Hello from Indiana!

[Ayesha]

Hello, from me and my birds

I'm 30, female and from Indiana. I'm married. Currently we have 1 Sun Conure. His sex and age is unknown. We named him Artemis.

We also have 4 budgies, but they were rescued with the idea of rehoming them when we find a good home for them because they were at an animal shelter.

The budgies are 2 bonded pairs. 2 males and 2 females. Rarity and Guybrush are bonded and Gaia and Maximus are bonded.

This is Artemis. We got him from a bird specialty store. They were unsure of his age and sex, but had been told from the person who surrendered him that he was hand-fed. They said he was not exactly mean, but picked and chose who he liked. Well, so far, he has liked everyone. This is our 3rd day with him. We planned on getting a Green Cheek Conure, but this one caught our eye and we fell in love at first sight. (We were aware how loud they can be)

We are still learning about his different sounds and behaviors, but so far, he seems to be doing okay, all things considered. He does not like our cats or dog, which is understandable.

He is really attached to me, from the first moment I opened his carrying case, he jumped right on me and does not like when I'm out of his sight, though he does calm down after a few squawks.

So far he has only screamed in the morning when he hears us waking up.

Any advice would be great!

Thank you,
Ayesha

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum. Beautiful bird!

I like the 'so far he has liked everybody' (LOL) which I am sure is 100% true but (and this is a BIG but), I am afraid it doesn't really mean anything. They all 'like everybody' on their honeymoon stage but they never remain this way, especially sunnies which tend to be VERY nippy and VERY loud (so I am glad that you have previous experience with them because their screams and 'biteyness' are the reasons why most of them are given up - these are not easy birds).

He looks like a male to me (they usually have brighter colors and more red than the females but this is not 100%) but nobody could tell his age with any certainty unless he was very old. I am surprised he doesn't have a leg band because it's usually the law for parrots his size. Of course this is only for birds that were bred commercially, people who get a pair and breed on their own would, sometimes, not know enough to band them. And, sometimes, the owners had the band removed to prevent accidents.

Now, you just got this bird and he doesn't know you or anybody else in the household from Adam so concentrate in making him feel comfortable and bonding with him because, with sunnies, you need to have them love you to pieces or they bite you - HARD.

[Ayesha]

Thank you!

He is still not "loud" ever. Just the first few days when he squawked to be let out of his cage. He will yell if the dog(We have 1 dog and are babysitting 2 at the moment) get too loud or if my 1 year old nephew gets too loud, but that is rarely.

He is lowering his head for me (initiating it himself) so I can rub his neck and help get some of his pin feathers out. He gets a temper with my husband, but only at night time. (It's weird and it does not last very long. He just gives him a waning beak open when my husband puts his fingers close to him and my husband got bit once)

We got him at a place called Bird Fever in Indianapolis. The birds they breed themselves might have bands (I've never really paid attention) but I don't think the birds like Artemis (who was a surrender, or they bought him off someone) or on the smaller birds.

Right now, Artemis is sitting next to me on the coffee table, perching on a water filled coffee cup and munching on a apple.

[Wolf]

Please try substituting a shallow bowl for the coffee cup. It is a safety issue, as if he ever slipped and fell in the cup he could drown.

It sounds as if he has chosen you to be his special friend. and your husband will have to settle for being a flock member.

[Pajarita]

And please, tell your husband not to interact with the bird at night, they need to go to bed with the sunset (think of chickens) so they don't continue producing sexual hormones all year round which is not only very bad for their health (screwed up endocrine system, depressed immune system, etc) but also the number one cause of screams, bites, plucking, etc in pet parrots.

Good for you and better for Artemis that you have him eating fruits! Conures are huge fruit eaters in the wild.

[Ayesha]

Please try substituting a shallow bowl for the coffee cup. It is a safety issue, as if he ever slipped and fell in the cup he could drown.

It sounds as if he has chosen you to be his special friend. and your husband will have to settle for being a flock member.

Thank you. I will substitute a more shallow bowl. The coffee cup seemed like a good idea (and does not have a very wide opening compared to other cups and the bird likes it)

My husband is fine with this. He knows it is all a work in progress and Artemis just prefers me!

And please, tell your husband not to interact with the bird at night, they need to go to bed with the sunset (think of chickens) so they don't continue producing sexual hormones all year round which is not only very bad for their health (screwed up endocrine system, depressed immune system, etc) but also the number one cause of screams, bites, plucking, etc in pet parrots.

Good for you and better for Artemis that you have him eating fruits! Conures are huge fruit eaters in the wild.

Thank you. We know this. He works night shift (has to leave for work around 9:30pm) but we do try to get the bird in bed with the sun. Thanks for the advice.

He is so trusting of taking food out of hands, so he gets a bit of what we're having (if it is safe for him) and also steals my food as I'm putting it into my mouth. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but I make sure he's not around if I'm eating something that would be bad for him. He has his meals with us and goes down in his cage for a nap around noon (has his lunch pellets) and then has his dinner with us.

Basically he's with me all the time. I stay at home and babysit my nephew during the day, so I'm home all the time.

[Pajarita]

Yes, they always try to eat the food we are eating and to get into our mouths. It's instinctual behavior wired into their brains so don't worry about it, just prevent him from actually putting his beak (or tongue) into your mouth because humans have real bad bacteria in our mouths. Good on the noon rest, it's part of their natural biorhythms and healthy for them but he should not be getting pellets in the middle of the day. Birds don't really eat lunch but, if you want to give him something, give him cooked whole grains, veggies and/or fruits, instead.