Biting and diet issues.. suggestions please!

[Staggsmalexis]

I have had my blue crown conure for a couple of months now. I bought Polly from someone who knew nothing about parrots. I don't know if Polly is male or female and its previous owners did not even know what kind of parrot he was. They would spray it with water whenever he yelled also. He was really skinny and had a lot of bald spots.
When I first got Polly he would run at the cage and try to bite anyone who approached him. After spending some time with him and talking to him he no longer does that with me although he does with everyone else. He takes treats by hand, waves and says hello.
His feathers have not grown back and all he will eat are sunflower seeds and peanuts. He let's me pet him sometimes but I am to afraid to pet him a lot. I really want to move forward but I don't know what to do. Help please!! If you would like to see what Polly looks like there are pictures on my page. Thanks!

 

[weco]

Sounds like you just need to be more patient, two months is not really a long enough acclimation time for some birds when moving to new homes/environments.....

Good luck.....

 

[Christinenc2000]

I adopted my Macaw about 3 months ago. I can hand feed him He will not let me rub his head unless he is in the cage. He will poke a foot out and let me handle it. Rub it even hold onto it. But outside of the cage Nope. Does not trust me enough yet . Weco is correct 2 months is not long.

 

[drj130]

Dealing with the food issue, slowly start introducing the pellets into his current diet. As time goes by, start decreasing the seeds and covering them with the pellets. That is what I did with Pat and though he was looking for the seeds under the pellets, as time went on, he started eating the pellets. I also showed Pat that the pellets were food. By pretending to eat them as well. I only give sunflower seeds as a treat now. Pat is on veggies, fruit, pellets. Sometimes Pat will get some pasta, rice and birdie bread as well. I'm sure that you got rid of that white disk thing you were asking about as well.

While you're trying to work Polly off the seed diet, ensure that you track the weight as well. Even though I've gotten Pat off the seed diet, I still weigh him every morning and he normally weighs in at around 69g. As the others said, it will take time.

I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Christinenc2000]

So true drj If my bird see's me eat anything he wants some. He would not touch snow pea's I bought top dollar ones so figured oh well good for a salad. When he saw me put them in my dish he perked up . I ate one standing near him and offered him one. I got a mmmmm while he ate it .

 

[Staggsmalexis]

Yes I did get rid of the white thing that was in those pictures.

 

[Taw5106]

I've had Buddy for 9 months now and we've made a lot of progress but have more. Patience is important. I find that if Buddy sees me doing something then he wants to do it, like eating. If I'm eating, he wants to eat so at dinner, before serving I get Buddy's dinner ready and walk to his cage and give it to him. If he doesn't get food, it becomes screamfest. He doesn't get a lot of the same things we are eating if they aren't great for him, but sometimes he does like veggies, boiled rice, fruits, but breads, tortillas, complex carbs not so much, a once in a while treat. Using eating time has been a great relationship builder between myself and Buddy.