New young Sun Conure advice

[BlackCrowe]

Hello everyone! After extensive research, I gambled and brought home (apartment) a 5 month old Sun Conure. Yesterday was her/his first day. She's set up in a corner in my living room. She was squawking here and there every time I was out of sight, average half a dozen squawks each time. We made it through the night ok, she slept throughout w/o need to cover her cage. In the morning she was quiet even though she was up a few hours before me. Maybe because I was sleeping close to her cage? Did I get lucky today? I am scared to death that she will start squawking in mornings at dawn. Is this your experience? Is there any advice you can give me on how to train her to not do it if she does it tomorrow? Is covering her cage the best way to go? I'm OK with the outbursts during the day because at least she will stop after a few yells, and I also whisper back to her, etc. Thanks for your help!

 

[CherylCali]

Congratulations on the new Sun. Birds naturally sing and chatter at sun up and sun down, its instinctual . I think that's just part of having a bird.

CherylCali

 

[tijya]

Mine is really good about sleeping. She waits until we get up before we heat anything. We do cover her though.

 

[tijya]

*hear not heat!

 

[Notdumasilook]

First.. congrats on the new family member. Sun Conures are VERY smart and also have an intense flocking instinct. We all realize that its hard to spend 24/7 with your birds.. so I'd advise your right away open a line of communication with that baby. I always let my birds know what to expect. "Be right back" means exactly that.. don't stress papa bird wont be gone but a minute.... BYE BYE... means extended absence for a while. "Go nite nite" means either please get in the cage or its bed time. Also, I cover my birds at nite...stops drafts and they seem to feel more secure. My birds spend a LOT of time out of cage with both wifey and me, but I don't have to force them to go in the cage if/when I got to put them up for some reason. I tap the cage and ask them to go "nite nite" and both will comply, and when they do I give them a "goodie".... whatever favorite treat they like. The cage is not used as a place of punishment but just a safe place for them to be until I can get them out again. As mentioned... SCs have an intense flocking instinct.. you can expect a "locating call" when you leave the room... kind of a "dikadee dikadee".. which I answer with "be right back".. That is of course unless Im heading to get me a much needed nap... then I tell em "daddys going nite nite". Believe it or not... they understand and the calls (usually) stop. You have an adorable intelligent lil bird there that makes a wonderful companion. Its not a human child but trust me... before long you will think of it as your baby. Its that intense flocking instinct, their natural curiosity watching your every move, coupled with hardwired instincts you can use to "teach' them that makes them such an awesome companion. So my advice... just be patient, learn your bird and let the bird learn you... and you will run across very little behavioral issues you can't deal with. Know also these lil birds respond to praise, and kisses and lots of beak rubbing, head scratches, etc as well as "goodies" for teaching aids. Mine even loves me to pull his tail and will go out of the way to get me to do it...with lots of chirps an squeals of delight at my attention. He also likes to "mock fight" and I spend a good bit of our quality time with him on his back with me playing "footsie grabs" and "tickle my belly". All in all be prepared... wont take long and that lil critter will have your heart in a big way... best of luck.!!

Oh.. and PS.... Sun Conures seem to have a "cloth fetish".. They love to chew various kinds of material.. Id advise don't wear a shirt you dont want to end up with holes in the shoulder..etc.. And watch the chewing... you do not want them to swallow a chunk of cloth or thread... can cause bad digestive issues!..

 

[CherylCali]

First.. congrats on the new family member. Sun Conures are VERY smart and also have an intense flocking instinct. We all realize that its hard to spend 24/7 with your birds.. so I'd advise your right away open a line of communication with that baby. I always let my birds know what to expect. "Be right back" means exactly that.. don't stress papa bird wont be gone but a minute.... BYE BYE... means extended absence for a while. "Go nite nite" means either please get in the cage or its bed time. Also, I cover my birds at nite...stops drafts and they seem to feel more secure. My birds spend a LOT of time out of cage with both wifey and me, but I don't have to force them to go in the cage if/when I got to put them up for some reason. I tap the cage and ask them to go "nite nite" and both will comply, and when they do I give them a "goodie".... whatever favorite treat they like. The cage is not used as a place of punishment but just a safe place for them to be until I can get them out again. As mentioned... SCs have an intense flocking instinct.. you can expect a "locating call" when you leave the room... kind of a "dikadee dikadee".. which I answer with "be right back".. That is of course unless Im heading to get me a much needed nap... then I tell em "daddys going nite nite". Believe it or not... they understand and the calls (usually) stop. You have an adorable intelligent lil bird there that makes a wonderful companion. Its not a human child but trust me... before long you will think of it as your baby. Its that intense flocking instinct, their natural curiosity watching your every move, coupled with hardwired instincts you can use to "teach' them that makes them such an awesome companion. So my advice... just be patient, learn your bird and let the bird learn you... and you will run across very little behavioral issues you can't deal with. Know also these lil birds respond to praise, and kisses and lots of beak rubbing, head scratches, etc as well as "goodies" for teaching aids. Mine even loves me to pull his tail and will go out of the way to get me to do it...with lots of chirps an squeals of delight at my attention. He also likes to "mock fight" and I spend a good bit of our quality time with him on his back with me playing "footsie grabs" and "tickle my belly". All in all be prepared... wont take long and that lil critter will have your heart in a big way... best of luck.!!

