Common sun conure issues & troubleshooting

Hello,

I consider myself an experienced bird owner, having owned birds for over 26 years, yet I continue to learn new things constantly.

I am finding that sun conures are a rather in depth species and you can never do 'too much' research.

So, rather than write what would be an extremely long post, I thought I'd start this thread for sun conure owners to post what issues they have encountered with their suns and any advice on how to address them. Things like common behavioral issues and best ways to address them. How to discourage a long-term bad behavior and so on.

I imagine many of the issues I have with Skittles are common among sun owners, yet I don't have enough experience with owning them (Skittles is my first sun) to call myself highly educated on the species.

I am hoping to get some different tips and advice on how to make day to day life with a sun conure more manageable. I hope there are people out there who have a variety of advice on these magnificent creatures.

I've had Skittles for almost 3 years (he'll be 4 in March) and there are still so many things I don't understand or maybe misunderstand.

I would appreciate any thoughts from people on what they've encountered and how they've addressed it.

Thank you.

I've got nothing to add advice-wise, but wanted to thank you for starting this thread. What a great idea! I'll be watching it closely

I would agree with you, no matter how much research we do we won't know it all. I thought I was prepared each time a new bird arrived but there is much to learn as each species have different corks. My sun just turned 2 about 3 weeks ago and she is the sweetest bird I've ever seen. She has an old soul about her. I hope she stays that way when she reaches maturity as I read they can change completely. There is one thing I don't get about her. She has toys and paper for her to shred in her cage but won't touch them. Every time I take her out she flys on top of the kitchen cabinets and chews on the molding. How do I redirect her to chew on her toys? I don't want to clip her wings but I don't want her to get sick from the wood. Does anyone else have this problem? I hope this is what this thread was intended for if not my apologies and let me know. Thanks

@Birdbrain

Skittles, my sun conure, DEFINITELY went through a 'terrible-twos' phase, there were so MANY days I wanted to strangle him or throw him out the window (I would never 'actually' do that )

I do agree they aren't the same as they get older. A whole new set of issues presents itself. Your issue with the chewing, I have had numerous times. I had to get rid of all my wooden & plastic spice racks cause Skittles destroyed them. Whenever I have my cabinets open, he will land on them and 'try' to chew them but I stop him and redirect him to a 'safer' area. He even used to chew the paint of the corner walls.

What I did was try to find the things he likes to destroy on his own that I don't want him to chew on. For example, Skittles loved the chew the wood and plastic household items I have and he loved to chew up my shirts and towels. So, what I did was got him a bunch of wooden toys and spread them around the apartment so wherever I went, he had a chew toy nearby. I also got him some cheap shirts and towels just for him to chew on and it has been very effective.

Skittles rarely touches the toys in his cage, but he's rarely in his cage anyways. I got him a playstand earlier last year and he LOVES it. I hang a few toys from that and also it has a food and water cup. I placed the playstand right next to my chair in the living room so he is close to me (his cage is in the corner of the living room).

He used to pester me all day when I tried to do computer work, but now he just sits on my shoulder quietly most of the time.

As for discipline, this part you may not like, but for me it worked wonders. I got a spray bottle and set it to stream and I would spray it near him with it when he misbehaved. I know that he KNOWS when he's being bad cause if I touch or pick up that spray bottle when he is being 'good' he shows no reaction. But if I pick it up when he's misbehaving he takes off into the other room. I then follow him and spray him.

The only down side to this is you have to be VERY careful. You don't want to squirt them in the eye or the belly. I actually aim for an area VERY 'close' to him, rather than hitting him directly and risking injury.

I'm sure many will discourage and disagree with this approach. I respect that. If I hadn't tried it I would be one of them. But I got to a point where I was at my wits end. The time-out cages were a problem for me - I didn't like putting him in a tiny cage in a dark room, but I continued to put him in there if the bottle didn't work.

I no longer have that time out cage. He doesn't need it anymore. I 'rarely' have to use the spray bottle any more cause he responds to the snap of my finger or the raise in my voice. It wasn't easy doing this, but it did pay off.

But as much progress as he has made, a whole host of issues still remain. He is VERY overbonded to me and won't let me leave the room without either following me or screeching his head off if he is in his cage and I leave. If I even 'look' at my cockatiel, his head feathers rise up and he has a conniption fit.

