Hand taming a sun conure

[Bri_923]

Hello! I have a couple of questions regarding my sun conure.
Here’s a little back story:
I got him from petsmart (I caved, I know it’s not the best place to get a bird) about six months ago. My guess was that he was around seven months when I got him. Not sure about that though. Anyway, he’s around 1 yr old now. He stays in a good size cage off of the living room. So he can see us in the kitchen and living room and he’s involved but still has his own area. I feed him lafeber pellets and mix in some zupreem pellets so it’s not too boring. Also give him snap peas every morning (which he loves) and a nutriberry about once a day as a treat. I cover him at night. I also have two dogs in the house. I think he likes them. Tends to throw food and the dog goes running to him.
When I first got him he was silent for a few days and just took everything in without making a sound. He was very scared of my hands. I’ve gotten to the point where he will bounce his beak up against my hand through the cage bars. He always comes running to the cage bars when I go near him. He loves attention. But will randomly bite hard every once in a while. He seems to like getting his beak rubbed and I’ve gotten my fingers past his beak and to his head a few times but only for a second. I can get him to step up onto a perch with a treat but it’s difficult. He stretches as far as possible and then will use the cage to assist himself. He’s at the point where he’ll step onto the perch grab the treat and run back to his perch. He will take the treat from my hand but will not step up on my hand at all. I’ve only taken him out of the cage a few times and it was stressful getting him out. But once he’s out he seems ok.
Last week I had to bring him to the vet cause his toe got stuck in his leg band. It did not go well at all. He got loose at the vet and was so stressed. He was regurgitating and very scared. I felt so bad that he couldn’t even come to me for comfort. After that he was quiet for like three days. Still ate and drank but didn’t make his happy noises at all. I really want to get him comfortable with being handled because I’m afraid that if he does get sick and I have to take him to the vet the stress could kill him.
He is only my second bird. I had a cockatiel that I took in from a lady who couldn’t care for her anymore. When I got her she was super attached to me and would come to me when she got nervous. She stepped up right away so I didn’t have to teach her any of this.
Anyway, I know this is super long but just wanted to give the whole picture. Any tips would be great! I have been making a noise to stop him when he clamps on my finger. Should I be doing that? He seems to let go when I do that but I don’t want to train him to be scared of my hand. And then I make sure to leave on a good note by praising him when he allows me to pet his beak when he comes over to the cage bars. Please help! I don’t want to inadvertently cause him to be scared of my hands.
Also, should I give veggies twice a day? He’s kinda picky. What do your birds love to eat?
Thank you in advance!

 

[noodles123]

I am going to try to post more later. You want to keep things as low -key and positive for your bird as possible--remember, your goal is to build trust and that takes time. Something that you THINK is positive (like trying to get your bird to eat from your hand) could actually be QUITE nerve-wracking to your bird--- read the body language and shoot for low-stress, relaxed, non-intense, non-invasive, semi-passive..will write more later

 

[Anamarial]

