New Sun Conure Mama

[peithecelt]

Hello everyone! I am a new conure Mom.. Chita joined our family this weekend, and we're already in love, even knowing that we have some work to do to help her be the companion we're hoping for..

She is a 4 1/2 year old Sun Conure, unbanded, and I have really no idea what her history is (not even 100% sure that she's a she in the DNA tested sense, but that's what her prior owners called her). She's not a broken rescue (thank goodness, since it's been a few decades since I last worked with a bird, I'm not up to a broken one) so much as a less socialized than she could be spoiled gooseberry. She's not scared of us, and although she is REALLY not a fan of hands she'll happily take treats from you.. If she chooses to get on your shoulder, she will tell you stories and give kisses.. But that's up to her, lol.. And hasn't happened since we brought her home (though she was enjoying my shoulder and the hood of my hoodie when we met her at her old family's home).

What we are doing/have done
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[*]Thankfully she came with a larger cage, approx 20x20x36.
[*]She's in a corner of the house where she's CLOSE to the center of things, but it can be quiet and dark for bedtime, and we're aiming for 9-12 hours a sleep per night (she goes to bed with our 9 year old.. lol).. Draft free and fairly consistent temp that doesn't tend to drop below the low 60s.
[*]Figured out her favorite treat (tortilla chips (we brush off the salt))
[*]Started target training, both adults in the house since her initial response to the husband wasn't great. If she steps onto the stick during target training she gets a "Step up!" and a very cheery response. Short bursts of this throughout the day.
[*]Replacing the tiny perches that don't allow her to stand without her tail being damaged by the cage with larger, more meandering branches that will give her some space to explore
[*]She has 2 large hanging toys already, we're working on getting her a few more.. I am aiming for 4 at any given time, and being able to rotate every few weeks to keep her from getting totally bored.
[*]Moving her off the all-seed diet and introducing as healthy a pellet diet as we can, no preservatives, no artificial colors.
[*]Introducing her to fresh fruits and veggies.
[*]If we're working in the kitchen (she's in the eat in room next to the kitchen), her door is open and we go back and forth between saying hi to her, while she climbs over and around her cage, and just giving her some peace and quiet (before anyone says anything, we don't think HUMANS should breathe teflon fumes, so we have no teflon pans.. )
[/list]

I have read every site I could find over the last two days, I have meandered forums, I THINK we've covered all the best first steps, but trust that you guys will clarify if I am missing anything.. (oh, and we haven't gotten her in for a well-birdy check, but finding a good avian vet and getting her in for a checkup is on the short list of "things to do.")

Thank you in advance for putting up with another newbie.
pei the all-but-first-timer-worry-wart-mom.

[Harpmaker]

Hello peithecelt and Chita . Welcome to the forum!

We LOVE new bird owners that are doing their research. It sounds like you have made a good start, and have been reading the Parrot Wizard's blog. And you get extra points for giving a home to a mature parrot.

One thing you can get that you may have missed is a scale that measures in grams. Often when a bird is sick the first symptom is weight loss-if the weight suddenly drops 10%, call your avian specialist. It can also tell you if you are under or over feeding your conure--VERY useful when changing diets.

And, of course, do get that vet check asap.

Good luck with your taming and training!

[Pajarita]

She is a real pretty thing! And she looks like a she because she doesn't have as much red as my male does do but, then, that really doesn't mean much, she could be a he that never got the bright colors due to a bad diet.

You seem to be off to a very good start but, if I were you, I would eliminate all the bad food, tortilla chips included. For one thing, it's really not good for them (salt, preservatives, ground corn, artificial coloring in some cases) but, for another, the more bad food she gets, the less good food she will be willing to eat. I have both a male Sun and a male Sunday (a mix of a Sun and a Jenday) and they are both excellent eaters now even though they came to me as seed junkies (conures are not hard to switch because they eat mostly fruit in the wild so they have a taste for it, you just need to find it). Mine are both VERY red (the Sun having a larger area of it than the Sunday but of the same intensity) and it's all because of the fresh food diet (I don't feed pellets, I know everybody says it's the best food you can give them but, after doing many years of research, I don't agree with that).

