Green Cheek Conures - Quite a few questions?

Question

Last night my brothers bought me two conures for my birthday.

I have read up on them but I still have a few questions. My bros bought them from a breeder around the block who was "working" with them, but they seem to bite a LOT. They both bite whatever they can get a hold of, be it my rings, fingers, or papers, even if they have toys in front of them. What can I do to discourage this?

There is one male and one female. I have pix and if I can Ill put them up later bc photobucket isnt working for me. The breeder described them as "Male = normal green split to cinnamon and yellow sided hatched 4-17-08 Female = cinnamon hatched 4-9-08" Im thinking the darker green is the male. Also, will they mate if there is no nest in their cage? How many eggs does the female typically lay? How often do I feed them and what portions should be seed,fruit,and vegetable respectively? The papers say "seed=safflower gold small, pellets=zupreem and treats = millet while young, dried apricot peanuts"

Answer 1

I don't think I can answer all of these but I will answer a few. The reason they bite so much is because conures are bratty birds. They think they own the place and that they are MUCH bigger parrots than they actually are! You just have to show them your dominance. I had a conure and when it was younger, it would nip at me, but when it did this I would gently grab its beak between my pointer finger and thumb and say "No!" He eventually understood that he shouldn't do that. Also, remember they are young and in their "terrible twos" stage. As long as you play with them daily, the biting will defnitely stop.

As far as baths go, try bathing them in the sink. Conures are tropical birds so they like to bathe in warm water and they do like it to be like a shower. I actually had a perch that suctioned to my shower and the bird liked to come in with me and just hang out there while I got clean. Just make sure the water isn't too hot. Turn on a tiny stream and plop them in there, they will definitely figure it out.

If you want them to mate, I would recommend getting a wooden box... I know they make these specifically for breeders, it attaches on the outside and gives the female her privacy, however you can't stop birds from mating. Nest or no nest, its bound to happen sooner or later (and trust me, it is LOUD!).

I fed my conure from three serving dishes, the largest one was for pellets, the medium sized one was for fruit (given twice daily; wash the bowl each time) and the smallest was for seeds. It's kind of like the food pyramid for humans -- the pellets are the carbs, the fruit in the middle, and the seeds are the fats (don't feed them too many seeds, but it is a necessary part of their diet to ensure they have enough fat content). As far as how often goes, you may want to check on them twice a day with the pellet since there are two to learn which bird is eating the most and make sure each one is eating. Fill a small seed bowl once a day and try doing two pieces of fruit each day for each bird.