Would it be crazy to buy a Sun?

[faeryphoebe1]

I have a Sun. We purchased him as a hand raised baby at 3 months of age. Sunny turned 1 in December. We absolutely adore him!

He's cuddly and sweet. He's smart and curious. He only bites (does not draw blood) if he doesn't want scritches or if he doesn't see your hand and gets scared. We take him everywhere with us when the weather is warm.

He's the sweetest bird I've ever had. He's not cage aggressive like his nemesis, Trixie (she will draw blood). He loves my kids. They're 13 and 15.

I will say this... we take him (and Trixie) out every day to keep him tame and close to us.
Even if I'm dead tired with only 4 hours sleep; he comes out to play and socialize. The only exception to this is when I'm sick.

He's capable of biting hard but doesn't. We've worked with him on learning about acceptable beak pressure because he can be mouthy. So, he doesn't give us hard bites but instead nibbles to explore. I don't shoulder Sunny because he does love to clamp down on my earlobe and simulate a baby bird being fed. Ouch. His calls are ear piercing and and that's another reason we avoid shoulders. I must admit, we do encourage his calls because he mimics a laugh and it's so cute and funny.

My GCC was hand tamed and Sunny was hand raised. There is a world of difference between them in regard to how cuddly they are. Trixie is NOT usually cuddly. We adore her, nonetheless.

Hope this insight helps a bit. If you get the Sun, just make sure to commit to taking him out daily and having everyone interact with him.

 

[riddick07]

I think we all could offer personal experiences about the tiels and suns we met but we haven't met the tiel or sun you have met. I think you know your daughter best and know what she can handle. A bird should always be judged on an individual basis and these generalizations probably aren't the best help. Does this sun match your daughter? Is the fact she isn't as excited by a tiel being taken into consideration? I think you have all the cons and pros of both types in general and need to just look at these two birds you have met and watch them interact with your daughter. Which one is the right one for her when you see them together? Sometimes thats your best answer.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Suns are wonderful pets, no doubt about it. But they aren't for the inexperienced bird owner, nor one who lives a fast & busy life as suns are very social creatures and require a lot of time out with their owner.

Skittles very RARELY breaks my skin or makes me bleed when it's just me and him. When he does, it's usually cause he's afraid of something, he doesn't break skin if I happen to scratch him too aggressively, though he does make his displeasure known.

I think suns are IDEAL for people who live alone and don't want/can't care for a dog but want a constant companion. The only major drawbacks to owning a sun are their loudness and their needs - they are very needy birds.

Skittles is actually pretty laid back. He loves to 'press' himself against my neck when he's on my shoulder. He lets me trim his nails and I can even hold his wing and stretch it out without him having a fit. But he's also a hell of a watchbird. I just hope I don't come home one day from an outing to find he's thrown me out of the apartment.

 

[Jumpingtadpoles]

I'm going to vote for where her heart is.
Go with the conure.
If they are in love, it's the best option. Otherwise you will have this cockatiel and her heart will always long for the other.

 

[riddick07]

I don't know I have a sun, 2 green cheeks, 4 tiels, and a family cockatoo. I also go to college full time and will mostly likely have two part time jobs this semester. My life is busy. I plan on starting grad school in the summer and CPA studying in May. I also have a horse and cats and snakes and lizards. I make time for my animals and have socialized them to deal with the fact I'm not always around. I try to pick an animal that seems to fit in my life or is young enough to learn how to deal with the schedule I keep. When I'm home the birds are out and when I'm not they are generally quiet and play with their toys or sleep. I think they also talk to each other so that probably helps when you have more than one... My mother is disabled and works from home but my birds aren't out when I'm not home and they stay in my room which is out of sight of her. So I don't think a bird always needs a life where they are constantly the center of attention and their owner can't do anything else but cater to them. Don't get me wrong my birds are spoiled rotten but I also don't let them stop me from living my life. Though there are some birds that need these requirements because birds are all different individuals. We did have to cater to Ivory the cockatoo at first but shes slowly learned its alright to not need us every single moment of the day. She is always out of her cage but no longer has to sit with us to be okay and she doesn't panic when we are gone for hours any longer. Oh sure shes happy to see us when we get back but she can greet us now and then sit around on her cage again.

