Obsessed with going down my shirt

[LaurenB]

Nacho has been living with us for 5 weeks now. He is still in quarantine. He's doing very well - bathing regularly and seems to enjoy it, completely off his crap seed diet and switched to nutriberries and starting to introduce pellets, very friendly and outgoing, playing with toys.

A couple weeks ago, he discovered he can climb inside my shirt. I've read online that some suns enjoy riding around inside their owner's shirts and poking their head out to look around. I didn't think anything of it... until it has become a bit of an obsession for him.

As soon as he comes out of his cage, he immediately dives down my shirt. He doesn't want to sit on my shoulder, or on my hand, he just wants down my shirt!

Realizing this is quickly becoming a habit (and I'm unsure if this is a bad habit or not), I decided to not give him his way 100% of the time. Some times I block my shirt with my other hand so he can't climb down there. In that case, he just sits on my chest searching for an opening.

If I hold him away from my shirt on my hand... well... I've discovered Nacho can do the blood curdling Sun Conure scream. He SCREECHES bloody murder like a child having a temper tantrum.

In order to discourage this new screaming behavior I either 1.) Leave the room if he's already sitting on his cage (because I know this is what he doesn't want and he immediately quiets down) or 2.) If he's on my hand I just ignore it and make a point of not giving him his way. Then when he becomes quiet, I give him what he wants.

Any advice?

Am I handling this appropriately to discourage the screaming?

Is it not a good idea to let him climb down my shirt all the time? I don't see the harm in it, yet. It's actually kind of cute... until he starts chewing on an expensive bra

Thanks!

 

[riddick07]

Letting any parrot get his way all the time is never a good idea in my opinion so not letting him down your shirt all the time is the right thing to do. He also has to know how to sit on a stand while out instead of glued to you all the time. My Amazon is super bonded to me but knows that sometimes he is just going to sit on a stand when out instead of on me.

Sounds like your working on the screaming the right way if he is working out that screaming is what is causing you to leave or be ignored. When my sun was a baby she had a couple little screaming moments that got her put away and the door shut so she was alone. She learned pretty quickly that it wasn't what she wanted to do to get attention and stay out. Now she is very quiet unless there is a stranger in her room....all my birds precede to let the neighborhood know when there are strangers in the house.

Oh and it's super normal for suns to like that type of cuddling. I stopped with the down the shirt because skin and nails hurt. She now does this.....pictures are of her right at this moment...

 

[Gamerparrot]

I think it's quite funny and cute. But sometimes its irritating and I know that . What you are doing seems preety well.

 

[OneHorseRanch]

SHeldon loves to play in our shirts. He dives down through the neck hole and laughs, and makes other noises. His nails are a bit nerving. If I have a good shirt on I wont let him do it. I go and change into one that he has chewed holes in earlier. He likes to get into the laundry when I'm folding it too.

 

[Birdman666]

That's the conure spot...

 

[rope]

our two sun conures are under the covers with lisa in bed right now...they love to do love things under the covers....they giggle and have fun like that....for some reason they don't seem to poop under the covers which is a good thing...on days when the temps are ok we put the cage out on the porch...they love the sun and just plain love the outside...they are very quiet out there...only screaming when a car comes up the driveway..in fact they can hear our car from way down the road...they sound off before the geese and the dogs...lots of alarms! our conures were way more noisy a while ago...like 2 to 3 or maybe 4....but they still are a loud bird...their much better with at least a half hour flying around in the morning...most morning they are out flying and visiting for an hour or more...i had a gcc years ago and he was much easier...suns are hyper at times but are very lovable too...

 

[LaurenB]

So should I just let him do it?
If I just let him go... he usually gets bored and comes out after about 10 minutes.

He is very nervous when I bring him outside of his bedroom. Being tucked away inside my shirt I think makes him feel safer. He'll venture out for a bit to explore, and then climbs back in again.

 

[sunnybirds2]

My two sun conures do the exact same thing! The older one does it more with me since he's more clingy. It's a good idea to not let him get his way all the time so your doing the right thing. Unfortunately I've never stopped mine from doing it and they have successfully destroyed almost all of my pajama shirts and left me with minor scratches sometimes. But God I love those little monsters. ��

 

[Birdman666]

Well, speaking for myself...



MY BIRD PRETTY MUCH CONSIDERED THIS HIS ALL TIME FAVORITE NEST...

For a conure?! It's pretty normal. I don't think I ever actually tried to stop him from going inside there, cuz he behaved when he got in "his spot."

And it wasn't just with me either...

 

[LaurenB]

My two sun conures do the exact same thing! The older one does it more with me since he's more clingy. It's a good idea to not let him get his way all the time so your doing the right thing. Unfortunately I've never stopped mine from doing it and they have successfully destroyed almost all of my pajama shirts and left me with minor scratches sometimes. But God I love those little monsters. ��

Yes, I've quickly learned to keep an old T-shirt in Nacho's room to wear. Two holes in two different shirts in one week! I bought some cheapo $4 T's from Michaels craft store. Not too worried about those!

Well, speaking for myself...



MY BIRD PRETTY MUCH CONSIDERED THIS HIS ALL TIME FAVORITE NEST...

For a conure?! It's pretty normal. I don't think I ever actually tried to stop him from going inside there, cuz he behaved when he got in "his spot."

And it wasn't just with me either...

Adorable! Your little girl is precious (the human)!

Here is Nacho:

SOMETIMES he comes out on his own...

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZUqhYXTWgA"]Nacho Surprise - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Kalel]

My sun conure absolutely loves going in my shirt! The problem is he likes to preen the skin on my neck and sometimes pinches a little too much and starts to hurt. Also, when his nails are not trimmed they can be pretty scratchy on the skin. For this reason I do not let him in there all the time when he wants to. It's sort of like a treat for him lol. As a compromise I will put a blanket or something on my lap and he loves to burrow under it.

 

[SilverLining]

My sun conure just starting doing this a few days ago. She likes to find space in between my button up shirts and like to crawl out of my collar.

It's pretty adorable I must admit, so I don't stop her.