I am a new owner of a twenty year old conure my aunt has had boog since I was a little girl. I remember going to her house and he would say things like hello,roll tide,Bama, and other things but she went through a divorce and boog ended up with someone who has given him no attention at all and after a lot of stuff I have ended up with him but he seems very stand offish my kids and I talk with him all the time and he seems to try and talk.I'm not very educated at this so I hope someone can give me a little insight. At his age will he start talking again and stop biting the blood out of me I just want to love him and give him the best life he can have. The most he does right now is when we laugh at something he laughs to. I welcome all the help I can get. Thanks katt & boog.
My conure boog
- Thread starter Katt205
- Start date
Wow that is old for a conure. He must have lived right. Good luck with him.
greycloud
New member
- Mar 21, 2010
- 1,034
- 1
- Parrots
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Sammy-Umbrella Too-rescued,
Dexter-CAG-rehomed handicapped,
Sterling-CAG-rehomed retired breeder.
Sunshine-12 yo CAG-adopted
Welcome! What species of conure is he? Poor little guy, he was settled and happy then his life took a drastic turn. Now he is in another home. Remember he is scared and unsure who he can trust. Just work on getting him to trust you before attempting any physical touch. Sit next to his cage and put yummy treats in his bowl. Praise him when he eats them or shows he is interested. Have the kids pop a treat in the bowl and keep on walking. That way he will realize nothing is expected of him. You will need to work slow and have patience.
As far as talking, he may talk again. He did once upon a time. If he can be happy agin he may remember how. I have birds in their late 20s that learn new words all the time.
What diet are you feeding?
Remember, baby steps.
As far as talking, he may talk again. He did once upon a time. If he can be happy agin he may remember how. I have birds in their late 20s that learn new words all the time.
What diet are you feeding?
Remember, baby steps.
dishgal1
New member
Poor little guy. I am so glad you have him. Be kind and sweet to him and maybe he will remember how things used to be when he was happy. It could take a long time. Let him get used to you and his surroundings and if he isn't too wild, maybe he could come out of the cage and he will probably want to be with you. Freedom could help immensely. Conures like to be near people and he might make the first move if he were out. He might need his wings clipped if he is too wild. Bless his heart he just needs to trust someone, I can just imagine how lonely he has been after having all the attention for years. Good luck with him and just talk to him a lot and praise him. Feed him treats from your hand.
JamesC
Active member
- Sep 3, 2011
- 591
- 41
- Parrots
-
Blue Crown Conures: Tootsie and Rosco.
Senegal Parrot: Sidney.
Feathers of the past:
Budgies: Sunshine, Digit, Kiwi, and Yahto.
Senegal Parrot: Kelly.
"Fly free, little ones. Love and miss you."
I live with two blue crowns. A 26 year old that has lived with me for 14 years and a ?? year old that I adopted from a rescue last year. Tootsie, the one I have had for a while never wanted anyone to handle her except for my brother who I adopted her from. It took me a while before I was able to gain her acceptance. But basically I just let her know that I was not going to accept any of her aggressive nature. She would lunge at me and I would stand my ground. The approach seemed to confuse her but eventually she realized I wasn't going to allow her to dominate me and she turned friendly. Other members of his family never followed that approach which is why she eventually ended up with me.
Rosa, the newcomer last year, was a biter that was out for blood. I had to take a stronger approach with her and it worked. If she acted aggressive and tried to bite me I would quickly put one hand across her back and cover her head with the other and hold her there for 15 seconds or so. Basically I made sure she realized that I was the dominant "bird" in the house. It took a couple of weeks and a couple of painful nips but her attitude changed. She is now easy to handle though she is not all that friendly to me. But I really didn't expect her to be with Tootsie as her interest for companionship and from what I know of her past. I expect that when the day comes that Tootsie passes on (hopefully a long time from now) Rosa will turn to me for companionship.
I didn't like taking the dominate approach with Rosa but it worked. I try to go by feel with birds. I watch and learn their reactions and try to act in a way that I think is appropriate. Watch the body language of your bird and learn when he may try to bite. They have very distinctive postures that you can read. Rosa's posture is an extended neck, tightly flattened feathers and possibly some beak clicking when she is feeling aggressive. But that only happens now when she is with Tootsie and feels like she needs to defend her position from me intruding.
Good luck and have patience!
Rosa, the newcomer last year, was a biter that was out for blood. I had to take a stronger approach with her and it worked. If she acted aggressive and tried to bite me I would quickly put one hand across her back and cover her head with the other and hold her there for 15 seconds or so. Basically I made sure she realized that I was the dominant "bird" in the house. It took a couple of weeks and a couple of painful nips but her attitude changed. She is now easy to handle though she is not all that friendly to me. But I really didn't expect her to be with Tootsie as her interest for companionship and from what I know of her past. I expect that when the day comes that Tootsie passes on (hopefully a long time from now) Rosa will turn to me for companionship.
I didn't like taking the dominate approach with Rosa but it worked. I try to go by feel with birds. I watch and learn their reactions and try to act in a way that I think is appropriate. Watch the body language of your bird and learn when he may try to bite. They have very distinctive postures that you can read. Rosa's posture is an extended neck, tightly flattened feathers and possibly some beak clicking when she is feeling aggressive. But that only happens now when she is with Tootsie and feels like she needs to defend her position from me intruding.
