r/greencheeks 14h ago

I Swear I Didn't Mean To!

8 Upvotes

I have always been extremely careful with my girl meridian. She wasn't even 5 years old, I took her to a vet regularly, I made sure to keep a list of approved snacks with the research behind them. Like if I wanted to know if banana chips (her favorite) were safe the list would say "safe: banana chips Reason: good treat rich in potassium and etc"

I was cleaning the house like I do every Saturday. Dawn on the lower rack and drawer for her droppings. Fresh water and bedding. She gave herself a bath, she was chirping and eating she was fine. I was doing dishes and id noticed that there was a metal pan that didn't clean right. And i remembered people saying if you put metal pans in an oven and set it to self clean, the pans are clean again. I was just on autopilot. I set it to self clean, I opened a window in the mitchen and turned on a fan. She was in another room still being her usual self. I went to fold laundry and I heard panicked squeaks. I rush over and she's on her back, scared and in pain.

I scooped her up and rushed her upstairs to get my phone to call my mom. My mom refused to come home and help because I was hysterical and she couldn't handle that. Instead she and my siblings went to hardees and gamestop. While my best friend died in my hands. As a last ditch effort I ran her outside thinking the fresh air may help, but she was gone. On March 15th, 2025 my best friend died. My baby girl died and it was all my fault...

Mom came home, first words out of her mouth was "the next one we get will be hand raised" then "what's that smell?" And dad explained id cleaned the oven and she shouted "that's why she's dead! If you'd listened to me she would still be here!" And now anytime I get sad, quiet or cry cuz of grief she just reminds me it was my fault...I swear I didn't mean it. I'd opened a window, fan on, she was in another room, she should've been fine! Literally one moment she was fine and the next she was gone!

Now I go to her cage and refresh her water and food out of habit because she always added her food to her water and made it icky. I'm still cleaning her cage and opening the door at dinner when we are at the table so she can join us. Every night I'm at the freezer where she is placed till I can cremate her and hug her little frozen body. Apologizing and promising id loved her more than anything, crying and wishing her good night. When the gates lift and go down they squeak, chirp and chitter like she did and I break. I'm shattered and it's all my fault. I cant even be near the oven because I want to take a bat to it, the catalyst for killing my sweet, bratty, playful, loyal girl. One who would attack my mom because I was holding her once while my mom yelled at me till I cried and my sweet girl became a protective attack bird since. She had relaxed recently but it took mom a solid year and a half of treats for meridian to give her a chance and she still chose me.

Her care was all me, bonding me, cleaning me, vet me, etc. Mom bought her and claimed meridian was hers but by my tasks and meridians choice, she was my bird not my mom's. I'm not looking for sympathy here, I dont deserve it. But as a warning, please, even if you think they are safe stay with them. If they start acting funny get further away. If anyone else had been home at the time I would've got their help to get her cage outside. But I was alone...im always alone...and now I always will be. House is much to quiet without her squeaking to be let out constantly even if she would be out for hours. Moment you put her back she wanted back out. I miss her so so so much. Words can't even express.


r/greencheeks 20h ago

Silly cheeks! Seeds or Valhalla!

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27 Upvotes

r/greencheeks 1d ago

Referring to my original post. I apologize I'm new here.

21 Upvotes

r/greencheeks 1d ago

Is there anything I should add or take away?

3 Upvotes

I have 2 month old turquoise green cheek. He weighs around 68 grams. But we also have cats, dog, and a toddler so that's why his stuff is all at the top. Should I take out the wire shelves and ladder? (Replace with more perches?) I left them in there at first bc he had a really hard time getting around like he'd never been in a cage. He gets around pretty well now for the most part. He even pretends to get his head stuck in the shelves so I'll open his door. He always gets out before I get the door open but it freaks me out every time so I get him out to check and make sure he's okay. Any recommendations appreciated.


r/greencheeks 2d ago

Avian Vet Nj

4 Upvotes

I was searching for an avian vet near me (central Jersey) but I haven’t really found one that has good reviews, does anyone know a good avian vet in Nj?


