Sun training tips

Ok so I posted in here earlier about a neglected bird situation.. any who on to the next question I suppose... Jackie is roughly 12-13 years old and as far as I know has never been trained or even handled except for a SUPER rare occasions that I get her out. (shes not mine and I dont really like her lol but I am the only one she will "listen" to so I guess shes mine now..) Im working on her screaming.. shhing and "too loud" for 1 or 2 warnings depending.. then half cover then full cover till she makes a 'nice/happy' sound. Also shes terrified of hands, but will step onto my shoulder. Ive started feeding her, her fav treats by hand a couple times until she threatens my hand. To let her know that my hand isnt to be feared.. anywoot.. my question is.. Being this old and this far along.. if I spend a good 2-3 hours a day working with her, how long (estimate of course) till I should see good results? I will wait to teach her to dance or talk to me lol.. my main goals are to teach her that she cant boss us around by screaming, to not fear hands, and hopefully to stop dumping her food.. THANKS!!!!

Hi JackiesKeeper,
I am sorry I don't know the answer to your question. I just wanted to say it's awesome that you have decided to do this for the birds sake since from what I understand, you don't really even like her (or birds in general). I just wanted to give you a bit of encouragement and say if you do get Jackie out her her shell, a sun conure can make an amazing companion! They are truly fun little goofballs that are just so full of energy! It sounds like she has had a boring and stressful first 12-13 years of life so all I can say is please be patient and allow her time to realize that a human or a hand can be a positive experience. Let her learn to trust again. All the best!

Hi, thank you I guess I should reiterate.. Its not that I despise all birds.. Just THIS one lol And only bc of the fact that I am the only one willing to do anything with her.. I think im more irritated with her true owner than I am with her.. But, Ive seen people and their birds and would very much like to have that kind of relationship, I just ogt to first and foremost get her to stop screaming at me. and everyone else.. they have all thought this is just they way they communicate and have encouraged it..Ive been working with her all day cleaning her cage and area, hopefully getting her some new toys soon.. I just have to get mom n dad to back me up in my actions with her. (the bird listens better than they do LOL ) ANY WHO.. I suppose I will be an active member here whilst I learn, read and ask about her, care and training.. I know quite a bit about just about any animal you could think of.. but when it comes down to breed specific, birds are not my expertise lol

Hi,

I have 2 Suns who scream whenever they are not with me. They also don't like to be caged. They need to be on some sort of stand in an open area. That being said, when they scream I play music that they like. Their favorite is Twisted Nerve - the Kill Bill whistling song. They LOVE it when the orchestra part kicks in. I also play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Sponge Bob Square Pants. I have a whole "Bird Play List" on Spotify. My teenagers are mortified.

Also, in emergencies (real or mental) I will put on cartoons such as Sponge Bob. Figuring out what type of toys they like too help to keep them too busy for screaming. Mine love anything destroy-able or acrobatic. They don't really like "brain toys". They are also big into foot toys.

You might try target training (with a clicker) to step up on a stick and then progress to your finger (I use a little shot glass of cockatiel food as a clicker treat). That will really build confidence in you and your bird.

This is just a quick rundown on "some" of the tactics I use, but spending LOTS of time together is so important. Even if you just start by bringing the bird to you when you are doing things around the house. Oh yea, also "pretend" (or actually try it) to share healthy food with your bird. I will drink natural fruit juice and there favorite thing is to take a sip or two from my glass.

Well, I jumped all over the place but hope something here might help. Good luck!

-Jen

Key to conures not dumping food bowls, switching to locking crocks he can't dump... seriously, easier than trying to train him out of it.

Conures tend to be line of sight screamers. If they can't see you they call to you. Outside the cage on a playstand in the same room helps diminish screaming...

Fear of hands diminishes with time. My guess is that since he was never really trained to step up, he was always "grabbed." So normal step up training, possibly with a stick will help.

Touch training I just gave someone in the amazon section. You take two of those bamboo BBQ skewers. Use those to touch him all over. Then slowly, over time, work your fingers down to the point where it's not the stick touching him...

