New Bird Help

[imported_Michelle]

Hello all,
Ok so here it goes. I have recently been looking for a baby jenday and I finally found one. In my attempts to find one I came across an 8 year old sun whos current family has expanded(twins and very preme). This poor sun has been hand tamed in the past but hasnt gotten any attention since the boys were born (6 months). The woman told me that she is giving up on trying to find this boy a home on her own and was going to take it to the shelter because it bit one of the boys yesterday. So all in all I have decided to forgo the baby and take in the sun. He is priced very well for a poor grad student and he was very sweet when I met him after a little time to warm up. He is agressive toward her other sun, who is also agressive back. I am worried about my tiels, any suggestions on how to find out if they can get along with no one getting hurt. Also I am worried that if he is aggressive toward her kids he might be aggressive toward my dog who we treat like our kid! Ohh and also he is 8 and dosn't do any tricks or anything except step up, is it to late to teach and older bird new tricks? Any advice and suggestions would be helpful, I am still new at this bird stuff. I am willing to learn anything and everything.
-Michelle

P.S. He isnt water bottle trained and I would like to convert him any suggestions?

Hats off to you for taking this bird in :D As for your other birds the sun needs to be quarantined for 30 days or until you have it vet check and a clean bill of health. This is to protect your other birds from diseases. First thing I would do is clip his wings that way they are dependant on you to get around. Time and patients is the key word nothing is going to happen over night taming is going to be on his terms. Water bottle training is easy just put the bottle in along with his dish of water he will figure it out in no time. Rule of thumb for me is I never let my bigger birds interact with the smaller ones, just not a good idea. Good luck and keep us posted.

Donna

During quarantine you should allow your birds to come accustomed to each others sounds its a good first step and can help you to monitor there readiness to see each other. If after the quarantine period you see them calling back and forth move them in the same room but not right next to each other and at the same level,(height wise). Slowly over time move there cages closer. I agree do not allow them to ever be free together unsupervised, even if they appear to be getting along great,

[imported_Michelle]

So I picked Jackson up today, thats his name, and well things are not going well. We picked him up with his cage and he was already cranky because he hadnt been out of his cage all week. The cage was also very dirty and had to be cleaned. In the processs of just trying to get him home and safely into his newly cleaned cage he has bitten me 3 times to the point that I am bleading. The first time was at the girls house we got him from, she wanted me to hold him while she got his carrier. The second time he had been sitting with my husband and my husband wanted me to hold him so he put the bird on my shoulder and was ok for a while but then for no reason he bit my face. After that when I went to but him away he bit my hand again. >:( This is not what I bargined for. I wanted a baby but took this guy in because I felt bad. I thnk I want to find him a new home and wait for a baby, I dont thnk I am experiance enough to handle a bird that is going to bite me like this. I am just not sure how I feel about adopting out a bird that behaves like that. Also if I cant atleast get some of the money back that I paid to adopt him I cant get a new baby, which is what I really wanted. I know this might sound self centered but I want the best situationf for both of us. I could take him back to where I got him from but part of his behavior is from being there and thats not good for him. Any suggestions on how to make him behave better or ideas on how to find a sutible home for him with someone with more experiece would be great.
-Michelle

Michelle Please give the poor bird time to adjust!!! You just pulled him from the only home he ever had. What would you do if you were Jackson? Did you really think this bird was going to take to you as soon as you got him home? He's 8 years old and had a history of biting and aggression. And you never put a bird on your shoulder that you don't know that well. If you read other post on here we beg people not to get a second hand bird if you are not experienced to take on the challenge. Parrots of all kinds are going to bite that's just what they do even a baby is going to grow up and bite sometime in it's life. Theres no such thing as a bird that don't bite.

Donna

[imported_Jason]

Sorry to hear things turned out not like you expected them to be. I have two Suns, and at times, they will bite VERY hard.. But only very occasionally. I have learned to "read" their moods by their body actions, and know when to leave them be. Most of the time they are fine though. If you do decide to re-home this bird, make sure it goes to someone with experience handling aggressive birds. It would be the only fair thing to do with it, if you feel you cannot handle it yourself. I took on a second hand female ekkie that I was bound and determined to tame, due to the fact she was less than a year old. I worked with her for about two months, and it seemed like the more time I spent with her, the worse she became. I obtained her under the deal that if I could not make headway with her, She would become a breeder, and I would get a baby from my breeders next brood. This was the way it ended up turning out. I was hoping to keep her from being a breeder bird. When I was unable to tame her, my breeder took her back in, and gave me my Sadie,... who was right out of the nest. I hand fed her, and weaned her myself. My wife, and kids had very little to do with her, and the handfeeding process, and she ended up being a one person bird. She loves me, and me only. But if I had it to do again, I would have to say,... as much as I wanted to save that bird from a breeding situation, there was nothing I could do for her. A breeder seemed to be her destiny. I would do like Donna says though, and give the guy/gal some time. If it gets to the point though, where the bird is cage bound, and you are afraid to try to handle it,... that is the time to think about a re-home. The reason I say this, is that if you are afraid, you will do the bird no good by keeping it.