[Graeme]

Congrats on the new family member We too have just recently acquired our first sunny, although he is only a baby.
When I am target training, I don't do anything when Bailey steps up onto it. It is not what I asked him for so I ignore it and he gets no treat or response from me. He soon learnt that he was supposed to touch the end and not walk on it.

As far as junk food goes, I think they are just like us, a little in moderation is ok. Maybe you could use very small pieces as treats along with some fruit or Sunflower seeds.

Is she flighted?
Letting her out to fly and play is not only good exercise, it also allows them to come to you when they want to and not be forced into it, it also allows them to move away when they have had enough. I think it just makes for a far more happier and contented bird.

Bailey loves it, when he first comes out of his cage in the morning, he goes onto his poop perch, then it's a couple of laps around the house first before we settle into training. he goes back into his cage for a well earn't breakfast, once he has finished that he is out of his cage for most of the day and spends a lot of it just flying around from place to place.
I think this goes a long way to making him content, he is a very quiet Sun Conure, the only time he makes a racket, is first thing in the morning when he sees us and when we come home. The rest of the time, he is happy chuckling along as he plays.

[peithecelt]

Thank you all!!!!!

I'm a "too many animals out there, I won't breed, I won't buy from breeders, I will take the rescue as long as it's problems are not beyond my ability to fix" type (all my critters are rescues/rehomes, except a few of the sheep), so.. I'm just grateful that she wasn't broken and I could take her.. She's so funny!

We actually DO have a scale that weighs in grams already, and I hadn't even thought of that, but it's a great idea!!!! I'll get a baseline weight tonight when I get home, so we have something to compare to!!

Regarding the salt, we ARE trying to brush it off, and we're a bunch of grown-our-own-food hippies *grin* anyway, so the chips we get tend to be corn, salt, and oil... No preservatives! But we're also using VERY small pieces of chips, and honestly for someone who is as anti-hands as she is, I'm all over bribing her to be less concerned about our hands.. As she gets more used to our hands, we'll move to JUST vocal rewards, but.. right now? It's all about the small amounts of junk food.

She DOES have her flight feathers, which I'm a tiny bit nervous about (all the birds I grew up with were clipped), but.. I have 2 dogs, and although I think the 9 year old pit bull's response to her would be cock an eyebrow and go back to sleep, the 18 month old shepherd cross is LITERALLY obsessed with her.. I'm not sure if he just wants to play or if he is in hunt mode, but.. it makes no difference to the end result, he would kill her trying to play with her. So, she's staying unclipped to let her move.. Note: we're walking carefully around that relationship, but there is no good way to completely segregate them without one or the other being ignored. So we're watching and working with the pup to learn she's just NOT that exciting, and keeping an eye on things. She's not flying a LOT at this stage, she's staying very close to her cage (though yesterday night there was a LOT of wandering around shoulder time, which makes me very VERY happy), but... She does have that option when her cage is open (which will be most of the time that we're home in the long-run, though right now it is only when we're in and near the kitchen to keep an eye on her..

Thankfully the switch over to pelleted foods was a breeze for our crunch junkie (though I decided to shred the carrots and apple into it, so she couldn't avoid the fresh veggies, and I got an EARFUL for that... BUT, when I left for work, she was eating the fresh fruit/veg covered pellets, so that was good.. )

Now I'm just gleeful that after 4:30 today I'm home for the next week to spend more time with her!!!

Pei

[Weka]

Welcome, Pei. Sounds like you're off to a good start! That being said, dogs and birds rarely mix well; and being flighted doesn't automatically mean a parrot will be able to get away. So do be vigilant...


Looking forward to swapping stories,

Weka

[peithecelt]

Weka, thanks.... I'm not unaware that I'm running a... nerve wracking line, being a dog and bird person all at the same time, but.. I'm hoping that vigilance will work in my favor... and the willingness to keep it up long term.

How can you not want someone stealing your glasses and giving you kisses (while trying to pierce your tragus) AND a puppy.

