Iago!

I've had Iago (a sun conure) for about 6 months now. He loves attention from people and seems to cling to me. He starts screaming whenever I leave the room even if he is with other people. He seems to be a pretty normal conure except for the fact that he doesn't really like to play with toys much. I ended up giving him a paper ball which he played with for about 5-10 minutes but then got bored and left it alone.

Could it be that it's just his personality and doesn't play much or could it be something more like he doesn't like his cage?

Dan and Iago

If your little sweetie is but 6 month old he is still finding his way in your home. We need to teach them how to play with toys - it usually does not come naturally. Gather some toys (not too many) and sit down at a table with the toys and your bird. Proceed to play with the toys and act like a kid. He will learn as he watches you as they learn from the flock in the wild. The same is true for any new foods.

He just turned 1 year last Saturday! And I have laid out some toys for him and tried to start playing but maybe I just haven't done it enough yet. Thanks for the input.

I find with my sunny that if I am available when she has access to toys, I am preferred lol. She will happily swing and nibble if we are in the same room though and she loves to go to her play gym and swing around in there....then her natural branch and tootle about on there with the toys hanging on that....

Cal favours toys she can climb all over as well as chew....she loves to swing on long ropes with wooden blocks.

She adores her toys, but I think when she is alone she probably doesn't bother too much. She is usually sleeping when you check on her haha! It's different here though, as we both work and live in the same building so she is always with us.

As for the screaming, I combatted that by teaching her no shout using a combination of phrases, praise and whispering (this works as they are nosy lol). Now our routine is this:

Be a minute! (I exit the room)
Instead of screaming Cal sounds like a smoke alarm running out of batteries....beep...beeep....beeep.....
I come back in: Good girl, wasn't long
Cal: Beep beep beeeep. Hello!

She sometimes decides shouting is in order in a random burst occasionally, she does a short blast when she wakes up and a short one while you sort out her breakfast and when she's alerting you of something!!! (Very handy for when I'm in my stock cupboard in the shop and a customer comes in )

Calling to her flock is very important and she is very intune about what everyone is doing. She beeps if she hears the dogs bark, says hello when the cat enters the room, says hello to the rabbit and of course greets us enthusiastically. If the toilet flushes....she beeps....if a door is opened...she beeps....she needs to know where we all are and that is what I kept in mind while teaching her no shout. If she beeps - we respond.

She will beep periodically until the person who has left the room has made their intentions clear. If I go to the loo, she beeps until I appear back. If my husband leaves to go out, she beeps until she hears the back door has been shut and she knows he will be gone for longer than a few mins.

I think it would be very reassuring to your Iago if you could recognise this and form your own trigger word to soothe that you will be back, you're only in the next room or w/e and you're "reporting" back hehe

I hope I have been some help as I understand how difficult it can be to get inside a sunny's mind!

Thanks for all the great advice. I have been whispering to him and starting to use different trigger words based on the situation. It sounds like he is catching on but just needs a little bit more time. He doesn't like ropes or hanging on things that aren't secure and sturdy like perches yet but given exposure and assurance it will probably come in time as well.

Thanks again for all the advice!

You're very welcome!

It does take time to work on the "shouty method" as I called it lol, but not terribly long. A fortnight, maybe? As you'll have gathered, our Sunnies are VERY bright (not just in colour ) It does need to be reinforced though or regression will occur!

As for the hangy things, leave them in for a while and eventually Iago will realise they ARE sturdy. SB advice about showing is very good, but in Cal's case, the only time that worked was with bells. If I moved a toy towards her she would simply hop away.

Cal started by sort of "batting" them. I'm sorry if I gave the impression she just sort of leapt on and swung like a demon hehe! If he is nervous, try hanging them OUTSIDE the cage for a few days and then bringing them in. Cal initially ignores new toys, then bats, then you see her swinging around and hanging upside down and chewing and spinning and allsorts lol. Usually a couple of hours after she's batted it!

Hope that helped!

Von1983 said:

Instead of screaming Cal sounds like a smoke alarm running out of batteries....beep...beeep....beeep.....

Click to expand...

Iago started the exact same thing! So cute!

Well done! Did not take long at all! Much better for everyones ears!!!

Many congratulations on working with him so well!