I also live in a condo but my neighbors have the weird idea I'm nice and don't mind the birds because of this....not sure why they came to this conclusion... Also, none of my birds scream hours on end so that probably helps.

I get what your saying about suns being social/needing lots of attention and maybe I just have a fairly independent sun

 

[alcmene]

I really really appreciate EVERYONE'S input on this. It's a difficult decision. My husband and i have spent the entire evening reading and re-reading everyone's comments and talking about all this. I think we're going to stick with the tiel.

We've decided that it really boils down to 2 main things:

1) yes, she's very fond of the sun. But he is not the only sweetheart of a bird she will ever fall in love with in her life. He's probably not even the only sun she'll ever adore. And she is SO EXCITED to have a bird of her own that i think she'll fall in love with the tiel too. We spent an hr this evening on you tube watching hilarious videos of things people have trained their tiels to do. She went to bed bubbling about how the 1st thing she's going to teach hers to do is whistle jingle bells. So i think she's well on her way to loving him already.

2) i'm not sure i 100% trust myself to train a sun correctly. I've done as much research as humanly possibly. Read dozens of books. Bought scads of videos. And i feel pretty good about my knowledge level. But it's all book learning. I've never trained an actual live bird to do (or not do) anything. When i was a zoo keeper we used to instruct new hires to never go near the most venomous snakes, only the most experienced keepers worked with them. Reading every fact ever written about king cobras doesn't prepare you for being face to face with one. I don't think a sun is cobra level (that's probably a cockatoo lol), but it's not a harmless little anole either.

We want her 1st foray in to bird ownership to be gentle so it fosters her love, not makes her live in fear of getting bitten because mama screwed up and didnt train Polly properly. It seems like the learning curve with the tiel wont be as steep. I feel pretty confident in my ability to train a tiel properly. And i wont fear for my life and limbs (and, more importantly, those of my children) if i fail.

In another 5 or 10 yrs, if she's still wishing for a sun, then we can talk.

Thank you everyone for all of your help.

 

[faeryphoebe1]

Tiels are wonderful birds. They love, love to imitate whistles. They're so adorable too! Good choice.

 

[Birdbrain91]

I had a similar situation. I have 10 year old twins and when they were 7 all they could talk about was getting a bird. Like you we researched it for awhile and one day we went into the pet store and found a really cute funny GCC. My daughter held him and he bit her drawling blood. We were told we just need to work with him a little. A couple days later we got him. He turned 2 last month and is a very bossy and hormonal conure but we love him anyway.

6 weeks later we went into the same pet store to get some food for Apollo and they had 2 Sun Conures. We had to hold one. She was the nicest bird I've ever seen. She kissed me the 1st time I held her and she was great with my girls. We weren't ready for a 2nd one so we visited her a lot and noticed she didn't scream as much as the other one did. As this was a big concern for me. 4 months later we got her.

Long story short she picked us and because of that she has been the best bird. Just like what everyone said Suns can be very loud but mine doesn't scream a lot. Cleo turned 2 this month and no sigh of aggression like my GCC. She never really played with toys all she wants to do is sit on my shoulder and preen my eye laches. She is so gentle like the one you are looking at.

My point is the GCC that WE picked we are having problems with and the Sun that PICKED US is so sweet and gentle with us.

