upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

Announcing the arrival of Gus, 8 weeks old, 62 grams, cinnamon green cheeked conure. And absolutely adorable. I am a long-time fidma, but a first time conure mom.
Gus is extreemly sweet, tame, and apparantly unflappable. It's like we've been together for years! He was sitting on my lap in the waiting room at the vet's, totally zoned out while I skritched his head & neck. Another lady waiting asked me how long I had had him & was blown away when I said "About 45 minutes". After moving from the breeder to the pet store to the vet (where they poked him with a needle & swabed his mouth & bottom & checked his wings, etc. ) I brought him home and he "helped" me set up his cage. He especially liked the nuts I was trying to screw on to hold his food & water dishes. But we got the job done. I adore the way he uses his feet. And the sweet little noised he makes when I talk to him. I haven't yet heard the "conure call" & know I will when he is a little older. But I know not to let his screech get my attention. I had all the blood work done except DNA--it has been an expensive week) so I don't know for sure if I have Gus or Gussie. Buddy, my lovebird, got named before I knew she was a hen. She was so sweet I was sure she was a he. By the time she started building nests she was Buddy to me. I tried Buddette for a while but it just didn't work. Only time will tell if Gus is properly named. Doesn't matter, however, since this is a one conure home. I'm looking foreward to a lot of fun. My cinnamon baby has already spiced up my life, & he's only been here 44 hours!

Congratulations - they are so cute and I am sure that you will really enjoy him/her. I have always had my birds sexed because I wanted to know so I could analyze behavior. And call them him or her. I had one rescue that I thought was a boy. Finally I did the DNA testing and SHE is a girl. I still catch myself saying good boy - - er I mean good girl. She is so much larger than my other white belly caiques, I just assumed she was a boy. The lady who trims her nails called her a girl and when I asked why, she said that her pelvic bones seemed farther apart so thought she was a girl. The next time I took her in for a trim, I took a card to put the drop of blood on for the test and sent it in. It is only $20.00 if you do it your self. I just can't be the one to make their toenail bleed.

Hope all the test reports are good. Those little green cheeks are so cute and I love all the varieties they have now. Have fun with that little baby and show us some pictures.

Are they totally weaned by 8 weeks? My caiques were 11 and 14 weeeks old and not weaned yet. They did eat some food on their own but still required 1 and sometimes a night time feeding before bedtime.

Gus is older than I thought. The pet store just called after checking with the breeder, at my request. His hatch date is May 23. which makes him 15 weeks old. Makes more sense, since he is fully weaned. Although he doesn't know what a carrot is! He'll learn, he'll learn.

I'm glad about the age - I feel better now.

I see you are from California - can I ask what part? I grew up in Anaheim, and Long Beach, many many years ago. I just found a really cool website that has lots of pictures that people post.

And I wanted to tell you how cute your little love bird is - I'd love to see more photo's of her.

I'm on the Monterey peninsula (poor me ) That is the only descent photo I have of Buddy. I have to get a camera. I just took some photos w/ my cell phone camera but haven't figured out how to get them out of the camera. My niece also took a couple of pictures 2 weeks ago, at my request, since I have so few pictures of her. My niece has a great camera but she is also working on her PhD disertation, so no telling when I'll actually get the photos. Buddy doesn't look so cute anymore. She is cute to me causse I love her but old age has pretty much made a mess of her.

Thats okay if they aren't so pretty on the outside - we still love them. One of my caiques (Chili) chews off his feathers. He had pretty much grown in all his tail feathers again and I was so happy, then yesterday he decided to get rid of them. Looks like someone took a weed wacker to his tail - but I have learned to just love him the way he is.

I boarded Gus this weekend since I had to go out of town & couldn't take both my fids since Gus is still in quarentene. And once I had him back at the vet, I broke down & asked them to do the DNA testing, so soon I will know the proper pronoun to use

Several staff folks, including one of the vets, made a point of coming out to comment on Gus' sweetness, saying things like "You have a really sweet bird there. Also, the office manager said she heard him/her say "Hi baby". I thought I had heard him/her say "Pretty bird" and "baby" at the pet store but hadn't heard any words since so thought maybe it was wishful thinking. So I was glad I wasn't the only one hearing it. Then just a few minutes ago I heard "baby" again. I am a happy mom

That's awesome! I'm glad your little Gus is doing so well.
I am looking forward to hearing about his DNA test results!

The beak & feather test was back yesterday. Negative Still waiting on the DNA & clamidia. Gus gets cuter every day. The other night, when getting his goodnight skritches, he was on my shoulder, snuggled up to my neck, & he put his little beak in my ear & said, "Baby". I'm over the moon He also has begun taking his bath in my cupped hands, under the running water in the bathroom sink and just today decided it is fun to wrestle my finger while I am using my ball mouse. He is very gentle so I'm letting this game continue. We'll stop if encourages biting but so far not even nipping. Just mouthing--or I guess I should say "beaking". He rolls over on his back during this game & I just love it!!! He chirps along when ever I sing to him. And he makes such cute little noises. He calls me when he hears me in another room but not too loudly (yet). I always answer him but am making a point of never going in his room while he is skuawking. I wait until he is quiet then go in. This morning I didn't hear a peep till I went in at 9:00 A.M.. He didn't even call while I was in the bathroom--right next to his room (my office). I know he could be lulling me into a false sense of security, but I can hope I can hardly wait till I can move him into the living room with Buddy. I sure hope they get along!