She doesn't want to socialize or eat healthy

[Birdgirl24]

Yeah when I got my budgies they were being fed an all seed diet and just as a couple months ago they were still on the junky pellets I had them on for ages that I was trying to get them off of. But now there on Harrison's pellets but still still refuse to touch veggies they'll occasionally eat a little bit of fresh apple rolled in seed from my garden.

 

[kme3388]

Yeah when I got my budgies they were being fed an all seed diet and just as a couple months ago they were still on the junky pellets I had them on for ages that I was trying to get them off of. But now there on Harrison's pellets but still still refuse to touch veggies they'll occasionally eat a little bit of fresh apple rolled in seed from my garden.

It sounds like we are going through the same things. The only thing my conure will sometimes eat or consider is blueberries.

 

[Birdgirl24]

It sounds like we are going through the same things. The only thing my conure will sometimes eat or consider is blueberries.

Yep we are definitely having the same struggles. Why do birds have to be so picky sometimes it's so much easier to get birds to eat fresh veggies when there being weaned than it is with like 4 year old Birds ugh the struggle is real lol.

 

[JaneEB1]

We have two male maroon bellied conures. We have had them about 3 years and we are slowly getting closer to being able to hold them (doesn't help that we asked for babies and ended up with one 2 year old and one 3 year old but that is another story). Sometimes they don't want to come out of the cage, sometimes they fly around like mad things, We cannot leave the cage open for their safety, but we open it as soon as we can. Is it worth closing the cage for a while in the morning and then opening it up again?
As for food, ours would almost kill for raspberries and strawberries, and they adore millet, they also love red peppers, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and carrot but the first two are their absolute favourites so could be a species thing?

 

[OrrinocosMom]

I've had my sun conure for 4 months now. She still refuses to eat anything besides seeds and apples.. I make different chop and pellets every day..

Behaviour wise - she does not like to get out of her cage at all. ( Her cage is huge, almost as big as me). She sits on her perch all day but in the mornings she plays with her toys and exercises which is good.

She will not get out of her cage unless I get her out myself and I usually place her in a different room because she'd otherwise just fly back to her cage. She tolerates me scritching her and putting her on my shoulder but she doesn't really like socializing with us if that makes sense? Like she would never initiate it herself and I'm afraid she'll never improve and I'm trying my hardest.. I don't want to force her to do anything or give her unpleasant experiences I let her go wherever she wants but she likes to hide in little areas like under the tables out of reach. I don't think it's out of fear though because she isn't scared of me. She steps up when she isnt around the cage (otherwise she simply refuses)

Basically she will tolerate it if I go and sit close to her, or pet her, or put her on my shoulder but its not something she would ever initiate and she just isn't as active as she should be. She usually sits in the same spots doing nothing for hours. (She does play with her toys and chews things up now and then) She has no health issues. What can I do? It's like she wants nothing to do with me even though I know it isn't personal it just feels discouraging

Ive worked with raptors more and am newer to parrots (have had my adopted 31 year old since August), but I wanted to add to what people have said here already... and that is that to me, 4 months is a short amount of time for some birds. I agree that doing more with your bird - eating at the same time, just hanging out close to each other are good flock-bonding activities. I also do a lot of chatting with my guy - if he says something (workds I understand or not) I say something back. I put on music and dance with him - he used to do nothing, but now loves to bob and sway and walk back and forth to the music with me. I read to him, sing him bed time lullabys... not saying you should do these things, but just that the more you do stuff with your birdie the more you will show your love. I really think PATIENCE is the most important thing with birds. I know someone who had their bird for almost a year before the bird finally began to trust their human.

Also, my guy (who lived in a horrible situation for most of his life and ate bad food) still does not love his veggies... one trick I have used is to bury banana chips (his fave) in piles of slightly wet chop - so when he eats the chips they are covered with the chop that sticks to them. He has begun to eat it now - I actually think he was just scared of it before - it looked weird to him. Now he knows its edible, he eats it. Still likes sweet things and starch best though.

I too would love to see a photo of your baby! Best to you both. XOXO

 

[Budgierose]

I've had my sun conure for 4 months now. She still refuses to eat anything besides seeds and apples.. I make different chop and pellets every day..

Behaviour wise - she does not like to get out of her cage at all. ( Her cage is huge, almost as big as me). She sits on her perch all day but in the mornings she plays with her toys and exercises which is good.

She will not get out of her cage unless I get her out myself and I usually place her in a different room because she'd otherwise just fly back to her cage. She tolerates me scritching her and putting her on my shoulder but she doesn't really like socializing with us if that makes sense? Like she would never initiate it herself and I'm afraid she'll never improve and I'm trying my hardest.. I don't want to force her to do anything or give her unpleasant experiences I let her go wherever she wants but she likes to hide in little areas like under the tables out of reach. I don't think it's out of fear though because she isn't scared of me. She steps up when she isnt around the cage (otherwise she simply refuses)

Basically she will tolerate it if I go and sit close to her, or pet her, or put her on my shoulder but its not something she would ever initiate and she just isn't as active as she should be. She usually sits in the same spots doing nothing for hours. (She does play with her toys and chews things up now and then) She has no health issues. What can I do? It's like she wants nothing to do with me even though I know it isn't personal it just feels discouraging

I am sorry to hear about the situation with your conure. I don't know a whole lot about birds but I have looked into conures quite a bit cause I think they are very cute. My best advice is to give her a treat and gradually earn her trust back just like I am sure you originally did. Maybe let her fly around more out of the cage for a while, or potentially even in a different room if you think something in that room could be bothering her. Maybe she isn't scared of you but something in her surroundings, have you made any switches with food or toys? Also, provide her with alot of toys for stimulation, you don't want her to get bored. Here you go I hope this helped and please keep me updated on how she is doing!