Good luck and have patience!
greycloud
New member
- Mar 21, 2010
- 1,034
- 1
- Parrots
-
Sammy-Umbrella Too-rescued,
Dexter-CAG-rehomed handicapped,
Sterling-CAG-rehomed retired breeder.
Sunshine-12 yo CAG-adopted
While taking the aggressive approach sometimes works, BTW this is called flooding or negative reinforcement, it has been proven that positive reinforcement is a much better option for birds. Forcing a bird to do something it does not want may cause aggression to exacerbate. Trust is not there.
Blue crowns are wonderful birds! Like I stated above, take your time and let him want to learn good behavior.
As far as diet is concerned. Do not give any peanuts in the shell. These can carry aspergillus a dangerous fungus that can make parrots very ill.
Is your boy on a pellet diet, if so which one? If he is on an all seed diet it may take a while to change him over to pellets and it should be done slowly.
Fresh fruits should be kept to a minimum. Apples, mango, papyaya, grapes, banana, berries all washed very well and diced up.
Veggies are fantastic for our birds. Baked sweet potato, swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, squash, mustard greens, some corn, peas, carrots, green beans washed well and chopped. These can be mixed with the fruits and offered in a bowl daily.
*Remove from cage after two hours and toss to prevent bacteria from growing.
You can also make birdie bread and mix fruits and veggies in to inspire some picky birds to eat.
Dangers to birds in our homes:
Toxic foods are avocado, onion, chocolate, caffeinne, heavy salts, soda, coffees.
Candles, room deoderizers, cleaning agents, **teflon-can kill a bird in just a few seconds if over heated.
I hope this helps!
Blue crowns are wonderful birds! Like I stated above, take your time and let him want to learn good behavior.
As far as diet is concerned. Do not give any peanuts in the shell. These can carry aspergillus a dangerous fungus that can make parrots very ill.
Is your boy on a pellet diet, if so which one? If he is on an all seed diet it may take a while to change him over to pellets and it should be done slowly.
Fresh fruits should be kept to a minimum. Apples, mango, papyaya, grapes, banana, berries all washed very well and diced up.
Veggies are fantastic for our birds. Baked sweet potato, swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, squash, mustard greens, some corn, peas, carrots, green beans washed well and chopped. These can be mixed with the fruits and offered in a bowl daily.
*Remove from cage after two hours and toss to prevent bacteria from growing.
You can also make birdie bread and mix fruits and veggies in to inspire some picky birds to eat.
Dangers to birds in our homes:
Toxic foods are avocado, onion, chocolate, caffeinne, heavy salts, soda, coffees.
Candles, room deoderizers, cleaning agents, **teflon-can kill a bird in just a few seconds if over heated.
I hope this helps!
JamesC
Active member
- Sep 3, 2011
- 591
- 41
- Parrots
-
Blue Crown Conures: Tootsie and Rosco.
Senegal Parrot: Sidney.
Feathers of the past:
Budgies: Sunshine, Digit, Kiwi, and Yahto.
Senegal Parrot: Kelly.
"Fly free, little ones. Love and miss you."
It is not the approach that I would recommend for every bird, but with Rosa it was exactly the correct course of action to take in my opinion. Before then, she was a screamer who would make it a point to run across two cages in an attempt to bite me. I used a gentle and patient approach for around 3 months. But the behavior seemed to be growing worse over time and I was beginning to regret taking her in. So I thought it over and decided to use the more aggressive approach when necessary. That lasted for about 3 weeks and I have not had to resort to it for around a year now. What I got was a quieter and calmer bird who has only bitten me once or twice since then and that was without the bad intent that she originally had. A scold was all that was necessary to correct the behavior. She is a bird who prefers to be with her companion but on occasion shows genuine curiosity towards me. Sometimes she will wander over to near where I am at and will turn her head to watch me. I talk to her and sometimes she even responds before she goes back to Tootsie.
So I'm very pleased with the end results. I would not have used the same approach with Tootsie back then. With her it was basically a "I call your bluff" approach and she would back off. I would never have used it with my first Senegal who was a terrified wreck when she was rescued. A long slow and patient process was required with her. I still have not figured out how to manage my current Senegal who seems to have ADHD. I can't keep that little rascal's mind focused on one thing for more than 3 seconds before he is off to try to chew on something else valuable, rip another key off my laptop or get himself lost in some place dangerous like underneath my recliner. He is going to give me a few gray hairs before long.
So I'm very pleased with the end results. I would not have used the same approach with Tootsie back then. With her it was basically a "I call your bluff" approach and she would back off. I would never have used it with my first Senegal who was a terrified wreck when she was rescued. A long slow and patient process was required with her. I still have not figured out how to manage my current Senegal who seems to have ADHD. I can't keep that little rascal's mind focused on one thing for more than 3 seconds before he is off to try to chew on something else valuable, rip another key off my laptop or get himself lost in some place dangerous like underneath my recliner. He is going to give me a few gray hairs before long.
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