Would it be crazy to buy a Sun?

[lquan]

alcmene, I have been following your story with great interest. I don't see it as been off topic.

I see a story about someone who started with no interest in bird in wanting her daughter who has great love for bird to be happy and ended up been a bird person more she knows.

In your first post, you'd clearly stated that you has no interest in bird but want a parrot for your daughter. I chimed in early in the thread. I figured the parrot will be mainly for your daughter. I figured a person who has no interest in bird would be better off with a tiel since tiel doesn't require out of the cage time as much as conure and still do well. Plus tiel has shorter lifespan than conure. That's why I suggested a tiel. The more I read into later posts, I realize that you'd spent more time in research about parrot more most of us here. It is like you have already owned a bird long before you physically have a bird in your house. And then many unexpected events came together and turned you into a bird person. So to answer your question "Would it be crazy to buy Sun?", I now see that it is aboslutely NOT. If I knew as much about you as I knew then, I would have suggested a Sun!

 

[Janedeaux]

"Would it be crazy to buy Sun?", I now see that it is aboslutely NOT. If I knew as much about you as I knew then, I would have suggested a Sun!

Yep! I also wish we were friends!
I think your entire thread was right on track. Keep going.

 

[alcmene]

Hey, we're practically neighbors! Maybe we could play IRL some day!

 

[mtdoramike]

I also don't see any off topic here at all. I hope it's working out great for you and your daughter with your new addition to the family. I would suggest that the key to a friendly and happy bird is socialization, socialization, socialization. I make it a point to introduce my bird(s) to everyone who comes to my home and give them the opportunity to interact with them.

 

[Ashleigh86]

I've been following this thread from the beginning and it's been a wonderful story! It all ties in on your decision and the "signs" (or what have you) that helped and pointed you to where you ended up! It was like reading a book, and it was not at all off topic I believe that things happen for one reason or another and it made me teary eyed to read about your dog that you lost and the hole it left in your heart. I can't even imagine! My dog Ali is our baby(5 yrs old) and I can't imagine life without her or that I am going to have to live without her someday...I don't know if I would be able to ever have another dog after her. I am so happy that things are working out with your daughter and Mr. Peabody and that the sun ended up being YOUR bird! It sounds like you were meant for each other, and that's just something that you can't put a price on

 

[alcmene]

When i went to get him out of his cage this morning, the sun stepped up and then LAID DOWN on my hand with his feet in the air and rubbed his little head all over my open palm (just like a cat would) while making these little cooing clicking noises.

I think bonding is going ok ;D

 

[drlisaort]

Wow, you sure have been through a lot in just a short time! I'm glad you all survived the terrible weather and car accident! I am from Chicago myself and must admit I don't miss the cold one bit since I moved to South Florida 27 years ago.

As for your sweet dog, I totally understand about your broken heart I'm glad your little SUN was able to tug at your heart strings once again...

 

[crimson]

WOW!....I have following your thread from the beginning but never really chimed in. You had plenty of great advice about which bird to choose.....funny....you ended up with both.

I somehow sensed you would, don't ask me why. It's difficult to choose ONE bird, especially when a child is involved, you seemed so torn about both, in the back of my mind I'm saying thru the computer(like you can hear me, ha ha) GET BOTH, GET BOTH!...

and here you are with both.....you have guts, and good instincts, something I'm sure you daughter has inherited.

you drive like a pro, you literally saved your life, your childrens life and your 2 birds that day. if you can face that, you can face two birds anyday.
congratulations - see aren't birds fun?? ha ha.

 

[sunnybirds2]

I have two and they were my first birds. I didn't really know what i was getting into since they are kinda small and sooooo beautiful and cuddly! I was 14 when i got them and i have FULL responsibility for them. I could go on forever about them but basicly .... dont get the sun for your daughter. Sun conures can be the sweetest and cutest birds but they can also be kinda possessive, VERY loud, sooo moody at times, and need alot of attention. They also tend to bite. I would be worried about when the sun conure goes though his cranky phase, he will bite your daughter and because of the shape of their beak, their bites hurt! Even now they can be a handful and it requires a lot of patience. If you really want the conure you will have to handle the bitting and not leave the bird alone with your daughter. Since you will be doing all the care, the bird might cling to you more than your daughter. I think birds in general are not a good choice pet for little kids. I went though alot of pets as a little kid....if your going to get a pet now it should be because you really want one, not because your daughter wants it, since you will be the one caring for it.

