First time conure owner-few questions

[kellsconure]

My husband and I just got a baby Sun Conure on Saturday. He was hand fed and we got him from a breeder. He was very sweet when we were visitng with him before buying him and still is sweet - but not cuddly. He doesn't bite and can be picked up easily. But he can seem nervous at times. Will it just take awhile to warm up to us? It's only been a couple of days so I am hoping he just needs some time to get comfortable with us.

Another thing is that when we have him out of his cage and are handling him he likes to try to fly away off our hand. I am not sure if that is normal - I have read that they will cuddle and sit with you but he doesn't hang around long! Maybe this will get better with time?

We tried to give him his first bath tonight and put out water for him but he refused to get in. We had him outside of his cage - should we leave a dish in his cage for him to use? He was not interested in the water at all!

I did get in some good bonding time with him - he loves to take apples/bananas from us and we are teaching him the "step up" command and that is going well.

Does anyone have young children and birds? We have a 14 month old daughter and I don't forsee it being a problem with her. She will not be allowed to hold him obviously for years. The only thing I don't like is when he is out he will fly off of us and flap his wings and fall because he is clipped. I just wouldn't want him to dive bomb into her...that makes me nervous :)

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[kellsconure]

One other question too - I have been reading about his behaviors - what they mean. If he is showing he is content, upset, comfortable, warning me to stay away, etc. He does this thing where he will perchin his cage and open his wings completely and flap them as fast as he can. I am not sure if he is trying to keep me away? I did see one article and a lot of the actions he was portaying made it seem like he doesn't like me lol!

[bunteti]

About his nervousness don't worry to much about it, my little sun took a bit of time to warm up to us, but now he would spend every minute of the day on our shoulders. And the flapping my sun does it too, and as I said he wants to be with us all the time so I don't believe he is trying to get you to go away it probably just getting some energy out, or just testing working his wings a bit,
and congrats on your new family member our Sun conure has added so much to our lives and I hope you get the same experience.

[xafsmom]

Give him time. You're new, the house is new, the cage is new, everything is foreign and scary. He'll warm up to you more and more as the days go by and then one day you won't be able to get him off you. He's probably still unused to having his wings clipped, so he doesn't really understand yet that he can't take off whenever he wants. He'll figure it out soon.

Don't fret that he doesn't like you and won't cuddle. Again, just give him time. Let him set the pace. Calm your movements and voice. Sit by his cage and talk to him. Slip him treats and let HIM approach you. Build up his confidence in you and trust. Try not to bathe him for a couple of weeks, in fact, if you want to bathe him, simply put a dish of water into his cage so he can use it when he wishes. Actively bathing a bird that doesn't understand or trust you yet can seem very frightening to your bird and hostile.

I figure if you slow down a bit with him and go at his pace, then within a very short period of time, you'll see he likes you very much. However, remember not all conures like cuddling.

As for flapping in his cage... he's exercising. It's normal and playful. Unless he's bashing himself into the bars in a panic, but that's a whole different thing. Gripping the perch (or even upside-down in the cage!) and flapping frantically is what he did when he was fledging, very natural.

[Addicted to Tequila]

Great advice already! I too just got a new Sun. She came with a buddy... the GCC she was raised with. They are like night and day!

The GCC is bold and fearless. He is the sweetest and evilest bird at the same time that I have ever met! He immediately rushed toward me when I opened the cage the first day (and bit me... hard). He learned step-up in 5 minutes flat (and still bites me doing them from the cage). He plays with anything I offer and constantly rushes up to check out new things (and bites them). He fell asleep the 3rd night home against my neck... making cute purring noises (after biting me).

I really worried about the Sun. Not for her sake... but for mine. I always said a Sun was the one bird I would NEVER own. We kinda got duped into buying them. The seller at our local bird fair really wanted them to be kept together. There was a really nasty lady there that was rude as all get out that was intent on splitting them up. This lady's manner showed no patience and quite frankly made me wonder if she should own a bird at all. There were other Suns available... but she would not even consider them (Tequila WAS the most colorful - for a baby). The seller made me an unbelievable deal on the pair. With my daughter whisper whining "But we CAN'T let her split them up! That's mean!" the whole time. But I digress.

I too thought there was a bonding issue with my Sun, Tequila. I thought I had made a horrid mistake. I am now coming to realize it is just her personality. If the GCC was not such a polar opposite, I am sure I would have realized this sooner. Tequila is shy, reserved, quiet, and thoughtful. She is not really afraid of new objects... she is just smart enough to wait and see if Rexy (the GCC) is going to be eaten by them before she decides to investigate. She would let me bodily remove her from the cage... but still will not step-up readily. She has NEVER tried to bite. She would let me scritch her... even (especially) under the wings, and would fluff up lovingly when I did. But she would not come over to me or demand I scritch her like Rexy.

I got them on June 28th - they were both hatched the end of March. Tequila just in the last 3 days now rushes to the bars of the cage when I walk by to get belly scritches! She comes right to the door at out time (but still insists on being bodily picked up - perhaps just for the extra snuggling?). She is starting to realize I provide yummy things, can scritch her and squeeze her head (cranial massage), and go fun and exciting places.

Give it time... it is worth it. ANYONE could have won Rexy's love (and gotten bitten)... Tequila's love had to be EARNED. That really counts for something in my book!

[birdymomma]

like every here said give it time i was lucky with my little guy it was instant bonding! but he will warm up to you just be patienti and it will be well worth it

[kellsconure]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I am really looking forward to seeing his little personality shine and develop.

The noise level has not been too bad so far. He calls in the morning when I uncover him...just briefly. And honestly my toddler screams louder lol! He does this little chirp sound that is SO sweet!

We are taking him into the vet just for a checkup and maybe a DNA sex test. They gave us a list of tests that they could run - are they all necassary? Each test was over $60 and the appt is $80. Of course to make sure he is healthy I would pay anything but I was wondering what are the things you had your birds tested for? One was for chlamydia, one is a herpes like virus, a one is for a parasite (geredy? unsure of spelling) And then the DNA test is 55.00. We may call one other place to see prices because since this is very well known bird hospital it's expensive and there is a 1-2 week wait. But we want a vet who knows what they are doing too! Soem vets here don't even see birds...

[Addicted to Tequila]

For the blood tests, get a good vet. Taking blood from birds is more art than science. The only one that you mentioned that I would balk at is the DNA test... you can put that off if need be and get it cheaper to boot.

Here are just a few quick articles:
Why Your Bird Needs an Avian Veterinarian,
Avian Medicine: Why is it so expensive?

[kellsconure]

Really good articles! Thank you! I think it may be a good idea to go with the Bird Hospital rather than a local dog/cat vet that doesn't normally see birds.

[ObsidianPhoenix]

Bird Sexing | Avian DNA | Parrot Gender Testing

I am going through this company to get my new pineapple GCC's dna test done. Much cheaper...

Phoenix

PS- I just saw you are from MN! Same here! :)