HELP!! New Young Sun Conure!

SunnyFan07

New member
Jul 25, 2011
1
0
West Virginia
Parrots
I have two sun conure, Maui who I have had for over a year now, and Meika who I just purchased and is less then a year old!
i have a fairly young sun conure who i had just recently purchased and i am looking for any tips and advice on how to get this sun conure (meika) to trust me. When meika is in her cage she runs and attempts to bite, at first they are soft bites, i am assuming warning bites, then she really lays it on me after a few attempts. eventually after i get her out, she is a completely different bird. the store i got her from told me to cover her with a towel and then get her. it works very well, she does not bite or anything after i remove the towel, but i am afraid that scares her and i am even more afraid that she will eventually resent me for that. also, the store told me she was less than a year old. she still has green on her wings, much more then my other older conure Maui, and she seems to be very wobbly on the perches. she can stand on them and is getting much better, the same with my fingers. i am curious, at what age would be best for my Meika to learn to step up on my finger? bc as of right now, when i put my finger to her chest, she just squats real low and nibbles on it, which is very cute haha. so if anyone could answer my questions, it would help me tremendously!! Thanks!
 

John

New member
Jul 20, 2011
31
Media
3
0
New York
Parrots
Green Cheek Conure,
Red Bellied Parrot
I suggest you just open the cage door and let her come out on her own. If you really want her out and she won't come out on her own, try using a perch. Eventually, after a lot of step up practice and trust building, she will probably let you take her out. You can use a treat to lure her out, as well.

You definitely don't want to do anything that you know is likely to trigger a bite. Biting is a habit and if you avoid situations where she will bite, she is less likely to form that habit. Also, when you get little warning nips, respect them and back off.

Also, try not to react to bites, except perhaps with a quiet stern voice "no bite" or "be careful". If you yell in anger or pain or to scold her, she will probably take it as a reward (birds love noise and drama) and it will reinforce the bad behavior.

Parrots can learn to step up very young. My 12 week old Red Bellied is stepping up reliably already. We got our GCC when he was about 5 months old and he was already trained to step up.

Maybe you should try luring her onto your finger with her favorite treat and/or pushing your finger into her lower chest area a bit, as you say "step up". I'm sure she will pick it up soon. Make sure to praise her enthusiastically whenever she does step up.

Regarding the towel. I would not recommend using the towel to get her out of the cage (except in an emergency). However, it is good to play the "towel game" with bird from a young age. Hold the bird on your lap, and gently cover her with the towel and play "peek a boo" with her.
 

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