sun conure advice?

[jewels04]

I am about to embark on the wonderful journey of being owned by a sun conure. I am looking for advice on good foods to feed, toys, and also helpful training advice.

Since our new baby will come from a good petstore we are hoping he'll be on a good diet to begin with but we plan on switching to a better diet slowly if he is not.

Any words of wisdom or helpful homecoming advice?

 

[cockatielfan17]

all i have to say is ...... they are very loud!!! other than that they are awsome birds

 

[jewels04]

all i have to say is ...... they are very loud!!! other than that they are awsome birds

Yes I know their loud, I have wanting one for 10 years so I have been told that a lot,lol. We had cockatiels and a quaker in the past but are now in a position to own a conure.

 

[roxynoodle]

A good book often recommended here is "Parrots for Dummies". It should cover your training questions and concerns.

You will want to convert the bird to a pelleted diet if it's not on one already. As for what pellet to use, that is up to you. If the bird is already on pellets, I would just keep using the brand it's used to. If not, you may have to experiment a bit to see what interests it. My conures liked the Zupreem fruity flavor ones.

They should also get a bit of fresh fruit and more veggies each day. They can also have multi-grain breads, cereals, pasta with tomato sauce, rice, cooked beans, chicken and turkey and eggs. You want to avoid dairy products, salty or sugary foods, avocado, apple seeds and the pits from other fruits, and onions. I would also not feed ground meat as it can still have trace amounts of E.Coli, which are enough to kill a little bird.

 

[jewels04]

Thank you! Yup I already have that book and read it atleast twice,lol.

Actually good news for me I found a breeder roughly the same distance as the pet store and talked to this man and I made arrangements to go there Friday and see his babies and put down a deposit. The babies won't be ready to go for a few more weeks but I don't mind waiting knowing we are getting a hand raised baby from a good breeder.

I'm hoping to find out what he feeds and stick with that and introduce the baby to fresh fruits slowly.

I was just more curious if suns favored certain fruits/veggies and such.

 

[Pedro]

I am about to embark on the wonderful journey of being owned by a sun conure. I am looking for advice on good foods to feed, toys, and also helpful training advice.

Since our new baby will come from a good petstore we are hoping he'll be on a good diet to begin with but we plan on switching to a better diet slowly if he is not.

Any words of wisdom or helpful homecoming advice?

I have bred Sun Conure for many years. My birds a fed a balanced diet of small parrot seed mix, pellets, fruit & veggies, sprouted seed mix. They also have raw nuts such as almonds, once every couple of weeks they get some cooked chicken & sometimes cooked egg. The thing to remember is to balance the diet & feed in moderation. NO JUNK FOOD.

As far as training, you can have a well behaved quiet sun conure if you train it from day 1. Your the one that has to teach your bird what is acceptable noise & what isn't. It can be done. I have 5 adult suns & 2 chicks & for the most part you wouldn't know i have them. Yes they have their moments.

I would suggest you read as much as possible on how not to create a monster & educate youself on parrot behavior & how to avoid problems.

http://www.naturalencounters.com/im...ng_Parrot_Behavior_Naturally-Steve_Martin.pdf

Parrot Behavior Problems | Positive Bird Training

https://companionparrotonline.com/

 

[Amber]

I feed pellets and seed (Not commercial seed mix, a much more balanced and less fatty one I mix myself) lots of fresh fruit and veg, and healthy 'human foods like fresh cooked unsalted pasta (just a little bit) egg, etc. As treats lorikeet blocks (dried fruit smothered in a nectar protein matrix. Their meant for lorikeets, but they are good in moderation as treats!) nuts and other goodies! I plan to try sprouted seeds again soon too.

 

[Indy]

I'll just tell you about mine since I don't know too much about how they 'should act'
Sunny is mine (Well I'm fostering her but I consider them my birds until they get adopted) she's shrill but not as loud as the nanday who the first time I heard scream I nearly jumped out of my skin.
However she is more constant in her screaming. She loves chewing on soft toys and shirts and loves my singing voice (It's miserable, but she likes it which totally helps my self confidence ) She has a LOT of personality, and knows exactly what she wants. Pricilla (The nanday im fostering) is very calm and Sunny has enough energy for 6 birds her size.
Pricilla plays with her toys but Sunny attacks them, runs across the birds and in the process has frayed her tail feathers a little which irritates me.
Pricilla's in a huge flight cage and she will stay on one perch for a few hours but Sunny who isn't in a small cage runs around constantly and I'd really like to know what she'd do in Pricillas cage.
She loves nuts and I have to buy unsalted pistachios and almonds as treats. She lets you know how she feels about you and hates being mocked. Sunny would totally bring about blood if she was allowed when people taunt her or whatever (It doesn't happen often and people tend to view her a a biter even though it's just cos she doesn't know you) I love her though even with her insanity.
Keep in mind mine is a 2yr old that was completely ignored by her previous owner for 2yrs, she's only ever mean or loud because she was taught that that gives her power over the humans.
Good luck they are amazing lil birds

 

[jewels04]

well i'm not too concerned with the screaming. I'm the only one home during the day, so I'm the only one here to annoy,lol. The only real experience I have had with sun's is the couple that I met at the bird rescue(the only bird that has ever bitten me and drew blood, I still have the scar on my hand from the sun that decided I tasted great).

We'll be getting him/her just weaned and my kids are in school all day so she'll have plenty of one on one time with me and I also want my kids to work with the bird too so she'll learn to accept everyone, and hopefully even my husband will work with the bird too.

I am getting so excited, it'll be a LONG month from picking out my baby to being able to bring it home. I am hoping once we pick the baby out we can make the trip out there atleast once or twice to visit and bond with the baby but it's a very long trip so not too sure my husband will go with that plan.

But I plan on taking TONS of pictures when we go to visit on friday to tide me over until our baby comes home. I just hope I'm really prepared to be this baby's momma. I've read and read and read about suns but I'm sure it's nothing compared to hands on experience and I'll probably be at a loss for what to do when the baby first comes home.

 

[Pedro]

Jewels for what it's worth & from a breeder/handrearers point of view. You could ask your breeder to choose a bird on your behalf she should know the nature of each baby & would be able to so******e the baby to suit your family. I usually ask my clients what they want their baby to be like & select the one i think will fit into that family well.

To be honest it's you & your family that are the ones to teach & mold your baby into a well adjusted family pet.

 

[jewels04]

We plan on asking the breeder his suggestions as well I figured I would ask when we get there his suggestions on a good baby for our family.

I know it is our job to turn this baby into a wonderful bird hence it took me 10 years to get one until I was sure I would have the time to spend with the baby.

 

[Tanvesh]

Sun conures are loud agreed but they can be trained to control their excitement, whenever they scream for no reason, just say a firm no and put a blanket over their cage or take their cage to a different room where no one is their, trust me thats the worst punishment for a sunny because they just thrive on attention and if you keep them in a room where no one is there they immediately stop screaming. They are the cutest period.You will absolutely love the affection a sun conure has to offer, just like a dog.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I've had my sun conure, Skittles, for nine years and I can confirm that they are VERY loud and MUCH louder than a cockatiel and also much more unpleasant (its piercing). That being said, they aren't really a 'noisy' bird in proper circumstances (ie needs are met, gets plenty of exercise & social interaction, potential dangers, changes, sudden actions kept to a minimum). They are more noisy as 'defenders' and 'protectors' than anything else.