Rebellious Bird!

Hello! I have recently gotten a 14 week old male Sun Conure that I've been handling since he's first been able to perch. After two weeks home, he's into the swing of things. He's extremely personable and will step up onto anyone's finger! There is a problem however...

Though he gladly steps up onto fingers with no hesitation (most of the time) he always does whatever he wants afterwards. He constantly beaks my finger and even after relentless pushing away he still continues. The worst thing however is when he goes for my shoulder. Every time he steps onto anyone's finger, he climbs up their arm straight for their shoulder. Again, after relentless pushing and changing fingers, he continues to do so. I wouldn't mind him being on my shoulder if he didn't fidget around with my shirt, neck, pimples (OUCH!), glasses, and hair (hair preening is no problem to me though). It's weird to me when I see people who's parrots sit relaxed on someone's shoulder or finger and are perfectly content that way.

It's also good to note that It's extremely difficult to have training sessions because his attention span to the training lasts only one to two seconds, paired with his "I do what I want" mentality. If anyone could give me tips on that, and also how I can go about training him to pick him up by his back I'd be very grateful!

Maybe this is all just a young parrot's energy and curiosity but it's definitely taxing on me. I'd love to sit and do some work with him but his fidgeting is too much for me to focus! Thanks to anyone who can help!

Sounds like a new baby testing their limits to me. At that age they're learning their strength and what is okay and what isn't.

Until you can get him to be good, I'd avoid letting him on shoulders. That is a privilege that has to be earned. He's also a young little puppy with lots of energy so maybe find some positive outlets for some of that energy. Give him some foraging toys, things to bang and throw around, or some trick-training. And when he does bite, indicate that's not okay (I say "ow" or "be nice") remove him from wherever he is on you and calmly return him to his cage for a few minutes.

Parrots are freakishly fascinated by pimples. After having mine for about a year, she still would go after mine >___< she doesn't understand what the problem is. I guess she's trying to be helpful. So, I understand your pain. I managed to teach her to stay off the top of my head and not to bit the stuffing out of my ears for fun, and SOMETIMES not to chew on my glasses LOL.

Thanks! That is very helpful info! It's relieving to know he's just being a young stinker LOL.

I believe age is likely the issue with Sammy. 14 weeks is pretty young but still trainable, just going to take baby steps, patience, and an effective reward.

Shoulder privileges are indeed earned with trust, but at least he isn't biting hard. Perhaps short periods on his favorite "perch" can be a reward for good behavior?

You may find this link helpful: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/60435-clicker-target-training.html

First step is to figure out Sammy's ultimate favorite treat, the one he slavishly loves. That gets used for training. Re' lying on his back, that's an advanced trick, a matter of him letting you place your hand on his back, and eventually flipping your hand over and convincing him to let go of your other hands finger. Have fun. Verbal praise is always helpful.

IndySE said:

I managed to teach her to stay off the top of my head and not to bit the stuffing out of my ears for fun, and SOMETIMES not to chew on my glasses LOL.

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Howwwwww???????? Bumble flies up on my head a million times a day and then sometimes gives me a hard bite when I try to get her down. I do everything I can to distract her when I see it coming, but it's not very successfully.


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wrench13 said:

First step is to figure out Sammy's ultimate favorite treat, the one he slavishly loves. That gets used for training. Re' lying on his back, that's an advanced trick, a matter of him letting you place your hand on his back, and eventually flipping your hand over and convincing him to let go of your other hands finger. Have fun. Verbal praise is always helpful.

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So far he seems to absolutely adore apples. I've been using that the most. He's actually already learned to fly to the top of his cage and the couch on command, and even be recalled onto my finger, but these only work in those certain places. They've even seemed to backfire a bit because whenever I walk past his cage, he flies to me when I'm busy...

Anyways today I've been trying to get him used to me picking him up on the back. I pick him up, hold him for a second, (he usually struggles for his life after about 3 seconds) and I put him down and give him a bite-sized piece of apple. But he seems to not be letting me do it any better. But then again I've only started that today.

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If you are going to seriously train him, here's a couple of tips.
Do everything the same, every time, done change commands, don't confuse him. Reward immediately after the trick, so he makes the connection. Once parrots know you will reward them for LEARNING, they get real smart. I would suggest a set time to do your training, no longer then 10 to 15 min. And, do it every night without fail. Salty and I work together every nite, since we got him a year and a half ago. Search on salty parrot trick on you tube , you'll see what can be done with patience love and treats.

Oh almost forgot... go at his pace, don't rush things, he's gonna be around for many years hopefully.

Glad you found us!

Hey, your baby is already better-behaved than my demon seed! Take the great advice here, do your best, and then just love and accept whatever remains.
ORRRRR... let the bird do whatever he wants and live a chaotic life like mine!
Good luck!

wrench13 said:

Oh almost forgot... go at his pace, don't rush things, he's gonna be around for many years hopefully.

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Thanks! This really helps. Today I tried to teach him wave by offering my finger and getting him to lift one foot, but moving my finger away once he touches and giving him Apple. I changed the command to "High Five" because of his consistency. Is this bad? He doesn't seem to do it any less, in fact he does it very consistently

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GaleriaGila said:

Glad you found us!

Hey, your baby is already better-behaved than my demon seed! Take the great advice here, do your best, and then just love and accept whatever remains.
ORRRRR... let the bird do whatever he wants and live a chaotic life like mine!
Good luck!

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Haha! I've heard a lot about the RB. If it's one thing I'm thankful for, it's that Sammy doesn't seem quite as sassy as him! LOL but we love the little ones no matter how sassy [emoji18]

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I would not let them go on your shoulder yet whilst being bratty. For the glasses, unfortunately they just love to bite them. My green cheek would try to pull my glasses off my face. Eventually he decided they were better as a perch than a toy, it's very awkward to move around with tail feathers covering one of your eyes.

For lying on their back I would leave it for now. There's a lot your teaching them at once and it's possibly getting a bit too much, remember he's only 14 weeks old and has the potential intelligence of a young child at best if he's intelligent for a conure. The way I found to do it was to get them used to your touching them all over, then move to gently grabbing them, let them perch on your thumb so they feel more secure, once they're clam but whilst still in your hand offer the treat then as soon as they grab the treat let them out of your hand. The key I found to it was to give the treat whilst they're in the hand, it teaches them that it's okay and good things happen there. But like I say possibly put that on the back-burner for now. You want to have the fundamentals locked in before the higher up stuff

Flipping Peanut on her back came very easy for her, but I think Senegals like being on their backs anyway. My 5 year old daughter has her step up on her forefinger, then cups her back with her other hand, flips her over, and she automatically releases her claws from her finger. Then she just stays there in her hand. Now we're trying to teach her to roll over on her own and play dead lol.

Update: I've made great progress and I think it was simply the time that has fixed it. I feel SO much closer to him for some reason, because he lets me play with him now. He has to be in a playful mood of course!

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Nice to see great progress!! That pic of Sammy on his back clutching straw-like material is priceless. Will be a great entry for a future Picture Of The Month contest!