Conure help!

[cake_olicious]

Hi guys! Sorry this is going to be a long post but I’m desperate for some help (pretty please!)

So, I have a Jenday conure (unsure of the age but he’s about 6-7 years apparently. We were told when we got him nearly 3 years ago that they don’t know the age but he’s probably 3-4 years old)
So the Jenday (Skittles) has been our baby for nearly 3 years. We have loved him from day 1 and always allowed him to go in and out of his cage as he pleases. He is scared of hands but only likes to have sunflower seeds from our hand. If we try target training or trick training he takes snatches the seed from my hand and spits it out as if to show his anger.

After over 2 years of trying and finally getting him to sometimes step up for a sunflower seed, we decided maybe he was bored and lonely so we went to get another conure (GCC) when we get to the breeder the GCC and the Pineapple were inseparable so we brought them both with us as not to upset them...
Now, we’ve had them for a month...they all get along really well but now none of them are tame, and none of them will come to us. They come out of the cage first thing in the morning and stay on top of their play stand and then we turn off all the lights and they go back in for bedtime.

Skittles doesn’t like millet spray. Only sunflower seeds as a treat. And the nee one don’t take anything from our hands. We are desperate to get them to interact with us, but at the point of giving up.

PLEASE HELP a very sad bird mummy who just wants to give her feather babies some love!

 

[Laurasea]

First off no matter what point you are st now, with all 3, you can get to a better closer relationship.

When you brought the 2 GCC home, what did you do? How often did you hold then and take out if cage?, did they step up for you at the breeder?

Sometimes learning to read parrot body language is a skill that has to be developed. And nit everyone can be a " natural at interactions and training. For that reason , I'd encourage you to see if the breeder would let yiu observe him working with their birds. Likely not, most would not, but just incase they might it could be really helpful. Or find a behaviorist to come to your home and work with you. On YouTube Bird Tricks has many great training videos.

Shaping behavior or Shaping training or called ABC applied behavior. Works by slowly Shaping or train a behavior like step up.


I have some good all around links to share.
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

https://blogpamelaclarkonline.com/2018/06/19/teaching-a-fearful-parrot-to-step-up/

http://freedomflightsparrotrescue.ca/interpreting-parrot-behavior/

 

[wrench13]

Don't take this badly, please. The only reason to get 1 or more additional parrots, is because YOU want another parrot, not because you think your original one needs a 'friend'. We see this happening time and time again on the board here. The OB ( original bird) develops or has some interpersonal reactions that have not been worked out with the family, and the acquisition of another parrot is done to try to ameliorate the issue. This goes one of 3 ways.

1 New parrot and the OB hate each other, now cutting 1 on 1 time with people in half, with no better result in the original issue.

2 New parrot and the OB dont care for each other, but kind of change the dynamic with the family for the better. But still the 1 on 1 time is cut in half.

3 This is what you have - the new and OB love each other, to the exclusion of everyone else. I can only tell you what I have read on here and other places, since we are a 1 bird family. Me, personally, and this might sound harsh or cruel, I would bring the new bird back to the shop or breeder, before the new relationship becomes so ingrained in their minds that separation will be traumatic. Can it be resolved, like Laruasea says above? Yeah, maybe, if your willing to work, be diligent and patient. She is definitely a multi parrot house hold, with much experience in this, so her advice is certainly a path to pursue if you are determined. Lots of experienced members on here have several parrots and hopefully will chime in with more advice.

Good luck, and stick with us to let us know how things are progressing!

 

[Laurasea]

One of the big pluses is using those burds to reach each other. When tiu have a bird do a positive thing and the others see he gets a treat fir it. They are very motivated to copy cat.

A little more on shaping behavior. It starts very small. And you layer and build on it. To work towards taking a treat from the hands, which is very impostor building trust.. First have a dedicated tiny treat dish. And the first step is to use same phrase, like hi birdie, walk up to cage out treat in dish and walk away. Go far enough away that they will go to fish to check out and take, 5-10 feet. When they take treat say good birdie ( use a same phrase that you will always use), wait 10-20 min and repeat exactly. Do this as many times a day as you can. When yiu get to tge point that they go to the dish quickly after yiu walk away consistently. Then you are ready fir the next step. In this step you walk up to csge say your phrase hi birdies, then you wait for them to look at you or take one step towards treat dish, then you out treat in like before walk away , and phrase good birdie when they take. When this is consistently done. You are going to shape them to come closer before you put treat in dish. You keep making them come closer before you put treat in dish.. until they will wait at dish for treat. Then you will start offering by hand. This can move quickly or may take days.

