| |
In Reply to: Getting a new Conure posted by Melissa F on February 27, 2006 at 14:43:31:
Greencheeks are very beak oriented, meaning they like to feel and explore with their beaks a lot, and because of this they can learn to bite more easily than many birds. I think a lot of the worst biters are pet store birds who may have been sitting in a cage with people poking fingers in a lot, and birds who are not given enough eaily destroyed toys and objects to satisfy their desire to pick and chew at things.
I find aggressive bites from my GCC to be very, very rare. Mostly he likes to nibble and preen my hands. Aggressive bites are very predictable, mainly when I pick up a 'threatening' object like a phone or TV remote!
They go through a very beaky stage right around and a little after weaning, so if the pineapple was a little older that might explain why that one was nipping. It helps a lot to give them things they can destroy. While they like to destroy stuff they don't have the strongest beaks, so fairly easy to destroy toys are best. Some of my GCC's favorites are strips of newspaper, balsa wood, raw pasta, and fresh cut tree branches with nice bark to peel. Little toy balls with bells in them are also good. Lots of toys to play with and chew on will lessen desire to nibble fingers.
A 20x20" cage is big enough if they will be out part of the day. They are slightly smaller than tiels, but more active.