Sun conures?

[kq_fan]

Hi! I'm still debating wether or not to get a bird. And I thought of the sun conure. I don't want a loud bird like the cockatoo or macaw, greys, or amazons so a nother conure would be awesome! But I have hear they can be loud. My aunt had one and she said that hers was only loud in the cage. And I have heard that they are very loud and others are the quietest bird they have. But what do you guys think, are they the loudest or one of the quet ones (obviously not the quietest, no such thing) also my friends have a Jenday and a mollucan and the Jenday screams all the time non stop, is that because of the c2 or is that just because of his petallity? Thanks everyone!

 

[BoomBoom]

Hi KQ,

I can assure you that suns are loud inside or outside their cage haha! They are up there in the annoying noise-level as the cockatoos. It's a different type of loud. It's more shrill and piercing. The kind that will bounce off walls and make your ears ring. Jenday's calls are comparable to suns, although I've read that suns tend to be a little louder. This is why suns and jendays have a very high rate of rehoming.

Sure, you can get a bird who might be, by some luck, not as loud. Or you can train it to be not constantly calling out. But chances are, he will be, like most suns are loud (and adorable). My sun's voice is super loud but he does not scream constantly. He calls out to me when I come home and can go on for 2-5 minutes. He also screeches randomly through out the day but they don't last that long. Still his contact calls are so shrill, like a bullet going through my brain if he does it whilst perched on my shoulder.

TLDR: If noise is even a slight consideration for you, I highly advice a different bird. But if you (and more importantly your family and neighbors) can stand the loudness, then suns are just awesome, funny, loving little birds that you will enjoy living with.

 

[Megapixel]

That's a good honest answer.

 

[kiwiS]

Maybe a kind sun conure owner will record the sounds they make on a regular day at home and post it here for you to get an idea of how they sound.

I think though..either bird you get..be prepared for loud sounds…

kiwi is a green cheek but boy..she can get LOUD! Painful ear-piercing shrieks that just get louder and louder and louder. It can come out of nowhere, and it's the worst when she's at my ear because then I'm deaf for a few seconds after - it's THAT loud!

My father in law has a parakeet and he's noisy too. ON-going chatter all day long. I mean..they are all going to be very talkative!!!! lol

 

[thekarens]

You can go to YouTube to get an idea of what they sound like, but a Sun conure and a jenday are about the same.

 

[lquan]

None of the recorded scream on the web of Sun can do it justice. Go to a pet shop or breeder that sells Suns and listen to one for a few minutes. The breeder I got my GCC from has 1 Sun. He sold his other Sun to his next door neighboor. I can hear them both loud clear from the street when I arrived. I don't mind a loud bird, but someone like my wife who has headache regularly, will kill me and the bird within a month.:63:

 

[kq_fan]

Oh thanks everyone! I accually like loud screamers but my family does not so I will choos a different typ. Are cinnamon or pineapples louder and bigger then the normal colored green cheek?

 

[thekarens]

Same size, same voice as gc

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

They CAN be loud, I can attest to that. But I don't think they are as 'noisy' as cockatiels. In my experience, their loudness has several pitches. There is the 'piercing' sound that goes right to your ear (and loud enough it can make your ears ring)

I don't think there is a such thing as a quiet bird. But the sound and volume levels do range. Budgies have the sweetest tweet, but it's also rather low.

My Skittles was very noisy at one point. IMO, and its just that, MY opinion, the degree of 'noisiness' of a parrot depends mostly on the environment it's in and the level of attention it gets. Ignored birds WILL be noisy.

Skittles used to go on and on and on during the day. So I arranged my life to accommodate his needs. Not everyone can do that. For example, when I do my dishes I let him sit on the faucet and watch (actually he lets himself) etc.

They just like being with their owners. I find they are rather quiet when they are out of their cage and with the owner. The only time Skittles goes off is if I leave the room and he can't follow me (if hes in his cage for example) if I leave the apartment, am on the phone or someone unknown comes in.

Unfortunately, I have to cage him if someone comes over cause he will attack them. I'll be the first to admit he is not properly socialized - but the way my lifestyle is - its nearly impossible to do that anyways.

Now, I'm gonna go out on a limb and make a few suggestions that may people may OR may not agree with, that's okay. It's just my opinion.

