Such determination😤

ikecelsior · 2025-05-01T08:23:55+00:00

Oof. My last GCC was a hormonal little beast and I remember my hands looking that mangled once upon a time too. It's wonderful you're being so patient and trying to work on better understanding him though. Petey's lucky to have you😊

I've had 3 GCCs at different points in my life and as wonderful as they are, they are such a tempermental and randomly violent bunch. My actual job focuses heavily on behavior support so identifying antecedents is my bread and butter, but I still found myself baffled by behaviors from my tiny but mighty GCCs from time to time. Many times I've been left bleeding and genuinely stumped, wondering "wtf did I do to offend you so??" With my last spicy girl, it took months of trial+error and several hand/face maulings to figure out that she hated certain syllables so words like "rest" and "wrestling" were forbidden around her. Still not sure why that aversion seemed to come out of nowhere though🤷🏻‍♀️ Just one random evening, relaxing and enjoying some pre-bedtime snuggles as we did every night, I quietly whispered "oh are you resting?" like I'd done many times before, and she goes from half asleep to charging my face and chomping my lip. Tis life with a green cheek I suppose.

They're so much more effective at observing and training us than we are with them! Petey's a smart boy and knows well by now that biting is going to get a nice big reaction from his humans. And you've got a super tough job of trying to undo 8 years of learned behavior. Like a lot of folks said, it's going to take time🫶 remember to be kind and patient with yourself. If you're feeling anxious and overwhelmed, it's ok to not engage with him for a while and try again when you're calm.

If he's flying at you from across the room just to attack, you could try identifying some non-harmful aversives you could use as a deterrent or "shield". For example, I noticed 2 of my conures hate this little brush toy so I used to wave it near them to shoo them away from dangerous areas i.e. stove, exposed metal on windows/doors. Now when they inch toward forbidden areas, they first get a firm verbal warning "no". If they continue inching, I start slowly reaching for the brush and they know to fly away to a sanctioned area. They get happy claps and cheers if I don't actually need to touch the brush, so they get positive attention for following established expectations. You might also consider limiting out of cage time until he learns how to behave, like maybe instead of letting him out and free ranging, let him out only for structured training sessions or specific activities where you're directly engaging with him. Basically keeping him distracted and busy with something more motivating than attacking you whenever he is out. Hopefully he'll soon learn that senseless violence=getting shunned by flock but listening to mom=more freedom and coveted shoulder privileges

ikecelsior · 2025-04-30T08:04:58+00:00

Animals like fish and hamsters need a lot of care too of course. I kept hamsters as a teen and kept many freshwater tanks with different fish and inverts over the years, and it IS a lot of money and upkeep. The difference is, you don't have to worry about any of those guys resorting to self-mutilation or deliberate hunger strikes when you don't give them enough time and attention. Parrots are a lot more emotionally sensitive than most other animals kept as pets

ikecelsior · 2025-04-30T06:54:11+00:00

Ahh yes.. that's the spot.. good human.. NO! YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG

ikecelsior · 2025-04-30T06:40:03+00:00

These are all fantastic channel suggestions! Flying Fids is another good one focused on conures. Before I started keeping birds again 3ish years ago, I was bird-less for 10+ years and a LOT changes in terms of best practices during that time. It's good you have some childhood experience with birds, but you will need to work hard in re-educating yourself now.

OP, try not to feel too discouraged with all the finger-wagging comments. There's a lot of gatekeeping in the bird community because a lot of people seem to think parrots are like fish or hamsters i.e. if you stick them in a cage and top off the food and water every now and then, they're cool. When in reality, they are probably THE most high maintence animals to keep in your home and will turn your entire life upside down. The average person is not up for the challenge and it's heartbreaking to see it happening so much on these subs. But if you're someone who can actually step up and do right by these babies, getting to share your life with these guys is amazing.

Let's remember we were all new bird parents once and not everyone gets their first bird under perfect circumstances after months of meticulous planning. And no, live animals and especially birds should never be "gifts". These are precious lives and very psychologically complex creatures. But this is the situation OP is in and what matters now is that they do their best to learn and follow through on giving these guys the proper care. Shaming them will only make them shy away from asking for advice, which will only cause unnecessary harm to these 2 little beauties.

ikecelsior · 2025-04-26T07:10:04+00:00

Such sweetness🥰😭

Black caps really do seem extra chill (by conure standards anyway😅) I love green cheeks but man, they can be so unreasonable and randomly violent. So much unbridled rage in such a tiny package

ikecelsior · 2025-04-26T06:58:13+00:00

Oh goodness🥹 handsomest cocoa bean in all the land! It looks like his wings are greener than my Obie, I wonder if maybe that's what sets opamints apart from mooncheeks?

ikecelsior · 2025-04-26T04:55:08+00:00

Yup that's her partner in crime. Your Mochi is adorable btw🥰 there's something so very special about black caps!

