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Dusky Conure Puberty

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Dusky Conure Puberty

Postby Lynxx89 » Thu May 24, 2018 3:55 pm

Our Dusky Conure, "Kaddy" has reached about 7 mths old. He is going through his first molt and is fairly irritable. He has always wanted attention, but over the past couple of weeks he has been demanding it. Its not that he doesnt get it either. He is currently at my fiance's house, where there is someone home 24/7. My fiance just graduated and is on the job hunt. This means he stays home all day, except when he comes over to my place in the afternoon. He gets him out everyday and Kaddy stays with him while he does work on a few projects and at his computer. My fiance's mother takes him downstairs to her basket weaving area and lets him play on wicker toys she made for him while she weaves. (He always wants the one shes working on ;P). He gets fresh fruits and veggies everyday with seed/pellets at freedom.
He started about 3 weeks ago. When someone is in the room where his cage is, he will squawk at the top of his lungs incessantly until you give him attention. He will be playing on his toys, on top of the cage, etc. The cage rarely stays closed. He has been fairly quiet up until now. He would chirp a bit when you left, but then would be content to play and goof off. Now when you leave, he will pitch an absolute fit.
Is this change possibly due to the age and first molt? I have heard that it will make you want to hate your bird for a few mths. Or is this him learning that if he makes enough noise that he will get attention? He's a sweetheart and hasnt been aggressive at all. We have been trying to ignore these outbursts. I just want to make sure we treat this behavior properly.
If he was staying in a cage all day, I could see it being an attention issue, but he stays with someone almost 8+ hours a day.

Any input would be great! We are learning as much as we can. I have had ALOT of experience training other animals from big to small. I am learning my way into our feathered friends! :D
Lynxx89
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot, Dusky Conure
Flight: No

Re: Dusky Conure Puberty

Postby Pajarita » Fri May 25, 2018 9:40 am

~Welcome to the forum! First of all, a clarification. Kaddy is not going through puberty, not yet. The juvenile molt signals the end of early babyhood but puberty should not start for them until later. In any case, there are a couple of questions that need replies before we can give you advice. Is the bird clipped? Was he fed soft foods twice a day until his juvenile molt? Are his pellets made with soy? Is he kept at a solar or a human light schedule? I know that the questions don't seem to be related to the problem but they are and once you give me the answers, I will explain what the connection is.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Dusky Conure Puberty

Postby Lynxx89 » Fri May 25, 2018 10:50 am

Yes, he is clipped.

He was fed soft foods up until about 4 mths. He stopped eating it in favor of the fresh veggies, etc.

Current food: is a mix of https://www.amazon.com/Higgins-Safflower-Natural-Cockatiel-Delivery/dp/B07D5ZR9TX/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1527263204&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=higgins+conure+food&psc=1
and: https://www.amazon.com/ZUPREEM-230353-Natural-Medium-2-5-Pound/dp/B0000AH3NK/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1527263325&sr=1-1&keywords=conure+pellets, plus fresh veggies, fruits, and nuts.

The light schedule is my first concern and something I have thought of. It isn't consistent to say the least. I am not there to know exactly when they get him up in the morning or put him to bed. I have suggested that we get him a couple lamps with some UVB/Sunlight bulbs on timers to keep him regular. Their reaction was that more sunlight would cause him to be more active than he is now. I was under the impression that it was the fluctuation that would cause the issues. His cage is covered at night, but my fiance's younger brother stays in the bonus room (where his cage is) and plays on his computer till very late at night. No sounds (headphones) but the monitor light worries me.
I have my sennie girl :senegal: in a similar room at my house, but i turn off all monitors, etc at night time and I get her up at the same time every morning. She also goes to bed right around 10PM everynight. The same cannot be said for Kaddy.

I may suggest moving him into the fully furnished basement. We could set up an exact light schedule and it would be very quiet and controlled at night. Not that he would stay down there all day, =).
They have had budgies in the past and current and I have had a budgie when I was 10, (loved that little guy, he was a shoulder budgie). So I feel like there is an underlying tone of I dont really know what im talking about. That doesn't mean I am not familiar with reading up on animal psychology and behaviors. Im used to training and fixing problems, they just seem to think if they ignore it, it will go away. (Sorry for the venting, lol)

P.S. Kaddy will be moving in with me and my sennie girl when I I get settled in my apartment, so i will have a room set up with proper light and a proper schedule.
Lynxx89
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot, Dusky Conure
Flight: No

Re: Dusky Conure Puberty

Postby Pajarita » Fri May 25, 2018 11:55 am

Hmmm, maybe the definition of 'soft food' you and I are using is different because all parrots love soft foods to the day they die [mine get it every single day for breakfast]. I think that you may be referring to formula while I am talking about food that is soft and wet [things like gloop or oatmeal/pastina/polenta/couscous/steel cut oats mixed with baby jar food] so, correct me if I am wrong but it would seem to me that he went from formula to adult food -which is what he is eating now. ~And the pellets he gets do have soy.

