New Mitered Conure

[mips]

Well Pepper has arrived and so far has not drawn blood but its just a matter of time. He is half plucked, petrified of hands and sticks, will jump onto a forearm and sit on my shoulder but then after a couple of mins will try to bite. Hes only a young bird from what i can tell and I know hes had at least 5 changes of home now in 5 months. Hes interested in Coco (my Zon) and she would love to be friends with him (she used to live with a Conure) but I have been warned he attacks other birds. Hes a good weight and eats well. So advice and ideas on

1, stop him biting

2, stop him hitting himself in the head (repeatedly and violently)

3, stop the occasional 120000 decible scream (so far covering him seams to be helping and uncovering him for 5 mins of quiet)

4, stop him plucking, he came with lot and lots of toys and I have not seen him pluck any so far.

The touching and cuddling i know will just take time and patience well everything is ging to take that, but the hitting himself is whats really worrying to me, he seams such a sad angry little bird :( :(

Hi Mips: Your little bird is angry at everything and everybody right now but I've never seen a bird it his head over and over. ??? I would not let him on my shoulder right now to dangerous. A scared bird is a unpredictable bird. He's never had time to adjust to one home before he got shipped out to another. It's going to take alot of patients on your part to earn his trust but if your up to the challenge he will come around. The screaming is just another part of acting out and so is the plucking. There is a product out on the market called pluck no more and it is a spray you can use on him everyday. Some people swear by it I for one never had a plucking problem(knock on wood). Just take it one day at a time with this little fellow it sounds like he's had a ruff few months. Keep us posted on his progress!!

Donna :)

[ladyhawke50]

Hi, yep it sounds like this guy has had a rough time. And is gonna need a lot of time and patience. They are such beautiful conures. I rehomed a GCC and she was a plucker, and I mixed the real aloe (from the health food store) with water and misted her frequently with it to ease the plucking trauma. It really helped her. The misting alone really helped her. I am not sure had frequent bathing habits before she came to live with us. Now she jumps in her water bowl and loves it. No more plucking. She will take a good bath and still enjoy a good misting. I have seen Pluck No More advertised. But never tried it. My vet called it Birdy Prozac. LOL Maybe someone else on this forum has used it? Echo came with tons of toys also, but would rather shred paper towels or newspaper. So I found a small basket and i would stuff it with paper towels each day and it kept her very busy. Good luck with your new baby.