Conure is chronically unhappy

[Greenhouseparrots]

I've had my crimson bellied conure, Tequila, for three years now and she's always been a bit unhappy but I'm now at a loss with what else I can do to make her happy. Admittedly I had no experience when I first got her, and she was an aviary bred bird so she didn't like people very much when I first got her, and I did make a lot of mistakes at first but I'm now at my wits end with what to do with her as she absolutely hates me, is very demanding and either screams at me constantly for something (I have no idea what because she'll do it when I'm giving her treats, outside of the cage and playing with toys, all at the same time!) or she attacks me. She's very hormonal atm which is making it worse, but she's always been like this. I got another conure about nine months ago and the difference in them is night and day, so I know it's not just a conure thing and she really just seems like a very unhappy bird. I'm a bit wary to post here as I asked for help on another forum months ago and was told I need to rehome all of my birds because I'm a hoarder and clearly can't look after them well enough. I'll write down her current routine, diet etc. below and hopefully that helps.

I work evenings mostly so she's either out of the cage inside from around half seven till one or she goes outside in the aviary from about eight till one. On my days off if I'm home she's out all day. All of my birds follow the same routine as they all get on with each other and I have no problems with the others, it's just her. I have two cockatiels, two conures and four budgies. I started off with just Tequila and one cockatiel, Malibu, when they were three months old and they've grown up together and still enjoy each others company so their cages are right next to each other. She shares her cage with my other conure, who she adores, as she gets very lonely when she's in a cage on her own. The other conure has helped her to scream a lot less, as does having a cage next to Malibu, but she still screams a lot, even when they're all out together.

Her diet consists of half a teaspoon of seeds a day which I put in foraging toys, fresh chop, a rice and vegetable cooked food specifically for parrots, and pellets. She also gets probiotics most days, and extra treats such as fruit if I'm eating fruit, or sunflower seeds (maybe once a week) when I'm training her. I also source food from my garden such as dandelion leaves, grass and fresh produce as additional food for her. If I cut up a pepper, I'll save the middle for them to forage, the same with strawberry tops and other produce that they can eat.

I've converted my greenhouse into half an aviary and they all go outside most days, unless I don't have time or the weather is too poor. Out there they have loads of plants to nibble (all safe for parrots), lots of toys/ perches, and being outside they get a lot of enrichment from just being out there. They never want to come inside, and they flock call to me when I have to go inside so I'm thinking this may be where Tequila is unhappy. I'm out there with them a fair bit, but I can't spend my whole day out with them as I have other things to do as well unfortunately. I spend a couple of hours a day at least directly with them, either just relaxing, eating or doing stuff in the greenhouse. Their indoor cages have loads of toys, perches and stuff to do but Tequila doesn't play with toys anymore. She might pick up a foot toy but then a second later she'll drop it and start screaming. She likes dry pasta and that's the only thing that will keep her engaged for any length of time whilst she's inside. She did have some of the same toys inside and outside but would only play with the ones outside so now the toys are completely different but she still won't play inside. I have a camera as well so I can see them whilst I'm at work and all she does is sit by the food bowls or scream or sleep in her cage despite having toys and despite the other conure playing with them a little bit. She used to love shredding things but has completely stopped unless she's outside.

When they're not in the aviary and just in the house she often screams at windows, as if she want to go out, which she probably does. I used to take her on car journeys but she gets sick so I don't take her unless I have to now, but I do wonder if she's just asking to go to the aviary instead. She's also very independent and won't have anything to do with me unless I have a treat. My other conure will come and sit on me and play, but she won't come near me unless I have a treat, or wants to attack me as she's been doing recently. She knows a few tricks and is very smart so I wonder if she's bored and needs more 1-1 time, I'm a bit worried about giving her too many treats though as she only comes to me if I have sunflower seeds. I also used to cover all of the birds at night to give them enough sleep and control their hormones but this was making her very territorial in her cage so I stopped and she's stopped being quite so aggressive.

I'm really at a loss with her as she seems happy at some points and will be engaged and doing things but then all of a sudden she becomes so angry and screams at me and I don't know what's wrong with her. I know conures scream, and she has a lot of different screams, but the one she does the most is her demanding scream which usually means she wants to come out of the cage, but she does it even when she's out of the cage now and I don't want her being so unhappy. I've even taken her on holiday a few times and she's as good as gold there, so maybe she just needs even more stimulation! I'm going to try and harness train her but she won't let me touch her so I don't know how well that will go, but I want to make her happy so if anyone has any advice I'd really appreciate it!

