Best products from r/Conures

Sounds like you've already read up a bit on birds, and that's a great start! I'd recommend checking out rescues in addition to breeders. Birds are NOT the right pet for everyone, and tons of people give up perfect parrots because they can't deal with normal bird behavior.

As for your questions:

1. Cage size: as big as you can afford, as long as it's got the correct bar spacing so your bird can't fit its head between the bars. I'd say 0.75 inch spacing is the absolute max for a GCC, 0.5 inch would be better; however, my bird is bigger than a GCC, so I'd consult with an avian vet on that to make sure.
   
   
2. Do not use T-Fal titanium nonstick cookware around birds! It has PTFE in it, which is toxic to birds. T-Fal advertises as PFOA-free and "nontoxic," but both PTFE and PFOA nonstick coatings are toxic to birds. Make sure your cookware is both PTFE and PFOA free. I use ceramic, cast iron, and stainless steel cookware only.
   
   
3. Cheap bird-safe cleaners: mix equal parts vinegar and water, put it in a spray bottle, and use it to wipe down countertops and anything that needs a little cleaning. Baking soda is also a great, cheap bird-safe cleaner - Google how to clean with baking soda, you'll find tons of tips, including how to clean an oven with baking soda (the self-cleaning feature on ovens is deadly to birds). For cage cleaning, I love Poop-off.
   
   
4. That feeding schedule sounds great. You can do meal times, or - well, I stick a bowl of pellets in the cage, and my bird does just fine.

>This noise chart puts a GCC as Low. Can I trust this chart?

Unfortunately, there is really isn't a one-size-fits-all answer here. How noisy and how loud a bird is depends A LOT on their individual personalities and how they are trained. I see the same chart says Senegals are also considered a "Low" noise level. But when we adopted our girl that couldn't be farther from the truth. Because she has anxiety issues she screamed (at the top of her lungs) for attention every time someone walked out of her sight. Luckily, she proved to be pretty easy to train and within 6-8 months we'd managed to replace 95% of the screams with talking and other more pleasant noises.

If you personally asked me whether GCCs fell into the "Low" category I'd probably say no.But only because the one we bird-sat for 10 months was not only extremely noisy (screaming for HOURS every day even if you were sitting right next to the cage) but very loud (his calls were very shrill and piercing and could be heard down the street with all of the doors and windows closed). So while I don't want to be a total downer, because I think it would be awesome if you could give this bird a great home, I just want to point out the insane variability that you will find with any two birds. That being said....

>Any tips / advice on how to minimise contact calls (I live in a Condo)?

Training, training, training. It's definitely possible to teach a bird they don't need to scream to get what they want, but it can take time and there needs to be consistency. I mentioned one technique that we've used to help mitigate screaming: replacing any screams that do occur with more pleasant noises. You can also reduce the overall screaming by rewarding silence or quiet noises and ignoring any louder outbursts.

>Will a conure adapt well to living with a single person?

It's possible. Again, depends on the bird and how easy you make the transition.

> Full time work schedule (40hrs), up early (up at 5:30AM, home by 5PM). Is this an issue since I want to spend time in the morning getting ready with the bird?

This is a pretty tight schedule. Especially since there are some daily activities you mention (working out, walking the dog) that wouldn't be conducive to giving ambient attention to a bird. Personally I don't believe a single person should have a solo bird unless they have the time to dedicate at least 4-5 hours a day to them. Obviously not one-on-one, but letting them join you while you cook, clean, relax, do work, get ready, etc. If that sounds reasonable to you, then it could definitely work.

The ONLY thing that is a big red flag to me right now is the fact that you would be taking a bird that is used to 24/7 company (other birds) and putting her by herself. It's one thing if you get a baby that has only ever grown up around people and so "doesn't know what they're missing" so to speak. But it's another to isolate a bird that has never had to be completely alone before. Do you know if the male GCC is her mate? Since parrots have evolved to literally never be alone, I'd be worried about her mental state after such a big transition. Our own rescue ended up developing a chronic plucking issue after her mate died and she was abandoned by her original home.

EDIT: I just wanted to mention, the cage you picked is nice but IMO still a bit small. If you are looking for much more space at a much lower price, consider one of these flight cages!

