wildside50
New member
- Jul 5, 2016
- 15
- 0
I’d like to share my personal experience with the first 17 days since bringing home our newest family member, Sol. This is going to be a candid, honest, and sometimes disheartening (though hopefully altogether uplifting!) look at one family’s expectations, experiences, and reality.
I’m going to start at the beginning. Like, the WAY beginning. My wife and I have one child, a six year old girl (I promise this will be at least somewhat relevant to the story). Over the years we have at one time or another considered having another child, because we love being parents more than anything in the world. One thing or another, however, always stopped us. Do we have enough money tucked away for another baby? What if the baby has special needs? What if one of us is laid off? Do we have enough space for a baby? Do we have enough time for a baby? (By now any parrot owner probably sees where I’m going with this).
The thing about our daughter is, she’s absolutely fantastic. I know most parents dote on their child and gloss over the negatives, but I mean it; my daughter is a genuinely wonderful human being who I cannot wait to get to know for the next 50+ years. She is considerate, respectful, obedient, thoughtful, selfless, and empathetic; everything you’d want in a child. We hit the jackpot.
And I remember reading all of those stories and parenting books about how having a child will change things, and that they are far more difficult than you might think. I found things just the opposite. My daughter was the most easy-going baby ever, loved her fruits and veggies, didn’t get into trouble (we never even opened our “baby proofing kit”), and was just a hoot to be around. That holds true to this day.
Fast forward to July 4th, 2016. After much consideration (probably more than having another baby!), we added a bird to our family. I urge you to read the honeymoon phase feelings we all experienced early on here --
http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/62886-just-hello-new-conure-parent-family.html
Now, 17 VERY short days later, I want to share some of our experiences that snapped us from newborn baby-town into cold hard reality-….ville. Ville’s are always worse than towns, right?
The day after my initial exuberance about my awesome new bird who can handle anything, I found our new family member lethargic and ruffled. Uh oh, what have I done? My every action since bringing Sol home has led to his untimely demise, I’m certain! Whoosh, off we were to the vet to get the horrible news that because my air filter wasn’t strong enough or my house was too drafty or my cage was made out of kill-a-birdium, poor Sol was on his way out.
Luckily I have a pretty darn good vet, who rightly diagnosed Sol with a bit of weaning regression. He gave me some hand-feeding formula (at no charge) and some direction on how to ensure Sol got the food he needed. The vet suggested a week of hand feeding, but Sol stopped showing interest in the formula after only 2 (very messy!) days. Alright, hurdle cleared. Sol should now be the perfect example of a well-fed, happy Sun Conure. Job well done!...
Onto day 3. Then the biting started. Sol seemed to have enough food and treats available, and several water sources, but every time he came out of his cage (which he asked for very loudly), he would only pick at the food and instead focus on ears, jewelry, and moles. Only one of those is easily removable…
After my long search, I felt like I had picked the wrong bird. I tend to have vivid dreams in general, and I definitely had several dreams about setting Sol loose, suffocating Sol, staging a Sol murder-suicide… I’m not saying all of that is healthy, but rest assured I would NEVER actually do any of that; but I’m sure there’s a sleep deprived parent out there who’s had a strange baby dream that can relate.
Somewhere along the way I forced myself to have the mental switch that just because day 1 Sol was perfect and day 3 Sol was my worst nightmare doesn’t mean day 7, day 21, day 375, day 5,254 can’t be great days with Sol. No child is going to be perfect, and they have the advent of speaking the same language as the parent. To expect perfection of Sol was myopic to say the least.
What I will say is this, for any future Sun Conure parents in waiting. In my limited experience, as a pessimist, everything they say is true. Sun Conures are LOUD. Like, very very very loud. They are also very active, and need a lot of interaction. They are not a caged bird. You don’t necessarily have to hammer out 3 solid hours of activity every day or else, but if you’re going to be gone a few days at a time, you do need a bird-sitter. I, personally, find this endearing. Show me a dog that is content to be left alone for days on end, I’ll show you a plot of land in which to bury him.
As for my own experience, I’m probably lucky once again, though I did have some say in my new baby. Sol sleeps through the night without a peep, only screams when he knows I’m awake (usually getting the kid off to school), and quiets down if I go back to sleep, and screams when I come home, even if he’s already out of the cage, eating his favorite blueberry, perched on Mom’s shoulder. I, again, find that endearing. If Sol screamed through the night, or while on my shoulder in ear-drum distance, I might be more at issue. The noises he does make when contented and not looking for his flock, however, are absolutely wonderful. The chirps and grunts are very comforting.
Does that mean every contented Sun Conure will make pleasant chirps? Or that every Sun Conure will sleep through the night? Of course not, and you should plan for the worst. If you end up with a bratty bird, who doesn’t like to go to bed, will you be able to handle it? To be honest, I might not. I’d have to cross that bridge when I came to it. But just make sure you know that bridge is one possible path in your companion journey. If you’re not sure, don’t assume the best. Assume the worst.
That’s when you get to be pleasantly surprised at the oddest moments. At the height of Sol nipping at my ears, darting from my hand, and generally refusing all training, he decided now was a good time for a nap on my finger. I stayed like this motionless for over an hour, and it was awesome. It wasn’t a moment I had crafted, it might never happen again, but for that one hour, Sol and I were perfectly content with one another, and that’s not nothing.
