"Lola is such a happy little bird! She is a DNA sexed female Cherry-headed Conure and she eats Zupreem Pellets. She doesn't talk but is very playful!"..Diane
amie - 2010-09-25 We have a conure that we found in our pond about 3 months ago. He has bonded with me and typically won't let anyone else near, until recently. Anytime my husband comes into the room, the bird will automatically start trying to bite me hard and when he does it draws blood. He still won't my husband rub him like I can so what gives with the biting?
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Echo VanderWal, Shelton & Mason Co. Parrot Rescue (SMCPR) - 2010-10-14 It is possible that your bird has trust issues with males, or something about your husband reminds the bird of a bad experience. We currently have a Cherry-Masked Conure in foster care that was severely abused and traumatized by teenage boys. As a result, "Red" doesn't trust ANY men. The abuse and trauma happened almost 10 years ago. She "tolerates" my husband, but he doesn't try to handle or pet her. When she first arrived, she would lunge at anyone (male or female) who tried to come anywhere near me. I retrained her to stay on my shoulder, by telling her "Eh! No lunge" in a firm commanding voice (NOT yelling) when she would attempt to lunge and attack others who came near me. When she listened to the command, I praised her by telling her "Good Girl! Good no lunge!" in a higher more up-beat voice. This worked very well with her. Red used to be poked at and stabbed at, so anything that comes near her (even a finger) she sees as an attempt to hurt her. I understand this, I understand why she has this fear, and I try to work with her in such a way that is comfortable for her without causing more fear.
Unlike me, you didn't get any history regarding the bird you have adopted. Instead, you will need to study and watch his/her body language. I would highly suggest that you do your research and read up on the body language of parrots. This will help you determine what things make him/her nervous or scared. If the bird "puffs-up" with his/her feathers, that is a universal warning that he/she is scared and that you need to back off until the bird calms down and feels more comfortable.
Also, as the bird has bonded with you, and with the biting behavior you have described, it sounds like the bird is treating you as a "mate" and trying to "warn" you about your husband coming near. Kind of, "hurry, we need to leave" type of warning. For now, until the bird is more comfortable with your husband, just have your husband talk to the bird while he/she is in his/her cage, and have him give him/her special treats (that only HE gives him/her) through the cage or into the feed dish. This will help them develop at least the starting of a relationship.
Anne - 2010-10-10 I have a red-masked conure and fairly recently he has been swelling up like a balloon from the neck down to his abdomen. He makes this funny little noise before it happens. I'm really worried about him. Can anyone help me with this? He still eats well and is active but he has started to pull some some small feathers out from under his wings and this always hurts him. I'm not sure if he is just grooming or not.
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Echo VanderWal, Shelton & Mason Co. Parrot Rescue (SMCPR) - 2010-10-14 It sounds like your bird is "sucking air". This is typically a nervous habit, but as far as I have been able to determine, not dangerous to health. However, when combined with starting to pull feathers, you need to check around to see what may be making your bird more stressed or nervous. Is there more stress in the household? New pet? New baby? New people in the house? Any of these can cause these symptoms. Try to provide extra out-of-cage time as well as some toys the bird can use that it can destroy and shred, puzzle toys to occupy the mind, and communication toys (such as a mirror and/or a bell). Hope these ideas help.
Sharon Simon - 2008-08-11 Can someone tell me what the average life span of a cherry head conure is. I have one that I raised from a baby and he's now 22 years old.
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angie - 2010-06-29 I have my old man, affectionately named Baby, because I always called him my Baby, since 1980! I was told at that time he was a year or two years old. They, people who handle birds, tell me he is old! I know because he is almost totally blind, cannot fly any more, and must have some neurological problem because he gets the "shakes" that reminds me of older folks with "paulsey". Now he is getting to the point where he just wants to stay in his cage and wants me to just sit with him, and I put my fingers against the cage and he'll rest his beak between my two fingers. I love him dearly....we been through a lot together! I count each day with him as a present! My vet said to just keep him comfortable and bring him in only if he has a hard time breathing.......he says then he would put him to "sleep" because it would be cruel to have him breathing laboriously. Good Luck with your "guy". They can be very demanding, but are so lovable!
boo boo - 2008-09-14 Last spring, we adopted a red-masked conure that plucks its entire body bare of feathers except his head and neck, leaving only the contour feathers on wing and tail. Fred is slightly bigger than a sun or jenday, but less noisy and far less shrill. It is more noisy and slightly smaller than a "Queen of Bavaria".