Have you heard your Sun scream at the store? I didn't hear mine and she's not much of a screamer.
You have to do what you feel comfortable with. Good Luck

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I don't know I have a sun, 2 green cheeks, 4 tiels, and a family cockatoo. I also go to college full time and will mostly likely have two part time jobs this semester. My life is busy. I plan on starting grad school in the summer and CPA studying in May. I also have a horse and cats and snakes and lizards. I make time for my animals and have socialized them to deal with the fact I'm not always around. I try to pick an animal that seems to fit in my life or is young enough to learn how to deal with the schedule I keep. When I'm home the birds are out and when I'm not they are generally quiet and play with their toys or sleep. I think they also talk to each other so that probably helps when you have more than one... My mother is disabled and works from home but my birds aren't out when I'm not home and they stay in my room which is out of sight of her. So I don't think a bird always needs a life where they are constantly the center of attention and their owner can't do anything else but cater to them. Don't get me wrong my birds are spoiled rotten but I also don't let them stop me from living my life. Though there are some birds that need these requirements because birds are all different individuals. We did have to cater to Ivory the cockatoo at first but shes slowly learned its alright to not need us every single moment of the day. She is always out of her cage but no longer has to sit with us to be okay and she doesn't panic when we are gone for hours any longer. Oh sure shes happy to see us when we get back but she can greet us now and then sit around on her cage again.

I also live in a condo but my neighbors have the weird idea I'm nice and don't mind the birds because of this....not sure why they came to this conclusion... Also, none of my birds scream hours on end so that probably helps.

I get what your saying about suns being social/needing lots of attention and maybe I just have a fairly independent sun

I hear you on that. Everyone's situation is different and some are able to split their time accordingly, some are not. I think it's rather cool you are able to divide your time in that manner. Chances are, and this is just my opinion, your sun has not developed the type of 'obsessive' bond they can be prone too cause yours is as you say more independent but also very well socialized.

I was not able to do that in my case. The vet highly recommended I incubate Skittles from my cockatiel, Peaches, for 90 days due to Peaches age - just in case Skittles was sick or had a disease. By the time the incubation period ended, Skittles and I were already inseparable. If I had it to do all over again, I would have socialized the two of them, but hindsight is 20/20 and I didn't know then what I know now.

I really really appreciate EVERYONE'S input on this. It's a difficult decision. My husband and i have spent the entire evening reading and re-reading everyone's comments and talking about all this. I think we're going to stick with the tiel.

We've decided that it really boils down to 2 main things:

1) yes, she's very fond of the sun. But he is not the only sweetheart of a bird she will ever fall in love with in her life. He's probably not even the only sun she'll ever adore. And she is SO EXCITED to have a bird of her own that i think she'll fall in love with the tiel too. We spent an hr this evening on you tube watching hilarious videos of things people have trained their tiels to do. She went to bed bubbling about how the 1st thing she's going to teach hers to do is whistle jingle bells. So i think she's well on her way to loving him already.

2) i'm not sure i 100% trust myself to train a sun correctly. I've done as much research as humanly possibly. Read dozens of books. Bought scads of videos. And i feel pretty good about my knowledge level. But it's all book learning. I've never trained an actual live bird to do (or not do) anything. When i was a zoo keeper we used to instruct new hires to never go near the most venomous snakes, only the most experienced keepers worked with them. Reading every fact ever written about king cobras doesn't prepare you for being face to face with one. I don't think a sun is cobra level (that's probably a cockatoo lol), but it's not a harmless little anole either.

We want her 1st foray in to bird ownership to be gentle so it fosters her love, not makes her live in fear of getting bitten because mama screwed up and didnt train Polly properly. It seems like the learning curve with the tiel wont be as steep. I feel pretty confident in my ability to train a tiel properly. And i wont fear for my life and limbs (and, more importantly, those of my children) if i fail.

In another 5 or 10 yrs, if she's still wishing for a sun, then we can talk.

Thank you everyone for all of your help.

I think you're making a very wise decision. Chances are if she still wants a sun in 5-10 years she will more than likely be willing to put forth the commitment and be content with that. You never know nowadays, children outgrow phases rather quickly. I remember I went through just about every vocational phase growing up. Everything from being a fireman to a bus driver.