When he/she acts up -give a verbal command to stop. If they persist, cage them and cover them up. If they persist, put them in a dark room.

What I had to do to Skittles is buy a 'time-out' cage and when he was naughty and didn't respond to verbal commands, I'd put him in the timeout cage and put him in the bathroom, in the dark, and close the door. 10 minutes later, I'd go back and check on him. If he was behaving I'd take him out - if he continued a short while later, I'd repeat the timeout. I did this for about six months. I dont even have the timeout cage anymore cause I dont need it. He is that well behaved.

NEVER hit a bird or even its cage. You can raise your voice, but don't 'scream' at it.

Now, Skittles LOVES water and loves to bathe. But he always HATED being 'sprayed'. So I built on that. I have a water bottle handy AND get this - if he is behaving and I pick it up, he does nothing. IF he is misbehaving and I go for the bottle he takes off cause he knows whats coming.

This has not damaged our bond in any way. He will lay beside me on his back and even let me hold his wing and spread it out. I can even clip his toenails. If he was holding any grudge or having a trust issue I wouldn't be able to do so.

Now for those who may think its cruel to do the timeout, let me just say this - I've seen people do worse to their kids. My own neighbor trained her cat with a spray bottle, thats where I got the idea.

His own breeder told me not to do these things. Even the vet suggested not to do the water bottle. BUT everything they suggested DID NOT work. But what I did worked. Not that it would work for everyone.

Now, a final tip on biting. You cannot teach a bird not to bite. It's not in their nature - and birds biting is really their only defense aside from their wings. They use their beaks to explore and test things aside from biting and chewing. I managed to get Skittles to stop 'biting' me hard and breaking skin. Now he just nibble-bites. What I did was when he was biting me, I'd grab his beak and hold it between my fingers and say 'no biting'. It works.

I got very frustrated back then and got a lot of flack from 'professionals' whose advice didn't work. I'm sure you all have been in situations like this - if not with your birds, with your other pets or other family.

Just please know, I mean well!

I don't know why I posted all of this - actually, I do - but I'm not gonna tell ya! LOL

 

[kq_fan]

Thanks for that info Skittys dad, that's a great idea with the cage and I have LILO withme all the time so I could squeeze in another bird on my shoulder. LILO has ear piercing screams but it doesn't bother us. And I will try the darkness idea if I do get one! I will get a big bird tree so it can be down here all the time! And with the dark room idea, I have a perfect room for that! I really wanted another conure, they are so awesome! So it would be awesome to have a sun conure! Thanks everyone and maybe I can take a sun for a week and see how it goes and then if it works, I could get a baby! Biting doesn't bother us either. Oh and one more question, is skittles louder in the evening?

 

[kq_fan]

Oh and I would NEVER ever ever hit a bird or their cage!!!! My foster cockatiel was beat at his first house so I wouldn't ever hit Lilo or any bird! I don't even pretend to hit her!

 

[faeryphoebe1]

I adore my Sunny. He is cuddly, sweet and smart. He is loud, so I try not to shoulder him, otherwise my ears will ring, lol.

Not everyone can take that level of shrillness. I don't discourage the loud calls from either of my parrots, so that doesn't help with the noise.

Check out a few Suns in person to see if the level of shrillness would be too much for you or your family. It might be. Visit some pet shops or a breeder.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

In my own experience - they tend to be noisiest when you first wake them up and then before bed and with some birds - the sunset. I do find them to be quietest in the middle of the day.

The noise doesn't bother me at all. I tune it out. It only bothers me if Skittles screeches when he's on my shoulder - but he RARELY does that now cause what I did before was 'shake' my shoulder a bit while he was on it (not enough to throw him off, lol) but enough to stop the screeching and I would say 'stop' in a firm voice).

Birds are gonna make noise at certain times of the day - the thing is the level of noise. 'Some' screeching/tweeting is normal - but incessant for long periods of time is not. It's generally the birds way of communicating that it wants/needs something or it sees danger somewhere.

I think getting a bird tree is a swell idea. Skittles used to sit on my exercise bike, which I didn't mind until he started chewing on the rubber handlebars. So I invested in getting him a free-standing playstand (aside from the one atop his cage).

