Hello! First time bird owner here getting started!!

[iceicebb]

Larry is my newly-acquired 6-week-old Sun Conure! (My Sun Conure is green though, not sure if this is right. Yes I am a big NBA fan). I'm so happy

Anyway, I got a few questions. I'm assuming it's okay to post "getting-started" type questions here... pls help me guys!!

1. There's a ton of information about parrot training, here and in parrotwizard.com and in Youtube, and it's a bit overwhelming. My new parrot is only 6 weeks old --- should I already start training him the basics or is he too young to be taught? If yes, which basic moves should I be traning him at this point?

-- "Training" status: All I'm practicing with him is recall where I call his name and he runs towards me and then I click the clicker and then feed him his formula with a spoon, then repeat. He doesn't know how to step up yet on command, but he can occasionally do it. When he steps up to my hand it's usually luck. Most of the time he just bites on my finger.

-- Bird progress level: He doesn't eat solid treats yet. I've tried feeding him treats --- small banana bits, orange bits, and unsalted nuts --- cause I know this is what is used for training, but he won't eat it. So it's all just the bird feed formula+hot water for now. It's his first time flying yesterday too! I didn't train or command him to do it; he was just on a table and he flew up towards me with me being about a meter away.

2. Every time Larry is on my hand, he seems to struggle with balance. I first try to position him on my pointer finger, but then he'd lose his balance and move around towards my hand (sometimes palm, sometimes the area opposite my palm below the knuckles, depending on how my hand is positioned). And even when he's on my hand already, he still loses balance sometimes. Is this normal?

3. What's a good daily routine to follow? I literally have no idea how to take care of a pet outside of what I'm doing so far and how much quantity/quality time I should spend with the pet. I usually just feed the bird twice a day (morning and afternoon/night) and I sometimes walk him outside. I have no idea how much time I should spend with the bird or how many times he should be pulled out of the cage for bonding.

I'd appreciate help A LOT. I've been over the internet looking for a forum discussing these things and I'm so glad there is one right here! Thank you in advanced, parrot lovers!!




BONUS QUESTIONS (the first three are more important that I would love to have answered. I know asking too many questions can be too demanding so these below are just bonus if you have a golden heart for a parrot newbie like me)

4. At night, I leave on a low level lamp (10 watts) pointed to his cage to "keep him warm." This was suggested to my dad by the guy who sold us the parrot. Is this ok? Just wanna verify from you guys.

5. My cage is just a sort of plastic box with holes around it, and there's hay-like stuff on the cage's floor. Not the typical "bird cage" with metal bars and a perch. Is this ok?

6. Are there people here from Manila, Philippines? It would be cool if there are parrot people here near me. I have no clue whether there's a group of parrot trainers here in my area.

Thanks again!!

[Wolf]

We do not mind your questions and are happy to help in anyway that we can. We have forum members from all over the world so it is very possible that we have members from your area of the world, but I have no way of checking on that. Perhaps, they will see this and speak up.
I hope that you can provide some pictures of your bird, you will need to reduce them to 640 kb in order to post them. or link to them using something like photobucket. I am asking for pictures for two reasons, the first and least important is we like pictures, the second is that I am not certain that you have a Sun Conure and want to be sure as the colors do not sound right to me.
I do not think that you are doing anything wrong with calling the bird to you even though you are using the clicker. I always teach my birds their name and that when I call it that I want them to come to me. I do not recommend training per se at this age or even this early in your relationship with the bird as at the very least he will take a month to get accustomed to his new life and to you as his friend and caregiver.
I understand that you were told that this bird is 6 weeks old, but I am not certain that you were old the truth, but I am sure that you were sold an unweaned bird that needs to be fed more than twice each day. I don't have any real experience with birds that are this young, but I would think that it will need to be fed at least 4 times per day or fed at 4 hour intervals. Pajarita has the most experience here that I am aware of although we do have a couple of breeders who are members, so I expect that you will get verification of what I am saying now or at worse they will correct any errors that I may say to you.
At this time I would advise you to not take your bird outside into the sunlight as he is probably too young for that and it could damage his eyes. I would also recommend that you turn your lights down low to further protect his eyes. Baby parrots are hatched in a fairly dark place as the nest is usually inside a hole in a tree and don't come out until their parent bird think they are ready to start eating more solid foods and since that is longer than what humans allow I can't give you a specific age for that.
In case you haven't already guessed, I am not a breeder and don't have much experience with birds that are this young. I do a lot of research and study and can at least help some until one of our members that has the experience to properly answer your questions sees this and answers you.
I don't think that the light is a good way to go, for the reasons that I have already stated. Instead I would suggest that you use a heating pad placed under a folded towel. you want him to get some heat, but you don't want to burn him either and you can place some newspaper on top of the towel for easy clean up of his messes. The plastic box with holes is probably just fine for now as I think that he is too young for a regular cage at this time I would try to maintain a temperature of about 85 degrees F. Use a thermometer to keep check on that and use your hand to make sure that the heating pad is covered well enough to not burn his delicate skin. You don't want it to feel hot to the touch but you do want to feel some warmth from it. and make sure that he has water that he can't spill or knock over onto the heating pad. also protect the electric cord from him so that he doesn't chew on it.
That is the best that I can do for you at this time and I hope that you will find it helpful. Please feel free to ask as many questions as you want or need to .

