If you want my honest advice as a sun owner.....wait!
I first fell in love with the sun conure at the age of 21-22.
I had my own home and worked full time as a retail manager. These birds cannot be left alone for that amount of time. Their little hearts would be broken. They need SO much interaction it is untrue. My girl would be out of the cage and on my hand 24/7 if she could. I knew that as much as I wanted to have one of these bundles of fun and joy, it wasn't fair to do so at that time.
I met Dave, we bought a shop and house combo and then got married. We'd been here a year and things were going well financially. We'd got our two dogs and brought our kitty, bunny and guinea from the home I used to live in. I knew I could finally get my sunny and BOY am I glad I waited.
Cal is in the shop with us in the daytime and in the evening she has her out of cage time. She needs constant supervision during out of cage time and she must have it every day. The diet I have chosen for her to be frank, is expensive. Avian vets cost a lot of money and although hardy, I do not believe sunnies are as robust as the tiel. She's certainly not as easy going! She is bossy, reached fever pitch when screaming before I spent the best part of a fortnight persistantly teaching her "no shout". My husband had to do this too for it to work - luckily he loves her very very much.
This past month alone I have spent about £100 on her (Around $75-80, I think?). This is excluding the fact she has TWO cages all furnished out with many MANY toys and perches. This is not to say I HAD to, but I believe if you take a bird or any animal into your home, they need to have the best of what you can afford.
Could you afford to give a sunny everything that you felt was best for it? Could you afford a good quality pellet that costs around £20 for a months supply? Organic fruit, veg and nuts from the supermarket that cost more towards the £30-50? Could you afford an Avian vet check which is bog standard at around £40 every 6 months? Not to mention emergencies. Could you afford to buy umteen toys that need replaced and swapped round twice a month? Can you afford a big enough cage?
Most of all, can you spend the majority of your day with this bird? Taking time to train him, get to know him, form a bond and be absolutely certain that you will be here for him until one of you passes on?
With all due respect, I am guessing the answer to the majority of these questions is no. I have waited the best part of a decade to bring a sunny into my life and now I have, I wouldn't be without her.
I know how you feel and how much of a pull these wonderful little clowns have. I genuinely do. But I can also tell you that if I had ignored my sense of right and wrong and purchased that first sunny I met, he would not be with me now. You go through so many changes from your teenage years and into adulthood. Situations occur unexpectantly and a sunny needs stability like any pet.
Parrots are said to have as a general rule, emotion needs and intelligence of human toddlers. By my reckoning, if you aren't ready for a human child, you aren't ready for a parrot!
I know it isn't what you want to hear, you want us to say "Yay, go for it!" but if you do, you will be doing it for selfish reasons, not because you are able to provide a good home.
I hope that you understand! One day when you are settled in your own home and financially able, you will have your sunny and it will be SO worth the wait, I promise.