Birdcages are VERY expensive for the larger birds (even conures) and you want to be careful about getting a 'cheap' one. Look into what it's coated with etc. I got Skittles a cage that was the bare minimum in size. Enough for him to move around freely and even spread his wings completely in any direction. But I didn't want to invest in a huge expensive cage cause he's hardly ever in it. So take that into account. But if you go for the smallest cage for a sun conure (22x24x22). Bigger is better, but only if the bird is gonna spend enough time in it to justify the expense (unless money is not a factor).

Good to hear about the 'hitting' not being an option for you. I've seen videos of parrots repeating obscenities such as 'shut the _______ up' which they obviously learned from their owner. The thing to remember is once you gain a birds trust, it is hard to lose it - but if you lose it, you most likely will never get it back.

Peaches, my cockatiel, had a nighfright a few years ago and pierced her wing. I took her to the vet ER and she was fine after. But she didn't panic at all which surprised me - but the vet said I did all the right things and rather than panic myself - I was busy comforting her. Parrots look to us for safety and our responses and reactions very much affect theirs.

 

[diadins]

good luck with whatever you decide. I happen to be a person who was blessed with a quiet sun conure. she doesn't scream at all except for the rare burst not even once a day that lasts for about 15 seconds. I don't know if the fact that she has an open cage as long as some one is home matters or not. That being said when she does scream it is an intensely loud experience, so on the norm I would say they are NOT quiet birds. However, the parakeets are much more vocal, much more often and often times louder than the sun.

 

[Ashleigh86]

We are still new to the sun conure experience (Have had our 5 month old baby for 3 weeks) But I will say that the only time Indy is loud is when she doesn't get enough attention or time out of her cage. She's still in her "baby cage" so it's not huge (She's so clumsy still, and still weaning...lol) but I have plenty of toys and foraging opportunities for her to keep her busy during the day when we are at work. She is a bird that LOVES her toys, especially wood ones that she can shred, so it keeps her busy! She screeches out of excitement when we get home to greet us, and in the morning when she hears us awake, but that's about it. I ask her to make "pretty noises" before I open her cage to take her out, and she's already getting the idea of what noises we want to hear and what will get her the most attention. Whenever I hear a noise that I like, I make a big deal with lots of attention and sweet talking to her We don't respond to the loud screeching, and we never let her out when she screeches, but like others have said on this thread before me, they can be loud and it's normal! We were also worried about the noise level when we first got Indy, but it's really not a big deal for us Hope this helps!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Basically, what sun conure owners are saying here is correct IMO, I agree with it. Suns WILL make noise if their needs are not met. While I don't encourage bowing to their every whim, maintaining a proper schedule on a normal basis to satisfy their needs is quite helpful.

Skittles has no problem letting me know when he wants a bath. He will sit on the faucet, stick his head under it and flutter his head and sneeze. IF he doesn't get his bathing dish in a reasonable amount of time he WILL become vocal. So what I do, is whenever I do dishes, I make it a point to see if he wants to bathe - which he then nearly always does.

No matter how much attention you pay to budgies, they are still quite vocal. But their loudness factor is MUCH lower. My cockatiel is MUCH noisier than my sun conure - but when she gets going, he gets going - so rather than try to quiet him - I quiet her and he in turn quiets down on his own.

I don't spray Peaches with the spray bottle cause she doesn't like water (she won't bathe), but also she has never been a discipline problem. Aside from her occasional rant, she is a perfect angel and has been in all of the 18 years Ive had her.

 

[treckel]

Ever think of a green cheek conure? They are a little quieter normall

 

[kq_fan]

Oh I have a green cheek already, I wanted another conure because of how much I love them! I will give them all the needs they need! But yes, I will go to a breeder and play with them and I will see what we all think! But it will be a loooonnnggg time because of family problems

 

[MagegrayWolf]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYFMo5Ar1k0"]How Loud Is a Screaming Sun Conure? - YouTube[/ame]

You're going to want to turn up your speaker all the way to get the proper effect of the sound.

 

[kq_fan]

Yes, I saw that and Lilo does that sometimes.... It's just to loud for our house well ok, I don't think we need to go through that. I don't like rehomeing pets. Thanks everyone for being very honest!