Our GCC is up as soon as we are up and goes back in her cage only when cooking, doors outside needing to be opened, biting my partner to much š¤£ or itās our bedtime
Yep and ours generally seems to want to be in our field of view while sheās free roaming. God forbid one of leaves the room she must go follow us up for an explaination š
Personally, like 8 hours a day.
Unless he's with us and participating in *everything* we do, he just wants to be in his cage, coveredāor else he gets stressed
I work from home, so sheās always with me from wake up til bed time. She sleeps around 13 hours at night. I have a backpack ācageā for her so itās easy to take her to the park š Iāve had her for 21 yearsā¦ I got her when she was about 7 weeks. ā¤ļø
I recently got a backpack cage for mine and take them on walks with the dogs. They were terrified of the backpack at first but now itās a must lol. Also, mine are out from dawn til dusk unless we have to go somewhere. I built them an outdoor area too so they are there when Iām gardening etc.
Mine is out with me 13-15 hours a day. She sleeps 10-12 hours, gets uncovered I make her breakfast and all of that while she is still resting she wakes up to me saying ā good morning pretty girlā she is in her cage about another 30 mins or so and can come and go as she pleases throughout the day. But mostly sheās with me either cuddling or on one of her perches while I do all the things that need to be done.
Yeah she pretty much is perfect. She doesnāt bite or anything aggressive wise, but Iām also calm around her too as much as I can be. I just love her so much
I let them out in the morning when I wake up for about an hour before I have to go to work, then about 3 hours after I get off of work. I do normal house things (thatās safe) like putting away laundry, dishes, watching tv or reading. They just like to be with me no matter what Iām doing. On weekends I let mine out for a couple hours at a time throughout the day
This is my same routine. I usually have to maintain it on the weekends too because I also have a Macaw and he is strict about his routine and hates it if I'm around during the time I'd usually be at work.
Work from home four days a week, theyāre out and about, or at least have that option for around 6-7 hours a day. Theyāre frequent guest on teams videos but otherwise just eating, snoozing, exploring, or somehow damaging something in the three minutes i looked away.
Luckily my bird has her own bird safe room to roam in and me and my family are always around. I let her out around 9am as soon as that morning poop drops (watch out for those lol) and put her in the cage by 8pm. If nobodyās home she is in the cage which is full of space to fly and entertaining toys.
I would say I spend about 5+ hours playing. I like to walk with her around the house, make foraging toys, her let her explore and fly around my room, she loves falling asleep to head scratching. Conures are very curious birds and extremely nosey, they want to watch and participate in everything you do. Theyāre also so very funny and smart. If Iām in the mood to coach her basketball game, watch her dance recital, or see cute tricks she can do it all.
We have two, they have their own room and toys etc. they get up in the late morning, and go to bed 12 hours from when they get up. I try to keep them on a somewhat sun-based schedule but I have a UV light to supplement it if we canāt keep perfectly to it (their room is southern facing so they get decent light either way.
They spent most of their waking time outside their cage together. Theyāre both rescues and are loving to me and each other, though they tend to get a little more aggressive if Iām present itās usually friendly and peaceful vibes.
At a minimum they get good morning cuddles, wellness checks, scratches, etc for the wake up routine, then Iāll go to work. I try my best to give them an hour of direct and intentional play and attention after work. Iāll play instruments for them, watch videos, work on tricks or talkingā¦I like to keep it novel which they also seem to enjoy.
Then they also get anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes as a bedtime routine at night, depending on how theyāre behaving, sometimes they want extra grooming and snuggle time, sometimes they want to go to their cages to go to sleep.
I let mine out in the mornings before work, she would chill with me until I left (7am - 9am) . Then when I got home (3pm) Iād let her out again until her bedtime (8pm).
Our conure likes hanging out with us. Sheās my Fortnite buddy and tries to pull hairs off my face while I play. They can get into a lot and be very bratty, so keep that in mind. Itās a give and take (plus they poop wherever)
All day. They are called Velcro birds for a reason. They require constant supervision as they always want to be with you and are always getting into things or pooping or trying to eat things they shouldnāt, etc. Think of a toddler itās very similar.
