advice for a new sun mommy

SunMommy

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Nov 6, 2011
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Michigan
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Pyro, my new baby sun conure
I know there are posts similar to mine, but I am so excited about getting my baby I just had to post my own thread. I am getting a baby sun conure from a breeder in AR. I am located in MI. The baby hatched 9-6-11 and is not yet weaned. Once the baby is weaned, she will be shipped to me via Delta airlines. I have wanted a bird for years, but I knew I never had time for one. A little over a year ago I finished school and now I have a stable schedule. I decided it was time to get a bird. There is a sun conure at the local pet store that I absolutely fell in love with. I really wanted to get this bird, but it is way over priced. In many ways I hope I have not made a bad decision in getting one from a breeder out of state, since I really don't know the temperament of the baby bird. I can only go by what the breeder tells me. The breeder hand raises his birds and has assured me that all his birds are very tame. I have some pictures that the breeder has sent me and that's about all. My baby should be weaned sometime in the next two weeks as an estimate, but of course this isn't something easily predicted.

I am all set and ready for my baby to arrive. The cage is cleaned and set up with lots of perches, play things, a sleepy hut, ladder and food dishes. I have a variety of seeds, pellets, treats, millet spray and a cuttle bone for him/her. I have been researching these little guys for a while now and I hope I have made the right choice in getting this breed of bird. My only concern is the screaming and teaching the bird to love my children and my cats. I have an 11 year old and a 5 year old. Does anyone have any advice in introducing a bird into a home with children and cats?

I am having difficulty deciding on a name for my baby sun conure. So far the only names that I like have to due with fire, since sun conures are the colors of a fire (yellow, red, orange, blue, green). I like Pyro, Flame, and Torch. Does anyone have any suggestions? They don't have to be fire related.

I am also having a hard time deciding whether to have my birds wings clipped or not. The breeder seems to be against it. I have read that they bond better and are easier to train with clipped wings. I have also heard that they should be allowed to fully learn how to fly before clipping their wings. This way they will know how to coast down verses falling and possibly hurting themselves. At this point I think I will try keeping my bird flighted and if it doesn't work out, then I will clip the flight feathers.

Does anyone keep special full spectrum UV lights for their birds? I have read that this is best for the birds and their feathers will be dingy without it. My breeder disagrees and doesn't use special lights and says he doesn't know anyone that does.

I am also wondering about the shipping of my bird via Delta airlines. Does anyone who has done this have any suggestions/advice to prevent stress on the bird?

Well this is all I can think of at the moment. Any advice is highly appreciated. :D

The picture I attached is the most recent picture of my baby from the breeder. The baby is 7 weeks old in the pic and now is currently 8 weeks old.
 

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Abzeez

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Apr 26, 2011
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WI
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Bean the Blue Front Amazon, Chico the Ringneck, and Ida the African grey
I am also having a hard time deciding whether to have my birds wings clipped or not. The breeder seems to be against it. I have read that they bond better and are easier to train with clipped wings. I have also heard that they should be allowed to fully learn how to fly before clipping their wings. This way they will know how to coast down verses falling and possibly hurting themselves. At this point I think I will try keeping my bird flighted and if it doesn't work out, then I will clip the flight feathers.

Does anyone keep special full spectrum UV lights for their birds? I have read that this is best for the birds and their feathers will be dingy without it. My breeder disagrees and doesn't use special lights and says he doesn't know anyone that does.

My breeder was against clipping wings. I left Ida full flighted for awhile, but then she started taking over the house and harassing the other parrots. She was like an unruly 4 year old, so I clipped her and haven't had a problem.

I do not use any lighting for my parrots and they do just fine. I think that is a personal and in my opinion not really needed. If you feed a good pellet they will get everything they need from that. Along with fresh fruits and veggies.
 
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SunMommy

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Pyro, my new baby sun conure
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My breeder was against clipping wings. I left Ida full flighted for awhile, but then she started taking over the house and harassing the other parrots. She was like an unruly 4 year old, so I clipped her and haven't had a problem.

I do not use any lighting for my parrots and they do just fine. I think that is a personal and in my opinion not really needed. If you feed a good pellet they will get everything they need from that. Along with fresh fruits and veggies.


I cant wait to feed my conure lots of fresh fruits and veggies. I hope my bird isn't a picky eater.
 

suncon97

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Jul 31, 2011
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Pearl-African Grey-Hatched Apr. 28,2011
Just a tip. Some birds will try almost anything if it is warm. So that might help introduce new fruits and veggies.
 
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SunMommy

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Pyro, my new baby sun conure
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Just a tip. Some birds will try almost anything if it is warm. So that might help introduce new fruits and veggies.

Thanks! I will try this if I find that Pyro (I think that is the name I am going with) doesn't like to try new things.
 

everdusk

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Oct 27, 2011
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Nova Scotia, Canada
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Marzipan (Hahns Macaw) & Pip & Monte ('tiels) // In Memory: Countess ('tiel), Primrose (GCC), Pauly, Star, Yoshi & Keitaro (budgies)
I am going through the same thing! I am having my bird shipped through Westjet (heated cargo!). My breeder said she would prefer to have the bird clipped for travel so that she can't fly away if some curious worker opens the cage (or to give food and water). You should ask your breeder to do this, he could leave a couple flight feathers so as not to prevent flight but to keep her low and slow.

