Would it be crazy to buy a Sun?

[Freespin]

If the sun has been at the pet shop so long and you are regular visitors maybe you could talk to them about taking him on a trial period for a month or so? The downside is that if it doesn't work out your daughter will be heartbroken to have to give him back...

 

[jenphilly]

I have not posted on this thread yet, but my daughter (Riddick07) has been telling me the updates and what was going on. I wanted to avoid posting because as a mom with an animal crazy kid, I thought my opinion might be just a little too loud or pushy

You mentioned your daughter being an old soul, if no one else here can understand that statement, I can... its a phrase I've used to describe Victoria most of her life. While she is now 23 (just had a birthday Monday), when she was about 12 years old I was able to afford to purchase her the first horse, like your daughter with birds, she had been horse crazy all her life but it wasn't until she was around 10 that I could afford her to get into riding. At 12, it was suggested that a horse we had to meet was not even 4 years old at the time and dead green... 99% of people thought I was insane for even considering letting a kid with little riding experience sit on the back of a green, barely broke horse, long let consider buying him. But, following my gut, we drove down to TN and the day she met Chip, she rode him bareback and he followed her around like a big puppy (a really big BIG puppy). Fast forward to today, Chip has been in the family for almost 11 years (April is his birthday and when he came home). They went to Devon together and we have probably hundreds of photos of them thru the years, both serious riding and her sitting on him backwards, laying on his back and just all sorts of goofy things. While I am sure there are lots of other wonderful horses we could have added to our family, sometimes the right animal does not fit what anyone would say is 'typical'. In case you had not heard anyone yelling at their computer, I have been hoping all along you would follow your instinct and your daughter's heart and bring the sun home. Might he have issues at some point, maybe scream a little loud or bite harder then the cockatiel, maybe, maybe not... But in the long run, I would almost guarantee your daughter will have a friend for life that the cockatiel may never be. Okay, admit, I'm not a cockatiel fan... they are pretty birds, but for an interactive, 'fun' bird, they just don't make my list. I was like you for years, never was a bird fan, they were always too much work, too noisy, too messy, just not a loveable 'real' pet (my daughter still likes to remind of that and laughs at me). Her first birds were cockatiels and honestly, they were exactly what I always thought, never was impressed with them (still not)... but when she got the first green cheek conure, have to admit, little Monkey bird won me over. So much that we added another green to the family after her. Then this summer my daughter spent the summer on Semester at Sea traveling Europe and it was after that both my husband and I were hooked on the conures. We took care of the cockatiels, but the conures were out with me most of the time I was home. There is just something so much more companion about them then I ever saw in the cockatiels.

Anyway, the point of all my babble... ask the cockatiel breeder if you can return the tiel and head straight to the pet store If all of you have enjoyed the sun at the store, just imagine the interaction when he's hanging out with you on the sofa at night with a basket of toys. Loki is the sun in our home and he's a new addition, but he's got the biggest personality and to make sure he doesn't develop any bad habits, he is very well socialized, spends time with everyone and interacts differently with each person. He loves to pull at the stubble on my husband's chin when he needs to shave, he'll sit on my shoulder and croak at me and play with my earring or climbs down my lap and chews on my laptop (something he never tries with his mother's laptop!!). He's a character and will hop across the sofa from one person to another... is he just a super special sun, nope, don't think so, we've just made sure he is well socialized and talks to everyone so the bad habits never develop. Don't let other people's stories scare you off from what you feel is right for your family. Just because one person has a sun that is obsessed with them and overly bonded, doesn't mean yours will be. Your daughter sounds like an amazing little person, I am guessing with the same love and guidance, any bird you add to your home will be just the same.

Now that I've taken a whole page to babble on... I hope you follow that gut instinct and the signs from the universe...

Good luck!!

Jen

PS - Don't mean to offend anyone in this post.... And those who say a budgie or parakeet have a pleasant sound, the tiniest bird. my little Cam, is absolutely the most annoying sounding bird you could meet. The sun doesn't scream or go on and on, but that dang budgie... well lets just say he's lucky he is so pretty....

 

[alcmene]

If the sun has been at the pet shop so long and you are regular visitors maybe you could talk to them about taking him on a trial period for a month or so? The downside is that if it doesn't work out your daughter will be heartbroken to have to give him back...

Both birds are returnable. The cockatiel breeder said she would take him back for any reason and give us a full refund for a year. The pet store said there is a two week no questions asked return guarantee on their animals. So either way we will not end up stuck with a bird that doesn't work for us.