We were amazed when we determined from its leg band that it was imported at least 15 years ago, since it is otherwise quite active and healthy. It has a HUGE personality. The bird says "hello," "What's for dinner?," "We have a problem" and "Come Back Here" fairly clearly in appropriate contexts. It also mimics our squeaky patio door and dances to a good musical beat. Our nephew started calling it "bobble head" after he saw it dancing one day. Though we have not determined its gender we call it "Fred".
At first Fred tried to bite us every chance it got, so we had to clip its wings to prevent being attacked. Happily, Fred is becoming a little more trusting and trustworthy every day. The bird is still a little bit psycho about defending the cage territory, and it doesn't want to be touched, but it will now will step up and ride on sticks and shoulders. Fred is ecstatic about bathing in his deep basin; our daughter swears that the bird swims.
Fred is intelligent, quite engaging and always entertaining. It loves to eat mashed potatoes and drink orange juice. Regarding its feather-plucking, I have come to believe that the bird is either making a fashion statement, or is just too warm in the house with its feathers on. My evidence is that it likes to have a few ice cubes in its bath as well as in the water dish. Sometimes it just chews on the ice.
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Toni Zepeda - 2010-05-25 Have you considered he might have might or a skin condition? there are a number of good safe mite sprays on the market. My husbands cockatiel female was doing her neck and back that way and I sprayed her twice as well as her cage and she stopped and has grown back her feathers.
carolyn - 2010-03-05 My friend Jill"s.."Cracker" just passed away a week ago! He was 30 years old! He could mock anyone's laugh that came thru the door! The first time i met him, he did it to me and i couldn't stop laughing, hearing how hysterically funny my laugh was! He could say hello...and he did a funny copy-cat of "ha ha hic-up! I'm sure you've heard people laughing then they hic-up...my daughter has one named..Jessie..
We're all going to miss "cracker" too! He was super special!
Marlene - 2010-01-09 Skipper was my dear Cherry Headed Conure that was 28 years old. He was born November 2, 1981. I think I adopted him in April, 1982. He just passed away on January 8, 2010. He was a member of our family. He stole my heart right away right after I adopted him. He talked clearly saying "Merry Christmas", "Going Camping", and he'd barked like a puppy. We'd take him camping with us, and he'd play with his toys. My husband would share his bacon and eggs with him in the morning. I used to call Skipper, "Little Bud". I'm surely going to miss him. I'm a bird lover so right now I don't know if I will get another bird anytime soon. To me there will never be another Skipper.
Melinda - 2009-11-06 Our cherry headed conure (Fred) is 24 years old and is much a part of the family. His beak started going crooked last year and the vet needs to file it every month or 2. The last 3 times, he went into seizures after having this done to him. The vet thinks it's either due to the stress of the situation or maybe he has a heart problem. I hold my breath each time and hope he comes out of it. Has anyone else had the same problem?
Jenny - 2009-01-02 When I was about 12 my parents adopted a red-masked conure for me. We don't know how old he is and when we got him he didn't have a name so we named him Sole(so-LAY). We were told his previous owner never took good care of him and often ignored him and would sometimes treat him badly. When he came he came in this ugly, old, dirty cage along with a parakeet, which we also adopted. We all thought that given the kind of conditions he was living in before he'd be a little mean and would attack us anytime we got near. However, the moment my brother brought him in he started to show off by hanging upside down in his cage, hanging by his beak and even trying to imitate me and when I opened his cage he immediately flew out to greet me by nuzzling my cheek. I've now had Sole for four, nearly five, years. He is a tremendous joy in our family and often is referred to by my mother as a mama's boy because he is very attached to me as I am to him. He is very intelligent and is able to say many things however he prefers not to. Sole enjoys singing along to Mariah Carey, playing in water and even likes to look at books(and then chew on them). He also gets along very well with our other pet birds and even lets them boss him around even though they're all much smaller than he is. (: He is also very affectionate and loves to give and receive kisses. :) He has such a great personality and I'm so glad I have him. :)
"Lola is such a happy little bird! She is a DNA sexed female Cherry-headed Conure and she eats Zupreem Pellets. She doesn't talk but is very playful!"..Diane
How long does this type of conure live under normal circumstances - does this vary even in the best of conditions?