You have to decide for yourself if that is worth the sacrifice. Then sometimes you wake up and see a bird only a mother could love...
I’m going to start at the beginning. Like, the WAY beginning. My wife and I have one child, a six year old girl (I promise this will be at least somewhat relevant to the story). Over the years we have at one time or another considered having another child, because we love being parents more than anything in the world. One thing or another, however, always stopped us. Do we have enough money tucked away for another baby? What if the baby has special needs? What if one of us is laid off? Do we have enough space for a baby? Do we have enough time for a baby? (By now any parrot owner probably sees where I’m going with this).
The thing about our daughter is, she’s absolutely fantastic. I know most parents dote on their child and gloss over the negatives, but I mean it; my daughter is a genuinely wonderful human being who I cannot wait to get to know for the next 50+ years. She is considerate, respectful, obedient, thoughtful, selfless, and empathetic; everything you’d want in a child. We hit the jackpot.
And I remember reading all of those stories and parenting books about how having a child will change things, and that they are far more difficult than you might think. I found things just the opposite. My daughter was the most easy-going baby ever, loved her fruits and veggies, didn’t get into trouble (we never even opened our “baby proofing kit”), and was just a hoot to be around. That holds true to this day.
Fast forward to July 4th, 2016. After much consideration (probably more than having another baby!), we added a bird to our family. I urge you to read the honeymoon phase feelings we all experienced early on here --
http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/62886-just-hello-new-conure-parent-family.html
Now, 17 VERY short days later, I want to share some of our experiences that snapped us from newborn baby-town into cold hard reality-….ville. Ville’s are always worse than towns, right?
The day after my initial exuberance about my awesome new bird who can handle anything, I found our new family member lethargic and ruffled. Uh oh, what have I done? My every action since bringing Sol home has led to his untimely demise, I’m certain! Whoosh, off we were to the vet to get the horrible news that because my air filter wasn’t strong enough or my house was too drafty or my cage was made out of kill-a-birdium, poor Sol was on his way out.
Luckily I have a pretty darn good vet, who rightly diagnosed Sol with a bit of weaning regression. He gave me some hand-feeding formula (at no charge) and some direction on how to ensure Sol got the food he needed. The vet suggested a week of hand feeding, but Sol stopped showing interest in the formula after only 2 (very messy!) days. Alright, hurdle cleared. Sol should now be the perfect example of a well-fed, happy Sun Conure. Job well done!...
Onto day 3. Then the biting started. Sol seemed to have enough food and treats available, and several water sources, but every time he came out of his cage (which he asked for very loudly), he would only pick at the food and instead focus on ears, jewelry, and moles. Only one of those is easily removable…
After my long search, I felt like I had picked the wrong bird. I tend to have vivid dreams in general, and I definitely had several dreams about setting Sol loose, suffocating Sol, staging a Sol murder-suicide… I’m not saying all of that is healthy, but rest assured I would NEVER actually do any of that; but I’m sure there’s a sleep deprived parent out there who’s had a strange baby dream that can relate.
Somewhere along the way I forced myself to have the mental switch that just because day 1 Sol was perfect and day 3 Sol was my worst nightmare doesn’t mean day 7, day 21, day 375, day 5,254 can’t be great days with Sol. No child is going to be perfect, and they have the advent of speaking the same language as the parent. To expect perfection of Sol was myopic to say the least.
What I will say is this, for any future Sun Conure parents in waiting. In my limited experience, as a pessimist, everything they say is true. Sun Conures are LOUD. Like, very very very loud. They are also very active, and need a lot of interaction. They are not a caged bird. You don’t necessarily have to hammer out 3 solid hours of activity every day or else, but if you’re going to be gone a few days at a time, you do need a bird-sitter. I, personally, find this endearing. Show me a dog that is content to be left alone for days on end, I’ll show you a plot of land in which to bury him.
As for my own experience, I’m probably lucky once again, though I did have some say in my new baby. Sol sleeps through the night without a peep, only screams when he knows I’m awake (usually getting the kid off to school), and quiets down if I go back to sleep, and screams when I come home, even if he’s already out of the cage, eating his favorite blueberry, perched on Mom’s shoulder. I, again, find that endearing. If Sol screamed through the night, or while on my shoulder in ear-drum distance, I might be more at issue. The noises he does make when contented and not looking for his flock, however, are absolutely wonderful. The chirps and grunts are very comforting.
Does that mean every contented Sun Conure will make pleasant chirps? Or that every Sun Conure will sleep through the night? Of course not, and you should plan for the worst. If you end up with a bratty bird, who doesn’t like to go to bed, will you be able to handle it? To be honest, I might not. I’d have to cross that bridge when I came to it. But just make sure you know that bridge is one possible path in your companion journey. If you’re not sure, don’t assume the best. Assume the worst.
That’s when you get to be pleasantly surprised at the oddest moments. At the height of Sol nipping at my ears, darting from my hand, and generally refusing all training, he decided now was a good time for a nap on my finger. I stayed like this motionless for over an hour, and it was awesome. It wasn’t a moment I had crafted, it might never happen again, but for that one hour, Sol and I were perfectly content with one another, and that’s not nothing.
You have to decide for yourself if that is worth the sacrifice. Then sometimes you wake up and see a bird only a mother could love...