None of the money we spent on supplies will be wasted either. We bought an enormous flight cage- 24x 36x 54. Plenty big enough for either bird. We bought an acrobird play gym and 1 million toys too. Since they are close to the same size bird I think the perches and bowls that we bought would work for either bird as well

 

[alcmene]

I've been trying to talk to my daughter about it. Her ingenious solution is, of course, that we keep both birds lol. Her argument being that the cage is big enough. I told her I didn't think a cockatiel and a conure could be roommates

 

[riddick07]

Haha sounds like something I would have said around that age! Of course you could just get another cage....:54:

 

[alcmene]

Haha sounds like something I would have said around that age! Of course you could just get another cage....:54:

ENABLER!! Lol:09:

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

IMO, if someone is aware of the loudness factor of a sun conure and it is unlikely to pose an issue for them - that's a step in the right direction.

Socialization is incredibly important with sun conures. They are very social creatures and need lots of attention and if a circumstance can be created in which the sun will get all the attention he needs, even through various people - its still an ideal situation. I just think a lot of people, not all, but a lot of people go into a pet store and see how beautiful they are and are immediately smitten w/o considering the responsibilities of owning a sun, nor the issues that 'may' result. Of course, in my short experience on this forum, the bird owners here seem to be far more informed about birds than I have witnessed in my own life.

 

[riddick07]

I have no idea what your talkin bout enabler? Who? Me? :54:

My mother said she's the enabler lol Which is probably true since I have so many animals...

I agree with skittles daddy as long as you know what your getting into with the sun you should be alright. And it sounds like you have done way more research than the typical first time bird owner. Actually way more research than I did for my first bird and I did a lot to try to convince my mother for that first bird!

I would give the tiel a chance though since you brought him home unless your husband can't handle the dust and they are dust machines! I give frequent baths and they still throw off dust like crazy. I don't at the moment have an air purifier but it's on the list! I'm sure it'll help quite a bit if it's near the tiels area!

 

[alcmene]

I just think a lot of people, not all, but a lot of people go into a pet store and see how beautiful they are and are immediately smitten w/o considering the responsibilities of owning a sun, nor the issues that 'may' result.

I couldnt agree more. I'm new to birds, but i've worked with dogs and reptiles my entire life. Unfortunately, i think your statement is true for most kinds of animals. I can get myself worked up in to an absolute tirade about it. The thing that kills me the most is that PETS AREN'T OBLIGATORY!!!!!! There is no excuse EVER for mistreating an animal!! If you dont want to deal with an animal, the solution is simple- DON'T F@$&ING BUY ONE!!!! ARGH WARGARBLE!!!!

Whew. Sorry, i feel better now.

I'm not going to break my own arm patting myself on the back, but i've tried SO HARD to be as prepared as possible for the arrival of our bird. I wasnt exaggerating when i said i've been reading and studying for a year. I've spent hundreds of dollars on books and videos (heck, those Good Bird Inc dvd's are $25/ea, and i got the entire set) in order to know how to best care for and train a $60 cockatiel. And i dont regret it. There are no such things as throw away animals.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

@alcmene

I think that is worthy of a pat on the back.

I don't ever want to give the impression that suns are a bad bird to have. On the contrary, Skittles has brightened my life in so many ways. But 10, 15 years ago I was not educated enough, much less mature enough to devote the time and resources to Skittles back then.

As much research as I did and preparation - I still learn things every day. They are quite a chore is all I try to say. I don't consider them an 'easy' bird to care for. I categorize easy-care birds as budgies, finches, canaries and even some cockatiels.

I've heard some nightmare stories from the clerks at the pet store, don't worry, I'll spare you folks - let's just say there ought to be a 'special place' downstairs for those kinds of people.

 

[Ashleigh86]

[quote/] I couldnt agree more. I'm new to birds, but i've worked with dogs and reptiles my entire life. Unfortunately, i think your statement is true for most kinds of animals. I can get myself worked up in to an absolute tirade about it. The thing that kills me the most is that PETS AREN'T OBLIGATORY!!!!!! There is no excuse EVER for mistreating an animal!! If you dont want to deal with an animal, the solution is simple- DON'T F@$&ING BUY ONE!!!! ARGH WARGARBLE!!!!

Whew. Sorry, i feel better now.

