I need advice!

Hi everyone. I'm very new to this.

I have a 3 month old Sun Conure.

He has been sticking his whole head in his water bowl after throwing tantrums to come back out of his cage after we are done playing.

Is there any way to prevent him from doing so?

I had to take his water bowl out of his cage, because it was worrying me.

HELP !!!

-Jen

I would not worry about the water. Birds love giving themselves a bath and they seem to understand water.

As far as the behavior. You need to ignore it until it's gone away. When she's calm and behaving take her out, when she's misbehaving ignore it.

My baby gets overly excited and screams. I have taught her to make a quiet grunting noise when she wants out, she's rewarded for the tolerable low noise and either ignored or covered when she screams.

It seems to work well, she's quieted down a lot, we are working on eliminating the noise but I'm not sure that going to completely go away. She is indeed doing what is natural to her.

welcome will my cinnamon green cheek like to do that to he puts his head in and the shake. i do not think that it is something bad he could just want a bath but lets see what other have to say ..

I put his water back in and he didn't try to go swimming again. He just started screaming, so covered him and he's still screaming... hopefully he quiets down.

thanks for the advice!!!!

Sounds like he wants a bird bath to me. try putting a bowl of lukewarm water in his cage. Clifford will splash around in his for a long time.

Please don't cover him if he screams. You're punishing him for what comes natural to him, hence robbing him of his natural coping mechanisms. While it may seem effective short term, it can lead to emotional and behavior problems in the long run. This is referred to as "learned helplessness" and is often associated with anxiety, depression, etc in animals and human beings alike. Reinforcing a preferred behavior (instead of punishing for an undesired behavior) is a much better alternative. If Ringo learns that he gets a lot more attention when he makes a quite peeping sound instead of screaming, for example, he is much more likely to use the quite peeping sound instead.

I agree birds need to vocalize, and conures especially vocalize a lot for many different reasons.

I also agree that it sounds like he wants a bath. Conures love to bathe and often do it daily. If he doesn't fit in his water bowl, you might offer a larger bowl at the bottom of his cage, or take him to the sink to do this.

alrightt thanks!

I have half of his cage covered so he doesnt catch a draft, because he is still soaked. He played in a big bowl of water this morning.. he may have just assumed water means playing?

I've been rewarding him with dried papayas. Any other suggestions?
He doesn't like fresh fruit at all.

He's still a very young baby. Keep offering fruit and veggies and eventually he will figure out they are food and try them. You could try cutting them into small pieces first; usually babies like small pieces.

lexx510 said:

Please don't cover him if he screams. You're punishing him for what comes natural to him, hence robbing him of his natural coping mechanisms. While it may seem effective short term, it can lead to emotional and behavior problems in the long run. This is referred to as "learned helplessness" and is often associated with anxiety, depression, etc in animals and human beings alike. Reinforcing a preferred behavior (instead of punishing for an undesired behavior) is a much better alternative. If Ringo learns that he gets a lot more attention when he makes a quite peeping sound instead of screaming, for example, he is much more likely to use the quite peeping sound instead.

Click to expand...

I'm going to slightly disagree there. I don't think its a great method of punishment but there are moments where the bird just must be covered due to the insanity. I work from home and speak with clients on the phone. Some times I just have to do it. There really is no other option. But I don't do it in a scolding way.

Scotty T said:

lexx510 said:

Please don't cover him if he screams. You're punishing him for what comes natural to him, hence robbing him of his natural coping mechanisms. While it may seem effective short term, it can lead to emotional and behavior problems in the long run. This is referred to as "learned helplessness" and is often associated with anxiety, depression, etc in animals and human beings alike. Reinforcing a preferred behavior (instead of punishing for an undesired behavior) is a much better alternative. If Ringo learns that he gets a lot more attention when he makes a quite peeping sound instead of screaming, for example, he is much more likely to use the quite peeping sound instead.

Click to expand...

I'm going to slightly disagree there. I don't think its a great method of punishment but there are moments where the bird just must be covered due to the insanity. I work from home and speak with clients on the phone. Some times I just have to do it. There really is no other option. But I don't do it in a scolding way.

Click to expand...

Scotty, I understand that sometimes their noise may be too much to handle (especially if you're on a phone with a client). But as I've mentioned, while covering their cage may be a "quick fix" it is not necessarily a healthy fix. It benefits *us* in the moment, but it is emotionally harmful to our birds. So I suppose it is a matter of priority. And as a matter of fact, there are many options available which you could try before attempting more drastic measures (such as positive forms of punishment like covering the cage). You may find this article to be helpful:

http://behaviorworks.org/files/articles/What's Wrong with this Picture.pdf

Jen, sunnies love to bath, as soon as i put a fresh bowl of water in my birds cage the are straight into it, it's fun to watch them.

Noise, although these birds are noisy for the most part they can be taught that screeching is not acceptable. I get great response from my suns by simply whispering each time i talk to them. It's funny really they maybe making such a racket & when they see me coming they are so quiet, they know if they are good birds they get a treat. If my birds get to loud they go outside. on the back deck, i cover the cage front facing the house so they can't see me & they have full view of the back yard & gives them something else to look at instead of 4 walls.

Keep trying with the fresh fruits & veg. It's important for your bird to have a balanced diet. The more variety you can get her used to the better. Chop up everything in to small cubes & make the bowl as colorful as possible.