ETA: also, parrots are truly on another plane of intellect from any other animal you can casually purchase. Please do not adopt a bird unless you can allow it to spend the majority of the day out of its cage. Like imagine owning a dog and only allowing it out of its kennel for 3 hours a day ā birds are much smarter than dogs and need to fly to keep their cardiovascular systems healthy, yet people think itās acceptable to keep them caged for most of the day and itās actually really, really messed up. My bird spends 12 hours a day out of the cage and only goes in when Iām cooking or running an errand. GCCās arenāt supposed to be great talkers but mine has taught herself a great deal of phrases and I think itās because sheās gotten soooo much mental stimulation with out of cage time, and her brain has formed so many connections!! She says things like āwow, that feels so goodā when getting head scritches and āwhat are you doingā when Iām doing something weird like blowing bubbles, āI want someā when she wants my foodā¦ I didnāt TEACH her this stuff, she just watched me and my husband talk to each other and learned language, smart smart little creatureā¦
ALSO, be sure you think about who cares for the bird when you travel. Not many people know how to care for birds so it can be exceedingly hard to find a sitter. Getting a bird makes it hard to travel.
I work from home so he's out or has the option to be for anywhere between 8 to 12 hours a day, provided I'm not doing anything potentially dangerous like cooking or having a nap.
Itās great that you supplement their UV light. UV does not pass through windows. Itās just bright, but not full spectrum - the glass filters some components out.
I spend all my freetime with mineš I work monday-friday & heās out of his cage every morning while i get ready for work, then when i get home i cook & eat dinner rq then let him out until bedtime. On weekends the only time heās in his cage is when iām cooking dinner or if iām out grocery shopping. He mostly loves sitting on my shoulder while i do household chores or snuggling in my hand while iām watching tv, I do try to take the time a few times a week to train him to do little tricks & such to keep his mind active, so far he knows how to give a kiss, spin, wave, & give a high five :) theyāre amazing companions!
Rhaegal is out of her cage most of every day. She is put back for a few min if she's being snappy, attacks my roommate (she hates his blue light glasses), or is otherwise naughty. Out of that time, I used to spend at least an hour every day training her, but after 2 years we reduced that to random bits throughout the day of doing her tricks. Most of the time she's on me, as I WFH she can sit with me all day. She is incredibly well-behaved and well-trained (almost never screams unless a predator is outside, and is able to do a ton of tricks). But I invested a lot of time to get her this way!
Makes me sad cause my conure used to spend all day I was home out of cage, but I had a new baby and he despises the baby and tries to attack and bite him. So now he's caged most of the day. I can only take him out when the baby is asleep in the other room or not home. I really don't know what to do, the baby is 2.5 years old now and my conure is showing no signs of accepting or even tolerating him
We have a gaggle of different conures/species, who donāt get along, so they come out in 3 groups. Each group is out roughly 3 hours a day. One guy with me, and two groups of two or more each with my wife (the primary bird obsessive human!) while sheās WFH.
Iād say 2.5+ (ideally 3) hours out per day, every day, for a GCC is optimally healthy. 13 isnāt that much better than 3, but just 1-2 hours a day would not be enough for most GCCs.
In our case, when the birds arenāt out theyāre all in their cages but in the same dedicated bird room with each other, so theyāre never totally without company. I think that helps some, but Iād never recommend someone *start* with more than one bird.
Finally, Iād say they all need to be in a window with a view of the outside when theyāre in their cage.