These are my top three that I personally used. :D

A) This awesome foldable travel cage. I love this because it folds and it is an easy travel cage when I take my flock with me on vacation, to the park, easy way to take them outside sunbathing with me, or to the pet stores ..etc. I also have used it during vet visits as well.

B) A simple, basic, plastic extra small dog/cat carrier. Sorry for the photo quality but I kindof wanted to give you a better idea. This is super light. It is easy for me to get my flock member and put them in there. I probably use this carrier the most for vet visit. You can drill a hole on the sides and insert a perch . You can get a mash for the front of the carrier so their heads don't get stuck between the bars.

C) A bird carrier backpack. This is worth the money. This is super study . It has a steel bowl holder, small animal water bottle holder, and slide tray for easy cleaning. I love this. You can use this for the vet visit and take your bird for a hike afterwards. Here's one of my birds using it at his vet visits

Well it sounds like he is getting plenty of time with the family so he isn't in his cage for very long. So that might be part of it. This year I quit my job and have been home pretty much all day. I started leaving the cage door open all the time so my bird could come and go as he pleased. The main thing I noticed was that he pretty much stopped playing with all the toys in his cage because he'd rather be spending time with me or waiting around till I came by his cage. I started shutting the cage door for a few hours at a time just to make sure he wasn't getting too clingy and dependent on me. I don't know if my schedule will always allow me to be with him all day. After a few days of this I noticed he went back to playing with his toys.

After having him for 4 years I'm sure you've bought every toy under the sun. Mine goes through phases of toy types. So maybe just experiment and offer a variety of types at the same time. Also, it takes a few weeks for mine to even play with all of his toys. I was rotating them more often, but I noticed he wasn't really touching any of them. After they were in there for a few weeks he'd finally start chewing on them. If you find that your bird doesn't like any store bought toys I suggest going on Etsy.com or just buying toy materials yourself and make toys out of the types of things your bird is into. My bird really likes to shred finger traps, pick the plastic spines off those little spiked balls, bang around plastic chains or strings or other hard plastic toys and any type of very soft balsa wood. I find Planet Pleasures offers a lot of toys that are easy to poke holes in and stuff little seeds and stuff into them to entice your bird to forage and destroy the toys to get to the goodies.

Lastly when your family has your bird out with them, bring a toy you want your bird to play with along too. Show them how you pick it up and play with it yourself and encourage them to interact with it as well. Sometimes birds just need to be shown that a toy is fun.

Yes, 1/2 inch PVC pipes with a lot of fittings. You won't find all the fittings at your local hardware store. I had to purchase 2 types on Amazon [1] [2] since I doubt any sane person would use that while doing plumbing.

I would say it cost about 100$ to put together (not including the toys), which isn't bad considering how expensive parrot trees are. Nothing is glued so it can easily be taken apart to wash / disinfect. It's also custom built to fit on the little step I have in front of the fireplace.

My friend help me finish the 2.0 version today.

I based my design on items available at this shop. He makes awesome play stands. If you don't want to go through the hassle of building your own, the prices are fair.

Materials:

• Stand: I used 1/2" pvc pipe and the appropriately-sized fittings. I got more pipe than I thought I needed (I ended up using two poles)
  
• Grip: any brand "pet bandage" (something like this works)
  
  (Rough) How to:
  
  
• I drew out a rough outline of what I wanted it to look like (my stand looks similar to this one )
  
• Measure and cut the pipe accordingly. Keep in mind that the fittings take up space as well so you have to account for that in your measurements.
  
• Put it all together to check for fit.
  
• Wrap it with pet bandage if you're happy with how it looks!
  
• Afterwards you can drill holes for hooks or eye loops if you want to hang stuff.
  
  Good luck! Sorry I can't post pictures of my own stands - maybe when I get home later :)
  

Poop-off is an enzyme cleaner than can be bought in liquid form or wipes form. Its really awesome stuff. I use the wipes for small jobs, like cleaning her toys or more recent poops found and the liquid stuff is great for cleaning dried poop or flung food that dried onto surfaces
https://www.amazon.com/Poop-Off-Remover-16-Ounce-Hendryx-Assorted/dp/B07911TKJ6/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1527685442&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=Poop-Off+Bird+Poop+Remover&psc=1


The smaller bottle has a scrub brush attachment on it and I just refill it from a huge jug of it I bought off of Amazon!

