Meet Zazu and a quick question

[laurawaterman]

Hey guys!!

So I’ve posted a few times with questions, and you’ve all been so helpful! Well, I’ve been waiting and waiting for my Sun to be ready to come home, and I feel the day is nearly here!! I’ll be getting ready for him this weekend, and hopefully only a few days after he should be ready. I’ve been watching him grow since he was 2 weeks, visiting once a week, and I can’t believe how fast he’s grown up!! His DNA results came back recently, and in case you can’t tell, it a HE!! Which is what I was hoping for, but to be honest, I don’t think I would have been disappointed at all if he was a girl. Anyway, meet Zazu!!



These pictures are from my latest visit to the breeder. He spent the whole 2 hours giving me kisses and cuddles (excuse my devil eyes in the next picture… not sure what happened. Maybe my camera spazzed out over all the cuteness and had to make something ugly) and he’s very affectionate!



I’ve read a lot about people who get their conures home and they’re so sweet and cuddly, and then all of a sudden their behaviour changes and they get aggressive. My question is how do I prevent this from happening with Zazu once I get him home? Are there things I should be doing from the start to reinforce his good behaviour in the “honeymoon stage”?

Thanks guys!

 

[thekarens]

Don't have any advice, just wanted to say he's a real cutie!

 

[weco]

Even though you've been visiting Zazu, when he moves to your house, he is going to be leaving everything he knows, though you will be a known human and will help with his transition, but as soon as you bring him home, you might want to be ready to start any training you had planned and as soon as he feels comfortable with his new surroundings and starts to exert his new bid for flock position you will want to show your displeasure with his changed attitude.....you need to be ready to set limits as to what is acceptable behavior and what is not.....he can start his training as soon as he arrives.....give him praises for the good things he does and take him back to his cage with stern NO Bite, stern Quiet Voice or similar condemnations and ignore him for 15-20 minutes...since parrots are flock animals, they are always aware of & want flock approval it doesn't take them long for them to catch on.....be prepared for him to scream for you when you leave the room or he can't see you but if you tell him "quite voice" in a very low whisper, where he has to shut up to hear you, hr'll quickly catch on to that also.....at least mine did & if you ever get another bird, the new ones tend to quickly learn from you & other flock members.....

If you haven't looked at them yet, there are several decent training videos on YouTube, offering several different training methods.....

Congratulations on Zazu & good luck with training...both Zazu's & yours.....

 

[brianlinkles]

Zazu is adorable! I just want to add that allowing him to "kiss " you on the mouth is very dangerous. We have a lot of bacteria in our mouths that can make a bird very sick. This is true at any age but never as much as when they are babies. I don't want to hijack the thread and change topics I just got worried when I saw him with his beak on your lip.

 

[AvianLover80]

Congrats!! Good luck with him and make sure you spend plenty of time with him while he adjusts. Reassure him often with plenty of attention and training! That's all I've got for ya!! He's adorable!

 

[RavensGryf]

If you ever get another bird, the new ones tend to quickly learn from you & other flock members.....

Reminds me of when Griffin is bad, and Raven sees it and learns quickly to copy the bad behavior. Even if he sees Griffin get a stern 'NO' and a time out, he still copies! They're such teenage boys those two! :52:

Good luck with your cutie Laura

 

[Mudkips]

Best of luck with your new sunny!
It looks like you're getting along with the other baby conures just fine too.

 

[Birdman666]

Don't think of him as a conure. Think of him as a shrunken macaw. They are VERY closely related...

You raise them the same way you would a human toddler, with nurturing guidance and boundary setting.

What you are describing is a testing phase. You stop it by passing the test.
Permissive parenting reinforces bad behavior. (Act up? Get what you want? I just trained you to act up!!!!)

Act up? Get a time out and don't get what you want? I just nipped the bad behavior in the bud before it ever really got too bad...

Consistency is the key.

Conures generally like trick training as well. And it gives them fun 1 on 1 playtime where you are the teacher, and they are learning something interesting where they have your attention...

Hint: They like attention! These birds are playahaulics! Little goofballs. Turn it into a game, and distract them. Most of the time, they will stop what they were doing and play.

The last bit of advice. These are pair bond birds. They need socialization or they will tend to be one person birds. An occasional game of "pass the birdie" generally stops this stuff before it starts.

 

[laurawaterman]

Thanks guys. I knew someone would comment on the dangers of his beak near my mouth. I’ve seen it a few times on here about how it’s not good, but it’s so hard to say no to such cute behaviour! Guess I’m going to have to harden up and teach him to show affection in other ways. I’m unbelievably excited to bring him home. I feel like I’m getting ready for a baby, and I’m sure I sound insane to people at work!

I’ve decided on a cage for Zazu, but the only thing I’m worried about is that it’s epoxy coated, is this normal and safe for a bird? Will this coating chip and peel, or is it toxic? This is the cage I want, and I’ll pick it up tomorrow if the coating is safe. What do you guys think of it?

Bird Cages : ROOF BIRD CAGE

I’m excited to buy all of his toys and perches! I’ll probably buy some this weekend when I go to visit him (the breeder sells a lot of toys as well), and a happy hut. What size happy hut do you guys use? I was thinking medium, but maybe he’ll want more space, or even want to be more cozy… oh god, I’ll go bird crazy before I even get him! Haha

Thanks again for all your suggestions guys. I think you’re right about treating it like it’s a toddler instead of a bird with setting boundaries. The only think I’m confused about is distracting him with a toy or something when he’s doing something bad…. What if he thinks he’s being rewarded for the bad behaviour? How do you differentiate between distracting and rewarding?