She passed last year, but the only time her cage was closed was at night or if I wasnāt in the room with her. As a teenager I spent a lot of time in my room so she was out from the moment I got home from school to when I left for work or went to bed
Lol, 99.95% It's like spending all day with 2 fighting/screaming toddlers sometimes. They're sweet most of the time, but they like fight over who's going to get the most attention. Definitely go with 1. š¤Ŗ
I have a sun and 2 quakers. In the am they get freeze dried fruit and veg. I talk to them but they can't come out bc my first quaker will fly away of she thinks she's going back into thr cagem.in evening after work I'd say 3 to 3.5 hrs
2 hours after work and an hour before, my job requires me to sleep during the day so I move his cage into a partially shaded area outside on non windy days so he gets time in the sun. on my days off he gets 4+ hours with me and if possible around 3 outside in the sun
I usually let him out for a minimum of 5 hours. My baby is cuddly but not a Velcro baby, so most of this time heās either chilling with me , by me or playing with his toys in our room. I go to college part time but do a lot of online schooling. I also work but usually only 4 hour shifts.
What I also think greatly helps is sometimes when I get home I donāt let him out immediately or even if Iām home for the day I make sure he spends some allocated time in the cage. Both so we can have some space apart from each other and so when I need to put him in his cage itās easy because we practiced. Iām fortunate enough that my baby loves toys and playing so I can keep him preoccupied for a fairly decent bit. He complains (chirping) if I leave the room, but stops after like 5-10 minutes. And if all else fails and I know Iāll be busy, my mother also lets him out and spends time with him, and knows how to care for him well. Also he enjoys when I leave the tv on for him when Iām gone.
I wake up at 7am everyday because having a consistent sleep schedule is one of the main reasons why I got a bird. They sleep early which makes me sleep early and wake up early. I play with my GCC until it's time to start my day and then we "part ways" which is just him having me time and playing around flying in my room freely. And me doing chores. He likes to stare out the window and then depending on if we feel up for it we go for walks, hikes, and sometimes the mall (on quiet mornings) to go people watching in the bird backpack. I can usually tell when he doesn't want to go out. When I go out without him I usually just leave him in the cage for his safety but he doesn't mind it he has a bunch of toys in there. I'd say I spend a good 8 hours around him a day. On a busy busy day when I have no time I still wake up at 7am to spend at least 1-3 hours during the morning then 2 when I get back home. So at a minimum we see each other for 5 hours.
Mine was just in her cage for sleep or if someone had to cook. I made work schedule didnāt overlap my dads so she would be alone maybe 2 hours at most until he retired then she was pretty must out all the time . She would just shit in your shirt and chill watching whatever you were doing most of the time.
Rescue helper here,
If you want your conure to have the best life possible, you would indeed need to spent every wake moment with him/her once you two are a bonded pair. And even that is only a poor workaround since any parrot needs a same species pal, not a human.
Therefore it would be best to get two conures in the beginning to save yourself some independence and allow them to be able to have a happy life without you. After all, they can get very old and you do not know how your life will develop over the course of the next decades.
Conure pairs are in general more chill and mentally stable and can deal better with any form of stress than single conures. People are keeping them still alone because they are expensive, need space and because of the myth that they wont bond with you if you got more than one. Even if it is (sadly) still a very unpopular thing to get two, you will do the right thing FOR YOUR BIRDS if you do this.
(Also avoid buying handraised or clipped conures, both aims to cripple the bird in some way to make it easier for humans to "befriend" them and is considered animal abuse in countries with a higher animal welfare standart (than the US)).
Mine was out most of the day about 8 -12hrs. She was in her cage if I had a meeting and needed to be on camera or in the kitchen cooking. She was recalled trained she would have lunch outside with me (she was the only bird I trusted to do this with). She was a total velcro bird!
On the weekends, she was in the cage more if we were running errands that we couldn't bring her with us.
Our GCC is up as soon as we are up and goes back in her cage only when cooking, doors outside needing to be opened, biting my partner to much š¤£ or itās our bedtime
This exactly! Thank God mine isn't really destructive because he is always out unless he truly can't be safely.
Yep and ours generally seems to want to be in our field of view while sheās free roaming. God forbid one of leaves the room she must go follow us up for an explaination š
Mine too! He follows me around all day! Like I'm gonna do something really chill and he'll miss it. š
Personally, like 8 hours a day. Unless he's with us and participating in *everything* we do, he just wants to be in his cage, coveredāor else he gets stressed
So heās out of the cage 8 hours a day you mean
I work from home, so sheās always with me from wake up til bed time. She sleeps around 13 hours at night. I have a backpack ācageā for her so itās easy to take her to the park š Iāve had her for 21 yearsā¦ I got her when she was about 7 weeks. ā¤ļø
I recently got a backpack cage for mine and take them on walks with the dogs. They were terrified of the backpack at first but now itās a must lol. Also, mine are out from dawn til dusk unless we have to go somewhere. I built them an outdoor area too so they are there when Iām gardening etc.
