New Conure mom

[Ducatimom]

I recently got my Sun Conure, Ducati, this past Monday. It seemed like he instantly bonded with my husband as he has no problem taking Ducati out of the cage. Ducati was used to having his cage open all the time as his previous owners dogs never bothered him. We can't do that here because we have an overly curious Rottweiler that still tortures the cat even though they've lived together for almost 3 years now. It seems like he's becoming a one person bird. I haven't seen him with my husband other than the once since we work different shifts during the week.

My problem/question is this: Every time I go to have him step up from the cage (he already knows step up) he starts rubber-necking when I get a couple inches away from him. I've been giving him his favorite seeds from my hand so he gets used to seeing my hand inside the cage and he does this just fine. I open the cage up and let him be for a couple hours while my dogs are outside (the cat could care less about him). As soon as I walk in the door Ducati starts screaming at me, and he'll scream at me anytime I get up from my spot on the couch which is right next to his cage. Even if I'm 5 ft from THAT spot he screams unless I sit down, but again I can't pick him up because he bites the @#$% out of my finger. I'm a little confused about his behavior.

I've thought about starting from square one with him (it doesn't seem like he's had target training, but he does know step up) just so we can kind of build our relationship more and hopefully he doesn't bite me. Is that a good place to start or should I try something else?

[Wolf]

You have had him for a very short time and I believe that he started this screaming to get your attention. Firstly he is probably still a little scared of his new environment and of being alone. My birds always greet me with a whistle or flock call, which can be quite loud, and they also call for me when I leave the room. If this is more than that then you may need to let him know that screaming overmuch is not desired. You may need to turn about and leave the room a few times if he is screaming and not just saying hi to you, until he gets quite and then return to the room. As to when you are leaving then you just ignore it.
You are spending time in the room with him but if you are not already doing so you may want to spend at least 15 minutes of the time just talking to him and reassuring him. I think target training is going to be a good way to go with him but I would be careful to not overdo it this early on. Be patient with him and put more time in on building trust and socializing and then go with training, you have plenty of time.

[Ducatimom]

Thank you! I tried whistling to him and calling to him while I was in the kitchen. He can still see me from some parts of the cage when I'm in the kitchen since we have a hole cut into the wall that separates the living room and kitchen. When that didn't work, I ignored him until he quieted down then I gave him one of his favorite seeds until he was significantly quieter. Still a couple of little screams but WAY more tolerable than almost constant screaming. Then I could talk to him and he'd move to the top corner of the cage and flutter his wings and chirp at me. If I wasn't cooking I would've gotten a video because it was too cute!

Right now I open his cage up in the morning when I let the dogs out and spend at least a couple minutes talking to him and hand feeding him his favorite seeds before I go to work. Same thing as soon as I come home from work and every time I let the dogs out. When I'm just sitting here with the dogs in the house I periodically talk to him and whistle at him. He gets all fluffy or gets on the side of the cage and flutters his wings.

I just ordered a clicker and some leather gloves so I won't be as nervous about the bite when it comes, which I'm sure isn't helping him to stop biting.

[Wolf]

What you are doing is not bad and definitely has you moving in the right direction, But I am thinking more, more socializing and talk time is needed.
From what I am reading, it would appear that the best time for you would be in the evening after work. Think about it a little bit and I think you will understand it better. You have your new friend who due to moving to a new home is just a little bit scared of all of the new things that have suddenly come into his life, he needs time to adjust and he is in need of reassurance that everything is as it should be and that it is all right. He needs to feel safe and loved. Now consider for a moment that he is a small child instead of a bird. I think that you would agree that a few words here and there, while acknowledging him being there does very little in reassuring him and making him feel safe and loved compared to sitting down and talking to him in a calming and soothing manner. Consider, if you will, that he has roughly the intelligence of a 5 yr. old child and the emotional level of a 2or 3 yr. old, and that he looks at you as his mom. He counts on you for everything and reassurance is a real biggie to him especially now.
This would work faster if id was done 2 or 3 times per day but at least 15 minutes a day will work and more sessions are better than longer sessions. This is very basic bonding behavior for you and him. In a short time, as parrots view time, he will be coming closer to you while in the cage and accepting treats from your hand. I usually do this with the cage open so that as he gets more trusting he will approach on his own and start to climb on to my hand all by himself.
To me this is the foundation from which all future interaction build upon because it builds a bond based upon mutual respect and trust and from there, love. Personally I do nothing with my birds without going through this process with them as I feel that it is that important.

[Ducatimom]

Update: My husband was home today when I got off work and we think we came to the conclusion that he isn't really favoring anybody. He does bite my husband a little bit, he's just able to tolerate the bites a little more than I can. He did however, fly to my husband's shoulders every time I picked him up. Until he sat down. So with that being said we figured that he would fly to Will's shoulders when he was standing up because Will is a good foot taller than me and he wanted to be up higher. We have a glove here that I use at least until I get used the beak. I've started taking him with me when I do somewhere else, unless I'm cooking or getting ready for work.

So for right now I'm just spending time with him and feeding him some treats while he's on my shoulder so he starts to associate that as a good place.

[Wolf]

Ducati may or may not have decided on one of you as his special person and in a couple of years it won't matter anyway as he will go through puberty and it could all change overnight, so to speak. What I gave you in my last reply is a simple basic calming and taming procedure and although it describes the process with the bird in the cage, it is fine to use it with him out of the cage too. It is good that he is getting the time out to be with you and hang out with you and he needs to have a minimum of 2 hours per day outside of his cage and from there as much more as you can allow.
I would like to mention to be very careful of your earrings, especially the long dangly ones like in the photo of you and Ducati. It only takes a second for him to remove it entirely or in part and swallow it, which could be a serious problem to his health. By the way, he is a great looking bird and I hope that you will let him regrow all of his flight feathers.

[Ducatimom]

Thanks for the info! I definitely still plan on going through those taming/bonding techniques.

Sorry, those aren't earings I very rarely wear jewelry since our cat has a bit of a racoon tendency in that he really likes shiny things. I think you're seeing the light fixture behind us.

Eventually we'll let his primaries grow out. I'm just worried about him taking off and our Rottweiler getting to him before one of us can. She doesn't quite realize how big and dangerous she can be for a little bird. She still tortures our cat and they've lived together for almost 3 years now

[Wolf]

I am sorry, I can see after examining the photo closer that it is a light fixture instead of an earing as I had thought. Thank you for correcting me.