Sun Conure Love

[sunnyshine]

I am in love with a beautiful, sweet little Sun Conure at a local Petco. I've gone back a few times to see him and today I went again. He came across the cage and was climbing all up and down the door following me. He stared at me and when I put my finger up to the bar he tried to lick it! He is adorable and such a clown... looks like a little monkey the way he climbs around. I keep finding myself trying to think of names. Anyway, as you can probably tell, I'm head over heals for this little guy. I want to make sure I'm all ready and know everything there is to know before I make such a decision, but I'm terrified I'll wait too long, finally go to get him and he'll be gone! Anyway... sorry to ramble on. Just a couple of questions for those of you already or previously owned by a Sun Conure.
What is a good price range for a Sun Conure?
I know they can be loud, but is it continually or within reason?
If he's loud, would it influence my Eclectus to be loud?
Are there any behavior issues known to Sun Conures?
What are some personality characteristics?
I've been doing a lot of research, but I truly believe you don't know until you've been there, which is why I'm asking you guys...
I want to know anything and everything about Sun Conures that you have to share!

[gbird]

What is a good price range for a Sun Conure?
I worked at Petco and thats were I got Pita. I went thru the same thing you're going thru, couldn't bare the thought of someone else taking him home.....anyway....he was $500.00 (but I got a 20% discount) I have seen them at other pet stores for as high as $700.00

I know they can be loud, but is it continually or within reason?
There are days when it's anything but within reason...LOL Pita is 1 1/2 years old (his hatchday is 4/11/06) Anyway, he's getting to the age were he can be a bit screamy at times, but it's not constant. Well, just when I'm on the phone, or not paying attention to him...lol He pretty much is in & out of cage all day when I'm home. I have been told that he is at the age were he is acting like a horny 18 year old....yes they get hormonal! What I have been doing when he screams is not react. I walk into another room, or go outside. If he quiets down, I come back, praise him and give him a treat. It's in thier nature. They are just being birds.

If he's loud, would it influence my Eclectus to be loud?
This I don't know. It would depend on your Ekkie, but I'm sure there are others that can answer this

Are there any behavior issues known to Sun Conures?
Sun Conures have a loud scream, thats most peoples complaint about them, but I don't think it's any louder than a Cockatoo or Macaw....Pita uses it when he can't see me and is calling to me, or when he wants something, or just because he feels like it....LOL You learn to deal with it. And it's not constant.

What are some personality characteristics?
Oh were to begin.....they are the clowns of the parrot world. You can't have to many toys, or a big enough cage. They are also very affectionate. Pita likes to crawl in my shirt, I think most conures do that. He preens me, gives kisses, lets me preen him. He talks...he says "I'm a good boy" "peek-a-boo" laughs, quacks like a duck, and makes kissy noises....and I laugh daily with him. They have a pretty good bite, but then I've been bitten by a Parakeet, and that hurt just as much. I think they have definit personality traits, but it also depends on you. Pita is pretty bonded to me, and I am home alot, so he's used to me being around, and his routine. You can't give them to much love. Be prepared though, like any Parrot, they have mood swings, temper tantrums, and go thru thier terrible 2's....but at the end of the day, I wouldn't have my life any other way right now.

Hope this helped, there are lots of Sun owners here, I'm sure some of them will chime in. Good luck, and we want pictures!!

Here are some pics of him

He loves to lounge around


hanging around



wet birdy


playing and lounging


being a clown



lounging again...lol

[2horse]

What is a good price range for a Sun Conure?
I don't know since I am in South Africa
I know they can be loud, but is it continually or within reason?
They always have a reason in their minds, with a well adjusted bird it is not continually. A bored bird will scream, they have need of a big cage with lots of activity toys. My suns scream at least twice a day, in the morning, they do wait till they see or hear someone, and at bedtime. They are watch birds so they do the intruder alert also. They are drama birds so it is best to ignore screaming. Whispering does help if they scream while on your shoulder, it can cause ear ringing. Sometimes it is hard not to let the birdie feel ignored and bored, example screaming when on the phone. They need to learn that it is inappropriate.
If he's loud, would it influence my Eclectus to be loud?
It depends on the ekkie.
Are there any behavior issues known to Sun Conures?
Apart from possible loud they chew stuff because they busy birds, they may modify your home. My birds are only caged at night.
What are some personality characteristics?
What gbird said and more. I think lovies bite harder than suns, the suns give warnings rather than going for blood. My Peanut is very bonded and goes lots of places with me. They don't have the nervous tendencies some other parrots do. For me the positives far outweigh the negative of screaming. It is a high pitched, big volume voice.

