HELP!! Mean blue crowned conure

[bnharper]

To start; I have a mean blue crowned conure that my mom and I inherited from my grandma when she pasted away. The bird (Albert) was hand raised by my grandma and never had a liking for anyone else (HATES to be. Well it's been 9 years since my grandma has pasted away and now that I'm getting my own place my Fiance and I are taking the bird BUT I dont want her to be unhappy. I need as much help and tips as I can get, Albert doesn't let ANYONE pick her up unless forced but i want her to be happy and get picked up willingly!!! And yes she's on a good diet. HELP!

 

[Birdman666]

Conures are pair bond birds, and they tend to overbond if they are not handled by more than one person.

What you have is a bird that is tame, that was never properly socialized.

You need to start from scratch with this bird, and train it from the basic taming and no bite, through step up.

It will probably take about 1-4 months before the bird fully trusts you...

He isn't mean, when you look at it from the bird's perspective,

You are basically overriding this bird's survival instincts by handling it. In the wild, you would never get close enough to touch, let alone, pick one up.

By letting you do that, this bird is quite literally trusting you with it's life. Think about what that entails...

So the first order of business is to earn this bird's trust.

Then add the dynamic that this bird is bonded to it's person, and that person is gone. It's in a new place, with strangers, and probably disoriented.

So, he becomes defensive, and bite-y. That's the dynamic here.

When the bird knows it is safe and can trust you, it will relax. Then you need to socialize it around strangers.

 

[MonicaMc]

How long have you had Albert for? I would suggest to give Albert time to settle in and get used to his new surroundings.

When birds are put into a new home, they freak out and need time to settle in. This is what I've noticed with my new, 3 year old conure. She was very scared and insecure when she got here, and had lost weight getting here because she was stuck in a small carrier for around 35 hours (plane trip from Ohio to Nevada, was supposed to be 12 hr trip, ended up being 35).

I didn't even bother trying to get her to step up, but she loves scritches so I'd give her those if I could without getting bit! I allowed her to choose when she was ready to interact with me and whenever I was home her cage was open. I'd wheel her cage around the house so she could be with me without having to be on me. She had the safety of her cage. We have made good progress since then! Still need more work, but all in due time!

 

[legal_eagle]

Get the wings clipped ... it will cause a dramatic change in behavior and mellow out your parrot so you can build trust.

 

[noblemacaw]

I adopted a older Noble macaw that can be quite a vicious biter. He has put scars on my fingers which I have never experienced from a parrot before. Julio tends to bond to only one person and he had chosen Lupe as his special person. I am very glad he has chosen someone and seems to be happy. Except for his cage being too large he is doing well here.

I understand why he is the way he is and I do not push him or even try to "tame" him for me. I will hand feed him though the cage bars his favorite foods. This is the only time he will not threaten to bite me. There are times when even feeding him will not lower his aggression toward me and during these times (I can read him very well) I will set aside his favorites on the tray of his feeding system which he happily will scramble down to go get and gobble down.

I believe Julio will do much better once I get him a more suitable cage. His foster mom had a cage with a playtop on it and I am going to get him a cage with a higher grate with a playtop on it. This way he can "come out" when he feels comfortable and have some where to crawl on up to and play. I want him to feel secure in his surroundings and it is my hope in time he will blossom more and learn to accept me. Even if he never does accept me he has his Lupe and I am alright with that.

As others have said it will take time for Albert (or should I say Alberta) to adjust to her new home and people. I would take it slow (this is what I am doing with Julio and we have had him since May) and give her time to settle in. If she has a favorite type of food try hand feeding her that favorite food. If she has ever ate soft birdy bread type food warm that up just a bit and try to hand feed her that. It will take time but in the end all the work you put into Albert will pay off.