wildside50
New member
- Jul 5, 2016
- 15
- 0
Just added my first conure to our flock (the only other current members being myself, my wife, our 6 year old daughter, and our 12 year old cat). He's a sun conure... how the heck did that happen?
This post might be a touch long for an introduction post, so if you just wanna get to the end, skip the next 10 paragraphs.
As a previous bird owner (budgies), and someone who tends to research things in great detail before moving forward, I've read, watched, and experienced a lot of the quirks of caring for a pet parrot. After a few years living bird-less (having a baby can turn someone off to taking on another pet for a solid half decade!) I decided it was time to tip my toes back into the bird world.
I've always been fascinated by birds, and I enjoy bird photography a great deal. What better, then, than to have a live-in subject! So the hunt began, well over a year ago I would say, for our next family member. I did all of my research, weighed the pros and cons of each species available, met a few potential birds in person to see how we clicked, and decided a hand-fed cockatiel was just right for our little family. Time after time, however, I just never pulled the trigger. Either no birds were available, or the ones we met were aggressive or motley, or just lacked all personality whatsoever.
A few times along the way we met a couple of standout birds. Full of personality, vivacious, and just a pleasure to behold. But they were typically conures, a breed I wasn't sure we had the time, space, or noise requirements for. I was shopping for a Bulldog, even though the Terrier's I met seemed super cool (dog reference). I didn't want to be the guy who starts hanging out with an awesome friend he met at the bar only to find said new friend is louder than he realized, required more attention than he realized, and is more a nuisance than a companion. I was dead set on a sweet, mellow, generally low noise cockatiel, come hell or high water.
Fast forward to 2 days ago. My birthday. My wife and I stop off at a couple local pet stores, as we are wont to do, off-handedlly looking at the birds. They have no cockatiels, though they do have a pair of shy green cheeked conures and a bright sun conure, but I note them, and quickly move onto the large budgie enclosure to partake in my usual pastime of watching my favorite bird breed play and chirp and sing.
After my allotment of contented viewing, I head off toward the fish, then reptiles, then adoptable felines expecting to find my wife and daughter. They are nowhere to be found. I head back toward the avian section to retrace my steps once again, only to find the two of them, fixated, playing with a bird through the acrylic.
There stood a lovely little sun conure named Sol (the pet store named him/her), dancing to my daughter's every head bob, and tracing after my wife's every finger movement. Clearly my family was in love. But as the student of birds, I knew better. Sure, he's cute, but he's also loud, full of personality, temperamental, could be a biter, requires 100% attention, and myriad other negative possibilities a conure might possess; especially a sun conure.
We all went home and slept on it. The next day (The 4th of July!), my wife and I went alone to reintroduce ourselves to the birds we had met the day before. At this point Sol's cage was being cleaned, so he was atop the employee's shoulder watching the proceedings. Seeing how happily he perched there, awaiting his home renovation, I knew this was the bird for us. He wasn't angry at the disturbance, he wasn't annoyed at the change, the employees didn't feel the need to box him up to keep him calm. He was just the Fonz.
We brought Sol home that evening (wow, was that just yesterday!?), and I was prepared to do everything I had read about. I had his cage all prepared. I knew the best thing to do was to gently put him in his new home, close the door, and give him at least 3 days to get comfortable. Don't try to talk to him too much, don't try to take him out of the cage, don't make too much noise. My family and I had this in the bag. We were going to be the perfect new parents.
Smash cut to me taking Sol out of the carry-home container with just a simple "up", followed by him darting immediately to my shoulder so he could nuzzle against my neck and make sure my hair was good and preened, and it was clear "Ignoring him in his cage for 3 days" wasn't going to be an option.
So while I did have to leave Sol alone in his cage all day today from 11-5, he was a happy cage-exploring bird when I left in the morning, and just as active when my wife arrived home in the evening. He definitely seemed to have been worn out in the last 48 hours and spent much of the 6'clock plus hours spent huddled on my wife's neck, for which she was more than happy to provide a bed. Putting Sol to bed for the night in his cage tonight took some coaxing, but he found his corner he prefers and was fast asleep in the safety of his cage soon enough.
