First Time Sun Conure

Hello!

I am a new sun conure owner! He is about 11 weeks old! I just have a few questions, hoping you guys can help me out!

So, we brought Phoenix home yesterday and as we were putting him into his cage from travel cage, he kinda flew/flopped out. I had to kinda scoop him up because I could not get him into the cage otherwise. Yes, he bite me but I completely understand. At the breeder, he did not seem to mind being help or touched but since being here, he does not come out of cage and hissing and leanings forward with an open beak when I come close to cage or open cage. He was also loud at the breeder, but very quiet here. I am worried that I have ruined the possible bond, by scarring him with the hour long car ride home and putting him into the cage and having to pick him up.

I am really hoping that he will want to be out with me and spend time with me.

Also, he went into a happy hut around 6 pm Saturday and do not think he came out until 7 am this morning and my husband had to tilt the happy hut to get him out because he was not coming. Once out, he seemed fined but went poop..ALOT.

Any advice will be appreciative! Should I leave him alone for a few days and just speak to him through cage? open cage door and see if he wants to come out?

Thanks everyone!

First of all welcome! Second, dont worry! Everything you mentioned is 100% normal. Its good youre concerned though, you will be a good parront to him.
You definitely did not ruin anything with the car ride or any of that. The reason hes acting dofferent is because his whole world just changed. Imagine being brought somewhere totally new with people you never met away from everything familiar. Give him a few days or week to settle in and he will slowly unfold into who he is. I suggest leaving his cage open and sitting by it, talking to him in a nice voice and offering him some treats. If he wont eat from your hand, then leave them on top of the cage maybe on a paper towel, and once he is comfortable out of his cage, have him eat it from your hand. Hell slowly start to want to come out and explore and then once he is coming out you can start to train him to step up. Once you can get him onto you (depends on how fast he adjusts) you might want to take him into another room or out of sight of the cage so he gets comfortable being out. He might scream or bite but just give him a firm no and dont give in. If hes not ready or visibly stressed, back off and leave him be, but be sure to start teaching now that biting and screaming does not get him what he wants.
Eventually he will want to be with you, and if hes like mine, he wont ever want you out of sight and in the house. With that said, dont spoil him and give him TOO much attention either, I wouldnt worry too much about this though, but it can lead to screaming (for attention) issues. Give him more or less the amount of attention you normally will (what I mean is just so he doesnt get used to being with you and cuddled for 6 hours straight a day the first few weeks then once hes settled you go back to normal life and only with him half that time).
The sleeping is normal too. Hes probably a little bit nervous because of the new environment also, but most birds sleep and rise with the sun. I keep Loco on a natural light schedule, so he goes to sleeo around 5:45 now with the clocks turned, and gets up about 630am ET. The morning poop will always be a big one because they usually go every 15 minutes and hold it in all night.
I would suggest potty training now when he is young, search on the home page for potty training and there are many theeads, as well as on google.
You should also start introducing fresh fruits and veggies so he starts young on healthy food. Search for chop in the search (a diced up mix of veggies, whole grains, beans, etc) or on google ("chop for parrots"). What is his diet now?
Everything will be fine and I wish you guys the best of luck! Keep us updated and upload some pics also if you can.

Hello and Welcome!
I think your new one just needs more time to settle in. Talk to him alot, try just sitting close to the cage while talking. As far as sleeping, remember parrots need 12 hours of sleep. I'm sure he's hanging out in his hut more now maybe because he feels safe. I don't have experience with the snuggle huts but I think there are concerns with safety. Hopefully someone with experience will be able to help with this.

happy410 said:

Hello and Welcome!
I think your new one just needs more time to settle in. Talk to him alot, try just sitting close to the cage while talking. As far as sleeping, remember parrots need 12 hours of sleep. I'm sure he's hanging out in his hut more now maybe because he feels safe. I don't have experience with the snuggle huts but I think there are concerns with safety. Hopefully someone with experience will be able to help with this.

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Good thing to mention. If you start noticing that your bird is chewing on the hut, remove it. Personally, I use a face towel folded long ways, with a hole on each side through where a (safe) rope goes through and holds it up. He loves sleeping in there since it snuggles him up when he hops in. Loco does not chew at it at all though, so I have no problem using it. I imagine the towel might be a bit safer because it is not a thin fir that is easily ripped and ingested, but if the bird is a chewer I would avoid both and find something that he can snuggle up in but can not be easily chewed and ripped. It really depends on the bird but birds have been choked by basically chewing loose a thread which becomes like a noose, or ingesting so much of the fur from the hut that they become impacted internally.