Hello! I have a couple of questions regarding my sun conure.
Here’s a little back story:
I got him from petsmart (I caved, I know it’s not the best place to get a bird) about six months ago. My guess was that he was around seven months when I got him. Not sure about that though. Anyway, he’s around 1 yr old now. He stays in a good size cage off of the living room. So he can see us in the kitchen and living room and he’s involved but still has his own area. I feed him lafeber pellets and mix in some zupreem pellets so it’s not too boring. Also give him snap peas every morning (which he loves) and a nutriberry about once a day as a treat. I cover him at night. I also have two dogs in the house. I think he likes them. Tends to throw food and the dog goes running to him.
When I first got him he was silent for a few days and just took everything in without making a sound. He was very scared of my hands. I’ve gotten to the point where he will bounce his beak up against my hand through the cage bars. He always comes running to the cage bars when I go near him. He loves attention. But will randomly bite hard every once in a while. He seems to like getting his beak rubbed and I’ve gotten my fingers past his beak and to his head a few times but only for a second. I can get him to step up onto a perch with a treat but it’s difficult. He stretches as far as possible and then will use the cage to assist himself. He’s at the point where he’ll step onto the perch grab the treat and run back to his perch. He will take the treat from my hand but will not step up on my hand at all. I’ve only taken him out of the cage a few times and it was stressful getting him out. But once he’s out he seems ok.
Last week I had to bring him to the vet cause his toe got stuck in his leg band. It did not go well at all. He got loose at the vet and was so stressed. He was regurgitating and very scared. I felt so bad that he couldn’t even come to me for comfort. After that he was quiet for like three days. Still ate and drank but didn’t make his happy noises at all. I really want to get him comfortable with being handled because I’m afraid that if he does get sick and I have to take him to the vet the stress could kill him.
He is only my second bird. I had a cockatiel that I took in from a lady who couldn’t care for her anymore. When I got her she was super attached to me and would come to me when she got nervous. She stepped up right away so I didn’t have to teach her any of this.
Anyway, I know this is super long but just wanted to give the whole picture. Any tips would be great! I have been making a noise to stop him when he clamps on my finger. Should I be doing that? He seems to let go when I do that but I don’t want to train him to be scared of my hand. And then I make sure to leave on a good note by praising him when he allows me to pet his beak when he comes over to the cage bars. Please help! I don’t want to inadvertently cause him to be scared of my hands.
Also, should I give veggies twice a day? He’s kinda picky. What do your birds love to eat?
Thank you in advance!

Hello,

I hope all is well with you and your little sun. So, the first thing that I wanted to address is your birds nutrition. The reason I bring it up is because it is integral to your birds training. Im not sure that I know exactly what you have him on (or how much you know) so Im going to pretend as if you have never had a bird and are completely new to it. Different species of parrots have diets that vary a little bit. Some parrots need higher fats than others and also remember when looking at fats that a lot of times it is based on birds in the wild not our sedentary birds that we keep at home (in comparison to those that spend their day flying). You might want to ask your avian vet what he recommends but usually its tons of veggies, some fruit, grains, and nuts. A good pellet diet is also important and rounds out your veggies and grains. Do not get the colorful zupreem as a main pellet diet. It is sugary. Get a natural pellet such as Harrisons or Roudy Bush. Sometimes its hard to get your bird to eat things that they arent familiar with but trust me you can sneak them in in different ways. I make my bird a bird mash with sweet potato, veggies, quinoa, brown rice, etc. I sneak in everything I want her to eat that way because she is queen of throwing most of her food. Birds dont have but about 350 taste buds in their mouth so a lot of times it texture. They can taste though and thats why they have certain preferences. So once you have that under control you can see which nuts, etc your bird has a preference for (bird chop, etc is great there are plenty of recipes online). At that point, take it out of your birds diet (for ex: dont take out all nuts just almonds if those are his favorites). Make it something he only gets at training times. Make sure that you are only working with your bird when he is hungry. He may not be so motivated if he just ate. Also, only use small little bits (pine nuts are great) if not they will get full quickly and also only work with your bird for a couple of minutes not more than 5.

So, the first thing you want to do is get a chopstick and start target training. If your bird is afraid of the stick or the clicker hide the clicker or stick in your pocket. Only work with him through the cagge bars to start. We are not supposed to dominate birds. It has to be their choice to work with us and sometimes that takes a lot of time because we have to earn their trust. Right now it doesnt sound like he is too trusting but thats okay he will be. You can also use verbal cues instead of a clicker. I like the clicker because the moment of success is captured more precisely. Start with clicking and then givinh him a treat. Your bird will start to associate that. This might take a few training session. Then start having him gently mouth the stick click at that moment give him the treat. Dont let the bird bite down on the stick. That is aggression. If he does this hold it just a little bit further back so that he cant bite down hard. He will figure out that soft is what gets him the treat. There are plenty of videos online that can help you with the process. Once he is doing this move the stick around the cage. The purpose of this is so that you can tell him where you want him to go. This is how a lot of people start training aggresive birds so they dont get bit. The next step is to place your hand in front of the stick to ask him to step up. Remember it has to be his choice. If he steps up click and treat. Dont pull him out of the cage. Set him back on the perch. Little by little you will be successful. It will not be in a week or a day but you'll gain his trust. Watch lots of videos and good luck! i hope this help!