I don't have a UV light, I want one but it's not necessary by any means. My birds are very healthy and beautiful without them!

And names... Caltos, Char, Flair, Ember.... Some fire/ash type names for you!
 

Rio Mom

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Apr 7, 2011
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Pennsylvania
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River - Green Cheek
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Pepper - Congo African Grey/

Rest in Peace Rio
I like Ember too. I have a full spectrum light for River. His wings are clipped so that he can glide if he jumps to the floor and not plummet, but he can't get upwards altitude for safety of a suddenly opened door, or flying into things.
 
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SunMommy

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Pyro, my new baby sun conure
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I am going through the same thing! I am having my bird shipped through Westjet (heated cargo!). My breeder said she would prefer to have the bird clipped for travel so that she can't fly away if some curious worker opens the cage (or to give food and water). You should ask your breeder to do this, he could leave a couple flight feathers so as not to prevent flight but to keep her low and slow.

I don't have a UV light, I want one but it's not necessary by any means. My birds are very healthy and beautiful without them!

And names... Caltos, Char, Flair, Ember.... Some fire/ash type names for you!

I absolutely love the name Ember. My name is Amber though, so I wonder if that would be confusing...:confused: I dont think I've ever heard the word caltos before. I just did a quick search on the internet and didnt get much. Would you mind providing a definition for that one? I really like Flair. Thank you for these great ideas! I think it will take meeting my baby bird to truly decide on a name.
 
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SunMommy

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Pyro, my new baby sun conure
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I like Ember too. I have a full spectrum light for River. His wings are clipped so that he can glide if he jumps to the floor and not plummet, but he can't get upwards altitude for safety of a suddenly opened door, or flying into things.

I have battled with myself over and over on whether to have my bird's wings clipped. There are obvious pros and cons to both ways. I still cant decide what I am going to do.
 
Nov 8, 2011
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Parrots
One Sun Conure and Two Budgies
Congrats on the arrival! We've had our sun conure for about a year and a half, and we can't imagine life without her. At first, we kept her clipped, but as she grew to be more trusting and flock-oriented, we let them grow out. Now, the only time she ever really flies anywhere is to go to her pooping rope (a rope hanging in a corner that has a litter box underneath that she's trained to go to poop), and to fly between each other's shoulders. And I guess she'll fly to her cage when she wants to go to sleep. Other than that, she relies on us for transportation, and flighted conure is more or less the same as un-flighted conure. I will say that training her while clipped definitely helped - it probably took half a year for her to get back enough flight feathers to get lift.

As for the lighting, it looks like I'm the only one here who subscribes to it. I have three lamps positioned across the two cages (the budgie cage is about 10' x 3' x 2' - it's that big, because they never want to leave, but we wanted them to have enough room to fly), and the light fixture we use is this one:

Full spectrum Universal Lights - FeatherBrite

We also get these bulbs from the vet, and replace them about twice a year:

Vital Lamp — For The Birds DVM — Avian Vet

I'm not going to say that the difference is noticeable, but our excellent vet is an authority on the matter, and strongly recommends it.

Speaking of, here's a bunch of great articles written by our vet, who is a bird-only spe******t:

Bird Care Articles — For The Birds DVM — Avian Vet

Please read these, especially the ones about discouraging hormonal behavior. A lot of what we might consider "cute" behavior can lead to troublesome hormonal problems later on!


Edit: That's really funny we can't type out the word "s-p-e-c-i-a-l-i-s-t" due to the apparently burgeoning online grey market for prescription ED medication.
 

everdusk

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Oct 27, 2011
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Nova Scotia, Canada
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Marzipan (Hahns Macaw) & Pip & Monte ('tiels) // In Memory: Countess ('tiel), Primrose (GCC), Pauly, Star, Yoshi & Keitaro (budgies)
Ah, the name Caltos comes from an animated movie called Howl's Moving Castle, Caltos is a living flame. I really like the name myself! I have always love fire related names too. <3
 
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SunMommy

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Pyro, my new baby sun conure
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Ah, the name Caltos comes from an animated movie called Howl's Moving Castle, Caltos is a living flame. I really like the name myself! I have always love fire related names too. <3

I honestly love this name. It is up there in the top 2! The definition is perfect for a sun conure. I think I will decide between Pyro and Caltos when my birdie finally arrives. Thank you so much.
 

everdusk

New member
Oct 27, 2011
111
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Nova Scotia, Canada
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Marzipan (Hahns Macaw) & Pip & Monte ('tiels) // In Memory: Countess ('tiel), Primrose (GCC), Pauly, Star, Yoshi & Keitaro (budgies)
Oh yay! That makes me surprisingly happy! I'm sure he will pick a name when you get him, it's almost not a choice, haha. Good luck!!
 

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