New to forum

[HisPrincess]

Hi,

I am a newbie :th_yah::th_yah:

I am a fairly new birdie mama. I have an adorable, spunky little pineapple gcc named Tink.
Her hatch date was 4-20, so she's about 3 1/2 months old.

I have done tons of research on her care, as well as spending quite a few hours with the breeder. But I am hoping to learn a lot from all of you!

Three issues/questions I currently have and would love advice on:

1) Tink won't play with the toys I but her. I have tried all different kinds, and she just doesn't seem interested. I have a 3-ring rope toy with beads, a toy perch with a wooden "plate" and chewables, a plastic set of rings, a shiny "disco ball", a piece of wood with preening ropes attached, a paper towel holder (for shredding), etc. What should I do? I don't want her to be bored/frustrated. :(

2) how do you supplement Vit A if they don't like dark leafy greens? I give her carrots, and I'm going to try mangoes/papayas as long as they're in season. I read to give chili peppers, but won't those be too spicy??
She also gets Volkman's lovebird/conure mix, Volkman's parrot mix, and the dried egg powder stuff (I forget what it's called). I also rotate giving her things like apples, dried fruits, snap peas, mung sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, bell peppers, etc.)

3) and of most concern... When I got Tink, she was very vibrant..green wings with blue underneath, yellow and red body. Her colors are now fading a lot (which could be the Vit A thing, but between all of the stuff I give her, it doesn't seem likely). She is also losing the downy feathers on her chest. What was once a vibrant red colored area is now a duller red, with patches of white. She seems a little on the young side to be molting, but I haven't seen her plucking either. Any suggestions?

Finally, thank you to a man named Dave (from another forum) who referred me here. I tried to reply to your message on that forum, but it wouldn't let me!

Thanks :)

[Honesty]

Hello and :pp_welcome:

Congrats on your new baby Tink:)

She is still very young yet and I think you will find as time goes on she will start to play with her toys. Have you tried playing with her with the toy while she is out?

Veggies seem to be trial and error. Have you tried a mixed veg? Alot of members offer this mixed with brown rice, pulses etc.

I cant help you with the colour, but the downy white feathers are quite normal. I find tons of these every day.

We have quite a few conure owners on the forum and I am sure they will come along shortly to give you more advice:)

[Blancaej]

Hello & Welcome! Congrats on your new baby! I don't own a conure but I do believe in time your baby will play with toys. Sometimes you have to take the time to show them how to play. :)

Veggies can be tough some times. Just try different things until you find what she likes and don't stop trying.

She is still pretty young, it could be natural changes in her feathers. Hopefully some conure owners will chime in with some help.

Would love to see some pics.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

[Debra]

Hello and Welcome to the forum! You've been given some good advice. I'm sure some of the conure owners will be along to help you more. Have you tried giving her a bath/shower? That might help with the dullness of the feathers. My birds look better after a shower. You can even try misting her. A good pellet helps. You can also try feeding a mash or chop where she gets a taste of everything in it. I feed my birds a mash along with their pellets.

[spiritbird]

We are very happy you joined us here. Generally, conures love to play but you teach them by example. Grab a few toys each day and put them on a table along with some human food. Let her see you eat and play with the toys with gusto. Have you tried cooking the veggies first? Sometimes they like soft foods, especially when they are young. Vitamin A is found more in the yellow/orange foods like sweet potato and squash. Outdoor sunshine when the weather is not too hot is good for conditioning. Conures also love water and should readily jump into a shallow bowl of water. It is so cute when they do that.

Please keep us posted on your progress. We have several signature makers here so when you are ready just post a photo or two and ask for one in the signature forum.

Conures love to shred so try getting the shredding type of toys, or better yet make them yourself. One of the easiest toy to make is a nutriberry wrapped in an unbleached coffee filter. Here is a web page for an ebay seller who has some nice toys. [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

[plax]

Thanks for joining our community, HisPrincess! You might try handing Tink some small strips of paper to see if she's interested in tearing them up. If she is, then you can keep doing it and eventually try placing the same kind of paper strips in a foraging toy where the ends of the strips are poking out a bit. If she enjoys the strips when they are handed to her, she will likely enjoy pulling them out of the toy.

You can get a vitamin powder supplement that's suitable for sprinkling on moist food. If you do that, though, follow the directions for the amount to give a bird Tink's size and the recommended frequency of consumption. But I would first visit an avian veterinarian to learn whether there's evidence of a vitamin A deficiency.

About Tink's color seeming to have dulled up... how often does she get a bath or misted? Water really works wonders on these guys to keep feather clean, lustrous and vivid. If she doesn't take regular baths you can mist her with water a couple of times per week or so.

Again, thanks for becoming a PP member. We'd love to see some photos of Tink if you would care to post a few :)

[Turquoise]

Welcome to our flock! :th_hug8: Good to see another GCC owner on here.

I have a Pineapple GCC female, Peta that is 6 1/2 yrs old. I have only had her tho for 1 1/2 yrs. She does not play with her toys much, but i am not sure if that is related to her lifestyle before coming to live with me. She was well cared for and loved in her former home, but was given free flight most of the time in her home & I think she just didn't learn to play with toys. Peta is happy to ocassionally pick at the ones she has & she does like to shred something when she is in the mood. So, just expose your Tink to as many different kinds of toys as possible and as she gets older she will develop her choice in favorites.

About her dulling of colors, have you taken her in for a wellness checkup? An avian vet can tell you if she is deficient in vit. A or other nutrients. I didn't get the pleasure of raising Peta from a weaned baby so I can't say for sure if she went through the dulling of color as she moved from baby to adolescence. I do know that my newest macaw Ruby Jewel is going through her first moult and her baby feathers are quite dull in coloring to her new of course. But, what I ahve noticed about others who have mature Green Wing Macaws is that they are vibrant like Ruby Jewel's new feathers, so I am equating her dullness to just a baby changing into a beautiful adolescent teenager.:th_biggrin:

Good luck with your bay Tink & I look forward to seeing lots of photos of your feathered darling. :th_greet13: Oh yeah, my Peta hates any kind of fresh foods except apples. She was not on a really good diet only because her former Mom did not know she could feed her all kinds of things, so with her it has been a uphill battle to get her to eat healthy. She will eat a lot of things she wouldn't when I first got her & that was from just offering them whether she ignored them or nibbled on them. Just keep trying new foods & as Tink gets older she will develop a tatse for many good foods.

[Mare]

Hello, HisPrincess! Welcome! I have never owned conures but the birds I have eventually learned how to keep themselves busy with their toys. Their favorites of all time, though, are pieces of cardboard weaved through their bars and junk mail is also a pleasant addition!

[ConureGuy]

Welcome to the fourm bubbly and full of energy conures are although i don't know much about them i do think they are extremely cute and great fun to be around i'm more of a zon/sennie/CAG kind of guy but if i could i;d have all species in my flock. :D

[ShellyBorg]

Welcome!

[kendrafitz]

Hi and welcome!!!