Thanks guys Ill keep this in mind about treats and toys. Im going to petsmart tomorrow for some goodies. Also with the screaming.. its almost as thought shes become a cave dweller in a sense.. She only screams when im trying to talk/train or play with her. If she curtain is down and im super quiet like im not there.. she doesnt care.. Also We are a little nervous of out of cage time by herself as we have 4 cats.. althought they dont realy pay her any attention unless she flies away (yes her wings are unclipped. this is my moms bird and she knows nothing of the basics about birds and this drives me crazy bc now I have to become a bird expert in a short period of time in order to properly care for her bc mom wont rehome her..) HaHA BBQ scewers you dont know how many jokes ive made involving this bird and those things! No I could never truly harm her, but ive wanted to strangle her a few times lol Ive been giving her lotsa fresh fruits bc it seems to keep her happy longer than her regular food. and it was your thread BirdMan666 that inspired my anti screaming training method.. it seems to work but she got a little fed up with me taking control of the situation so I had to leave her covered and alone for a while. I swear thats the only time she seems truly happy is covered in a quiet room. I can hear her playing and cooing and all that.. but if someone talks she screams until you stop.

I had a dusky conure that was (almost) pure evil... (and just smart and charming enough to get away with it.)

Believe me, I had the Honey BBQ glaze ready.

do you or can you put the cage outside during day? our sun conures love it on the porch...we also let our conures out inside in the morning for about an hour everyday..they fly around or go into bed with us...they like to feel special...even though they don't talk much at all they try to talk...our female can say step up in a squeaky voice..and "thank you" when she gets a treat..but really not much...they are very lovable birds...we got a male for our female ..after 3 months of slow introduction they got closer and closer...now they spend much of their time loving each other...i had a green cheek that was really nice..much easier then the suns...a weasel got him...that was a drag..i'm not an expert on parrots for sure although we are getting better all the time understanding them...they get focused on something their doing and just don't like to chew gum and walk at the same time....i have raised 5 crows over the years and their just smart and simple.. my son took a sun conure who bit a lot and tame it down in a couple weeks...i didn't think it could be done..he wasn't scared and let it bite him pretty hard lots of times...made him bleed often the first couple days..and then..like magic the conure started loving him...within a week he could rub its head and before two weeks he could hold it upside down..play with it in anyway...so parrots can change for the better with lots of time and love...i also wonder what diet your sun conure is on? if you feed a kid too much sugar you know what happens...maybe some change in diet would help...i would ask specific questions here as well as google questions...good for you for trying to help this sun conure...good luck!

UPDATE!! She stepped up onto my forearm with no trouble a few times. I gave her lots of praise and a treat for doing so. She still wont let me pet her just yet but soon.. Ive had her on my shoulder for the better part of the afternoon (my skin is all prickly from her claws lol) Umm as for her diet, is a seed diet made for conures.. something I bought at a pet store its got cat food looking things in it which she doesnt even pay attention too she mostly goes for the black sunflower seeds and some tiny bright colored seed.. As for the fruit I usually give her a couple of cut grapes an ocassional pineapple or apple slice.. really just depends on what we have laying around.. we keep fresh fruit for the girls (kids) lol The shhing thing is working and im super surprised to see any noticable change in just today alone but i see it.. She even flew to me and landed on my shoulder. which scared the crud outta me cuz I wasnt expecting lol. But her cage has been fully cleaned and rearranged (cuz she started laying eggs outta no where the other day so that was the advice given for that one) im kinda of excited about taming her now.. lol Thanks you guys!!!

LOL!:32:

WON'T BE LONG NOW...



This bird just hasn't been handled much, and needs to learn how to behave.

I'm happy for you! That's great news! It's amazing how fast they catch on isn't it? You can't blame an untamed animal for being untamed after virtually no handling or direct interaction for over a decade. Keep us updated!

Oh I forgot to add. We used to put her outside but the whole cage BC our porch is not enclosed and that was a pain in the neck getting such a large cage in and out everyday. Now her cage is in front of a window so she can get sunlight ( or away if she chooses) once she's trained a little better maybe I'll keep her with me and go out for a bit

Yes I'm happy she's catching on. And it seems as though everyone in the home wants to learn what I've done!! So maybe I have my back up. She's currently grooming herself on my shoulder while we watch funny conure videos ( hoping she picks up some funny habits lol)

Lol! Too much cuteness

Yes! There can be cuteness overload with these guys However if you plan on taking her outside like you mentioned please only do so in a cage. Even clipped she can still fly away!