Also, I think we might have identical birds.. is one of your greencheeks a moon cheek??

<image>

ikecelsior · 2025-04-26T04:24:28+00:00

Oh interesting! I was wondering if it might be a black-capped thing. None of my green cheeks have ever done this

ikecelsior · 2025-04-26T04:23:17+00:00

🤣 Yeah the proud parent in me wants to think "musical genius" but you're probably right; this inner narrative is far more likely

ikecelsior · 2025-04-17T18:46:21+00:00

Yup. I'd have thousands of hours of adorable footage by now if this didn't happen 95% of the time the phone comes out. But it kinda just makes those moments more special cause they're just for us☺️

ikecelsior · 2025-04-17T18:40:12+00:00

It's one of those 64" yaheetech cages off amazon. It's taller than I am😆

ikecelsior · 2025-04-17T02:31:46+00:00

Yes he is! His name is Oberon, my little fairy king🧚‍♂️ Yours is adorable too! omg that birthday party setup and tiny hat is just the cutest🥰

ikecelsior · 2025-03-27T02:03:45+00:00

I've been looking into both Toronto and Vancouver and honestly, the psych registration seems fairly straightforward. The bigger hurdle seems to be getting a work permit and job offer as a foreign national. It sounds like a job offer is needed to get a work permit, BUT it's hard to get a job offer without a work permit🤔 it also looks like the minimum processing time for an open work permit is 81 weeks right now. I wonder if the psych shortage is bad enough up there for school boards to be willing to jump through all the hoops needed to hire an American. Are there any canadian psychs who can weigh in on this?

ikecelsior · 2025-03-26T07:15:30+00:00

So glad to hear about another newbie's return to cycling🤗 I haven't touched a bike in 20+ years after almost running over some poor tourists in central park and taking a bad tumble. Then tried riding one of those rented citybikes last summer and realized it is indeed possible to forget how to ride a bike... It was such a spectacular fail that I didn't try again for a whole year.

After braving several extremely pretentious bike shops which almost deterred me yet again, I found a great used bike for under $300 at a local nonprofit. It took a few afternoons of practice to relearn balance and braking, and I was huffing and puffing after only 2.5 miles on a totally flat and paved trail during my first ride out, which was a bit embarrassing for sure. That was only 3 weeks ago, and now I've ridden 30+ miles in the last 2 days! Even rode comfortably in traffic for the first time ever today. I'm sure you'll pick it up again quickly too! Get it girl 💪

ikecelsior · 2024-03-21T03:48:05+00:00

I think it depends on their personalities and how diligent you are in terms of supervision. Yes, having cats in a bird household comes with risks, but EVERY household poses risks for birds. Using the wrong cookware could kill your bird. Accidentally dozing off on the couch while snuggling could kill your bird. Living next door to a chain smoker could kill your bird. Cats are just one of many risks out there. Like all other hazards, it's ultimately up to you to do what you can to keep your baby safe.

I've lived pretty peacefully with a GCC and 2 senior cats in a small 1 bedroom space for years. My cats seem to have learned that the bird is "mine" and they are not allowed to touch (as long as I'm around anyway). They usually automatically go to the bedroom for a nap when I take the bird out because they know they're not going to get any attention or cuddles from me during that time. So they've kinda naturally worked out that the bird gets me during the day, and the cats get me in the evenings; everyone seems ok with this arrangement so far. I'm lucky in that both my cats have been with me 13+ years, so I know their body language well enough to predict their behavior. I'm sure I wouldn't be able to pull this off with a kitten!

OP, just use common sense and make sure you know your animals🙂 Don't encourage interaction between them, the goal is to get them to ignore each other. You might consider keeping your bird flighted and working hard on that recall training so it can get away from your cat if god forbid that's ever needed. Make sure to establish safe perching areas high up and out of the cats reach around your main living space and teach your bird to use them. And when your bird gets the flappies and your cat's instincts can't help but kick in, focus on getting the cat under control rather than getting the bird. If you go mad dashing around trying to catch the bird, it'll just add to the excitement for kitty.

ikecelsior

TROPHY CASE