heillbera

New member
Sep 27, 2023
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4
Parrots
Sun Conure
Hello!

I have recently adopted a 3 y.o. Sun Conure. She has not been genetically tested, but her feet are pink (not coral) and I believe her to be a female. She has been in my home for six weeks, and has been stepping up onto my hand from her cage and coming out for the past five. She was relatively friendly, and cared for very well. Her cage was always clean, her food bowl changed daily, water bowl changed twice daily, and she was and is fed a healthy diet of maybe 65% Zupreem Essential Nutrition, 15% Fruits (still working on getting her to eat vegetables), and about 10% peanuts. She is a good eater and will eat basically anything offered to her, and she is never fed toxic foods such as avocadoes or mushrooms. She receives 12 hours of covered darkness and quiet each night from 9pm to 9am, and she is alone in her cage which is an appropriate size. Her toys are rotated every 10-14 days, and she receives daily showers (she will stick her head in the water bowl if she doesn't). She already had a good routine of waking up, being fed banana, and being perched to look out the window (she is not in direct sunlight and can easily go back to her cage if she wants), then getting a shower in the afternoon. She was out regularly for about three to four hours, and I primarily held her but she was introduced to several people. All of them she was amiable with, kids, men, and women. I don't have any other pets (except white's tree frogs) to pester or intimidate her. There are no kids in the household, and I know she is not being mistreated. She has been showing signs of being comfortable - she loves to be up on your shoulder, and will preen those she likes (she will sit and preen all day if you let her). She never pins her eyes but regularly flaps her wings and has even regurgitated a few times for me. She rubs herself against me and is generally very sweet. She showed no signs of disliking me or being uncomfortable or stressed. This is my first bird, but I feel I am doing quite well.

Her only 'problems' before six days ago were that she was a bit cage defensive and loved her cage more than being out. But as long as you were gentle and slow, she would come out. She would only stay out for a maximum of two hours, though.

This all changed about six days ago. She was suddenly a different bird overnight. She was perfectly calm when I put her to bed, and when I woke her up, she was PISSED. I gave her her space for a while then returned. She was still pissed and trying to bite me. This has continued for the last few days, and I've only managed to get her to come to me once. She's not hissing or pinning her eyes, but she is rocking back and forth, crouching, and being extremely aggressive with the biting (drawing blood). When people aren't around or moving, she is calm as anything. When I move in my room even an inch, she freaks out and starts attacking her favorite toy. I have no idea why this is and don't know how to react, as she wasn't doing this before and I do not know the cause. I don't want to stress her out more. She was such a lovely bird and she's turned into a monster overnight. Any explanations or advice?

Thanks from Bree and Bella {the bird}.
 

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Has anything about you changed? New haircut, wearing a color she doesn’t like, etc?
 
I wish I could help, I have a sun but he only acts out to get attention. And never to stop me from being with him, but to make me interact with him.

It could just be hormones at that age, (a little late) but I wouldn't assume that as number one.

My first question is where adopted from? Living conditions before you recieved her? Might be something she was used to that is no longer available.

Mine loves apples, strawberries and cucumbers. I have little clamps to hold them in place. But will eat most anything I eat even meat. The rule of thumb is if it's ok for it's ok for them....except what is on the toxic list. WHich is posted on one of the boards, like onions are out also etc.

Also try to find the treat it likes the most....For mine yeah limited peanuts he will drop anything for. Walk in with that in hand.
 
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I wish I could help, I have a sun but he only acts out to get attention. And never to stop me from being with him, but to make me interact with him.

It could just be hormones at that age, (a little late) but I wouldn't assume that as number one.

My first question is where adopted from? Living conditions before you recieved her? Might be something she was used to that is no longer available.

Mine loves apples, strawberries and cucumbers. I have little clamps to hold them in place. But will eat most anything I eat even meat. The rule of thumb is if it's ok for it's ok for them....except what is on the toxic list. WHich is posted on one of the boards, like onions are out also etc.

Also try to find the treat it likes the most....For mine yeah limited peanuts he will drop anything for. Walk in with that in hand.
I am pretty comfortable with knowing what she likes. She loves banana and will eat mango, red grapes, and tomatoes. She doesn't like strawberries, and is 50/50 on green grapes. She loves peanuts and plain chicken. I even know what kind of music she likes. We were doing great.

I don't know a ton about where she came from but she didn't show any signs of being abused or anything. I think she probably is acting out for attention.
 
Like I said before maybe just want's more out of cage time?
 
It could very well be hormones or mating frustration? I wouldnt do anything drastic that would help that if you're not sure, but you could try giving your conure a little extra sleep. Put something over her cage in the morning to make sure she gets enough sleep, it's nothing special but hey it might work!

I've seen something similar like this with an amazon of someone I know, but this was because he was sexually frustrated and was never out of his cage because his owner was too scared he'd bite after being bit in the face several times. It doesnt seem like your conure lacks love and attention though so I doubt this is the case for you <3

Hope you two work it out and that this blows over!
 

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