new owner of a sun conure

ok, so now what, his name is tiki, how do i get him used to me, he will step up on my hand, but i do have a sock over my hand as the nips are pretty hard on the fingers, he will dance if i sing to him, any advise is needed. i have tried to pet with my unexposed hand but he will lung forward and try to bit or nip, do i just take my time in trying to get him used to me?

Yes take it very slow. Start with the step up. It takes time to get used to his new surroundings and you. He is in a strange place and he is frightened. He is in self protection mode.
Talk to him a lot in a sweet voice and tell him good boy a lot. Don't reach in his cage let him come out. His cage is his safe spot and birds don't like you intruding. Leave the cage door open so he can come and go ..... as much as possible.
YOU can attach a perch to the outside by the door that he can climb up on.
Just let him know you are his friend. Don't force him to do anything. Curiosity will get the better of him and he will want to be near you when he is ready. Again talk to him and sit by his cage as much as possible to gain his trust.

Here I go again (question are his wings clipped? if so do you have a "T" perch? and access to a pair of chopsticks or wooden spoons ?) When you can answer yes to these questions you are ready to train your new best friend. Place your bird on a perch and start to pet him from two side at once when (and I say when because he will try to grab one of the sticks) calmly keep petting him with the other and work the other away from him and pet him for about one min. stop and take a break give him a treat and walk away and let him consider what just happened. Then come back and do Step-up with him for one minute then start petting him again when finished return him to the cage or play gym and give a treat. Do this twice a day for five days or until your bird stops trying to grab the stick when he does then cheat the stick back into your hand until your using your fingers to pet and do step-ups with your bird. Don't lose your sticks you can then start using them for target training and trick training. Hope this helps you with your new friend I know this works I took a bird who could bite through wielding gloves into a handleable bird in one week and now use him to help train other birds by birdy see birdy do . Looking forward to your post about your progress.

@friedsoup, goofy question my bird's wings are not clipped, can i do this myself? or should i wait until tiko is more comfortable with me handling him? do i need to get this done asap, before i start the training on handling him? please advise, and tell me what i need to do to clip.

As say move slowly. If he is lunging at you he does not trust you yet. I would also take the sock off my hand. A sock will not prevent a bad bite anyway. He is new and is fearful of you and your new home and cage. A trip to an avian vet is in order for new birds and I would let the vet do the clipping as you are in the process of forging a bond with this bird. If you can get the bool Parrots for Dummies. It has tons of basic information for you. I still refer to the book often. Good luck.

thank u spirtbird, i took the sock off hand and used a dowel, he is stepping up pretty good on that, couple of nips on the stick a few times, i will let him get used to being picked up like that then try letting him step from the dowel on to my finger. he will walk over and take food from me, so we are making progess, and he will dance when i sing to him, just a matter of time, he really doesn't seem to mind my grandson when he is near his cage, i am thinking as the grandson doesn't show fear of him, and the bird knows it, and doesn't even try to bite or lung at him, as a matter of fact grandson was feeding him apples and tiko was taking what he could from my grandson. maybe i should just let my 4yrs old grandson train him LOL. thanks for the comments i really need them, and yes i will go and buy the book.

a dowel is helpful. I used a dowel for months with my sun conure. Try to make sure he never bites you and if he does dont say anything or react. sun conures are clowns and the ouch ouch ohhh that hurt will or waving the finger will make them think it was funny..if he does get ya don't pull you can cause more damage, push into the bite, most of the time they will release you because its unexpected behavior, they expect you to pull away.

suns can bite really hard so socks or gloves not gonna work and sometimes this frightens them.

I also wouldnt try to pet him just small steps, also when u pull away its becomes a trust issue with him.So you want to minimize this, using dowels are great, if he bites it remove the dowel and walk away for a minute and try again don't press the issue. eventually you will be able to phase out the dowel when you are positively certain he will not bite you.

I also would not wing clip him take him to the avian vet as a poster suggested you don't wanna do it. He can bite you hard and not only that if done improperly you can hurt them. Just make sure the clip will allow them to glide still, dont do a full cut the poor darling will drop like a rock. You just wanna make sure he cannot gain height and he glides downward when trying to fly.

I still do not clip my suns wings or nails, even though he can lay on his back in my hand. I have had him 2 years. i can touch his feet and wings but he gets really nippy when he hears the nail clippers..Now i will do my eclectus even though she has only been with me 2 months but she is a calmer parrot and i just can pick her foot up while she is standing and clip the nails..she is really easy i wouldn't dare try it with my sun cause i know he will not like it and be mad at me I would rather have him mad at the vet LOL

Welcome and congrats on ur new addition. Lotsa info and help here. Good luck

we are making progress, i kept using the dowel for him to step up, talk with him and put him back on top of cage did this a few dozen time thru out the day, i watch tv, and doze off only to wake up and tiko is sitting by my shoulder. he has been stepping up on finger now, and no nips, i haven't tried to pet him or scratch his head yet, but he seems to enjoy the closeness, if he see me walk by he will fly and sit on my head,so i will walk back over to his cage and he steps off on to the cage, i think he is becoming a bird stalker. good sleeper at night i put the sheet over the cage and don't hear him until morning time when he hears me moving around. i think he likes me,i will still work with him.