Their cage should be a safe spot for your parrot in my opinion, so I'd suggest letting it adjust to the cage, before messing with anything in cage minus fresh water, and food.

You can sit and leave the cage open, talk to it, and let it work up at it's own pace.

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Hello, and welcome!
Good advice above.
Glad you found us.

I agree with everything said above! He's probably just settling in, give it some time. I would reccomend talking to him inside the cage, and after he's comfortable with you, let him out feed him treats! Try to associate being out with rewards (especially for a young conure!). Just keep in mind what LOKO said (about not giving him TOO much attention), and try to balance it.


Potty training! Try to train him (once he's comfortable with you!) to poop in the cage. It's the best training I've ever done! There's a few threads on here about potty training, a quick search would show you a few.

About the happy hut, I found that Ruby (my Sun) wouldn't come out of it and that it promoted hormonal behaviour (biting, screaming, even egg laying!), so i removed it. She's a lot happier now, with hormonal behaviour minimised. While Phoenix doesn't sound like he's hit the hormones yet, If it becomes any bigger of a problem, I would suggest removing it. Ruby had hers for 7 years, and while it was a problem at the time, she's much happier now! Just a tip from one conure owner to another!

I'm hoping that you and Phoenix can form a strong bond and be lifelong pals! Goodluck with training, it will all be worth it in the end. Have fun and enjoy each others company!

thanks everyone for the advice!
you guys have made me feel less worried!

I think I will remove the hut, he wants to spend all his time in it. He is hissing and lunging at me if i come up to peak into hut!

thanks everyone!

I really want a sun conure I always have. They are awesome birds but the sounds they make I don't think my husband would tolerate much. My daughter and I can handle a lot of bird noise. Someday I will take in one that needs a home. They are one of the most rehomed parrots out their.

As for your little baby it just takes time. You need to earn a birds trust and love. Don't push your bird let them come to you. The more time you spend with them just being around them the more they warm up to you.

Congrats on the new baby. Sun conures are one of the best birds IMO. They are like the golden retrievers of the bird world but louder.

jessphoenix said:

thanks everyone for the advice!
you guys have made me feel less worried!

I think I will remove the hut, he wants to spend all his time in it. He is hissing and lunging at me if i come up to peak into hut!

thanks everyone!

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I really hope you don't take out the one spot he feels safe in, especially since from the sounds of it, he's already scared enough. (He's being defensive, not aggressive, it should break as he starts to feel more secure.)

The more safe he feels the faster he should come around and warm up to everyone, I know it's hard but obviously peeking in on him is causing him stress and might actually delay any progress from happening. Obviously if there's a reason to expect there's something wrong leaving him be, does not apply.

Feed him, give him water, read him a book or two with the cage open, but please if you want to build a long lasting bond do not force it...

I'm not a parrot expert, and truth be told the only birds that I had in the past were already tame, but I have worked with enough animals that I can tell you, be it reptiles to abused dogs and cats that I took in, socialized and found life long homes for this is the way I've always done it and 9 times out of ten they have worked wonders.

Also remember that he's only been there for what, three days now? Most humans wouldn't even be settled into a new place in that time.

Anyway sorry about my rambling and if I had came across as rude, totally not my intention.

Edited; I posted before reading everything.

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You did not come off rude!
I appreciate the advice!
I will listen

Thank you!
I have to be patient! I've wanted a conure for years and years so now I am just excited! But yes, I have to slow down and let him be.

Thank you!

jessphoenix said:

You did not come off rude!
I appreciate the advice!
I will listen

Thank you!
I have to be patient! I've wanted a conure for years and years so now I am just excited! But yes, I have to slow down and let him be.

Thank you!

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I had also edited my post my post to sound more friendly, I can come across quite harsh with text, as emotions do not carry over well. (Eh my upbringing, and the fact we seem to be more blunt in this part of the US.)

Anyway keep us updated with the progress, this forum is a wonderful source of information, where no matter your experience, or dumb questions asked they usually treat you with tons of respect! (I say usually as I have not been here long enough to say all the time.)

I just have to ask, his safe spot is still in his cage, right?

Anyway maybe step by step as the bond grows you can write down the progress and the steps you had taken to get there, including possible mistakes I feel like it would be a great way to teach other newbies who maybe facing the same problem... If you do not mind anyway.

If you need any more help feel free to message me, or ask on here usually I am only great at animal behaviour though, but am awesome at googling and researching.