[iceicebb]

Thanks for your response Wolf!

1. Larry, my bird, was sold to my dad and he said it's a Sun Conure . When I looked it up on the internet Sun Conures are predominantly yellow. Larry has yellow, but he is more green I think.

Here are links to some pictures:
Front -- https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/ ... b173502514

Side -- https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 11e87f04d1


2. Thanks for advising me not to train at this age. But I get conflicted. There are "baby parrot training" articles online. But there is also Michael's article saying not to "train" unweaned birds yet. But as a first time owner I don't know how to distinguish when the bird is still a "baby" versus when it's ok to train it already. So your suggestion is no training at all, just simple bonding and feeding. Thanks I hope the other breeders can verify it too! As there's so much conflicting/confusing info on the web.

3. Oh no. It looks like I'm already doing many stuff wrong with my baby bird The seller/guy who sold the bird to my dad adviced us to do these things. He specifically told us that the bird was born around late January, so I just did the math and estimated that it's 6 weeks old. Could be 7. The seller is the one who suggested how we feed it; the suggestion was to feed 3x a day if it were less than 4 weeks old, but now 2x a day that it is a bit older. We give it 1tsp formula and 4tsp hot water per feeding. Is this wrong? There was also no suggestion against sunlight. I've taken him to walks outside and we sometimes have our lights on as normal inside our house. He doesn't seem to react negatively. In the 1 week I've own him he's become less fearful/timid and more friendlier even. Thanks for your suggestion though!

Here is the setup of the bird area. His plastic box with holes cage, the lamp on at night, plus the other bird stuff --- https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 27f2863085



Thanks again Wolf! If you have more info I'll be glad to take it all in. I again also hope the other breeders, or even Michael, can share their thoughts too. I only want the best for my parrot!

[iceicebb]

There's this video of a 6-week old conure (same as mine) but who is already exposed to sunlight AND is trained how to step up & down. There is a conflict between the above advice and the video here... im more confused




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF7TYOykt0s

[Wolf]

Alright to begin with you do indeed have a young sun conure as is attested to by the yellow and red feathers on its head and chest. It is normal for them to have mostly green wings, backs and tail feathers at his age. You painted a much different picture in your original description of him. I would not be concerned with regular house lighting with him but I would try to keep him out of bright sunlight for a while longer. It is time for you to gat him as large of a cage as you can afford for him but be careful of the bar spacing as you do not want him to be able to get his head between the bars. The box that you have him in is alright to transport him to the vet but not for much else as it is too small for him. He should not need either the heating pad nor the light that you have on him. He should be place where he can see what is going on, but not have to be involved in it if he doesn't want to be. Also the cage should be placed so that his favorite perch will be about your head height.
It is good that you are teaching him his name and to come to you when you call it and I think that you will discover that the step up will come about on its own as an out growth of his coming to you when called, so all you will need to do is to say step up when he climbs onto your hand. He will learn it very fast this way. I see no reason for him to be kept in the box, it is too small, anyway, so he should be out of his cage an average of four hours each day with at least one or two hours in physical contact with you.
As for the weaning formula , you should mix it according to the instructions and he should get that at least twice a day and he should also get fresh fruit and vegetables. I would cut them into small strips that are easy for him to hold in his foot to eat and he should get some small seeds to eat. Small seeds such as a canary or budgie mix would be great for him.
When I said that you should get as large of a cage as you can afford for him, I should have added that for this species of parrot that the minimum size of the cage should be about 24 inches deep( front to back)by 36 inches or larger wide ( side to side) and at least 36 inches high but then if it comes with its own stand it should be about 5 feet tall overall. If it does not have its own stand then you need to make sure that the highest perch inside the cage is about eye level or higher. I think that a bar spacing of 1/2 inch to about 5/8 inch would be ideal for a bird of his size.
Other than what you are already doing including the step up request I would hold off on any training for his first month with you and then progress into a little bit of target training, using two ten minute sessions per day for this. This is your primary bonding time and you should use it for that as training too soon and too much at this early stage will only lead to problems further down the road, it is much better to go slow and easy with training and gain your birds trust and devotion as a good strong bond is the foundation for everything that will happen in his life with you. Learn to read his body language as it is his primary way of communicating to you. Give him lots of praise and love and listen to him so that you can respond to what he tries to tell you.

[Pajarita]

That's a very young baby you got there, my dear (and shame on the breeder for selling him to you so young!).

