confused about new conure

charts

New member
Apr 9, 2013
1
0
Ok so I just got a sun conure on Sunday night so I have had him for two full days. Yesterday he was really aggressive and scared whenever I would try to take him out of the cage and he bit me so I decided to leave him alone.

I don't want him to bite me anymore so I tried to leave him alone today and leave him in his cage, so I interacted with him in there. He ate some treats from my hand and also I played some music and started dancing around and he was chirping, squawking, and climbing around flapping his wings. Was he excited or was he scared? I thought he was excited but I want to make sure.

Now he will squawk every time I leave the room or come back in, and he chirps at me while I am sitting in there and just talking to him, and I even got him to lick some peanut butter off my finger. Also whenever I walk up to his cage he comes to the perch that is closest to me/the door and he will clang his beak on the bars and shake his wings sometimes. I looked up some bird body language so I think that means he wants attention/to come out of the cage.

First, am I right about what he is trying to signal to me? Is he excited and wants attention or is he still scared and trying to scare me away?

Second, what do you think my next step should be? I want to get him out of the cage but I don't want to get bit again and I want to take baby steps. The person I got him from said he bit her also when she would take him out of the cage and could also be aggressive sometimes so I need to train him myself, this is not just new home behavior. I don't want to scare him too much, when I tried to teach him to step onto a stick this morning he got scared, but now that he seems to want attention and is more comfortable with me I am wondering what I should do. What is my next step for tomorrow?

One more thing to help you let me know if he is happy or not. I just put him to bed and he is grinding his beak, which is supposed to mean he is content. I hope that helped!
 

goalerjones

Well-known member
Oct 24, 2011
1,390
30
Parrots
Hahn's macaw, RIP George, Jenday Conure
Congrats on your new baby.

Time. Lots and lots of time. That is what you will invest in order to properly bond with your new baby. He is getting used to your house, the new noises, the new people, etc. birds will isolate until they feel comfortable. You can just leave the cage door open for long periods of time to encourage him to explore.
 

weco

New member
Nov 24, 2010
3,342
12
USA
Parrots
Nanday, suns, parrotlet, Patagonian
With only being in his new home two days, yep, I'd bet on him not knowing you, so he's being self-protective.....unlike puppies or kittens, companion parrots aren't ready to become all friendly and cuddly for a head scratch and some treats.....

I would wait a while before trying to handle him.....I have a nanday I've had almost 6 years & I can do beak rubs, head scratches, but no body handling, though I can bring my hand up behind him & hold him against my chest without a problem, but if I try to pick him up, that won't happen.....

Wing flutters is something sun conures do when they want attention, when they are hungry/thirsty, when they want out of their cage & probably other reasons they haven't told us about yet.....

Yes beak grinding by parrots is a sign of contentment.....
 

jendaymumma

New member
Mar 11, 2013
24
0
:DI've talked about Bob, my rescue Jenday Conure. He's a sweet little guy. Bob has been living with me going on 9 weeks now, following 6 months at the rescue, and a couple of years with a couple who divorced. Needless to say, Bob has been through some "not so good stuff". I spend a great deal of time with Bob. Within the last 3 days, Bob has been coming out of his cage and playing all over his play yard. He no longer bites me when I remove + replace his food(s) + water dishes to clean and replenish. Bob flaps his wings when I clap my hands and say, "yay, good job Bob". He loves bells. He is beginning to step up AND this week got up on my shoulder. I have to admit, there were times when I didn't think I'd have fingers (from the biting). All of the patience, time, love, continue to pay off for Bob and me. It's just not easy for these little guys to have to be rehomed, weather from a rescue and/or a bad environment, in Bob's case, or whatever the reason. It's getting better all the time. Lot's of help from from all of you on the Forum, THANK YOU. Bob's come a long way. Today he tilted his head to one side and said, "love you too" AND he nuzzles me with his beak for kisses. WOW, hey Bob!
 