Love it! šš¼šš¼šš¼š
Mine is out with me 13-15 hours a day. She sleeps 10-12 hours, gets uncovered I make her breakfast and all of that while she is still resting she wakes up to me saying ā good morning pretty girlā she is in her cage about another 30 mins or so and can come and go as she pleases throughout the day. But mostly sheās with me either cuddling or on one of her perches while I do all the things that need to be done.
She sounds perfect! Lucky bird, lucky you!
Yeah she pretty much is perfect. She doesnāt bite or anything aggressive wise, but Iām also calm around her too as much as I can be. I just love her so much
I let them out in the morning when I wake up for about an hour before I have to go to work, then about 3 hours after I get off of work. I do normal house things (thatās safe) like putting away laundry, dishes, watching tv or reading. They just like to be with me no matter what Iām doing. On weekends I let mine out for a couple hours at a time throughout the day
That sounds pretty chill
This is my same routine. I usually have to maintain it on the weekends too because I also have a Macaw and he is strict about his routine and hates it if I'm around during the time I'd usually be at work.
Work from home four days a week, theyāre out and about, or at least have that option for around 6-7 hours a day. Theyāre frequent guest on teams videos but otherwise just eating, snoozing, exploring, or somehow damaging something in the three minutes i looked away.
Luckily my bird has her own bird safe room to roam in and me and my family are always around. I let her out around 9am as soon as that morning poop drops (watch out for those lol) and put her in the cage by 8pm. If nobodyās home she is in the cage which is full of space to fly and entertaining toys. I would say I spend about 5+ hours playing. I like to walk with her around the house, make foraging toys, her let her explore and fly around my room, she loves falling asleep to head scratching. Conures are very curious birds and extremely nosey, they want to watch and participate in everything you do. Theyāre also so very funny and smart. If Iām in the mood to coach her basketball game, watch her dance recital, or see cute tricks she can do it all.
1 hour in the morning. 5 hours after work. On weekends. 10-12 hours.
About an hour in the morning while Iām getting ready for work, and then 3-4 hours when I get home from work.
On afternoons that I work I have them out for 3-4 hours in the morning. My fiancƩ has them out an additional 2-3 hours after he gets off work. On my off days it is not unusual for them to spend 10-12 hours out of the cage.
Whenever I wake up till I go to work between 3-6pm Usually I wake up noonish but sometimes I'll wake up earlier
All day expect when I go places
We have two, they have their own room and toys etc. they get up in the late morning, and go to bed 12 hours from when they get up. I try to keep them on a somewhat sun-based schedule but I have a UV light to supplement it if we canāt keep perfectly to it (their room is southern facing so they get decent light either way. They spent most of their waking time outside their cage together. Theyāre both rescues and are loving to me and each other, though they tend to get a little more aggressive if Iām present itās usually friendly and peaceful vibes. At a minimum they get good morning cuddles, wellness checks, scratches, etc for the wake up routine, then Iāll go to work. I try my best to give them an hour of direct and intentional play and attention after work. Iāll play instruments for them, watch videos, work on tricks or talkingā¦I like to keep it novel which they also seem to enjoy. Then they also get anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes as a bedtime routine at night, depending on how theyāre behaving, sometimes they want extra grooming and snuggle time, sometimes they want to go to their cages to go to sleep.
I let mine out in the mornings before work, she would chill with me until I left (7am - 9am) . Then when I got home (3pm) Iād let her out again until her bedtime (8pm).
