Am I Missing Anything?

[peithecelt]

Okay, so I am a new conure Mom.. Chita joined our family this weekend, and we're already in love, just having to make some changes with her..

She is a 4 1/2 year old Sun Conure, unbanded, and I have *no* idea what her history is (not even 100% sure that she's a she in the DNA tested sense, but that's what her prior owners called her). She's not a broken rescue (thank goodness, since it's been a few decades since I last worked with a bird, I'm not up to a broken one). She's not scared of us, though she is scared of hands.. If she chooses to get on your shoulder, she will tell you stories and give kisses.. But that's up to her, lol.. And hasn't happened since we brought her home.

What we are doing/have done

• Thankfully she came with a larger cage, approx 20x20x36.
• She's in a corner of the house where she's CLOSE to the center of things, but it can be quiet and dark for bedtime, and we're aiming for 9-12 hours a sleep per night (she goes to bed with our 9 year old.. lol).. Draft free and fairly consistent temp that doesn't tend to drop below the low 60s.
• Figured out her favorite treat (tortilla chips (we brush off the salt))
• Started target training, both adults in the house since her initial response to the husband wasn't great. If she steps onto the stick during target training she gets a "Step up!" and a very cheery response. Short bursts of this throughout the day.
• Replacing the tiny perches that don't allow her to stand without her tail being damaged by the cage with larger, more meandering branches that will give her some space to explore
• She has 2 large hanging toys already, we're working on getting her a few more.. I am aiming for 4 at any given time, and being able to rotate every few weeks to keep her from getting totally bored.
• Moving her off the all-seed diet and introducing as healthy a pellet diet as we can, no preservatives, no artificial colors.
• Introducing her to fresh fruits and veggies.
• If we're working in the kitchen (she's in the eat in room next to the kitchen), her door is open and we go back and forth between saying hi to her, while she climbs over and around her cage, and just giving her some peace and quiet (before anyone says anything, we don't think HUMANS should breathe teflon fumes, so we have no teflon pans.. )

I have read every site I could find over the last two days, I have meandered forums, I THINK we've covered all the best first steps, but trust that you guys will clarify if I am missing anything..

Thank you in advance for putting up with another newbie.
pei the all-but-first-timer-worry-wart-mom.

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Congrats.

cage size sounds good escpecially since you leave the door open. but remember bigger is better.

covering her at night would be good.

60's temp sounds a little low to me, but I live in S. Florida, so maybe I'm not the best to respond to that. When it gets under 70 inside (only a few days a year or so), I use a small space heater for Pritti.

Tortillas without salt would be better or low low sodium. Keep trying other things, she might have another favorite (i.e. mango, dried fruit, Pritti loves sunflower and edamame)

Training sounds good.

Perches.... sound like a nice change for him. Also might be nice to add a rope perch for different, softer texture.

4 toys is good start, but add some small foot toys, and vary the kind of hanging toys, like a wood block one, a paper shredder type, maybe one with rubbery pieces and bells, and perhaps a plastic chain and pieces. If they all look like the same vertical hanging toy, that could be boring. Some say no mirrors, others say no problem. My experience is they are no problem. I would recommend the stainless stell type if you do.

Also a swing if there is room.

U could get one of those hoods that bolts to the outside of cage and hangs a toy so if he plays up there, it'll be fun too.

A play gym if you want to bring him in other rooms with you.

With teflon, also don't forget to check appliance interiors, such as toaster oven, regular oven, hotplate on coffee maker, etc. Teflon hides all over.