I'm not going to break my own arm patting myself on the back, but i've tried SO HARD to be as prepared as possible for the arrival of our bird. I wasnt exaggerating when i said i've been reading and studying for a year. I've spent hundreds of dollars on books and videos (heck, those Good Bird Inc dvd's are $25/ea, and i got the entire set) in order to know how to best care for and train a $60 cockatiel. And i dont regret it. There are no such things as throw away animals.[/quote]

I'm so happy that there are people like you out there that do all this prep and research to make an animal happy and to make sure they "fit" with your family and your life. There are way too many people out there that treat animals like they are a piece of furniture to be traded when they get bored of them, and it's incredibly sad. I am also one of those people that do TONS of research and stress forever about it until I'm absolutely sure! lol I've ended up with a wheaten terrier after months of research and convincing my husband (then live in boyfriend) that we should have a puppy!(He needed one that didn't shed for his allergies) Then came the panther chameleon (after finding the perfect breeder and set up for the little guy) who is now 2 years old and looking fantastic Then came the 40 gallon salt water reef tank (That one was so stressful at first!!) and now my last addition Indy, our 5 month old sun conure I have pets that can bark, fly, swim and eat bugs with a sticky tongue! I just love our little zoo, but it took lots of research!! Whatever you chose I'm sure will work out with how much thought you put into things. Good luck!

 

[alcmene]

Had an idea this morning. Looking for opinions.

Both birds have the ability to be returned (the sun for 2 wks, the tiel for a yr). The tiel is already here. What if i went and got the sun? We could have them both for a trial period. Interact with them both for 2 wks and feel out which was a better fit for our family, and return the other one.

I cant decide if i like my own idea or not. It would work supply wise. I already bought a million toys. More then enough for 2 birds. I got the cockatiel a HUGE flight cage. It would probably be an adequate size for a small macaw. I'm sure he'll grow to love all that room to move, but at the breeder's he was in an 18x18 cage and he's currently terrified of the big one. Last night he flapped around so much he broke a blood feather and hurt himself. I felt awful and ran out and bought him a cage identical to the one he's used to so he'd feel more secure. So i have 2 cages. I only have 1 play gym currently. But i also have amazon prime, so i could have another one here by tomorrow.

I have 2 main concerns with my idea:
1) i dont believe in dumping animals. So the idea of returning the "loser" makes my stomach turn a little.
2) would it be safe to have both birds together? Not sharing cages/toys/etc of course. But if i put 2 tabletop play gyms on the table, for example, are they going to attack each other? Or will they leave each other alone and play with their own toys?

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Here's my opinion - based on my experience with suns. They can become quite territorial, so adding a bird at a later time to the equation of a sun can pose a problem and vice versa.

If you get both birds together and socialize them, you should be okay. I would not cage them together nor let them be alone together unsupervised. A sun conure has a lot more beak power than a cockatiel and the tiel would be vulnerable.

If you plan on not having them out of the cage together, I'd say go for it. Just be sure to properly socialize them. If you're gonna do it, it's better to do them both at the same time versus letting one become settled and then adding one to the equation and dealing with territorial issues.

Just bear in mind, in my experience, cockatiels are noisier than suns - but suns are DEFINITELY a LOT louder. My cockatiel will get going some days and my sun conure will chime in, always having to have the last word. Suns are also a LOT more aggressive than cockatiels.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I have 2 main concerns with my idea:
1) i dont believe in dumping animals. So the idea of returning the "loser" makes my stomach turn a little.
2) would it be safe to have both birds together? Not sharing cages/toys/etc of course. But if i put 2 tabletop play gyms on the table, for example, are they going to attack each other? Or will they leave each other alone and play with their own toys?

I appreciate where you're coming from with your first concern. But as for your second concern, that's a gamble. I would be worried more about them sharing 'you' and your shoulder for example. They aren't likely going to be willing to share you in that manner.

My sun will have a fit if I even look at my cockatiel in his presence. His head feathers get all raised up and he gets really mad. A few times he's bitten me hard enough to bleed, which he normally doesn't do. When I go into the bedroom, if Peaches (my cockatiel) is in her cage, Skittles will fly over to the front of her cage and won't let me near her.

I should note, a part of that problem I created by being stupid and listening to the vet. Peaches is almost 19, and when I got Skittles back in 2011 - the vet told me she'd be concerned about Peaches catching something if Skittles had something. She suggested I incubate them from each other for 90 days, even after she gave them both a healthy report. It was stupid of me to listen to her, cause now socializing them together is next too impossible cause by the time that 90 days was up Skittles was already bonded to me. She told me to wait 90 days to bond with him, yeah okay, like that was gonna happen. Now, he is I dare say 'overly bonded' with me and it has often posed a nuisance in my life, but I deal with it cause that's what I gotta do.

 

[lquan]

2) would it be safe to have both birds together? Not sharing cages/toys/etc of course. But if i put 2 tabletop play gyms on the table, for example, are they going to attack each other? Or will they leave each other alone and play with their own toys?