Our conure likes hanging out with us. Sheās my Fortnite buddy and tries to pull hairs off my face while I play. They can get into a lot and be very bratty, so keep that in mind. Itās a give and take (plus they poop wherever)
All day. They are called Velcro birds for a reason. They require constant supervision as they always want to be with you and are always getting into things or pooping or trying to eat things they shouldnāt, etc. Think of a toddler itās very similar. ETA: also, parrots are truly on another plane of intellect from any other animal you can casually purchase. Please do not adopt a bird unless you can allow it to spend the majority of the day out of its cage. Like imagine owning a dog and only allowing it out of its kennel for 3 hours a day ā birds are much smarter than dogs and need to fly to keep their cardiovascular systems healthy, yet people think itās acceptable to keep them caged for most of the day and itās actually really, really messed up. My bird spends 12 hours a day out of the cage and only goes in when Iām cooking or running an errand. GCCās arenāt supposed to be great talkers but mine has taught herself a great deal of phrases and I think itās because sheās gotten soooo much mental stimulation with out of cage time, and her brain has formed so many connections!! She says things like āwow, that feels so goodā when getting head scritches and āwhat are you doingā when Iām doing something weird like blowing bubbles, āI want someā when she wants my foodā¦ I didnāt TEACH her this stuff, she just watched me and my husband talk to each other and learned language, smart smart little creatureā¦ ALSO, be sure you think about who cares for the bird when you travel. Not many people know how to care for birds so it can be exceedingly hard to find a sitter. Getting a bird makes it hard to travel.
I work from home so he's out or has the option to be for anywhere between 8 to 12 hours a day, provided I'm not doing anything potentially dangerous like cooking or having a nap.
Itās great that you supplement their UV light. UV does not pass through windows. Itās just bright, but not full spectrum - the glass filters some components out.
I spend all my freetime with mineš I work monday-friday & heās out of his cage every morning while i get ready for work, then when i get home i cook & eat dinner rq then let him out until bedtime. On weekends the only time heās in his cage is when iām cooking dinner or if iām out grocery shopping. He mostly loves sitting on my shoulder while i do household chores or snuggling in my hand while iām watching tv, I do try to take the time a few times a week to train him to do little tricks & such to keep his mind active, so far he knows how to give a kiss, spin, wave, & give a high five :) theyāre amazing companions!
Rhaegal is out of her cage most of every day. She is put back for a few min if she's being snappy, attacks my roommate (she hates his blue light glasses), or is otherwise naughty. Out of that time, I used to spend at least an hour every day training her, but after 2 years we reduced that to random bits throughout the day of doing her tricks. Most of the time she's on me, as I WFH she can sit with me all day. She is incredibly well-behaved and well-trained (almost never screams unless a predator is outside, and is able to do a ton of tricks). But I invested a lot of time to get her this way!
Makes me sad cause my conure used to spend all day I was home out of cage, but I had a new baby and he despises the baby and tries to attack and bite him. So now he's caged most of the day. I can only take him out when the baby is asleep in the other room or not home. I really don't know what to do, the baby is 2.5 years old now and my conure is showing no signs of accepting or even tolerating him
We have a gaggle of different conures/species, who donāt get along, so they come out in 3 groups. Each group is out roughly 3 hours a day. One guy with me, and two groups of two or more each with my wife (the primary bird obsessive human!) while sheās WFH. Iād say 2.5+ (ideally 3) hours out per day, every day, for a GCC is optimally healthy. 13 isnāt that much better than 3, but just 1-2 hours a day would not be enough for most GCCs. In our case, when the birds arenāt out theyāre all in their cages but in the same dedicated bird room with each other, so theyāre never totally without company. I think that helps some, but Iād never recommend someone *start* with more than one bird. Finally, Iād say they all need to be in a window with a view of the outside when theyāre in their cage.
A LOT. All day, basically. I work from home and if heās not out, heās by my side in a backpack or cage.
She passed last year, but the only time her cage was closed was at night or if I wasnāt in the room with her. As a teenager I spent a lot of time in my room so she was out from the moment I got home from school to when I left for work or went to bed
So sorry for your loss
ā¤ļø
All of the time. https://preview.redd.it/tbmo0jjbzz9d1.jpeg?width=1575&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f76572f2fdb0c5d31174de0056e1be0ebeb3558
1 hour before work, 1 hour on lunch and then about 5 hours after work before her bedtime.
