I need advice with a hard decision

Hey everyone it's been awhile since I've been on. I believe my last post was about Barker, my sun, screaming. Well the screaming hasn't gotten any better even though I tried pretty much everything (training, ignoring,etc) and I've checked and rechecked my bedroom to see if it was something in the enviroment and even took her to the vet. There's nothing wrong. I live with my dad and he's getting tired of the constant screaming. On top of that, Barker has taken to chewing on my Jenday's feathers. Con now looks like an abused feather duster and I'm sick and tired of Barker's constant noise.

Her old owner had her with 2 other suns and she worked from home so they were with her constantly. I'm a student with a part time job. I can't do that obviously and what free time I do have with them, she sits quietly on my shoulder for about a minute before she starts eating my clothes then when I try to stop her, she goes after my hand.

I'm starting to resent the bird and regret getting her from the breeder/rescue guy and I don't want to take her back to him cause he'll just put her in a cage and never spend time with her or turn her into a breeder. He would be my last resort as I did not care for how he kept his parrots. It was like hoarder turned breeder.

If I do rehome Barker, I'm wondering how it'll impact Con. They've been together for over a year and get along fine. Con was my first and I worry about what'll happen. So any advice would be seriously appreciated. I haven't come to this decision lightly and am still not sure I want to give Barker up which is why I came here. Thanks for any help.

With my conures I gave them tonnes of soft wood to chew on like willow.
Also cardboard strung up, Even whole apples on a skewer.. anything to keep her busy..
Suns are major clothes chewers for some reason.. no idea why but they are, just keep an old jersey ya chuck on when you have her out.

After 7 years my sun still screams down the neighbourhood when he wants to...

LOL - Yes, that's a typical sunnie for you! Scream, scream, scream. They are beautiful birds but they do have their issues and screaming is one of them. The one I have (I also have a Sunday -he is the one that chews clothes constantly), was given up because of aggression and screams. He's still a nasty son of a gun (and I am sporting a nice bite from him on a background of blue, violet and green bruise on my left index finger right now) and he stills screams but only very occasionally because he lives cage-free and has a girlfriend that keeps him happy and occupied - actually, he has three girlfriends, two female quakers and a CAG -the boy is a playboy -LOL

In your case, I would recommend rehoming to somebody who can keep him the way I do (loose in a birdroom with other birds), it seems to be the only way for the real bad screamers...

My conures haven't been in a cage for over 7 months. The only time they are is to eat or take a bath. Other than that, they have trees filled with toys and fresh fruit. The thing is, Barker has never had toys. She doesn't know what to do with them. I've tried teaching her and she watches Con play with them but she has no interest. I provide balsa and pine for them to chew on as well as their trees which are cotton wood and mulberry.

She has toys, treats, wood, and a friend to occupy herself with but it seems to not be enough.

Then I would say she needs a boyfriend that will pay attention to her 24/7/365 -there is a percentage of birds that simply do not do well as pets and are only happy in an aviary situation, living with lots of other birds.

The only time she's quiet is when I'm holding her cause, like I mentioned, her previous owner was with her constantly. I don't think adding her to a flock will fix her need to be with people. That and she'd probably just start chewing their feathers like she chews Con's.

It sounds like Barker doesn't know how to keep her self entertained. Have you introduce foraging?

I have but she has no interest in it. Con will tear the entire thing apart while Barker watches and maybe picks up a shred then drops it.

Have you tried to keep him in a cage? I was told that some parrots need plenty of cage time in their first few years to get them really use to it. When my pineapple screams I cover the cage until he stops. Have you tried that?

I am no expert in screaming of Suns, but I know covering my birds cage stops it and I leave the cage cover for about 10 minutes after he stops screaming to calm him down.

I know it can suck when you need to re-home an animal. I bought a gerbil thinking I could take care of it easily, but the gerbil stank so bad that it was affecting my roommates. I cleaned the cage every single day, but the little guy still stank. I had to give him up to people that could take care of him better than me. I felt so bad for doing so, like I was the biggest failure out there. It's just the way I am, I don't know how he was taken care of after I gave up my animal. I felt like I failed the little guy and was given him up to his death. Even though I am sure I gave him to a good family. So I know how it feels to have to re-home an animal because of others. If it was not for my roommates I would still have my gerbil. :-/

I would also try taking him with you to places as well. My little Conure burns a lot of energy when we take him to the pet store with us. It's funny because all the people reaction to him. They act like they never seen a bird before. So get a flight harness and take your bird out doors and in the town with you!! That might let him burn off some screaming energy!!

Helitorian said:

I have but she has no interest in it. Con will tear the entire thing apart while Barker watches and maybe picks up a shred then drops it.

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Yeah that does sound like Barker doesn't know how to entertain himself. Does Barker have any favorite treats that she will go crazy for?

I never had a sun conure but I would try giving her time out of the cage whenever she stops screaming. Does she play with any toys? I remember reading a craigslist add where someone said how they work the night shift and their Sun conure is too loud. They added to was a sweet tame bird. Some people consider conures to be the worse noise makers.

I sadly had to re home my Sunny because of the exact same problem. I was home 24/7 and he would scream all day unless he was on me, which is not always possible. I would end up very stressed, earaches and headaches. We worked with a parrot behaviour expert for months but made no difference. The thought of re homing him just brought us to tears. There was a few times that we had him all ready to take him but I had to stop my husband because the thought was too painful. I was scared what it would do to him. If he would fret and miss his mummy and daddy. Then my husband would ring me during the day and I'd be crying because I could not stand the screaming, but I was on an emotional roller coaster. I wanted him badly but the thought of no noise gave me a sense of relief. My husband had to stand up for all of us and make the decision to re home him and not back out this time. Oh before I tell you the outcome , my husband works different shifts, night shifts ect and has to sleep during the day. I would be stressed out to the max because I would have to have sunny on me laying on the couch for 6 hours, just so he stayed quiet. I could not move. Anyway my husbands friend has parrots and we gave sunny to him, and they love him and he does not seem to scream there. Don't know if it's because he has other parrots in the house. But we did try getting him a girl conure, but he wasn't interested. It's like he imprinted on me and now he does not see me he is happier. I still cry over him and still feel guilty. But it had to be the outcome as the constant screaming was not doing any of us good . Sadly.

1. Conures are line of sight screamers. Is he screaming or flock calling - checking on you to see if you are okay.

2. Have you tried the screaming protocols I posted, and done them consistently? Those generally work.

3. My amazon is the one who taught my screaming dusky conure not to scream. I can't take the credit for that one.

4. If he's plucking the other one, he'd be in a separate cage.

I'm sorry that you are faced with this decision. I can imagine how difficult it is. When I got my sun, Cisco, he was a screamer, although not all day, but for extended periods. He would be on my shoulder and scream and OMG. I started taking him back to his cage when he did that and covering him until he was quiet. He used to want to be on me all the time, which was fine with me except for when he would scream. If he was in his cage and screamed excessively long, I would walk over without acknowledging him at all, cover the cage, and walk away until he was quiet. When he was quiet then uncover with lots of praise and a treat. We made a PVC playgym for the fids and he is the only one that likes to go on it. He LOVES it! He is on the playstand more then he stays on me now, which is a little bittersweet for me. He really doesn't scream much anymore. Not sure what settled him...maybe a a mix of all the above.

Overall, if you are confident that you've done all you can and think Barker (love the name by the way) would be happier elsewhere, then that is what's important. If you do decide to rehome him, please make sure he goes to an experienced parrot person. Read the rehome threads on the forum for more information on finding the best home for Barker and steps to ensure that.

Good luck!