Green Cheek Conure questions?

Question

So im thinking of geting a green cheeck conure. Mom said it was fine. Ive had parakeets and finches. I wont be getting the bird for awhile so that gives me time to study. I am fully aware of the time and effort they need. So my questions are:

Is there a Green Cheek conure for dummies book? What are good books I can get at the library?

What size cage is good? I havent been able to find the size online. I heard a large Cockatiel cage is good.

And you that have these funky little birds....

How much attention do you give yours a day?

How much do you travel and what do you do with your bird when your gone?

And I would love to hear about your Conures so please tell me about them :)

Answer 1

I recently got one the cage that I have is I believe 19w x 19d x 24h and I was told this was more than large enough.

I didn't get a book but I found a website that had a lot of info on them.

http://members.tripod.com/gcch/faq.html

They had a lot of interesting info, and some great ideas.  

Mine is a bit nippy but is getting better with work, and yes it will hurt if you get bit and may draw blood, just to warn you.  

I open the cage for mine first thing in the morning and leave it open so he can go in and out when he wants all day unless I am leaving.  I talk to him all the time and more if he starts asking for attention by yelling or something, and I try to pet him and handle him as much as possible.  I put him in his cage at the end of the day no matter what time I go to bed, even if he is sleeping on top of his cage or something I wake him up gently and send him into his cage.  

He doesn't come off of his cage a whole lot although I also have a toy up there for him to climb and play on and he has food up there as well.  He is attempting to fly around a bit now so he comes over to me when he does that, he is a lot of fun and is definatly worth the time and energy that he takes although if you don't have time he will not be happy.

Also, the younger you get it the better, mine was almost a year old when i got him and that is part of the reason he is nippy he didn't get a lot of attention when he was at the pet shop we purchased him from, so he is cage shy.

I don't travel a lot but when I do I will have my brothers come over everyday and let him out for about an hour and give him fresh food and water.