Can you breed a green cheek conure with a cherry head conure?
We have a conure that we found in our pond about 3 months ago. He has bonded with me and typically won't let anyone else near, until recently. Anytime my husband comes into the room, the bird will automatically start trying to bite me hard and when he does it draws blood. He still won't my husband rub him like I can so what gives with the biting?
It is possible that your bird has trust issues with males, or something about your husband reminds the bird of a bad experience. We currently have a Cherry-Masked Conure in foster care that was severely abused and traumatized by teenage boys. As a result, "Red" doesn't trust ANY men. The abuse and trauma happened almost 10 years ago. She "tolerates" my husband, but he doesn't try to handle or pet her. When she first arrived, she would lunge at anyone (male or female) who tried to come anywhere near me. I retrained her to stay on my shoulder, by telling her "Eh! No lunge" in a firm commanding voice (NOT yelling) when she would attempt to lunge and attack others who came near me. When she listened to the command, I praised her by telling her "Good Girl! Good no lunge!" in a higher more up-beat voice. This worked very well with her. Red used to be poked at and stabbed at, so anything that comes near her (even a finger) she sees as an attempt to hurt her. I understand this, I understand why she has this fear, and I try to work with her in such a way that is comfortable for her without causing more fear.
Unlike me, you didn't get any history regarding the bird you have adopted. Instead, you will need to study and watch his/her body language. I would highly suggest that you do your research and read up on the body language of parrots. This will help you determine what things make him/her nervous or scared. If the bird "puffs-up" with his/her feathers, that is a universal warning that he/she is scared and that you need to back off until the bird calms down and feels more comfortable.
Also, as the bird has bonded with you, and with the biting behavior you have described, it sounds like the bird is treating you as a "mate" and trying to "warn" you about your husband coming near. Kind of, "hurry, we need to leave" type of warning. For now, until the bird is more comfortable with your husband, just have your husband talk to the bird while he/she is in his/her cage, and have him give him/her special treats (that only HE gives him/her) through the cage or into the feed dish. This will help them develop at least the starting of a relationship.
Hope this helps!
I have a red-masked conure and fairly recently he has been swelling up like a balloon from the neck down to his abdomen. He makes this funny little noise before it happens. I'm really worried about him. Can anyone help me with this? He still eats well and is active but he has started to pull some some small feathers out from under his wings and this always hurts him. I'm not sure if he is just grooming or not.
It sounds like your bird is "sucking air". This is typically a nervous habit, but as far as I have been able to determine, not dangerous to health. However, when combined with starting to pull feathers, you need to check around to see what may be making your bird more stressed or nervous. Is there more stress in the household? New pet? New baby? New people in the house? Any of these can cause these symptoms. Try to provide extra out-of-cage time as well as some toys the bird can use that it can destroy and shred, puzzle toys to occupy the mind, and communication toys (such as a mirror and/or a bell). Hope these ideas help.
Can someone tell me what the average life span of a cherry head conure is. I have one that I raised from a baby and he's now 22 years old.
I have my old man, affectionately named Baby, because I always called him my Baby, since 1980! I was told at that time he was a year or two years old. They, people who handle birds, tell me he is old! I know because he is almost totally blind, cannot fly any more, and must have some neurological problem because he gets the "shakes" that reminds me of older folks with "paulsey". Now he is getting to the point where he just wants to stay in his cage and wants me to just sit with him, and I put my fingers against the cage and he'll rest his beak between my two fingers. I love him dearly....we been through a lot together! I count each day with him as a present! My vet said to just keep him comfortable and bring him in only if he has a hard time breathing.......he says then he would put him to "sleep" because it would be cruel to have him breathing laboriously. Good Luck with your "guy". They can be very demanding, but are so lovable!
