Nanday Questions - and a picture! =3

[NaniOokami]

First order of business, a picture. :D

That's the new little boy(I'm assuming - haven't officially had him sexed yet)

He's my first Conure - my first of anything bigger than a 'tiel, even. I must say it's quite a different experience that I never expected. He's a good deal more work than I anticipated, but that doesn't discourage me in the least. Trinkets was fast family. My fiance doesn't particularly care for birds, but has also fallen in love with the little guy.

I had a couple little questions in my previous post, but a few more days with him, and I have scounds more... :3 Hopefully someone can help me with a few of these.

First one - The Petsmart I bought him at (lovely little store. I've seen some Petsmarts that I wouldn't want to touch with a ten foot pole, but this was very small, very friendly, and very much cared about their birds.) told me that he was born in May. I've read, however, that they don't grow in those brown feathers surrounding their cap until a year of age. It's not completely in, no - but is he older than they were letting on? By the picture I gave, is it still possible he's a juvenile?

Secondly, if he is a juvenile - he does this thing where he takes my fingers and shakes them. It's not beaking - but he does that too. It mocks nursing behavior, but I'm worried as to whether or not it's normal.

He beaks ALOT. I've been trying to direct his attention elsewhere, like previously suggested. Sometimes it works, but most of the time he just gets mad and bites. I don't know what a Conure forceful bite feels like, but it does hurt a little. He's fine and he doesn't hurt most of the time -it's when I interrupt him that he gets mad. If he is still young, I want to seriously try and knock this behavior before he reaches adulthood. I thought about clicker training him, maybe to give him something else to concentrate on and hopefully he won't feel so much like nibbling at my neck. Would this help any? (I still intend to, but I was wondering if this would help the behavior or not)
Right now, I've resorted to placing a shredable piece of paper between my neck or fingers and him. He doesn't much care for it, but at least he doesn't go after my hands to bite me then. He also goes to bite if I try and make him step up from my shoulder. Cage he comes easy peasy, but off the shoulder makes him mad.

He is also Velcro-bird. He doesn't hate my fiance, but he's definitely a momma's boy. His favorite places to be are on the neck of my shirt, so he can try and nibble at my neck (which I don't like) But nomatter where I am, he has to follow and he has to be ON me.

One week after coming home he finally is starting to acknowledge his toys. I caught him playing with them just a little bit ago, just poking at them while I was in the room. I was starting to get afraid that I bought him the wrong toys, but he still doesn't seem to like his cage much like most birds do.

So many questions - but he is still a definite joy to have in the house. I want to be sure that he gets to live the fullest life possible here. I don't want him to get bored, and I don't want him to feel lonely if I'm at work.

So any conure tips and pointers would be lovely! :)

Thanks in advance!

[Monica]

First one - The Petsmart I bought him at told me that he was born in May. I've read, however, that they don't grow in those brown feathers surrounding their cap until a year of age. It's not completely in, no - but is he older than they were letting on? By the picture I gave, is it still possible he's a juvenile?
It looks like he may still have some juvenile feathers from when he first feathered out... your best bet however is to ask the store for a hatch certificate if they have one (they are supposed to on all medium sizeds birds... but they may not, or may not know what your talking about)

Secondly, if he is a juvenile - he does this thing where he takes my fingers and shakes them. It's not beaking - but he does that too. It mocks nursing behavior, but I'm worried as to whether or not it's normal.
It's either a "feed me" response, or a "feed you" response. If this is a young conure it could very well be a "feed me", and it can also be a comfort thing (since weaned birds can resort back to wanting to be fed formula)... however, young birds and adults may also regurgitate for their human... it's a bonding thing, and either way, it's normal.

He beaks ALOT. I've been trying to direct his attention elsewhere, like previously suggested. Sometimes it works, but most of the time he just gets mad and bites. I don't know what a Conure forceful bite feels like, but it does hurt a little. He's fine and he doesn't hurt most of the time -it's when I interrupt him that he gets mad. If he is still young, I want to seriously try and knock this behavior before he reaches adulthood. I thought about clicker training him, maybe to give him something else to concentrate on and hopefully he won't feel so much like nibbling at my neck. Would this help any? (I still intend to, but I was wondering if this would help the behavior or not)
Right now, I've resorted to placing a shredable piece of paper between my neck or fingers and him. He doesn't much care for it, but at least he doesn't go after my hands to bite me then. He also goes to bite if I try and make him step up from my shoulder. Cage he comes easy peasy, but off the shoulder makes him mad.
Birds are just beaky, period... especially young birds. Also, besides a paper, try a toy, a leather string, or even a "birdy necklace" (a necklace that you wear but has lots of fun stuff hanging off of it!). You can also take an old shirt or sweater, put holes in it, and hang a bunch of small toys from the holes. Istant birdy fun!

As for the shoulder, either keep him off of your shoulder, or entice him down with a treat. Also, be sure to work on step ups daily.

Many people recommend clicker training.

He is also Velcro-bird. He doesn't hate my fiance, but he's definitely a momma's boy. His favorite places to be are on the neck of my shirt, so he can try and nibble at my neck (which I don't like) But nomatter where I am, he has to follow and he has to be ON me.
Be sure that your fiance works with the conure too... be it with toys, or giving treats. Also, try and socialize him while young... this may make him out to be a better adult in the long run.