 

[Katiejayne]

I can't reli help that much sorry, I have a green cheek conure, and she is super friendly but when asked to do something she doesn't want to she will bite hard! Also I researched conures a lot before buying a green cheek and I also visited a few and a sun conure was the first I ruled out I knew from researching they were loud but when I visited some Jesus it was ear piecing.

 

[alcmene]

DNA results came back today. As I suspected, the Petsmart people didn't know what they were talking about. My sun is a girl! And, like everything else with her, the absolute most perfect name for her just fell in to our laps.

We had a family meeting over dinner this weekend to try to brainstorm names. We came up with zip zero nada for a boy that we all agreed on. (convenient, she turned out to be a girl, eh?)

For a female-
I fell in love with her during a snowstorm. So I wanted something wintery to remind me of that. One of my favorite books of all time is The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I've probably read it 50 times. Since a snowstorm features prominently in the novel, I was leaning towards a name from Narnia.

My husband is a huge Beatles fan, so he wanted to name her something Beatles related.

My oldest daughter has recently discovered classic television, and is obsessed with old TV shows- Mr Ed, Leave it to Beaver, etc. So she wanted something from one of her favorite shows.

My middle daughter loves Peanuts, so wanted to name her after a Charlie Brown character.

My youngest daughter is only 2, so when discussing the parrot all she has to say is, "Birdie! Birdie in the sky!"

Amazingly, there is a single name that fits all 5 of those divergent criteria- Lucy!

 

[Kalidasa]

I'm a huge fan of that name

 

[alcmene]

We're already liberally employing the use of, "Luuuuuucy I'm hoooome!" whenever we come and go. With any luck she'll learn to say it. If she picks up the Cuban accent too, so much the better lol

 

[Katiejayne]

Ok didn't realize there were so any pages lol just saw the pics and congratulations they to both beautiful

 

[Kisota]

DNA results came back today. As I suspected, the Petsmart people didn't know what they were talking about. My sun is a girl! And, like everything else with her, the absolute most perfect name for her just fell in to our laps.

We had a family meeting over dinner this weekend to try to brainstorm names. We came up with zip zero nada for a boy that we all agreed on. (convenient, she turned out to be a girl, eh?)

For a female-
I fell in love with her during a snowstorm. So I wanted something wintery to remind me of that. One of my favorite books of all time is The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I've probably read it 50 times. Since a snowstorm features prominently in the novel, I was leaning towards a name from Narnia.

My husband is a huge Beatles fan, so he wanted to name her something Beatles related.

My oldest daughter has recently discovered classic television, and is obsessed with old TV shows- Mr Ed, Leave it to Beaver, etc. So she wanted something from one of her favorite shows.

My middle daughter loves Peanuts, so wanted to name her after a Charlie Brown character.

My youngest daughter is only 2, so when discussing the parrot all she has to say is, "Birdie! Birdie in the sky!"

Amazingly, there is a single name that fits all 5 of those divergent criteria- Lucy!

That might just be the best backstory to a name ever. Congrats.

 

[alcmene]

We have a snafu. DNA results came back that the tiel is also female. All of us (including my 5 yo) REALLY wanted a male. My daughter desperately wants to teach him to whistle songs. I have heard more horror stories then i can count (several ending in traumatic death) about the relentless egg laying of female tiels.

The breeder told us we could swap the tiel for a different one if it turned out to be female. I'm concerned about the relationship between the birds though. They are getting along really well. If we swap the tiel for a male, will Lucy freak out and hate the newcomer? Or could we probably make that switch ok?

 

[lquan]

Keep the tiel. Don't switch. If the Sun hates the new one, you'll be in trouble. Plus, since the breeder is not paying for the DNA test, you will have to pay for it. What if it turned out to be another female? All of your kids and fids are girls. Get the hint.

 

[witchbaby]

Love love love this whole thread.

I think it's great you're encouraging your daughter's interest in birds at such a young age. My mother did the same for me and I am grateful. And I'm so thrilled you ended up with the sun conure!

I also think you should keep the tiel since everything is going so well already.

 

[argylebird]

How are Lucy and Mr. Peabody getting along?

 

[Janedeaux]

Maybe just change the Mr. to Ms. and then take very good care to keep her from over laying and egg binding. Feed plenty of calcium and get the false eggs to put in the nest.

here is a great article on this great site for cockatiels.

Egg Binding in cockatiels, Egg Bound birds, what to do for an egg bound bird, symptoms of egg binding, treatment for egg binding in cockatiels, parakeets, canaries, finches, parrots, Emergency Medical treatment for egg binding birds

cockatielcottage.net is the main page.


Glad the name was so perfect. While reading the post before I even got to the bottom I KNEW it was LUCY!