Last spring, we adopted a red-masked conure that plucks its entire body bare of feathers except his head and neck, leaving only the contour feathers on wing and tail. Fred is slightly bigger than a sun or jenday, but less noisy and far less shrill. It is more noisy and slightly smaller than a "Queen of Bavaria".
We were amazed when we determined from its leg band that it was imported at least 15 years ago, since it is otherwise quite active and healthy. It has a HUGE personality. The bird says "hello," "What's for dinner?," "We have a problem" and "Come Back Here" fairly clearly in appropriate contexts. It also mimics our squeaky patio door and dances to a good musical beat. Our nephew started calling it "bobble head" after he saw it dancing one day. Though we have not determined its gender we call it "Fred".
At first Fred tried to bite us every chance it got, so we had to clip its wings to prevent being attacked. Happily, Fred is becoming a little more trusting and trustworthy every day. The bird is still a little bit psycho about defending the cage territory, and it doesn't want to be touched, but it will now will step up and ride on sticks and shoulders. Fred is ecstatic about bathing in his deep basin; our daughter swears that the bird swims.
Fred is intelligent, quite engaging and always entertaining. It loves to eat mashed potatoes and drink orange juice. Regarding its feather-plucking, I have come to believe that the bird is either making a fashion statement, or is just too warm in the house with its feathers on. My evidence is that it likes to have a few ice cubes in its bath as well as in the water dish. Sometimes it just chews on the ice.
Have you considered he might have might or a skin condition? there are a number of good safe mite sprays on the market. My husbands cockatiel female was doing her neck and back that way and I sprayed her twice as well as her cage and she stopped and has grown back her feathers.
My friend Jill"s.."Cracker" just passed away a week ago! He was 30 years old! He could mock anyone's laugh that came thru the door! The first time i met him, he did it to me and i couldn't stop laughing, hearing how hysterically funny my laugh was! He could say hello...and he did a funny copy-cat of "ha ha hic-up! I'm sure you've heard people laughing then they hic-up...my daughter has one named..Jessie..
We're all going to miss "cracker" too! He was super special!
Carolyn
Skipper was my dear Cherry Headed Conure that was 28 years old. He was born November 2, 1981. I think I adopted him in April, 1982. He just passed away on January 8, 2010. He was a member of our family. He stole my heart right away right after I adopted him. He talked clearly saying "Merry Christmas", "Going Camping", and he'd barked like a puppy. We'd take him camping with us, and he'd play with his toys. My husband would share his bacon and eggs with him in the morning. I used to call Skipper, "Little Bud". I'm surely going to miss him. I'm a bird lover so right now I don't know if I will get another bird anytime soon. To me there will never be another Skipper.
Our cherry headed conure (Fred) is 24 years old and is much a part of the family. His beak started going crooked last year and the vet needs to file it every month or 2. The last 3 times, he went into seizures after having this done to him. The vet thinks it's either due to the stress of the situation or maybe he has a heart problem. I hold my breath each time and hope he comes out of it. Has anyone else had the same problem?
When I was about 12 my parents adopted a red-masked conure for me. We don't know how old he is and when we got him he didn't have a name so we named him Sole(so-LAY). We were told his previous owner never took good care of him and often ignored him and would sometimes treat him badly. When he came he came in this ugly, old, dirty cage along with a parakeet, which we also adopted. We all thought that given the kind of conditions he was living in before he'd be a little mean and would attack us anytime we got near. However, the moment my brother brought him in he started to show off by hanging upside down in his cage, hanging by his beak and even trying to imitate me and when I opened his cage he immediately flew out to greet me by nuzzling my cheek.
I've now had Sole for four, nearly five, years. He is a tremendous joy in our family and often is referred to by my mother as a mama's boy because he is very attached to me as I am to him. He is very intelligent and is able to say many things however he prefers not to. Sole enjoys singing along to Mariah Carey, playing in water and even likes to look at books(and then chew on them). He also gets along very well with our other pet birds and even lets them boss him around even though they're all much smaller than he is. (: He is also very affectionate and loves to give and receive kisses. :) He has such a great personality and I'm so glad I have him. :)