He needs handfeeding three times a day and two kinds of soft foods served fresh twice a day. Soft food is just like the name implies: food that is soft. You can use old-fashioned oatmeal, couscous, cream of wheat or polenta cooked with water and mixed with baby food (fruits, sweet potato, pureed carrots, etc). Alternate the base (oatmeal and such) and the fruits/veggies you mix it with to achieve better nutrition. You can put also offer him some soaked seed (it's softer than the regular dry kind and all you need to do is put seed in a jar, add warm water, let it sit for two days rinsing and changing the water every 12 hours). The formula should be more liquidy when young and, as they get older, it gets thicker but it should always be at the right temperature (107 degrees and you need to stir it before you put the food thermometer in it because formula tends to end up with pockets where it's hot and pockets where it's cold). The right temperature is VERY important because if it's too cold, the bird will end up with sour crop (a fungal infection of the crop) or will not eat enough of it, and, if it's too hot, you can burn the crop. I suggest you use a syringe (you will need to sterilize it in between feedings) and I assume you know how to do it because, if you don't, the bird can end up aspirating and getting pneumonia or asphyxiating from it but I will give you a short lesson, just in case. The syringe should always be inserted on the left side of the bird's beak and pointing to the right, just a little bit at a time and always waiting for the bird to swallow and to resume the feeding response (a bird without a feeding response is sick) before you give it more. Stop only when there is no longer a feeding response but always making sure the bird ate, at least, 10% of its body weight. You need to weigh it every day at the same time (early in the morning before the first feeding is recommended) not only because you need to know how much to feed but also because you need to make sure the bird is gaining weight day by day. Handfeeding is not something that anybody should do without practicing first under the supervision of somebody who knows what to do so, again, shame on that bad breeder!

Now, as to housing. You need to get a cage, that box is not good, not good at all except as a carrier. And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remove that lamp from above the cage immediately! Birds should NEVER EVER have any light on at night (its endocrine system will be completely screwed up and its immune system will not work right). Get yourself a smallish cage for now (you can later use it as a sleeping cage or a carrier), put something soft at the bottom (a towel that you can wash and change every day is best -no bedding like sawdust, wood shavings or paper pellets, they are just a breeding ground for bacteria and fungus and they don't allow for checking on the amount and look of the poop which is very important). Put a tree branch (wash it and make sure it's non poisonous) as a low perch (high enough that he only needs to step up to reach it and of a diameter large enough that the entire foot goes around it but the nails from the front toes and the ones from the back don't quite touch) - later on as he gets older, you can put another branch higher up so he can start climbing. Put a heating pad on the bottom (under the towel) and a towel (or any other material or cloth) over it covering three sides and leaving the front open for natural light). Put a thermometer at the same height the perch is so it will register the temperature where the bird is and make sure it's 85 to 90 degrees. Do not expose the bird to bright light, sun or artificial (baby parrots are not born with completely developed eyes and they need darkness or very low light to finish the development correctly).

Do not train. Would you train a 9 month old baby? No, of course not! You can call him by his name and reward him with your love when he comes over and you can ask him to step up because he will do both these things without you having to do any clicking, targeting or anything as he wants more than anything on this world to be with somebody 24/7/365. Spent as much time as possible with him (on your lap, in the crook of your arm, tucked under your shirt, etc) but not less than 4 hours a day, he is a baby and needs the comfort of a body's warmth to feel safe and happy. Baby parrots are never, ever, ever alone so it's real hard on them when we take them from their parents and put them in a human home. He is still a little baby and insecure on his feet (think of a baby beginning to learn how to walk) so he feels better when he is stepping on both flat feet (this is the way he would be in the nest) and that's why he doesn't like your finger, offer the palm of your hand, instead. He will learn how to perch on its own when he is ready.

You need to put into effect many changes and you need to do this asap. Please understand that I am not scolding you because I realize that you are going by the breeder's advice and that, when you saw all the conflicting information, you realized you needed to dig deeper and find out what is right and what is wrong and that's why you are here. And that was the right thing to do so kudos to you for not going blindly with what the breeder told you! But you are rushing things and it seems to me that you were really not prepared at all for a baby so young and we would not want the baby to end up sick, underdeveloped, with bad vision, an eating disorder or traumatized for the rest of his life. So, please, go out and buy all the stuff you need (thermometer, scale, cage, heating pad, baby food, etc) and start doing it right as soon as you can. Raising a baby, bird or human, is a HUGE responsibility, a lot of work and a lot of worry but it's very rewarding when done right so roll up your sleeves and go for it!

[patti]

could larry be a jenday?

he's adorable, btw

[iceicebb]

Thank you both for all the information!! I really appreciate it. As a first time owner it will take time before I master all of your suggestions, but I will try my best as I want nothing but the best for Larry.

I got him a legit cage already and I noticed he was a bit noisier in that, and maybe he was struggling to stand up in the tree branch or the metal bar floors. And now I just re-read this thing and I saw the towel suggestion!

Larry is a Sun Conure or at least that's what the seller told us it is.

Any more information would be greatly appreciated!

[Pajarita]

Great news! Don't worry about 'mastering' because, regardless of how long we've been doing it, how much we have researched or learned and how hard we try, none of us has 'mastered' parrot husbandry... I think it's an impossibility The important thing is to improve all the time and you've already started!