Now, free-feeding any protein food and, most especially, food made with soy is never a good idea. Parrots in the wild don't ever find an abundant source of high protein all year round and, because protein is needed for procreation, growth and life, nature gave them a craving for it so, when they have it, they will always eat too much of it and too little of the healthy stuff. It's the way they are made. If you feed a natural seed eater [like a canary or a finch] and a parrot the same food: a protein one [pellets, seeds, nuts, nutriberries, avicakes, etc], a leafy green and a fruit and/or veggie, the parrot will go for the protein first and then eat a bit of the fruit; but a natural seed eater will go for the green first, then the fruit and last the seeds. Soy is a different story... Personally, I don't feed any of my animals food made with soy because it's GMO [ALL soy is] and it has goitrogenic and estrogenic side effects. But, in all honesty, even if it was not a GMO and had no side effects, just the mere fact that no bird in nature consumes soy [it's toxic in its natural form] would steer me away from it. There is a reason why all the good dog and cat food contain no soy whatsoever...

The reason why I asked about his diet is that baby birds that are free-fed high protein soy foods mature earlier. And, if, on top of this, the bird is kept at a human light schedule, its endocrine system is even more messed up by it so, although this bird is not at an age to be showing any sign of puberty, it might very well be starting it due to the diet and light schedule [which is not a good thing].

But, without being there to observe the bird and the interaction and/or attention it's getting from the chosen human [nobody else really counts for them] and going only by what you tell me, I would say that the problem is that the bird is clipped [can't get to its human on its own] and it's not and possibly has not been getting enough attention from its chosen human. Babies are very mild-mannered and resign themselves to lacks but, once they start growing into their own, they start demanding and I think that's what's happening here. Be careful how you deal with this because the next step for a bird that is not getting what it wants is to start biting. Duskies are very similar to GCCs, maroon-bellies, etc. They need a very low protein diet with a lot of fruits and A LOT of personal attention -and by that I mean the bird ON its chosen human, not in the same room and looking at him/her from a distance because, as far as they are concerned, that's not 'personal attention'. The duskies are aratingas but the little ones behave like pyrrhuras in terms of the attention they need...People seem little and tend to think that they are less trouble than a larger parrot but it's not true, they actually need much more attention than most other species. In terms of how much one-on-one they need, I would much rather have four amazons than a single little conure...

As to putting any bird in a basement... well, unless it's one of those 'semi-basements' with normal size windows, it would not really work out because although you are correct that the fluctuation of daylight hours is what 'tells' their endocrine system what season it is [courting, nesting, breeding, molting, resting, etc], it's the exposure to dawn and dusk that sets their internal clock and not the turning on or off an artificial lightbulb. A basement would work out great as a sleeping 'room' for them because it's nice and dark and quiet but it requires the human to get up at dawn to bring the bird upstairs where it can be exposed to the special light spectrum that only happens at these times -and that means getting up at 4 am in the summer [I am getting up at 5 am now but I will end up getting up at 4 am by mid June :( ]. As to UV lamps... I don't recommend them. What I do recommend is a good quality full spectrum light [CRI 93+ and Ktemp not higher than 5000] because they produce enough UV A for them to see but not enough UV B to hurt their eyes [UV lamps that produce enough B for the bird to produce its own vit D3 need to be too close and end up hurting their eyes].
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Dusky Conure Puberty

Postby Lynxx89 » Fri May 25, 2018 1:07 pm

Thanks for the detailed explanation!

Yes, he gets tons of time on Kevin (my fiance) but I personally think he likes Kevin's dad the best. He has been great the past few days. It seems to come and go. The basement does have windows on the southern side of the house. I will put Kevin on the duty of making sure he gets up at the same time every morning.
I will look into getting him a lamp or two with the bulbs you suggested. I will look into the food and try to find him a non soy mixture. Id like to find some for my sennie as well.
Yes it is very different going from my senegal to the dusky as far as attention needs. Which Kevin loves about him, but i think we need to get things more regulated and not so spotty with this guy. It drives me crazy when I fluctuate my sleeping schedule, i couldn't imagine what it does to a bird.
I will have a chat with him and will keep you guys updated. Im sure I will have more questions as our "children" grow up and mature.

I am planning to build a "tree" playground for them, once we get settled. I will probably post pics of that project.
Lynxx89
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot, Dusky Conure
Flight: No

Re: Dusky Conure Puberty

Postby Pajarita » Sat May 26, 2018 8:58 am

Sounds like you have a good plan and strategy going on! Now, one last suggestion. Do consider feeding them something like gloop or a chop with grains for breakfast [accompanied by raw produce, of course] and the pellet/seed mix for dinner. Their livers, kidneys and reproductive system will remain healthy on this diet and a healthy bird is a happy bird -which translates into a happy owner :D
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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