 

[VDosky]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, I want to say that even though some of her feathers are clipped she is still an amazing flier and can even fly to higher spaces which is very impressive. Whenever she is upset she has the freedom to just fly away which she does.

I’ve looked into some more things she does which are hiding under furniture whenever I put her in a room her cage isn’t in, at first I thought she was scared or disliked hanging out with us but then I noticed she also carpet bites and it started clicking to me that she might be going through a hormonal phase! Which makes a lot of sense to me. I do provide her with many new toys but she always likes to chew on everything except for the toys, lol. I’m still struggling with the diet but I’m also not giving up and I’m trying new things. I’m going to try to close her “hiding spots”

 

[VDosky]

Also for those who asked about fear factors, she gets spooked easily especially at weird sounds or sudden sounds. Like one time I recorded a video of her flying and then when I opened it later she got spooked and flew away because of her own flapping sound, she’s also scared of the bees that she watches from the window but I don’t think there are specific things she is scared of.

 

[VDosky]

We have two male maroon bellied conures. We have had them about 3 years and we are slowly getting closer to being able to hold them (doesn't help that we asked for babies and ended up with one 2 year old and one 3 year old but that is another story). Sometimes they don't want to come out of the cage, sometimes they fly around like mad things, We cannot leave the cage open for their safety, but we open it as soon as we can. Is it worth closing the cage for a while in the morning and then opening it up again?
As for food, ours would almost kill for raspberries and strawberries, and they adore millet, they also love red peppers, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and carrot but the first two are their absolute favourites so could be a species thing?

I’ve tried all things mentioned except for the raspberries and I see many people mentioned them so i’m going to give it a try

 

[VDosky]

Ive worked with raptors more and am newer to parrots (have had my adopted 31 year old since August), but I wanted to add to what people have said here already... and that is that to me, 4 months is a short amount of time for some birds. I agree that doing more with your bird - eating at the same time, just hanging out close to each other are good flock-bonding activities. I also do a lot of chatting with my guy - if he says something (workds I understand or not) I say something back. I put on music and dance with him - he used to do nothing, but now loves to bob and sway and walk back and forth to the music with me. I read to him, sing him bed time lullabys... not saying you should do these things, but just that the more you do stuff with your birdie the more you will show your love. I really think PATIENCE is the most important thing with birds. I know someone who had their bird for almost a year before the bird finally began to trust their human.

Also, my guy (who lived in a horrible situation for most of his life and ate bad food) still does not love his veggies... one trick I have used is to bury banana chips (his fave) in piles of slightly wet chop - so when he eats the chips they are covered with the chop that sticks to them. He has begun to eat it now - I actually think he was just scared of it before - it looked weird to him. Now he knows its edible, he eats it. Still likes sweet things and starch best though.

I too would love to see a photo of your baby! Best to you both. XOXO

I definitely try to do as many things with her as I can, i even perch her in the shower every time I shower myself (of course not with the water hitting her), whenever I study I read to her, sing to her, she always looks at me like I’m a weirdo hahaha, and the food trick is smart! That’s what I’m trying to achieve with the apples

 

[Shoegoo]

I've had my sun conure for 4 months now. She still refuses to eat anything besides seeds and apples.. I make different chop and pellets every day..

Behaviour wise - she does not like to get out of her cage at all. ( Her cage is huge, almost as big as me). She sits on her perch all day but in the mornings she plays with her toys and exercises which is good.

She will not get out of her cage unless I get her out myself and I usually place her in a different room because she'd otherwise just fly back to her cage. She tolerates me scritching her and putting her on my shoulder but she doesn't really like socializing with us if that makes sense? Like she would never initiate it herself and I'm afraid she'll never improve and I'm trying my hardest.. I don't want to force her to do anything or give her unpleasant experiences I let her go wherever she wants but she likes to hide in little areas like under the tables out of reach. I don't think it's out of fear though because she isn't scared of me. She steps up when she isnt around the cage (otherwise she simply refuses)

Basically she will tolerate it if I go and sit close to her, or pet her, or put her on my shoulder but its not something she would ever initiate and she just isn't as active as she should be. She usually sits in the same spots doing nothing for hours. (She does play with her toys and chews things up now and then) She has no health issues. What can I do? It's like she wants nothing to do with me even though I know it isn't personal it just feels discouraging

Sounds like my bird. My bird loves her cage, eats pellets and Nutriberries. Gets plenty of exercise just playing with her toys. Flies when she wants.