Best 2 days of bird parenting... ever.
This post might be a touch long for an introduction post, so if you just wanna get to the end, skip the next 10 paragraphs.
As a previous bird owner (budgies), and someone who tends to research things in great detail before moving forward, I've read, watched, and experienced a lot of the quirks of caring for a pet parrot. After a few years living bird-less (having a baby can turn someone off to taking on another pet for a solid half decade!) I decided it was time to tip my toes back into the bird world.
I've always been fascinated by birds, and I enjoy bird photography a great deal. What better, then, than to have a live-in subject! So the hunt began, well over a year ago I would say, for our next family member. I did all of my research, weighed the pros and cons of each species available, met a few potential birds in person to see how we clicked, and decided a hand-fed cockatiel was just right for our little family. Time after time, however, I just never pulled the trigger. Either no birds were available, or the ones we met were aggressive or motley, or just lacked all personality whatsoever.
A few times along the way we met a couple of standout birds. Full of personality, vivacious, and just a pleasure to behold. But they were typically conures, a breed I wasn't sure we had the time, space, or noise requirements for. I was shopping for a Bulldog, even though the Terrier's I met seemed super cool (dog reference). I didn't want to be the guy who starts hanging out with an awesome friend he met at the bar only to find said new friend is louder than he realized, required more attention than he realized, and is more a nuisance than a companion. I was dead set on a sweet, mellow, generally low noise cockatiel, come hell or high water.
Fast forward to 2 days ago. My birthday. My wife and I stop off at a couple local pet stores, as we are wont to do, off-handedlly looking at the birds. They have no cockatiels, though they do have a pair of shy green cheeked conures and a bright sun conure, but I note them, and quickly move onto the large budgie enclosure to partake in my usual pastime of watching my favorite bird breed play and chirp and sing.
After my allotment of contented viewing, I head off toward the fish, then reptiles, then adoptable felines expecting to find my wife and daughter. They are nowhere to be found. I head back toward the avian section to retrace my steps once again, only to find the two of them, fixated, playing with a bird through the acrylic.
There stood a lovely little sun conure named Sol (the pet store named him/her), dancing to my daughter's every head bob, and tracing after my wife's every finger movement. Clearly my family was in love. But as the student of birds, I knew better. Sure, he's cute, but he's also loud, full of personality, temperamental, could be a biter, requires 100% attention, and myriad other negative possibilities a conure might possess; especially a sun conure.
We all went home and slept on it. The next day (The 4th of July!), my wife and I went alone to reintroduce ourselves to the birds we had met the day before. At this point Sol's cage was being cleaned, so he was atop the employee's shoulder watching the proceedings. Seeing how happily he perched there, awaiting his home renovation, I knew this was the bird for us. He wasn't angry at the disturbance, he wasn't annoyed at the change, the employees didn't feel the need to box him up to keep him calm. He was just the Fonz.
We brought Sol home that evening (wow, was that just yesterday!?), and I was prepared to do everything I had read about. I had his cage all prepared. I knew the best thing to do was to gently put him in his new home, close the door, and give him at least 3 days to get comfortable. Don't try to talk to him too much, don't try to take him out of the cage, don't make too much noise. My family and I had this in the bag. We were going to be the perfect new parents.
Smash cut to me taking Sol out of the carry-home container with just a simple "up", followed by him darting immediately to my shoulder so he could nuzzle against my neck and make sure my hair was good and preened, and it was clear "Ignoring him in his cage for 3 days" wasn't going to be an option.
So while I did have to leave Sol alone in his cage all day today from 11-5, he was a happy cage-exploring bird when I left in the morning, and just as active when my wife arrived home in the evening. He definitely seemed to have been worn out in the last 48 hours and spent much of the 6'clock plus hours spent huddled on my wife's neck, for which she was more than happy to provide a bed. Putting Sol to bed for the night in his cage tonight took some coaxing, but he found his corner he prefers and was fast asleep in the safety of his cage soon enough.
Best 2 days of bird parenting... ever.
