Hi

I recently saw a GC conure wearing a small harness at our local Parrot Club meeting.
I spoke to the "owner" and she said her bird did'nt like it at first but adjusted fairly quickly. It was really nice to see her little one snuggled against her hair while she walked along.
I really recommend you try one for Kiwi while she/he is still young. It's so nice to be able to take your bird out with confidence that he/she is attached to you and can't fly away if startled.

I've seen a number of people lately walking around shopping centers and outside with their conures. Most were doing this without a harness and I worried for the poor bird.
I think people believe that if the wings are clipped the bird can't fly away and is safe.

I personally would rather see a flighted bird in a harness. That way if for some reason there was an accident or a problem, the bird could still take flight if released. Ex. a predator attacks or bullies try to take the bird.
I probably sound paranoid but I've seen some disturbing behaviour in groups of teenagers wandering the streets.

Barb,

thanks for your comment. i agree, it would be intresting and perhaps beneficial for Kiwi to learn while young. i'm sure we'll give it a shot and let you know how it works out.

-steve

Congratulations to all three of you! I figured when I didn't hear from you that you had found that perfect new family member.You're still invited to come have a look-see, but I guess you'll be busy enough with your new baby.
Sara
Southeast Vermont USA
Paper Crane, I will write 'peace' on your wings and you will fly all over the world.

yes, i really meant to call you tell you, but we ended up being rather busy coordinating everything to make the transition as smooth as possible for the little guy. again, thanks for the offer, you're more than welcome to bring your friends down to meet kiwi once he settles in!

Hmmm...I think an onslaught of 11 birds might be a little intimidating for your little guy!
Sara
Southeast Vermont USA
Paper Crane, I will write 'peace' on your wings and you will fly all over the world.

Congratulations on the new addition to your household. :-)

Nate Waddoups
Redmond WA USA

hello- just wondering how the little guy/girl is adjusting. I am really considering a GCC for my next bird, and am actually going to a breeder tonight to see some babies. people here who have them- overall- do you feel they are a good choice? I live in an apartment so sound can be a concern (although I wouldn't mind giving my downstairs LOUD barking dog family a little something), and I am wanting a more cuddly bird of manageable size. From all I have read, GCCs seem to be a great option- just wondering from owners perpesctive- any tips or stories that might be helpful about GCCs? After a while, all I read starts to say the same thing over and over. Also- any great reads on GCC or pyrrhura genus alone? I have a couple general Conure books, but would like more specific info if its out there. Thanks.

Stephanie
Chicago, IL

kiwi is doing very well. the vast majority of the time, he is very quiet or makes some cute duck-like sounds (the muttering, not the loud quacks) but sometimes, like when there is a loud bird outside or if we put him to bed too soon by his standards, he'll shriek but usually for just a short bit of time. nothing unmanageable for an apartment.

he's pretty cuddly. his favorite places are on steve's shoulder or on my head (something about my hair...). if he's cold after a bath he'll hide in my hair to warm up, and he stays so still that i think he falls asleep in there. he does tend to have a favorite person but who it is depends on who's been around more the last few days so we just need to make sure he spends enough time with each of us.

we have him like 1/3 potty trained too. if we hold him over the trashcan and say "poop, kiwi! poop!" excitedly, he will a lot of the time. but sometime's he'll fly to the ground and immediately proceed to poop... but he's still young.

overall, things have gone pretty smoothly in bringing kiwi into our apartment. we are worried about him getting too lonely being home alone while we are at work so we are seriously considering getting a second one.

-susana

thanks for your input. I do have another question though. I went to a breeder last night to see some baby green cheeks and cinnamons that were about 4 months old as potential new birds. They were so cute and I really wanted to play with them, but everyone of them would bite me and my boyfriend. I am trying to determine if these were the nips people talk about, but if so, I don't ever want to discover a real bite. My finger swelled up for the night, and my boyfriend was a layer of skin away from bleeding. The breeder had soooo many different birds, so I am wondering if they just hadn't had enough human interaction? I have never before felt scared of a bird, but I didn't feel at all comfortable with one on my shoulder as I was waiting for it to rip out my earing. That definitely put a damper on my excitement of a new bird. I did see a different cinnamon at a really great bird store, and even though she was scared and didn't know us, there was no bites or even attempts. This owner seemed to spend more time with her babies. Just want to know if that is what to be expected- or were the breeder birds on a bad path to biting already? I certainly don't want to spend the money on a biter that I am afraid to get to know and play with.

i'm a bit surprised that the birds bit you so hard. when we went to see the breeder from whom we bought kiwi, the babies were definitely nippy. i think this was because they were young and because the breeder didn't have a ton of time to give them since there were so many birds. but while the bites hurt, they did not break the skin.

kiwi went through a phase for like a week were he kept biting and biting but never hard enough to break the skin. now he bites sometimes for attention or when he's tired and cranky. most of the time, the bites aren't hard enough to hurt badly at all - they're more like a squeeze. when he is gonna bite harder, you get a warning; he'll bite harder and harder each time or bite once and then squeeze more and more so you can prevent getting bitten very hard most of the time. i don't think he means to hurt us because i know he could break the skin if he wanted to and he doesn't. i think he's learning what is acceptable and what isn't, and he bites less hard now than he did when we first got him.

after all this talk of biting, it sounds like kiwi bites all day long, but he doesn't. it's really only if you're not attuned to the fact that he is tired, or hungry, or wants a head scratch and he usually starts out with softer bites. you really just need to teach your bird was is ok and what isn't. steve lets kiwi nibble his ear and then gets an occasional bite on the ear or neck. i never let kiwi nibble my ears and so it's very rare that i get a bite there.

i'm sure birds from either the breeder or store you mentioned would be fine since they are so young and trainable, but if you are worried, maybe you should get the one from the store that seems more socialized already.

-susana

You might want to ask the breeder what the babies' usual schedule was. If they were used to sleeping/quiet time, then they might have just been tired and stressed by all the activity. At 4 months they are still babies and need more rest. But they are probably at least a month and a half past weaning, so if the breeder hasn't handled them much after they weaned that could also be a problem.
My thuoght is that even if the babies haven't been handled much and have gotten a little wild, they at least have gotten plenty of social interaction with each other, and probably have learned how to interact well with each other (no hard biting, ect.). So, if you brought one home and worked with it it would probably soon think of you as its flock and not bite - the biting was probably just from stress or overexcitement. But you should try seeing the babies again at a different time - whenever the breeder normally lets them out if possible.
Oh, and what I would define as nipping for a greencheek would be a sharp pinch that might hurt a little for no more than a few seconds. The only times mine has broken the skin has been when I've gotten between him and a toy while he was in 'attack mode' or when I'm restraining him for claw clipping. When he was a baby he would nip rather hard when he was tired.

Karen
Chico (conure) and Pippin (budgie)
WI

It also seems that Kiwi's biting decreases a good amount after we got him some small wood dowels to chew while he held them with his foot. also having new toys and more playing seemed to take the bite out of him too.

-steve