[jenseits]

I know you're already in love with this particular baby, but oh I so hate to encourage pet stores to sell parrots. Everytime I go into a pet store that sells baby birds they always look sooo miserable. It hurts me to think that bad breeders and pet stores make such a big profit off these little guys. (So to answer your question, I think they're usually $500-$750 at a place like Petco.)

If you can be persuaded to, I really recommend looking at your local animal shelters or petfinder.com. I'll bet you anything you'll find a least a couple of sun conures looking for good homes. I found my Stewie at a local animal welfare league and thought it was bizarre that they had a parrot. One week after I got him home, they had 3 more sun conures up for adoption. You'll see them much more than other types of conures, I think, because people truly underestimate how loud suns are.

And rather than spending upward of $500 at the pet store, a rescue/adoption costs very little. I took Stewie home for a mere $150 adoption fee. Plus I had the satisfaction of knowing I was making his life better and not doing so at the expense of other birds to come.

As for being loud: Stewie has his regular screech, which is already pretty loud to most people. But he also has a super loud scream that he lets loose when he sees birds through the window. When he does one of those and he's within a few inches of me, I swear my ears start to ring. I just know to move away from him once he starts staring out the window intently

[4HAND]

My ten year old son got his sun Cheddarhead two years ago as a well socialized hand fed baby directly from a breeder.I paid 350.00.I know Petco charges more,thier overhead is much higher.I don't consider Cheddy loud,but noise is relative....[10 year old son remember].Cheddy talks,has learned a few tricks,been to Show and Tell,and is the best friend my son could ever ask for.If I had to say something negative it would be this,he is the neediest animal I've ever known.Between the three of us humans he gets at least three hours of lap/shoulder/shirtsnuggle time.I'm just speculating here, but maybe that's why so many scream so much and end up needing to be re-homed.Let us know how it turns out.
Tena

[Sweet FX]

That ws my exacte situation. Except I went and saw him every Friday night for 3 mths. Then I gotten to just love him and missed leaving him.

Now that he is "Home" is is so happy, sometimes him seems grateful in a way. I am home just having surgury yesterday and laying on couch. I thought he would be yelling for me since he can see me, but nope...he is just playing and being happy.

Good luck on your decision

[saucie]

Aww Pita is so cute!!!

What is a good price range for a Sun Conure?

I think between $250.00 - $600.00. Pet stores tend to be on the higher end, breeders on the lower end. A breeder told me that Omar's, a SoCal petstore, also buys from them and doubles the price.

I know they can be loud, but is it continually or within reason?

Some are louder more often than others. Babies seem to be loud less often, though I'm sure they all come into it. My sun conure Conrad clucks quietly a lot, but he's still a baby. He's only screamed his loudest once that I know about, though at that time he did happen to be on my shoulder. I think they like to make noise, so they scream for no particular reason.

If he's loud, would it influence my Eclectus to be loud?

Perhaps if they're communicating? I also think it would depend on both birds.

Are there any behavior issues known to Sun Conures?

They chew everything. Conrad will drop everything to chew on my sunglasses.

What are some personality characteristics?

Very friendly, cuddly, and playful. Conrad likes to be upside down, so he's always hanging off something. Sun conures are also very curious, about everything. You could be minding your own business, and they'll climb right up your leg to inspect whatever it is you're doing.

[ROYJOY]

All good advice here, so far. remember you will be hearing this screem for 30 years or more.

also try craigs list, i found tiki on craigs list, and he is perfect. 450.00 incuding huge cage and lotsa toys.

and suns just keep getting more beautiful. how old is the one you're looking at? my baby is just a month older than pita.

[jenseits]

Maybe you should get together with Lilmama and see if you can take Tuc Birdie:
Losing my marbles, help@!

Only sorta kinda kidding.

[sunnyshine]

Wow, thank you for all of the replies! Everyone here is so helpful. I've been thinking a lot about this the past few days. I also feel a little worried about buying the Sun from Petco, because while they're fed well and in clean cages with plenty of toys, I want to be sure the bird I get is tame and socialized. He is such a sweetheart, but I don't want to rush into it. So I got to thinking and decided to call up the place where I got Sunny. It's not a chain store, it's an all bird store with a great reputation and amazing birds. I had a great experience with them in getting Sunny, so I thought I'd call them up. They don't have any Sun Conure babies right now, but they're going to call me when some come in. They're $150 cheaper than the one at Petco, so that would give me a lot of extra money for a nicer cage and toys. I trust this store, so I thought it'd be a better decision to try to contain myself and wait a little bit. I hope they call soon!
Anyway, I still want to get as much info between now and then as possible. Please feel free to share stories, warnings, pictures... anything!