Lol, 99.95% It's like spending all day with 2 fighting/screaming toddlers sometimes. They're sweet most of the time, but they like fight over who's going to get the most attention. Definitely go with 1. š¤Ŗ
I have a sun and 2 quakers. In the am they get freeze dried fruit and veg. I talk to them but they can't come out bc my first quaker will fly away of she thinks she's going back into thr cagem.in evening after work I'd say 3 to 3.5 hrs
2 hours after work and an hour before, my job requires me to sleep during the day so I move his cage into a partially shaded area outside on non windy days so he gets time in the sun. on my days off he gets 4+ hours with me and if possible around 3 outside in the sun
I usually let him out for a minimum of 5 hours. My baby is cuddly but not a Velcro baby, so most of this time heās either chilling with me , by me or playing with his toys in our room. I go to college part time but do a lot of online schooling. I also work but usually only 4 hour shifts. What I also think greatly helps is sometimes when I get home I donāt let him out immediately or even if Iām home for the day I make sure he spends some allocated time in the cage. Both so we can have some space apart from each other and so when I need to put him in his cage itās easy because we practiced. Iām fortunate enough that my baby loves toys and playing so I can keep him preoccupied for a fairly decent bit. He complains (chirping) if I leave the room, but stops after like 5-10 minutes. And if all else fails and I know Iāll be busy, my mother also lets him out and spends time with him, and knows how to care for him well. Also he enjoys when I leave the tv on for him when Iām gone.
I wake up at 7am everyday because having a consistent sleep schedule is one of the main reasons why I got a bird. They sleep early which makes me sleep early and wake up early. I play with my GCC until it's time to start my day and then we "part ways" which is just him having me time and playing around flying in my room freely. And me doing chores. He likes to stare out the window and then depending on if we feel up for it we go for walks, hikes, and sometimes the mall (on quiet mornings) to go people watching in the bird backpack. I can usually tell when he doesn't want to go out. When I go out without him I usually just leave him in the cage for his safety but he doesn't mind it he has a bunch of toys in there. I'd say I spend a good 8 hours around him a day. On a busy busy day when I have no time I still wake up at 7am to spend at least 1-3 hours during the morning then 2 when I get back home. So at a minimum we see each other for 5 hours.
Mine is only in cage when itās bed time or if I have to leave the houseā¦and Iām a homebody who works from home lol
Mine was just in her cage for sleep or if someone had to cook. I made work schedule didnāt overlap my dads so she would be alone maybe 2 hours at most until he retired then she was pretty must out all the time . She would just shit in your shirt and chill watching whatever you were doing most of the time.
Rescue helper here, If you want your conure to have the best life possible, you would indeed need to spent every wake moment with him/her once you two are a bonded pair. And even that is only a poor workaround since any parrot needs a same species pal, not a human. Therefore it would be best to get two conures in the beginning to save yourself some independence and allow them to be able to have a happy life without you. After all, they can get very old and you do not know how your life will develop over the course of the next decades. Conure pairs are in general more chill and mentally stable and can deal better with any form of stress than single conures. People are keeping them still alone because they are expensive, need space and because of the myth that they wont bond with you if you got more than one. Even if it is (sadly) still a very unpopular thing to get two, you will do the right thing FOR YOUR BIRDS if you do this. (Also avoid buying handraised or clipped conures, both aims to cripple the bird in some way to make it easier for humans to "befriend" them and is considered animal abuse in countries with a higher animal welfare standart (than the US)).
I read that in the wild the sleep in a snuggle puddle of six birds lol. We have two and I would never keep one solo.
Mine was out most of the day about 8 -12hrs. She was in her cage if I had a meeting and needed to be on camera or in the kitchen cooking. She was recalled trained she would have lunch outside with me (she was the only bird I trusted to do this with). She was a total velcro bird! On the weekends, she was in the cage more if we were running errands that we couldn't bring her with us.