My issues with Skittles are now more 'overbonding' issues and 'possessiveness'. He is very anti-social for a sun conure. He doesn't want to be around anyone but me and if someone comes over he will fly at them and attack them so I have to keep him caged when I have company. That sometimes poses a problem but fortunately I don't have company too often.

I'll be the first to admit he was not properly socialized and I blame the vet for that. She told me to keep him quarantined for 90 days after I bought him so that he didn't give any sickness to my cockatiel (who was 16 at the time). Skittles got a clean check-up just a few weeks later but the vet still told me to do the quarantine. By the time the quarantine was up - he was already bonded to me and then got exposed to Peaches, my cockatiel. This is why I say vets don't know everything, even if they act like they do.

Oh my goodness im currently going through all those problems right now. I have two sun conures and they are both two years old. Before i got them i never had any experience with birds. My first bird is an angel but my second bird turned out to be a trouble maker lol. Since they are so different i thought that i must have done something wrong even though i treated them the same. I love them both to death but there are times when i just have to put them back in their cage. I hope that this is just a phase

If you are getting impatient then you should just put them back in their cage and take a breather! Sometimes even the most patient people need a break and you don't want to lose your temper or get impatient with them. More mistakes occur when you are too annoyed to deal with them in that moment.

Most of the time the bad behavior is just a phase and you have to try your best to be consistent with discipline. My sun boy hasn't gone through maturity yet but my green cheeks have and for so long I threatened to throw both of them out the window. They were pretty unreasonable for awhile.

For biting I stick trained my one and my other just never bit but got really rough. As early as you can you want to teach your conure what is appropriate beak pressure and a word or phrase that lets them know they are being too rough. Sometimes they aren't being aggresive or mean they just have no idea you are such a wimp I made the mistake of never doing this with my green cheeks but Loki, my sun, is already trained in this way.

Even now that my female gcc is older she still requires me to use a stick to get her out of her cage. She isn't aggressive towards the stick but my finger is not allowed in her cage. She also requires me to sweet talk her back into her cage since she doesn't always want to go back in.

I try to pass Loki around to keep him from over bonding to me. We will see if this has worked once he passes maturity. So far he has no problem bothering other people instead of me. He also knows he has to spend a certain amount of time in his cage each day and actually has no problem now demanding to be put back when he is bored with us.

Loki actually isn't fond of hanging toys and doesn't see the point of them. He loves weaved baskets and foot toys. So I have hand made him a million little foot toys and stuck them in two natural bamboo baskets. So not only does he play with foot toys all the time but destroys the baskets. When he has destroyed the walls of the basket and only the bottom is left I hang that up with toys woven/hanging in the strands and he will actually destroy that hanging toy no problem.

Hope some of this helps someone

Here's my issue and maybe someone can help. My bird knows step up (she even says it) but she will not step up onto my finger or a perch to come out of her cage. I have practiced outside the cage, finger to finger, finger to perch, etc. I don't know why she is so stubborn about it. She loves to come out and be with people (she LOVES people and loves being the center of attention). I just don't know how to cure this problem. I have to grab her or go in with a towel (and with the towel I need to chase her a little but she will eventually step onto the towel).

Squirt said:

Here's my issue and maybe someone can help. My bird knows step up (she even says it) but she will not step up onto my finger or a perch to come out of her cage. I have practiced outside the cage, finger to finger, finger to perch, etc. I don't know why she is so stubborn about it. She loves to come out and be with people (she LOVES people and loves being the center of attention). I just don't know how to cure this problem. I have to grab her or go in with a towel (and with the towel I need to chase her a little but she will eventually step onto the towel).

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Have you tried letting her come out on her own? I have a 19 y/o cockatiel who will only come out if I take her out. She may come right to the cage door, but the only way she will come completely out is if I put my finger near her to step on or if I just leave the room (she'll fly over).

Skittles, my sun conure, on the other hand will not let me put my hand in his cage period. Skittles is VERY bonded to me but he still doesn't like it when I touch HIS food dish or HIS water dish. He comes out on his own and goes into his cage on his own. I've just accepted it as it is. Skittles will actually go to the bottom of his cage and run and hide in his cuddle hut if I put my hand in his cage.

