Hi everyone, just wanted to stop by and introduce myself. My name is Cindy and my husband's name is Calvin. We have 4 children, 1 Miniature Pinscher and today we purchased 2 Sun Conures.
I have been researching birds for the past few months and had fallen in love with the Sun Conure species. I really had hoped to adopt them from an avian rescue situation but none of the rescues in my area have had any available.
The Conures that we bought are about a year old (apparently they were purchased once before and the owner brought them back and refunded half of his money because he didnt realize the responsibility that comes with owning birds *boggle*). So in a way, I felt like I was rescuing them since they were returned heh. The 2 Conures have been raised together since hatching. I had planned on only buying one bird, but I couldn't stand the idea of splitting them up and possibly then adopting more problems with a bird that is plucking or having behavior issues because we split up the pair. Plus, I like the idea that he has a friend to keep him company if we leave the house for any period of time. The pet store had them at a HUGE discount in hopes that people would buy them together and since they were returned once before. Got them for about $320 for the pair.
They are in good feather (except one of the birds has his tail feathers missing, but are growing back. I was told the previous owner had the birds in a cage much too small which caused the tail feathers to be missing). They seem pretty tame but will need a little work, it doesn't appear they have had much training though. The pet store that we bought them said they were hand-fed by them before they were originally purchased.
I am taking everything the pet store has told me with a grain of salt. I have very little trust for most pet stores heh. I just really liked the personality of the birds and they are beautiful. The rest I am willing to work on!
I do have a few questions... With owning two birds, how do I split up my time to give them equal attention? Do I take them both out and hold them both at the same time (if they will allow it) or do I work with them individually? Train individually? As far as diet goes, from everything I have read, I know you want to give pellets, mixed fruits and veggies... what I am having a hard time finding is exactly what ratio I should be giving them as well as how do I feed 2 birds to make sure that both of them are eating? Seperate dishes? Feed and sit and watch while they eat? Is there anywhere on the net (or what do you suggest) that would be considered a good varied diet for them? (these are stupid questions probably, but I don't want to screw this up).
Lastly, any suggestions you can give me I am always willing to listen. I get to go pick them up tomorrow (we had them held until I could get a cage I liked). I was thinking of naming them Apollo and Helios. I thought I was being all original but after looking at names today I realized thats definitely not original haha. Now I have to think of names!
Thanks and sorry for the post running away and being so long!
I have been researching birds for the past few months and had fallen in love with the Sun Conure species. I really had hoped to adopt them from an avian rescue situation but none of the rescues in my area have had any available.
The Conures that we bought are about a year old (apparently they were purchased once before and the owner brought them back and refunded half of his money because he didnt realize the responsibility that comes with owning birds *boggle*). So in a way, I felt like I was rescuing them since they were returned heh. The 2 Conures have been raised together since hatching. I had planned on only buying one bird, but I couldn't stand the idea of splitting them up and possibly then adopting more problems with a bird that is plucking or having behavior issues because we split up the pair. Plus, I like the idea that he has a friend to keep him company if we leave the house for any period of time. The pet store had them at a HUGE discount in hopes that people would buy them together and since they were returned once before. Got them for about $320 for the pair.
They are in good feather (except one of the birds has his tail feathers missing, but are growing back. I was told the previous owner had the birds in a cage much too small which caused the tail feathers to be missing). They seem pretty tame but will need a little work, it doesn't appear they have had much training though. The pet store that we bought them said they were hand-fed by them before they were originally purchased.
I am taking everything the pet store has told me with a grain of salt. I have very little trust for most pet stores heh. I just really liked the personality of the birds and they are beautiful. The rest I am willing to work on!
I do have a few questions... With owning two birds, how do I split up my time to give them equal attention? Do I take them both out and hold them both at the same time (if they will allow it) or do I work with them individually? Train individually? As far as diet goes, from everything I have read, I know you want to give pellets, mixed fruits and veggies... what I am having a hard time finding is exactly what ratio I should be giving them as well as how do I feed 2 birds to make sure that both of them are eating? Seperate dishes? Feed and sit and watch while they eat? Is there anywhere on the net (or what do you suggest) that would be considered a good varied diet for them? (these are stupid questions probably, but I don't want to screw this up).
Lastly, any suggestions you can give me I am always willing to listen. I get to go pick them up tomorrow (we had them held until I could get a cage I liked). I was thinking of naming them Apollo and Helios. I thought I was being all original but after looking at names today I realized thats definitely not original haha. Now I have to think of names!
Thanks and sorry for the post running away and being so long!