I don't know much about tiel, but your Sun will likely ignore all the good toys you bought if he has something better to do. If there is a tiel around, he will attack the tiel, because it is more fun. If he can fly, he will not play with his toys when he is outside. There are just too many fun places and things to explore when outside. My GCC doesn't touch any of the bird toys I bought. She rather flies around or clings to someone she likes. Toys are may be, just may be, worth while if he is left in the cage most of the time. My doesn't touch the store bought toys even if I lock her with them all day. What works for my GCC are cardboard and scrap light-weight wood that I use to build model airplanes. I gave my Lily the same size cage as yours (heck, I live in it myself). She also has a sleeping cage half that size. With all that space, she has more fun climbing the bars than playing with toys. My wife stays home, so Lily gets tons of time outside the cage, why bother with toys?

If tiel and Sun are both outside of the cage, the tiel will have no chance of coming near you. It is possible that conure and teil can live happily together, but only if they were both introduced to each other at very young age, like around 2 or 3 months old. I have seen Sun and Hahn living happily in the same cage. GCC living happily with Quacker in the same cage. But they were all introduced to each other at very young age; before they learned to fly. My breeder keeps his CAG with a Sun in the same cage!

 

[alcmene]

Lord help me, I hope I'm not in over my head. But I've gone from a zero bird household to a 2 bird household in the span of 2 days.

Remember how I said before that I ran out and bought the cockatiel a new smaller cage identical to the one he was in at his breeders so that he would (hopefully) feel more comfortable? In my haste at the pet store, I neglected to notice that the cage didn't come with food/water dishes. I made due overnight, but the ones for the bigger cage are way too huge to fit in the smaller cage. So it was back to the pet store again today to buy smaller dishes.

While we were browsing around in the bird aisle, the manager caught sight of me. She is the one who has the cage keys, so she is the one who has gotten the sun conure out for us every time we've visited him. Which we've done 1-2x/wk for the last 6 or 7 months. She and I have chatted a bunch over all that time, so she knows that we are taking bird ownership very seriously. She knows that we've played with the conure many times, but I haven't told her yet that we bought a cockatiel.

Anywho, so she sees us and comes running up to me kind of out of breath and frantic and pulls me aside. She points out some people further down the aisle and tells me this:

"Those people are going to buy him [meaning the sun]! They came in to buy a new sweater for their dog, wandered over to the bird aisle, thought he was pretty, and are going to buy him! I've been asking them questions. They've never owned a bird. They've done no research about bird care or training. When I asked them about training, the man answered me, 'It's 6 in long? How hard could it be?' I've been trying to help them get all of the supplies that they'll need for him. But they're refusing to listen and just picking whatever is cheapest. They have a parakeet cage in their cart!!! I told them toys were important- but they're refusing to get any! Please buy him! This is Petsmart. I have no power here. If I refuse to sell him to them then I'm going to lose my job and somebody else will just ring them up. But he's going to have a terrible life! Go quick and buy him right now before they do!"

I looked down the aisle at those people, with their cart full of a budgie cage, garbage seed food, and inappropriate/unsafe cheap plastic toys. And what choice did I have? I didn't even call my husband first to run it by him. I just ran up to the cash registers.

I was actually finishing up the check out process when they came up behind me in line and told the cashier that they were buying the sun and needed somebody to go and fetch it for them. She said, "Oh, I'm sorry sir, but this lady actually just bought him." The guy actually cussed her out and cussed me out! He was awful. I was shaking.

So now I have a sun and a tiel. I can still take either of them back if it isn't working out, but I really want it to work. I'm so nervous.

I can't believe I just bought him like that! I am NOT an impulsive person. At. All. I can get paralyzed by indecision because I agonize and obsess over important choices so much. Buying that conure today might, literally, be the craziest thing I've ever done.

 

[Freespin]

Haha I honestly think this sun is meant to be! I hope it all works out, I bet your daughter is thrilled! Would love some pics!

 

[alcmene]

My credit card is getting a major work out this week. Between Fosters and Smith and My Safe Bird Store I just spent another $300 on bird stuff! With 2 birds now, I needed another play gym, more toys, more perches, more, more, more. Holy mackerel birds are expensive lol!

 

[alcmene]

Haha I honestly think this sun is meant to be! I hope it all works out, I bet your daughter is thrilled! Would love some pics!

I'll try to figure out how to post pics this weekend. I'm barely computer literate

 

[riddick07]

I'm imagining what that guy would do to the sun the first time it was a little too loud and its not the nicest image... if all it took was that to get that angry...

Sounds like you just did the sun a major favor. It does sound like all the cards fell right into place to get this little guy into your home though! And I like that employee who just saved the sun from a terrible home. I mean a parakeet cage really... and how hard can a 6 inch bird be? I hate people like them who don't even care for the animal just think it would be cool or its pretty.

Yeah I never knew birds were so expensive until I started buying all the different foods and toys! I mean I thought the cage was expensive at first then you add up all the little things and it exceeds the cage by quite a lot!

How is the sun so far? And the tiel for that matter?