MonicaMc

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
7,960
Media
2
43
Parrots
Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
Yesterday he was really aggressive and scared whenever I would try to take him out of the cage and he bit me so I decided to leave him alone.
Is he aggressive or scared? They are not the same behavior. If he's aggressive, then he's trying to get you through the cage bars whenever he sees you, going out of his way to try and attack you. If he's scared, he'd be doing the opposite - hiding in the corner trying to get away from you.

I don't want him to bite me anymore so I tried to leave him alone today and leave him in his cage, so I interacted with him in there. He ate some treats from my hand and also I played some music and started dancing around and he was chirping, squawking, and climbing around flapping his wings. Was he excited or was he scared? I thought he was excited but I want to make sure.
If you don't want to get bit, try avoiding putting your sun into positions that will result in a bite. This doesn't mean not to handle him, it simply means don't push him so far out of his comfort zone that he feels the need to bite.

As for the squawking and flapping? Hard to say without being able to see more of the behavior. Birds communicate and express themselves with their entire body, so to say a bird is squawking and flapping doesn't tell us if the bird is excited, scared or aggressive. Learn to read his body language. Aggressive birds will often make themselves appear bigger than what they are - wide stance, raised nape/neck feathers, beak wide open, wings possibly spread out slightly away from the body, body feathers may also be fluffed up. A scared bird will try and make itself appear as tiny as possible and will try to escape if it doesn't think it has a chance. It will resort to biting as a last chance. An excited parrot may display all sorts of crazy behaviors!

Now he will squawk every time I leave the room or come back in, and he chirps at me while I am sitting in there and just talking to him, and I even got him to lick some peanut butter off my finger. Also whenever I walk up to his cage he comes to the perch that is closest to me/the door and he will clang his beak on the bars and shake his wings sometimes. I looked up some bird body language so I think that means he wants attention/to come out of the cage.
This all sounds like good behavior! He's interested in interacting with you now that he probably sees you are no threat (you are, after all, the one who took him from his last place to a scary new place where everything is different), but he may or may not be ready for physical interaction. I would recommend seeing if he's interested in interacting with you through the cage bars and maybe opening up the door and sitting off to the side of the cage and seeing if he's willing to come out when he's ready to. Some birds are fine interacting through the cage bars but become deathly afraid once that door is opened.

First, am I right about what he is trying to signal to me? Is he excited and wants attention or is he still scared and trying to scare me away?
I would say those are signs that he's startling to feel comfortable and settle in.

Second, what do you think my next step should be? I want to get him out of the cage but I don't want to get bit again and I want to take baby steps. The person I got him from said he bit her also when she would take him out of the cage and could also be aggressive sometimes so I need to train him myself, this is not just new home behavior. I don't want to scare him too much, when I tried to teach him to step onto a stick this morning he got scared, but now that he seems to want attention and is more comfortable with me I am wondering what I should do. What is my next step for tomorrow?
Do you *have* to take him out of the cage? Or can he come out on his own? Can he engage in your attention or must you always engage in his? Try and be more passionate, caring and understanding towards him, and it may help make things go smoother.

How did you try teaching him to step up on a stick? Was he afraid of it or fine with it? If he was fine with it, did you present the stick and ask for a step up? Or did you use the stick to push into him to try and unbalance him? Was he presented with a reward before he was asked to step up? How you act and ask for a behavior greatly depends on how the bird may be willing to react.

Sometimes using a rope perch works better. I would recommend looking into target training and teach him to target. Once he knows how to target, you can then move on to teaching him to step up and come out of the cage.

One more thing to help you let me know if he is happy or not. I just put him to bed and he is grinding his beak, which is supposed to mean he is content.
Beak grinding is often considered a sign of contentment, but it is also a method for birds to keep their beaks into shape. Rodents teeth are often continually growing, and if not used properly, will become overgrown and may lead to the rodents death. Same general idea with parrots.

That sounded horrible... but I just wanted to point out that it's also a necessary behavior for them to do.
 

Most Reactions

Latest posts

Top