 

[wrench13]

Sounds like she is bored! The telling thing is that she is "good as gold when you take her on trips". Highly intelligent individuals need more to stimulate them. You say you train with her? Try expanding her training to include more demanding tricks. You can get suggestions from some of Salty's videos, link below in my signature. He LOVES his training sessions and learning new tricks! Also look into more foraging type toys and stuff you can make at home. Foraging occupies a lot of a parrots time in the wild.

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

Thank you very much for the reply! I think it must be boredom on her part and that she needs even more interaction from me

 

[JinPicaJest]

It sounds like overall your birds have a socially and environmentally rich life. In addition to wrench13's idea of more training, what about taking her on walks in a carrier or stroller? Also, target training if she doesn't target already - you can use that to really make her fly/climb/hop short to longer distances to touch the target - mental as well as physical stimulation. Also can be used to channel excitement in a healthy way before she directs it AT you.

Also, you might want to think about a thorough vet checkup with bloodwork IF your avian vet thinks it's a good idea, just in case there's some kind of chronic discomfort/pain or other medical issue brewing beyond just maturation/hormones. The screaming and not doing so many activities she used to enjoy certainly is troubling.

Good luck!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

It sounds like overall your birds have a socially and environmentally rich life. In addition to wrench13's idea of more training, what about taking her on walks in a carrier or stroller? Also, target training if she doesn't target already - you can use that to really make her fly/climb/hop short to longer distances to touch the target - mental as well as physical stimulation. Also can be used to channel excitement in a healthy way before she directs it AT you.

Also, you might want to think about a thorough vet checkup with bloodwork IF your avian vet thinks it's a good idea, just in case there's some kind of chronic discomfort/pain or other medical issue brewing beyond just maturation/hormones. The screaming and not doing so many activities she used to enjoy certainly is troubling.

Good luck!

It does sound like a great environment for your conure. Perhaps this conure, like some people, just has a grumpy, negative personality. We have all met people that walk around with a negative attitude and nothing seems to please them, so maybe it's just the way your bird looks at life.

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

It does sound like a great environment for your conure. Perhaps this conure, like some people, just has a grumpy, negative personality. We have all met people that walk around with a negative attitude and nothing seems to please them, so maybe it's just the way your bird looks at life.

I have wondered if it's just her personality as it seems I can't make her happy no matter what I do! She also has a scar on her head that she's had ever since I got her so I wonder if she's not quite right in the head as well. The vet has always said she's perfectly healthy and other than a beak trim when I first got her, she's never needed any kind of vet care. I'm going to try and give her even more attention/ enrichment and see if that helps but if not then I'll just accept that she's grumpy and hates life for some reason

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

It sounds like overall your birds have a socially and environmentally rich life. In addition to wrench13's idea of more training, what about taking her on walks in a carrier or stroller? Also, target training if she doesn't target already - you can use that to really make her fly/climb/hop short to longer distances to touch the target - mental as well as physical stimulation. Also can be used to channel excitement in a healthy way before she directs it AT you.

Also, you might want to think about a thorough vet checkup with bloodwork IF your avian vet thinks it's a good idea, just in case there's some kind of chronic discomfort/pain or other medical issue brewing beyond just maturation/hormones. The screaming and not doing so many activities she used to enjoy certainly is troubling.

Good luck!

I haven't tried target training with her before but I can get her to fly to things by tapping them so I guess that's a form of it? I'll try doing it the proper way though as that's something new for her. She can step up, get in the carry case, give kisses, spin, pick up objects and I've been trying to teach her to wave and nod her head like my other conure but she doesn't really grasp it yet. She really likes going out and about and I used to take her in the car before I realised she got quite sick from it so I stopped. My sister also used to live with us and I used to take them into her room every morning for a few hours (I'm only allowed to let them out in my room since she moved out as my parents have a cat and they don't like the birds in the house too much) but she moved out and so they only stay in my room or go outside now. I didn't really think about that until you said about taking her out and about, but I think she probably does miss that. I've been thinking things will get better when I can move out with my boyfriend and they can have more freedom inside, but I don't know when that will happen or even if I'll be able to find somewhere to rent that will let me bring them so I'm stuck here for now.

As a small update, I took them out this morning and hand fed her her breakfast (she loves it for some reason) and she was trying to give me kisses the whole time and didn't try attacking me so I think maybe she does need to be a bit spoilt to be happy. I've been worried about spoiling her too much but maybe that's what she needs to be happier so I'm going to try that as well as all the training and enrichment tips!