To help layer sbd associate the praise. Say good birdie when you seem them eating their food, good birdie when they take a bath. Good birdie when they come out of the cage. Yiu can also have a treat only dish fir out if tge cage on top of the cage. Usually on the far side from where they hang out. You are shaping them to move towards you fir a reward. It may seem simple but it us a powerful tool for their minds

 

[cake_olicious]

Thanks for the advice. But if we really wanted to have more than 1 bird it would have happened a long time ago. In April it will be 3 years since we’ve had him, we wouldn’t have waited so long to get another. We tried literally everything but he wouldn’t warm to us, and we felt like he was always bored. There’s plenty of toys and perches in his cage but he stuck to one corner. Since we have the new birds he will move around a lot and isn’t so scared of the toys. He still avoids them but will see the other birds play and gives it a go. He will also now sit on the rope perches which he avoided before.
My aim was to have 1 tame and friendly family bird, not multiple. I have asked if the breeder will take them back but that was a laughable no. So I’m going to stick to it. I don’t regret getting the new birds at all, so I’m not going to try and get rid of them.

All 3 of them get on really well, and if anything the old bird is always really lovely and caring towards them even though the new birds used to bite his feet when they were newly introduced.

If all else fails at least I know that they are happy and will be able to roam around the house freely if and when they wanted and go back happily in their cage, even if they don’t interact with us.

Don't take this badly, please. The only reason to get 1 or more additional parrots, is because YOU want another parrot, not because you think your original one needs a 'friend'. We see this happening time and time again on the board here. The OB ( original bird) develops or has some interpersonal reactions that have not been worked out with the family, and the acquisition of another parrot is done to try to ameliorate the issue. This goes one of 3 ways.


1 New parrot and the OB hate each other, now cutting 1 on 1 time with people in half, with no better result in the original issue.

2 New parrot and the OB dont care for each other, but kind of change the dynamic with the family for the better. But still the 1 on 1 time is cut in half.

3 This is what you have - the new and OB love each other, to the exclusion of everyone else. I can only tell you what I have read on here and other places, since we are a 1 bird family. Me, personally, and this might sound harsh or cruel, I would bring the new bird back to the shop or breeder, before the new relationship becomes so ingrained in their minds that separation will be traumatic. Can it be resolved, like Laruasea says above? Yeah, maybe, if your willing to work, be diligent and patient. She is definitely a multi parrot house hold, with much experience in this, so her advice is certainly a path to pursue if you are determined. Lots of experienced members on here have several parrots and hopefully will chime in with more advice.

Good luck, and stick with us to let us know how things are progressing!

 

[cake_olicious]

I’ll try this. Thank u x

One of the big pluses is using those burds to reach each other. When tiu have a bird do a positive thing and the others see he gets a treat fir it. They are very motivated to copy cat.

A little more on shaping behavior. It starts very small. And you layer and build on it. To work towards taking a treat from the hands, which is very impostor building trust.. First have a dedicated tiny treat dish. And the first step is to use same phrase, like hi birdie, walk up to cage out treat in dish and walk away. Go far enough away that they will go to fish to check out and take, 5-10 feet. When they take treat say good birdie ( use a same phrase that you will always use), wait 10-20 min and repeat exactly. Do this as many times a day as you can. When yiu get to tge point that they go to the dish quickly after yiu walk away consistently. Then you are ready fir the next step. In this step you walk up to csge say your phrase hi birdies, then you wait for them to look at you or take one step towards treat dish, then you out treat in like before walk away , and phrase good birdie when they take. When this is consistently done. You are going to shape them to come closer before you put treat in dish. You keep making them come closer before you put treat in dish.. until they will wait at dish for treat. Then you will start offering by hand. This can move quickly or may take days.

To help layer sbd associate the praise. Say good birdie when you seem them eating their food, good birdie when they take a bath. Good birdie when they come out of the cage. Yiu can also have a treat only dish fir out if tge cage on top of the cage. Usually on the far side from where they hang out. You are shaping them to move towards you fir a reward. It may seem simple but it us a powerful tool for their minds

 

[Scott]

Sometimes it takes a long time for a bird to open up. Patience and diligence can be extremely rewarding over the long haul. Please read this story - several pages so you can skim a bit but focus on "MegZ" as original poster and main character. http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/87338-bird-purchase-mistake-help.html

 

[cake_olicious]

I thought over 2 years would be enough to get him to somewhat like us. But I’ll have a read. Thank you

Sometimes it takes a long time for a bird to open up. Patience and diligence can be extremely rewarding over the long haul. Please read this story - several pages so you can skim a bit but focus on "MegZ" as original poster and main character. http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/87338-bird-purchase-mistake-help.html

 

[wrench13]

Oh Laurasea, your as good a trainer as anyone!! Cake - good advice here!