Oh.. and PS.... Sun Conures seem to have a "cloth fetish".. They love to chew various kinds of material.. Id advise don't wear a shirt you dont want to end up with holes in the shoulder..etc.. And watch the chewing... you do not want them to swallow a chunk of cloth or thread... can cause bad digestive issues!..

Wow! I never thought to use different ways to explain the lengths of time. Thank you!

CherylCali

 

[GaleriaGila]

You're getting great advice and support, and that will continue; this is a great place.
Congratulations on your new room mate.
Welcome!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

While suns are LOUD, they aren't necessarily noisy. I too live in an apartment and if you ever have any issues with having a sun and apartment living, I can offer you several suggestions that worked for me when I had noise issues with Skittles.

If you make sure your sun gets enough rest (10-14hrs a night depending on lifestyle) and has enough out of cage time with you to meet his/her social needs as well as having things to keep themselves occupied when you are not around, you shouldn't have any major issues. When you leave home, put the radio on, it works wonders. Skittles is free-flighted all day and he is pretty quiet but he wasn't always like that.

Suns are flock animals and like other flock animals, some noise in the mornings and at sunset are totally normal.

I got to bed late, I"m a night owl and I get up late. So Skittles gets up late too. I tend to put him to bed between 7p-9p and wake him up between 10a-12p. He is almost always up before 10a as I can hear him move around in his cage (its RIGHT next to my bed) either playing with toys or banging his beak against the side of the cage, but he seldom screeches when he's covered.

Regarding the "cloth fetish", I cannot stress that enough. Dead on there. I have the dozens of shirts with holes in them to attest to that fact! LOL.

It's for that very reason I want to advise you NOT to get your bird a cuddle hut. With sunnies being such big fabric chewers, it's a tragedy waiting to happen.

It is imperative that you provide your sun with a LOT of safe chew toys, they are MAJOR chewers.

 

[Notdumasilook]

Oh... and need to add a heads up. My lil Booger .. and I think it goes for most small conures... is VERY protective over food/toys. Its normal and natural... in the wild they have to compete and will go beak to beak with larger birds over food sources. Even offering a treat can kick in that hard wired instinct. .. like you offer them a goodie and instead of taking the goodie you get nipped. Do not fret... the bird is NOT being evil... and as the bird learns over time you are not gonna steal his "goodies" nips will get less and less frequent. So just be aware and understand its a birdie thing. Watch yourself around the food bowl, when hes playing with a toy of some sort, or even giving him a goodie. I still on occasion get a lil nip.. but just learned to ignore it. IF he was to latch on like a snapping turtle I might try to adjust the behavior but as it is its not a battle worth fighting.

And Cheryl... you are indeed welcome. Yes its amazing how smart they are and how quick they can pick up on basic words and phrases... and mine use those words to communicate back to me. ... so its a 2 way thing. Funny how these lil feathered critters with a brain the size of a blackeyed pea are smarter than some of the people I've run across.. )

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Oh yeah, Skittles is like that. I'll go to give him a power treat and every time he practically rips it out of my hand as if saying "give me that!".

They will put up a fight if you try to take away their food and treats while they are using them for sure. I change Skittles food and water dishes BEFORE I put him in his cage to go to bed. I also only clean his cage and toys etc when he is out of the cage. That way, it doesn't reinforce territorial instincts.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Just my two cents about schedules...

Ever since the Rickeybird hit sexual maturity at about 3 years of age, I've had to manage his hormones! If kept on too steady a long day, and too much light, he stayed "in the mood" (aggressive, even louder than usual, pleasuring himself on my neck :22 year round. If I keep him on a natural light schedule... up with dawn, down with dusk, year around... he's only a little monster rooster from July to September). He has his own room, so I can do that easily.

Hormones may not be an issue now, but if they are in future... there are my thoughts.

I'm happy for you... getting to now a parrot during the first years... a wonderful adventure... makes me nostalgic!