What often gets to me is how he tests my limits - especially when he KNOWS he's being bad and still does it to see if he can get away with it. It's just like having a toddler and you get used to it.

I love living alone, but one of the reasons I got Skittles was cause I wanted a more 'interactive' bird since my cockatiel Peaches is just too docile laid back. lol. She really is a sweetheart.

She doesn't come out on her own very often. But she will do attention seeking behavior and I KNOW she wants to come out and play. Then once she is out if I offer her to go back in her cage she doesn't want to! So I am pretty sure I am reading her right. I am sure there is a way to solve this but I don't know what it is.

She just started talking a bit, which is exciting for me because I never expected her to say anything. And yesterday for the first time my mom heard her. She says "step up" and barks like a dog. My mom is pretty sure she heard her say "What?" but I haven't heard it yet. I love my little bird!

Squirt said:

She doesn't come out on her own very often. But she will do attention seeking behavior and I KNOW she wants to come out and play. Then once she is out if I offer her to go back in her cage she doesn't want to! So I am pretty sure I am reading her right. I am sure there is a way to solve this but I don't know what it is.

She just started talking a bit, which is exciting for me because I never expected her to say anything. And yesterday for the first time my mom heard her. She says "step up" and barks like a dog. My mom is pretty sure she heard her say "What?" but I haven't heard it yet. I love my little bird!

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That's great! (the talking bit). When I had parakeets, I often had that problem. The only thing I can suggest is have you tried coaxing her out with a treat? Sometimes that works (if you can find a treat she likes). You could also leave the cage door open when she is out. MOST birds will return to their cage for food and water.

Skittles has a 'morning routine'. I wake him up, take his cage into the living room and open the top of the cage (it swings out and is held open by a perch). He cannot get out of the cage fast enough. LOL. He then jumps onto my shoulder and flies over to his big playstand on the other side of the room. He waits there and makes kissy noises and I go over and give him a morning treat.

He does get a bit demanding at times. He decides when he wants a bath (and its usually when I am trying to do dishes. and he often wants to go to bed before I am ready to put him to bed). He will go onto his cage and start squaking. Then when I walk over to his cage, he goes inside, climbs to the bottom and goes into his cuddle hut. He will come back out while I carry the cage to the other room at night, but he then goes right back in. I don't know if 'demanding' is the right word - I'm thinking more 'pampered'. My neighbor says I spoil him cause I get him everything he needs and wants including feeding him better than I feed myself. I'd say she has a point, IF I let him get away with anything and everything - but I don't. I DO discipline him appropriately when he misbehaves. He just normally responds to vocal commands now, but that wasn't always the case.

In the morning, he ALWAYS makes 'kissy noises' when I wake him up. I love my little bird too!

I just leave Cleo's cage door open and she comes and goes when she wants. She's not territorial except sometimes with her food.

I need to socialize her more. She'll step up and kiss anyone but won't stay with them. All she wants to do is sit on my shoulder and preen me. She is just starting to cuttle with me. She doesn't like anyone petting her.

I've never had a problem with Cleo and beak pressure somehow she knew I don't know how she just did. Now my Green Check is another story. How do you pressure train with a small break. I'm working on that with my Macaw but I can grab his beak and play with it. Is it the same way for a conure?

Well, for Skittles it is. LOL. I actually play 'beak war' with Skittles. He likes to nibble on my fingers or my ears and usually it's just that - nibbling but occasionally gets to nibbling a little too hard so I grab his beak with the fingers of my other hand and don't let go. He eventually gets his beak out from between my fingers, but it takes him some effort. Sometimes if he gets too bitey I grab hold of his beak and say 'no biting'. That usually works.

Peaches, my cockatiel isn't possessive of ANYTHING. She'd even share me with Skittles (if he let her). I used to put my hand in her cage and knock her off her eggs and take them out so she wouldn't spend all day sitting on them. This was years ago before I found out that is not the right thing to do, in facts it's just the opposite.

But Skittles on the other hand is one of those "If I can take it from you, it's mine" He doesn't like to share anything.

He's even tried to take food out of my mouth when I'm eating something by trying to pry my lips open with his beak.

When I am drinking from a cup, he'll press his head between me and the cup and try to steal a drink from me.