Battle Pigeon posted:Jingly balls! Just beware they don't start to direct the aggression towards you, or start mating with them like Inko did. I moved their perches around today and added the wooden one I just got. They have rope toys and stuff, but they don't know how to use them yet (they were cautious of the wooden perch for a couple of hours when I put it in). They finally discovered their wooden perch 30 minutes ago, and it seems to be one of their favorites so far! They love it to death! I'll keep moving the pumice perch if they keep favoring it, but right now it's their 2nd favorite following the mineral perch (they love nibbling and cuddling it, they haven't discovered their cuddle-bone yet).
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Aug 27, 2014 20:23
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Conures are basically Clippy from Microsoft Word. "I SEE YOU ARE EATING A BURRITO! WOULD YOU LIKE A CONURE TO HELP YOU WITH THAT?!" Nthing the jingly balls and shreddables recommendations. Ama loves any toy that makes an ungodly racket when he chases or hurls it, and when he is furious at being locked up in his cage he destroys Chinese finger-traps stuffed with crinkly paper. Watching him chase jingly balls around the bottom of his cage with the rage of a thousand suns is endlessly entertaining.
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Aug 27, 2014 20:28
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Alexis loves raging at her jinglyball too. A hilarious game to play though is to put it on the play-top of her cage. She doesn't even attack it, she picks it up and indignantly FLINGS it off the top of the cage. You can just keep doing it over and over and over again too. The jingly-ball belongs at the BOTTOM of the cage because it is SCUM.
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Aug 27, 2014 20:29
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All this is making me start some research on potentially getting a pet bird when my apartment lease comes up for renewal. I'm not active enough to want a dog or keep one happy, but I'm considering a cat or bird (from the OP, a cockatiel sounds best for me) as a companion pet that won't mind that most of the time I'm at home, I'm at my computer desk.
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Aug 27, 2014 22:06
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Bird Crazies: from the OP, a cockatiel sounds best for me
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Aug 27, 2014 22:15
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Cythereal posted:All this is making me start some research on potentially getting a pet bird when my apartment lease comes up for renewal. I'm not active enough to want a dog or keep one happy, but I'm considering a cat or bird (from the OP, a cockatiel sounds best for me) as a companion pet that won't mind that most of the time I'm at home, I'm at my computer desk. In my experience budgies make better apartment birds. They're constantly chattering away but it's not loud. Unlike my cockatiels. I can hear their shriek at the bus stop a two minute walk away. I had some people file noise complaints at my last apartment because two months after I moved in, they started building another highrise right beside the current building and the constant noise caused them to shriek constantly. As soon as a jackhammer or drill started up they went into full shriek mode and didn't stop until construction finished. In terms of bird toys, I let mine play with all the junk furniture my mom insists on getting me. She buys me some dumb decorative plant pot when I don't have or want plants, or some faux-egyptian piece of art that doesn't fit in at all and I insist I don't want it but she leaves it here anyway. She threw out the plant pot because I left it on the floor and "took a 20 minute poop and that was all they needed" to shred everything except the inner plastic pot. She cleaned the egyptian painting two weeks ago after expressing annoyance that every time she came over it was streaked with bird poop and as soon as she cleaned it, my female cockatiel flew over to it, spread cheek, and let a nice liquidy poo run down. They annoy me to no end when they ruin the things I want, but they are not without their purpose. WorldWarWonderful fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Aug 27, 2014 |
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Aug 27, 2014 23:12
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Seconding budgie love! I was gonna get lovebirds because we had them when I was a kid, but then I got Tokyo and shortly after her, Fuji. I'm completely in love with the little bastards, even if Fuji is loud as poo poo in the mornings. Just be very careful in selecting them, because some lovely places sell sickly birds and then you end up in my situation where you syringe feed an angry, screechy bird every hour. (Wouldn't change getting Tokyo for the world, though. She's my favorite screechy hellbeast).
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Aug 27, 2014 23:40
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I see. I was going more off their descriptions of temperament in the OP - I'm an apartment dweller who works evenings and have been looking into a pet that doesn't require being terribly active and lives for more than a year or two, so it's come down to birds or cats. I always had cats growing up, but I've always enjoyed watching birds and have lurked in this thread for a while for the pictures. Thank you for the advice, and I'll keep doing research. There are actually wild budgies around where I work.  Lots of feral budgie populations in coastal Florida, and a flock of them likes one of the palm trees outside the building where I work.
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Aug 28, 2014 00:14
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I live in a little apartment with two conures and a cockatiel, and the cockatiel is pretty quiet. He used to shriek when left but all three of them have been taught that a Bye Bye and a closed door means we're gone for a while and there's no point in yelling-and they don't! They're so good that we can do things and talk and otherwise blatantly still be around but they won't bother yelling at all. Steve the 'tiel would probably love being an only bird-he's quiet, just wolf-whistling over and over at his noisiest, and loves to just sit on the window perch or otherwise quietly hang out and occasionally be petted. The shrieks do suck, but he only does them when he's frightened or if we've left the room but the door is still open and we haven't said bye bye... and only then if he can be bothered. In short: you can train a 'tiel to be quiet and not shriek, depending on the reasons for it, but go and listen to some in person to get an idea of the noise level and decide whether it's acceptable for you or not.
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Aug 28, 2014 00:40
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I've got three tiels and they're generally quiet. It depends on what sounds you're okay with hearing. Conure screeches, even GCCs, sound absolutely unbearable to me but cockatiel sounds don't bother me because to me they sound like regular backyard bird chirping. Your energy level also affects birds in my experience. I live alone and I'm generally half-asleep when I'm home so I keep things pretty quiet and the bird flock instinct kinda compels them to doze off. Shark Sandwich fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 02:38
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As a Caique parent, I can tell you that you need to understand they socialize differently. They're like the dogs of the bird world, they love to wrestle each other in the wild, and will happily bite the hell out of you. Because they love you and that's how they play. They're also very demanding. I have to pay way more attention to JJ than any of the others. They also get into trouble. Constantly. I can show you the pictures of her foot from where she chewed through a rope perch in one night and got tangled up in it. They are also very, very loud. I've been surprised how loud they are, even for birds. I've got an audio recording of a morning at my house somewhere I'll try to find and upload for you. It's crazy. These are things that you need to know, from one Caique fan to another, before you decide on one.
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Aug 28, 2014 03:01
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