I ended up making my own for my GCC. In order to avoid any territorial issues he may get regarding his new found love, I made it something he can't "snuggle-love".

Simple solution for me? I made it into a tunnel! I just took some cardboard, cut it into rectangular pieces, fastened them together, and then lined the inside and outside with fleece-like old (and clean :p) dish clothes! Tied some butchers twine around it and fastened it to the top, and it's a toy he loves to death!

The best part is that it works as a means of travel, a snuggle-like buddy, a place to sleep, a toy, and a perch all in one! If you need a point of reference, it's like those triangular happy huts.

I was lucky because my conure instantly loved the pellets I put her on, she is also really young. Other than that though she only likes sunflower seeds (or whatever I am trying to eat of course!). I'm working on getting fruits and veggies in her diet more. This is the brand I use if you want to give it a try. Also, I never allow sunflower seeds to be freely available because those are her treats for training, I want them to remain special. But i do keep everything else from a seed mix in her travel bag and I take her for walks a few times a week.

We originally had the Happy Hut and our Green Cheek LOVED IT. However, upon seeing how dangerous they could be , we decided to get him a canvas tent. It's worked great and it is much safer. Here's what we got: https://www.amazon.com/Keersi-Parakeet-Cockatiel-Lovebird-Chinchilla/dp/B07DW2G9WX/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1539113347&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=conure+tent&psc=1

A better option is a warmer. I chose this instead of the heated perch because my GCC can easily move away from it if it malfunctions and gets hotter than it's supposed to. I've read several stories about the heated perch causing burns.

We have this one

https://www.amazon.ca/Prevue-Pet-Products-Wrought-Hammertone/dp/B000FRV3M2/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?keywords=conure+cage&qid=1561946581&s=gateway&sprefix=conure+cag&sr=8-12

For toys I like these guys. They ship.

http://www.exoticwings.com/shoppe/

Make sure you get a variety of chewing/foraging and straight up dingle/loud toys

I got my GCC a fleece one with no threads. She loves it! It’s the safest one I’ve found.

Parrot Kook Cabana for Birds Hut or Tent USA https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078RCVLWW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_QgCVDb4RB2DRH

Noooo way. Flimsy and small. If you’re getting a bird you need to be willing to spend a little extra to give them the best life you can. This one is so worth the extra money.... https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000FRV3M2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539903152&sr=8-1&keywords=parrot+cage+prevue&dpPl=1&dpID=41rvIjMEO1L&ref=plSrch

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bird-Cage-Large-Play-Top-Bird-Parrot-Finch-Cage-Macaw-Cockatoo-Pet-Supplies-53/183090691660?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

https://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Products-Wrought-F040-31-Inch/dp/B00176F5L0/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&psr=EY17&ie=UTF8&qid=1543256266&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=bird+cage

$24 difference between the two. the ebay one has about a 6"L x 4"W x 16"H difference less than the Prevue

which would you choose? im just sitting here waiting to purchase one of the two lol

My Mango does the same exact thing, loves to nap in the blankets when I’m in my recliner watching tv.
You should get one of these for your your Conures cage if you don’t have something already.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B078RCVLWW?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

Prevue Pet Products Wrought Iron Select Bird Cage Black Hammertone 3151BLK https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FRV3M2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_1TXZBb24GH2HV

We got this one for our black cap conure Ruby and she loves it.

He may be molting, which is very uncomfortable. My GCC just started his molt, and for several hours a day will stomp around screaming. I help preen his pin feathers around his head, because they’re very hard to reach. He quiets down and goes into a little trance.

You can help ease his discomfort by spritzing him with a bit of warm water now and then. A little bird warmer wouldn’t hurt either, especially if your basement is on the chilly side.

You might also consider supplementing his regular diet with some fresh broccoli and spinach, which are high in calcium and help form healthy new feathers.

I have a screened backpack that works well for short trips. It's this kind:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0714KS7LP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_379EDbFVE562J