Baby!! Mature when? Advice please!

[LegendClappitao]

Hello! I have an 8 month old Sun named Phoebe! I’m posting some questions and curiosities I have.

Phoebe is definitely still a baby! She does the wing flaps, begging, head bobbing, and always making baby noises for me (which isn’t a problem). Shes constantly doing all of these things! That’s not a problem though, and not what I’m here for.

I may have posted about this before, so my apologies if I have, but I was wondering when Phoebe is going to move on from all her baby behaviors. Again, her baby behaviors aren’t a problem. I would just really love to train her more things but she doesn’t pay attention to anything other than me or treats, and never catches on when I try to teach her something new, even if I’m breaking it into tiny steps.

Someone on another post I made suggested that she needed to mature before I have more success training.

I also see sun conures online or read about them in media all the time, and it seems like most people who have suns of similar age or even younger than Phoebe, aren’t acting like a baby as much or at all. I know it’s not exactly realistic to compare to other birds, especially ones I see online. It just looks much easier to interact with an adult bird, so it always gets me wondering when Phoebe will get there.

So when will Phoebe mature and grow out of her baby behaviors? How will I know?

Any advice or insight is appreciated!

Here’s a picture of the cutie!

 

[wrench13]

SHe'll grow out of those soon, never fear. Then she will be in the beginning of puberty, and then you will WISH she was still acting like a baby.

 

[LegendClappitao]

SHe'll grow out of those soon, never fear. Then she will be in the beginning of puberty, and then you will WISH she was still acting like a baby.

I’m sure the puberty phase will NOT be fun xD

 

[rheashard2]

My 21 yo CAG still does some baby bird behaviors. Especially the ones I think are cute coincidentally when I am upset with her. But never fear she'll outgrown them. Enjoy.

 

[onamom]

IMO, for training, the earlier you start the better. Just keep it simple. I trained my Ona starting at three months of age. I started training Yuri at 6 months old. Spin, target, wave, step up are good to start with. I have some tutorials on my training thread:

Thread 'Loren & Ona's Trick Tutorials'

Aug 23, 2023

Hi guys! This is the start of a thread where I will write up some tutorials for tricks I've taught Ona.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional bird trainer and these tutorials were written based on research and what worked for me. I am also not a perfect bird trainer and am always learning and improving my training technique myself. Bird training is a skill you have to learn! Always listen to your bird's body language and do what works for you. Please remember to always be patient with your bird when training. Tricks are not learned overnight and making mistakes is how your...

• onamom
• Replies: 13
• Forum: Training

• 
• 
• 

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

I believe Sun Conures mature at 2 years of age. Anywhere between a year and 2 years.

As for training... any time is good, though I believe younger is better.

Your baby is so cute! Thanks for sharing!

 

[rheashard2]

As above. I started handing my CAG from the day I got her at just under 4 months. The earlier you get your bird used to handling the better. This is important for health checks, nail trims and more. Make a plan. Set goals. My goal was for my CAG to wear a harness, go into carrier and frequent outings. I didn't want her to freak out for vet trips or travel. Keep it simple and short duration. Frequent short sessions can be effective at the beginning. Getting her used to you, stepping up, gradually getting her used to having wings, feet handled. I had plans to get her used to a harness andfrequentoutings. So now she looks forward to them. Go slow and give lots of random verbal praise. For reasons I have not understood my CAG preference is lots of verbal praise ratherthantreats. Do a lot of reading. Use that as a foundation. Your situation, environment and individual personalities are big factors to take into consideration. Remember that you can not have too much patience.

 

[nancys]

As a former breeder I have a few questions. I am not trying to scare you at all.
Does she eat well? How does her breastbone feel (does it stick out)? Do you think she is losing weight? You may want to buy a gram scale to keep up with her weight. Does she act unthrifty at all?

When I reared babies the first sign of a gram negative bacterial infection was not wanting to wean. Just keep an eye on her and make sure she eats well.