I'm also glad we were all able to provide input to help you come to a suitable decision.

Best of luck!

 

[riddick07]

I have a feeling your going to end up with a few more birds over the years if she is truly a bird nut like the rest of us...

When I got my first bird I had to twist my mothers arm because she didn't think a bird would be a good pet. They weren't cuddly...they wouldn't want to spend time with me....
She has since learned her lesson! Good luck with the tiel! They too can be pains but a single is more likely to bond with her I would think. Post pics when the tiel comes home!

 

[alcmene]

How do you post pics?

 

[alcmene]

The tiel breeder called us this afternoon and said he was ready a couple days earlier then expected, so we actually went and picked him up this afternoon.

He has spent the entire rest of the day cowering in a corner and hissing at anyone who comes within 2 ft of his cage. He was cuddly and sweet at the breeders. So i'm hoping his attitude is just a result of being stressed out in a new place and not because he hates us. Fingers crossed that he snaps out of it in a few days.

 

[Freespin]

I wouldnt worry too much. He will probably take at least a few days to settle in. The more i read about you and your family the more i want to say go for the sun though. I guess give it a few weeks. He should settle in but if he doesn't maybe its a sign... =P

 

[Kalidasa]

Congratulations! Take it real slow, everything will work out fine

 

[riddick07]

He is probably just unsettled and scared because of the new move. Hopefully he settles within a few days!

When I post pics I upload them to photobucket and then copy/paste the img link they provide for each image.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

The best thing to do is let him be for a few days. Let him get settled and used to the new environment. What you are witnessing is merely the actions of a frightened bird due to the changes. It's perfectly normal and it will subside as he gets used to his surroundings.

Can't wait to see pics!

 

[alcmene]

I wouldnt worry too much. He will probably take at least a few days to settle in. The more i read about you and your family the more i want to say go for the sun though. I guess give it a few weeks. He should settle in but if he doesn't maybe its a sign... =P

I wondered that myself. I truly believe that the universe/god/fate sends us messages throughout our lives, we just need to open ourselves up to be receptive enough to hear them.

For the tiel- We are giving him his space. Not holding him. Staying calm and slow moving when in the room with us. Speaking to him in quiet soothing voices. Everything i read that you're supposed to do around scared parrots.

I've spoken with his breeder and told her what's going on too. She and i both think he'll snap out of it in a few days when he feels more comfortable. But she stressed that, if he doesn't, we can bring him back.

I hope he decides he likes us. But if he doesn't, maybe his Jekyll and Hyde personality flip is a sign from the universe that we were meant to have that sun!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

If he was sweet at the breeders, than most likely he will snap out of it. Keep in mind that at the breeders he was used to the surroundings and it was the first environment he got used too. He should come around in time.

 

[alcmene]

Houston, we have a problem.

Our little tiel buddy seemed calmer this morning, so we offered him a finger for perching. He hissed and flapped for a min, but then changed his mind and climbed aboard. He was on my husband's hand and we were praising him and making a big fuss about what a good boy he is. Things seemed to be going well. Then he did a great big flap of his wings. Beat them for a few seconds, like he was stretching. About 2 seconds later my husband started to hack and wheeze. Clearly, his dust is going to be a problem.

He hasnt had a bath yet, we wanted to give him a chance to settle in a little bit first. I'm going to go out today and buy an air purifier to put by his cage, so hopefully that will help too. But if it doesnt and he still aggravates my husband's asthma, he has to go back. We cant have a pet that interferes with our ability to breathe.

I'm really nervous. If he doesnt work out, then what do we do? My daughter will be devastated. But the general consensus here seems to be that the sun isnt a good idea. Is there another species of bird that would be appropriate for a little girl that isnt a powder bird?

 

[lquan]

Non-dusty bird? That left you with either conure or caique. Caique is clown bird and very colorfull. I don't have a caique. Someone with caique can tell you more.