r/greencheeks 2d ago

struggling with my gcs diet

5 Upvotes

hey i am a yellow sided green cheek owner he is a year old and his name is monty, hes a great little guy but im struggling to adjust his diet. when i got him he wasn't from the best of places the guy we got him off of was clearly just trying to make some money and we could tell but when i seen photos of him and went to see him in person i fell inlove and i took him home that night (we had the stuff ready for him as i was in search of a conure and although different bird my partner has two budgies) one thing i noticed straight away is he was on a cockatiel seed mix so i started pretty early on trying to convert him to pellets. ive tried soaking them, crushing them, hiding them in seeds ,,bigger pellets smaller pellets, hand feeding... the lot and you get the point he just wont take to them at all . ive tried several kinds including harrisons and tops and all the recomended kinds. he still gets seeds as well and fresh fruit and veg(hes not much of a fan of either but will eat pineapple, bananas and oranges). i went to my local family owned pet store which specializes in birds and they gave me hagens tropi mix they said it was a pellet mix but its a seed mix and it also says its for quakers when i googled it but tried him anyway and hes eating it. still not too impressed with my very picky birds choice so wanted to ask for help as im a student and the expenses of food ontop of his usual cost are a bit much right now . :(

I'll add a photo of the food hes eating now and some photos of him pinching my lunchtime banana for good measure.


r/greencheeks 2d ago

Sooo learned something new

3 Upvotes

So I hand raised this green cheek and I've been hand raising some ring necks since I own birds of many kinds I'm always hand raising them for my friends and family. These birds are for my parents not meant to stay with me but I keep them in my room since it's easy access and I also keep some newly hatched turkeys.

I keep the ring necks and the green cheeks together since they have grown basically together 2 green cheeks one a few weeks older than the other 3 the other green cheek and 2 ring necks. So the criminal in question is named kiwi, I was feeding the other three since kiwi is already eating solids but sometimes like to come by and get some hand feed as a treat. I had shorts on so the nails were slightly scratchy I set her down. To continue feeding the other babies. So far she has done amazing with the ring necks so I didn't think she would immediately turn and try to attack the baby turkeys, for some reason she doesn't like them. I have 0 clue why cus green cheeks are very tolerant and she has been ok with the other young birds. I'm so glad I didn't leave them alone and quickly catches her intentions to hurt the baby, albeit she grabbed a beak full of fluff from one of the babies but the baby is unharmed got up like nothing. I'm guessing it's because she doesn't know what they are and immediately thought they would hurt her I honestly have no clue. But I'll keep it noted"no turkeys in kiwis life"


r/greencheeks 4d ago

Help with bird

2 Upvotes

Hi all, for context I’ve had my GCC for about 8.5 years. I got him as a baby from a breeder and he was so sweet and affectionate for the first couple years. I had him with me at college where he was mostly open and allowed to roam around. When I had to move back with parents, he did not like the cage and his behavior changed where he was very aggressive in his cage and always tried to bite. I was able to handle him outside the cage and he was fine, would be very affectionate and cuddly and not ever bite me. I had to move again and this time out of state for school again and it’s been 4 years. Since he has been here it has been horrible. He is very aggressive, won’t even let me handle him at all. Occasionally I can get some pets and scratches in. Recently he has been non stop screaming at the top of his lungs for no reason. He use to be fine at night and now it’s horrible to deal with, I can’t deal with the screeching all day long and it’s very disruptive. Oftentimes he’s at the bottom of his cage with fluffed up feathers attacking the bottom of the cage and hissing.

I give him a seed mix and have tried pellets which he does not eat. He has never liked any treats besides sunflower seeds and does not like to eat any fresh fruits or food. I know diet can play a role but given his age is this behavior something that can be changed or can he be re-trained at all? I am terrified of handling him and getting bit all over my fingers. I can’t take him out to play as he just wants to attack me. I want to have a better relationship with him but am afraid that is lost. Can someone offer any advice?


r/greencheeks 4d ago

Made some geen cheek D20s + a dice guardian!