One week after coming home he finally is starting to acknowledge his toys. I caught him playing with them just a little bit ago, just poking at them while I was in the room. I was starting to get afraid that I bought him the wrong toys, but he still doesn't seem to like his cage much like most birds do.
If Charlie had his way, he wouldn't have a cage! He used to have a cage that was 19"x23"x32". He now has a cage that is 40"x30"x66" and he really could care less!

You can try playing with your conures toys and getting him interested in them.

[PyscoFalcon]

What a lovely boy.
Clicker training might work for you if he has a fav food.

[milihandra]

What an adorable Nanday!

He looks a lot like my buddy did when we first got him, and a LOT of the behaviors you described are identical. Buddy was from a petsmart also, and we got a "hatch certificate" definately look into it!. Also, he should have a band on his foot, there are a lot of websites dedicated to looking up the breeder, you can contact him/her as well. Also, I know buddy's has his year of birth on it.

I can't offer advise about birds in general but I can tell you my experiences. The biggest difference I find with conures (in comparison to my tiel) is he is a lot less skittish, loves to be handled more, and needs a lot more out of cage time. He is very posessive with his Mommy and jelaous of anything or anyone i give more attention too. His beaking tapered off considerably at about 18 months, but he'll still bite occassionally when disturbed or just being mischevious. Buddy also gently puts his beak around a finger and bobs his head quickly... it's not like he's trying to cough up something (although he's done that too), but more like he's trying to get food from my finger. He did it a lot more as a baby but still does on occasion when he's being super cuddly.

Definately discourage him from your neck.... what worked for me is I didn't feed, preen, pet or give any attention to him if he were on my neck. I placed my fingers in front of me, or on my lap and wiggled trying to entice him down for pets or food. Soon he came to learn that if he wanted any attention from mommy it was in her hands, not up by her face. He was always more aggressive up there, i think it's a bird's nature to think they're 'big stuff' if they're up on your level.

Also, for discipline, and he will occassionally need it!... I found what worked best was putting him on the floor and walking away a little bit. This was my way of saying I'm in charge, I'm not happy, throw your little fit down there and then come back and behave. Please do NOT use a water gun (you may find people/sites that suggest it), Nandays by nature love taking baths and spraying him with water might discourage him from something he really enjoys!

[saucie]

Actually, I read somewhere, either on this site or on a link from this site, that clicker training is most effective with adults and that you should not start clicker training with a young bird. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can substantiate or disprove that though.

[NaniOokami]

Actually, I read somewhere, either on this site or on a link from this site, that clicker training is most effective with adults and that you should not start clicker training with a young bird. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can substantiate or disprove that though.

I joined that Clicker training yahoo group too, I'll have to ask what a good age to start is. ;) In either case, there's no harm in preparing myself. :D

Also, thanks everyone for all the advice! We're still working on step-ups, and he does it occasionally, but a good amount of the time he just ignores me. I let him crawl on my hands and forearms when he's out. I try and step-up from there, and if he does I praise him and give him scritches (I still haven't figured out his favorite treat, though I discovered today he does quite like apples) If he ignores me, I try not to force it. If I don't try and get him to continue as much, he makes less grumpy noises, and I get bitten a lot less often. :D
Although, his bites aren't bad. He's never drawn blood, and I don't know what the full potential of the conure bite is. I had a 'tiel once that I was told was untameable. He bit me hard enough to draw blood through light leather gloves. Afterwards he and I had a pretty good relationship with very little bites.
But I digress.
So today we started out on the bed. We played a little bit there, he explored, chewed on his blanket, checked everything out and found the bowl with little apple bits. Also found the piece of broccoli I had there for him, tasted it, and promptly threw it off the bed. That one's going to be a real treat getting him to eat. Afterwards we started working on step-ups for a while. He'd do two or three in a row, and then get bored and start crawling up my arm. I'd let him get to my elbow, but when he got any further I'd put him back on the bed and give him a few moments to sort things out. Then we'd try again. After a little while of that, he STILL ignored the step-ups after two or three, but he'd scoot to my elbow and stop to preen himself. He was generally very good, didn't beak through my clothes too hard, and was perfectly content to cuddle on my forearm. In turn, when I went to put him in the cage, he was much easier to get in and didn't act like it was the worst thing in the world.
Honestly, since I'm still home I'd love to have some area that he doesn't mind chilling that isn't attached to me. I was looking into something like this:
Parrot Stand on Ebay But I wanted some opinions on it first.

All in all, a very successful day. I think if we continue to have sessions like this, I'll certainly be heading in the right direction. As soon as he's more comfortable, I'll try and snap some more pictures of the guy to share. :D

[Monica]

You should check out our DIY section for playstand ideas! The gym your looking at doesn't look bad... maybe a little heavy to move around.... but with toys I'm sure it'd be fine!

Good to hear things are going well!

[tawny30]

Ok I am NEW to a nanday :) We have one who came home a couple days from the local humane society BUT I do have experience with my golden conures which we have had for many years.
I agree that the feeding behavior is totally normal..mine are 6 yrs old (the goldens) and they still do this..I see it as a sign of affection but luckily they don't actually regurgitate haha.
Beaking..Well I personally do not discourage my birds from beaking..from the conutes on up to the amazon. I truly feel that is a behavior that I would not discourage unless they hurt me. Beaking as most people call it..is actually a loving behavior to a bird..they are grooming you.
None of my birds have ever hurt me by doing this...but it is a personal choice