(before anyone asks, the bizareness of this post does not escape me.. But then again, I'm surely not the only person here balancing pups and birds.. lol)

Pei

(and a Merry Christmas Eve to all those who celebrate, Happy Holidays to those who do not.. )

[peithecelt]

(as a follow up to the previous post, we take dog training as seriously as we do adding the conure to our family, so although I am making jokes above, we are actively working with the pups to do what we can to counter the prey instinct, while recognizing that the prey instinct in wolf-descendents is strong, and are not unaware that we're never going to be able to complete let down our guard, and my flippancy above is more due to Christmas Eve than not recognizing the complexity of what I'm trying to do..

{fast forward 20 minutes}

The following will read like a well scripted cautionary tale, but.. is (I swear) not. (no seriously, I started this less than a minute after my last post, look at the post time..)

I turned to answer a question from my 9 year old, and moved 10 feet from the cage where Chita was hanging out.

While my back was turned, Jett decided to make a go for Chita.

Thankfully she is fine and doesn't seem traumatized by any of what followed (though I still have a jar of honey to clean up, and am bleeding slightly), but...Talk about a reminder that no seriously this is a challenge.

*headdesk* I really hope that I can do this.

Pei who is suddenly scared poo-less that she has made a horrible mistake (note: not cosidering giving up the dog or bird, just..concerned about my sanity...)

[Graeme]

Just give it time and be vigilant. The novelty should wear off, meaning the dog will soon settle and see the bird as part of the family.

That doesn't mean the dog won't still want to play with the bird, so you will just have to keep an eye on them, but you should not have to worry as much.

We have a small mixed breed (Molly) that was also a rescue, she is still a puppy at 12 months and she has been the only pet in the house for that time.
Then we got Bailey our Sun Conure, Molly didn't know what it was and wanted to sniff and explore this new thing every chance she had. We made sure that we still paid as much attention to Molly, So when I spent time with Bailey, I also made a fuss with Molly, if I gave Bailey a treat, I gave Molly a treat as well.

Once Bailey had settled in, I allowed them to come together, but on Baileys terms. I had Bailey on my hand and allowed Molly to come over and have a look. This worked very well, Bailey was also curious and bent down to take a closer look at Molly. Molly was getting a little too excited and a small nip on the nose from Bailey settled that. Now molly knows that if she gets too close she might get a nip. Bailey does like to tease Molly by flying low and buzzing her

Now it has been two weeks and Molly doesn't really bother Bailey anymore.

[Pajarita]

Please do not allow the bird to be loose with dogs in the room. I have had multiple dogs my entire life (all adoptions or rescues), I worked 6 years full time in dog/cat rescue and used to groom and train them at the shelter and can assure you that there is no such thing as a guarantee when it comes to prey drive. And the 'wearing off the novelty' doesn't always work, either. I got an email a couple of months ago from a lady who had had her macaw and dogs living together for 10 years without a single problem and, when she turned her back for one second, one of her dogs bit the back of her macaw and he did not only pulled the entire tail off, he bit the tail end wide open. Thankfully, this was a large bird and she rushed him to the vet who was able to perform surgery on him right away so the bird was saved - but, if this had been a smaller bird, he would have been dead! And the president of the rescue group lost a cat to one of her own dogs, an old rottie which had grown up and lived her entire life surrounded by other dogs and cats. The dog was sleeping, the cat ran by it, the dog grabbed her and crashed her spleen in a split second! It's too risky, and it doesn't matter how vigilant we are, their reactions are much faster than ours and, by the time you scream and run, the smaller animal is dead.

As to treats for training, try small pieces of a human grade, roasted peanut with no salt. He'll like them as much as the tortilla chips and they are better for him. People talk about bad things in moderation for birds, same as for humans but humans are the ultimate domesticated animal and our digestive systems are not only made to process an omnivorous diet (while parrots are herbivores -smaller range of enzymes) but have evolved to accept a lot of crap while pet parrots are still genetically identical to their wild counterparts so bad for them is not the same as bad for us. Plus, parrots, been mostly canope dwellers and because of their natural diet very high in water content, are not hard wired to consume a lot of water so salt puts a huge burden on their kidneys.