Jason

[imported_David]

[color=purple]Hi
I assume that you already asked the previous owner if she would take him back and the person said no, right? Did this person speak to you about his biting?

Anyway, there's a few rules that a person needs to know about an adult bird (or a young bird) when bringing it home especially an older bird that has some *baggage or history* attached.
1---the bird should be allowed to thoroughly relax in the house while checking out the surroundings even if it means staying in a dirty cage for a couple of days.
2---the bird should not be physically handled right away if that bird is nervous, edgy and very leery about all that is going on. He/she needs to get used to your face and what new things are going on all around him. The only safe area that allows him to absorb all of these new things calmly is from the safety of his cage which is the only thing he feels comfortable with. Forget the fact that he's been pissed off all week. The bird is in YOUR house now and isn't thinking about last week.
3---Because he's an adult bird that is set in his ways, each bit of contact that you will have with him will only happen with lots of patience on your part. Basically, trial and error.
4---No matter what age bird is that you have in the house, the one thing that should be avoided is letting birds get used to staying on your shoulder. If it's an older bird, you're only asking for trouble--SERIOUS TROUBLE. A bird that's on a shoulder can bite your ears, cheeks, neck, hair, jewelry, clothing and if that bothers you, it'll be hard to get the bird off because he/she can walk from shoulder to shoulder behind your neck. If you should finally corral him and take him off, be prepared to get bitten especially if he likes it up there. Plus, while up on your shoulder, a bird can defecate all over your shoulders and back.

I'm sure that other people here will try to give you some more suggestions.

"""""I could take him back to where I got him from but part of his behavior is from being there and thats not good for him. """""""

Don't take it upon yourself to judge what's good or not good for that bird. Bring him back. Understand that not many people get that chance of bringing a bird back. Consider yourself lucky. You're already unhappy with the bird...you're bleeding and no one here or anywhere else can guarantee that it won't happen again.

As far as getting your money back....well, I have no suggestions on how that can happen other than hoping that the person can see your predicament.

If you do get your money back, get your baby Jenday or Nanday. Otherwise, starting off being a parrot owner will be a terrible experience. Start off on the right foot. Learn about parrots before you think about taking on someone else's problem and if that person really didn't have a problem with that bird, don't feel so bad about bringing the bird back. If you wanna be polite to that woman just tell her that it would be wise if she sold the bird to someone who has experience with older birds who have lousy attitudes. More than likely, that bird has totally bonded with that woman.

Think your situation is unusual because it concerns new childen......Well, Tee is a TAG. . He's now 13 yrs old. He was given to me 4 yrs ago. The people got him when he was 2 yrs old. Tee was always a serious biter and after a certain amount of time he made his mark in that house and the people were legitamately fearful of him. He bit the husband and wife frequently. It got to point where they could only handle him by using a perch to move him around, take him out of his cage, retrieve him etc.

Then this couple had a baby. Tee had always been a jealous bird and continued to bite the couple. Then, when the baby was 5 mts old Tee decided to hunt down the baby and tried to attack and bite him but was unlucky. He tried a couple of times.That's when I received a midnight call asking if I would take the bird.

Tee intensely disliked me, my wife, hated my CAG Smokey, my other birds and my dog. It took me and my wife over a year of constant working with him, getting bitten over and over and over before he finally changed his aggressive behavior and became a friendly bird. If I were to give you $1 for each time I and my wife was bitten, you would have enough money to buy a Cockatoo.

If you feel like taking a chance, it's up to you.----------Dave

[imported_Michelle]

I know not to put a new bird on your shoulder unfortunately my husband didn't and my hands were full. I am just confused because she said he was aggressive toward other birds but never humans. Now I know that this dosnt mean he wont bite. He is fine with my husband which is weird because he is suppose to be "more of a womans bird". I am just not sure how I can work with him if he is going to attack me all the time. I am going to try and leave him in his cage for a bit to get use to being around here. I fuess I should have forgone the cage cleaning and just put him back in it, it was soooo dirty though. I have read some books on conures and I am trying to do all the things they say to do in them. I am just concerned about how I am to generally care for him if he behaves like this. I want him to be a healthy and happy bird weather he stays with me or not.

[imported_Michelle]

Well Jackson is doing better. He absolutely adors my musband and actually climed down from his cage to come and find him today. He is still nippy toward me but we are making progress. He loves being out of his cage and just sitting on his perch where he can see everything. I am still not sure He is going to stay with me but I think I can atleast keep him untill I can find him a good home.

AWWWW Michelle That is so good to here :) He's made the first step now just give him a little longer before you give up on him. Please keep us posted and oh of course we want pics of the little devil ;D

Donna :)