I'll be getting my pet cockateil tomorrow and don't mind making a write up myself, maybe a penpal would be fun for both of us? Sharing the information that we both learn?

jessphoenix said:

You did not come off rude!
I appreciate the advice!
I will listen

Thank you!
I have to be patient! I've wanted a conure for years and years so now I am just excited! But yes, I have to slow down and let him be.

Thank you!

Click to expand...

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I left the hut in! However, I lowered everything in the cage because I was finding that he was having difficulty getting down to the food bowls and other perches. He was not climbing on the cages and he seemed rather off balance when trying to get down. Now that everything in cage is lower, he is coming out more and playing with all his toys

jessphoenix said:

I left the hut in! However, I lowered everything in the cage because I was finding that he was having difficulty getting down to the food bowls and other perches. He was not climbing on the cages and he seemed rather off balance when trying to get down. Now that everything in cage is lower, he is coming out more and playing with all his toys

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Awesome so glad 59 to hear he's starting to feel more comfortable!

Try keeping the door open while sitting close to the cage and talking or reading to get him used to you being around.

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An update on my beautiful Phoenix! I am in love haha after 2 weeks!

He come out of the cage on his own if I open it! I've put a perch from the entrance to a small table and he comes there where I feed him treats and practice step up! No defensive bites! WOO He will eat from my hands and use my hand as a perch. We are practicing step up, he has not perfected it yet but with more practice he will!

He has also gotten a lot more chirping which I am happy about!

He explores his cage a lot more and plays with all the toys.

If i walk away from cage, He tries to come to me buy flying down to carpet. However, once he is down on the carpet he gets scared and tries to hide so I get him up using a perch (gets defensive with my hand) and put him back on cage!

I find if i move him away from cage, he just wants to get closer to the cage and tries to fly to it. This results in him getting on the carpet and then he gets scared.

So slowly but surely, we will get more comfortable away from cage.

But i am very happy with the progress and a happier Phoenix!

jessphoenix said:

An update on my beautiful Phoenix! I am in love haha after 2 weeks!

He come out of the cage on his own if I open it! I've put a perch from the entrance to a small table and he comes there where I feed him treats and practice step up! No defensive bites! WOO He will eat from my hands and use my hand as a perch. We are practicing step up, he has not perfected it yet but with more practice he will!

He has also gotten a lot more chirping which I am happy about!

He explores his cage a lot more and plays with all the toys.

If i walk away from cage, He tries to come to me buy flying down to carpet. However, once he is down on the carpet he gets scared and tries to hide so I get him up using a perch (gets defensive with my hand) and put him back on cage!

I find if i move him away from cage, he just wants to get closer to the cage and tries to fly to it. This results in him getting on the carpet and then he gets scared.

So slowly but surely, we will get more comfortable away from cage.

But i am very happy with the progress and a happier Phoenix!

Click to expand...

Yay!!!

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Congrats on your new fid!

I've had birds since I was 11 y/o and I'm almost 40 and I've owned budgies, lovebirds, doves and cockatiels. BUT, getting Skittles was a lifechanger. Sunnies are just incredible companions. They are VERY expressive and have such a huge personality for such a small bird.

Just a little advice on the huts. This is a rather controversial topic (the huts) because there have been some serious horror stories.

If you decide to keep the hut, I suggest you inspect it daily. Look for loose threads as well as other signs of wear and tear. As soon as you find these, you should discard or replace it. The huts can also increase hormonal activity.

Skittles didn't really get to any threads when he had his cuddle hut- but he would chew on it and regurgitate in it- resulting in a risk of him ingesting the chewed on material. So I removed it. I hated to do it- but I have found a workable substitute. Skitty loves tissues. I buy the unscented, regular tissues and put a bunch of them on the bottom of his sleep cage. When the box is empty, I cut out the plastic parts and the glue parts and put the box in the bottom of his cage with a bunch of layered tissues and he likes to hide away in it at night.

Listen to what Skttys_Dad said above! I improvised a hut with a big washcloth but he doesnt not ever chew on it or bite it or anything. Be very careful that your doesnt otherwise it has to come out as if he loosens up threads from chewing he can get choked to death. Some birds chew on them, some dont. Just be very observant of it. Also, some people recommend that if a bird doesnt want to leave its cage, a good thing to do is take him out of the cage, then take him to another room out of sight of the cage, and he will get confortable faster than having the option to just go back every time and not get used to being away from it.