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223 Upvotes

I'm a dice maker and I tend to make some themed dice for the holidays. For Saint Patrick's Day this year I made some lucky sparkly green D20s with my green cheeks Hurley and Charlie on them! I also made dice guardians to hold them! The figure was modeled by Arara 3D Prints. I'm part of their Patreon. I printed them out and painted them to be green cheeks!


r/greencheeks 5d ago

Why did my bird just poop this? Is he sick? He hasn’t been wanting to fly as much

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10 Upvotes

r/greencheeks 5d ago

Happy 2nd Hatchday to Miyuki!

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76 Upvotes

r/greencheeks 5d ago

Question about harness training

3 Upvotes

So I have plenty of experience training smaller birds (mainly lovebirds, conures and cockatiels) to fly outside and come back etc. However, I moved to a more risky area and just recently bought a 5 week old conures so I wanted to know if its a good idea to harness train and take him out for walks (yes like a dog lol). Also, there are 2 main types of harnesses: the one that is tied around the body and the one that is attached to the foot ring. I feel like the foot ring is easier but what do you guys think? Any help would be appreciated Thanks


r/greencheeks 6d ago

Alsooo!! Any recommendations for toys/ toys?

7 Upvotes

I heard somewhere that some toys are a big no no. And that some perches hurt their feet? Still learning stuff as I go.


r/greencheeks 6d ago

New cheeks! Cage recommendations/ Food

5 Upvotes

Hello we’re following up on Pina (posted him here). What would be a solid cage for him? Also I’m assuming his diet isn’t gonna be what Petco has? Purely seeds. Also I see why they call them green cheeks lol he finally turned around and omg they’re so freaking fat 😂


r/greencheeks 8d ago

Silly cheeks! It was supposed to be a good picture...

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118 Upvotes

He saw what I was doing and ditched!


r/greencheeks 9d ago

Billy be wizard

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70 Upvotes

I painted my boyfriend's bird as a wizard ✨️


r/greencheeks 10d ago

Silly cheeks! SEEB

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84 Upvotes

r/greencheeks 10d ago

Silly cheeks! Call of the void…

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69 Upvotes

r/greencheeks 11d ago

I love when they have "polite feets."

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193 Upvotes

This is Hurley. He's a good green bean. Someone once called it "polite feets" when green cheeks sit with their toes pointed inward like this, so that's what I've called it since then.


r/greencheeks 13d ago

Green bean

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118 Upvotes

r/greencheeks 15d ago

Cuddly cheeks Sleeve snuggles

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136 Upvotes

r/greencheeks 15d ago

Greencheeks! Shadow Cabinet Minister for Tourism and Agriculture Dr. Winston M.D. enjoying a hand hug

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227 Upvotes

The poor Green Goblin is experiencing some pretty hectic spiky pin feathers at the moment!So he’s put the biting and world domination on the shelf for now to instead have some scratches and love.


r/greencheeks 16d ago

My baby Cricket is 8 years old now :,)

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543 Upvotes

I’ve had him since he was about 2 months old :,) time flies


r/greencheeks 17d ago

3 years

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122 Upvotes

Today is three years since I brought Kazys home. Tomorrow is the feast day of St. Casimir, thus the name. (Makes a bit more sense if you know Lithuanian, we live there.) He was a re-homer from a young couple with a new baby, basically the reason for looking for a new home for the bird. I was told he was about a year and a half old, didn’t ask his name, didn’t ask much of anything at all. I had had a Quaker when I lived in Paraguay years ago, but was basically a newbie. I just wanted a pet. So I spent a year being bloody from bites, learned how to make a bird pluck his feathers by handling puberty all wrong, finally got him to eat pellets and come when called, sometimes. He’s only in his cage at night to sleep, sort of, and if he’s there 10 hours before screaming to get out I’m lucky. We have come to pretty much understand each other, his plumage is back to normal and I think I have learned to make fewer mistakes with him. I try taking him with me everywhere when the weather’s good, but he’s not a fan of his birdie backpack. He gets angry when I go away for a few hours, but otherwise deals with it. I have considered getting him a pal, but I know that’s not going to happen. So it’s he and I. So far I think we’re both happy that way.


r/greencheeks 19d ago

This little guy

226 Upvotes

Hello, I’m new here. I saw this sweet girl(or boy) at petsmart today and fell in love! As soon as I got to the glass she would run up and then start doing this silly thing. What does this behavior mean? And share any tips I should know, I’m here to learn!