Is it possible to regain trust of 20 year old neglected sun conure?

SerenaSun

New member
Aug 6, 2023
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13
Parrots
Serena the Sun Conure
Hello all, thank you in advance for any information you can give me as I have tried to do a lot of research and I can not seem to come to a particularly good information or method in my case for my bird. My case is rather embarrassing and complicated and I am trying to do right by it now. I have a 20 year old sun conure that has recently, like a month ago, become mine now that my dad can no longer take care of her.

We got her when she was almost a year old and unfortunately she came to us already abused and traumatized by the small shop owners who would reach into the cage and grab the birds with a glove (this store went out of business shortly after). Because of this, from the start of having her, she was aggressive and untrusting toward hands. However, my dad had made it his mission to get her to say "pretty bird" as as he was the first one up in the morning, he would talk to her (saying "pretty bird pretty bird" to her over and over) and feed her so she bonded with him. I was a child at the time and could not understand or handle a bird, so she never had any bond to me even though she has known me for so long. After bonding with my dad, she especially became more aggressive toward me and my mom and would not even let us change her water or food. For the past year now my dad's dementia has now been getting worse and I have moved back in with him to take care of him and the pets, my mom is out of the picture now.

Now for the more embarrassing part, even though my dad provided our Sun Conure (Serena) with everything she needed for thriving in her cage, he never did socialize her well or get her out much except for once in a while and she has become a very cage bound bird. So I do have to admit my parents were not the best bird owners and she has been a neglected bird with not being socialized and probably bored, and I feel terrible about it. My dad was also told to feed her this one particular sun conure mix diet of seeds we get from a bird farm close to us, and now since I am taking over her care and have done more research than we were ever previously informed, I did not know she needed a way more balanced diet. I have since started trying to feed her some more veggies and grains and fruits (and now starting pellets) by mixing it in with her seed but she does not seem to touch anything except the seeds and will forage around in the mix just for the seeds. If I only give her the mix of a sun conure recipe I found on another forum, she does not touch it at all.

She is extremely cage bound and I have been doing everything I can to show her that my hands are not threats but she does not at all trust hands. So it is not like she does not know me exactly as I have always been around the house and throughout her life interacted with her many times and never in a negative way (mostly she would just be on my shoulder for a few minutes while my dad cleaned her cage, but then my dad would take her back), but she just still has such anger and aggression toward me. When she is out of her cage she does not have aggression and just is more wary of everything and wants to do whatever she can to fly back to her cage if possible. I have had my dad help take her into another room and I was even able to give her head pets and had her on my hands a few time, but she entirely just wants to stay on my shoulder. The primary problem, however, is still getting her out of the cage and the aggression and anger she shows me while she is in her cage.

However, I have had some progress in the last month of trying to gain her trust as she no longer attempts to absolutely murder me when I change out her food and water and I can open her cage and put my hand just outside while it is open it to try to see if she will come to me without her directly going to attack me. I also can now offer her food that she sorta takes out of my hands... except she doesn't eat it. I give her longer things (because otherwise she bites my fingers) like apple or bell pepper strips and she will bite it, throw it out and away and then aggressively take another bite of the food and throw that away too. She is not necessarily afraid of me, more afraid to come out of her cage and just angry and aggressive toward me, but when she is out of her cage and not within any sight of it she calms way down. I don't know when or how I would be able to target train her because she does not seem to want or accept any treats I give her, she just grabs and spits it out.

I know it is not very long that I have been trying to regain her trust and I still have a long way to go and I will continue to try to do it, I just wanted to check in with you all if I can do or should do anything else. I feel bad that she has not gotten what she should have had all these years to have a happy and fulfilling life and I am trying to do what I can to make however much time she has left much better for her and would really appreciate if anyone can help offer me some guidance for my case. Thank you all.
 
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Welcome to the Forums, and thank you for taking on Serena! I'm sorry for the circumstances that led you to take her, but you've found a great place to ask questions and hopefully get some helpful answers.

Here's a good place to start:

Basically, begin at ground zero, as though Serena is a new bird to you. The past is the past, so always look forward. Lots of patience, and let things progress at her place. I have a 30-50 year old CAG (jury is still out on the age) that came to me after his owner passed 15 years ago, and the wife kept him, also completely cage bound since then, and not sure how long before that. He was in a very small cage with remnants of old toys, and tiny dishes so there was no way for him to bathe. Somehow, despite all that, with a new start he's just amazing.

To be fair, there are lots of birds out there that just don't like hands. That doesn't mean you can't interact, bond, or have a wonderful relationship.
 
I think the fact that she is calmer when away from her cage is good, and telling you that she is cage agressive. Even if she has to be moved with a perch, getter her into that neutral ground, a play station or play area away from the cage, its a good place for new bonding and play. For veggies to try, slices of the hottest peppers you can find, habanera, Ghost, what ever. Regular bell type peppers are pretty bland to them. Just remember to really wash those hands after! Mixing her seeds up with cooked and mashed sweet potatoes or yams is another way to get veggies in her.
 
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Welcome to the Forums, and thank you for taking on Serena! I'm sorry for the circumstances that led you to take her, but you've found a great place to ask questions and hopefully get some helpful answers.

Here's a good place to start:

Basically, begin at ground zero, as though Serena is a new bird to you. The past is the past, so always look forward. Lots of patience, and let things progress at her place. I have a 30-50 year old CAG (jury is still out on the age) that came to me after his owner passed 15 years ago, and the wife kept him, also completely cage bound since then, and not sure how long before that. He was in a very small cage with remnants of old toys, and tiny dishes so there was no way for him to bathe. Somehow, despite all that, with a new start he's just amazing.

To be fair, there are lots of birds out there that just don't like hands. That doesn't mean you can't interact, bond, or have a wonderful relationship.
That is really reassuring to hear that even after having been cage bound for so long, he still is doing amazing! I hope the same will be for Serena. How did you convince him that he could come out of his cage or not be aggressive while in his cage? Thank you for the link, I will try the clicker training and see if it can work.
 
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Thank you so much for your input, I will absolutely try the mashed sweet potatoes! She just does not like anything other than seeds right now it seems, but that is what she has been used to for many years now. Since Serena is both cage bound and cage aggressive it is very difficult to get her out of her cage to the neutral area. Is there anything you recommend to transitioning her there? My dad no longer can really convince her to get out of her cage. She does not really hide in her cage and actually will be right there at the edge of the door so I put my hand to her and she will step up but at the same time I will get bitten (very hard) in order to put her on my shoulder and then halfway out of the room she just flies back to her cage. I have been trying to bond with her right on the edge area of the door and will offer her treats but she just is aggressive towards anything I try to give her.
I think the fact that she is calmer when away from her cage is good, and telling you that she is cage agressive. Even if she has to be moved with a perch, getter her into that neutral ground, a play station or play area away from the cage, its a good place for new bonding and play. For veggies to try, slices of the hottest peppers you can find, habanera, Ghost, what ever. Regular bell type peppers are pretty bland to them. Just remember to really wash those hands after! Mixing her seeds up with cooked and mashed sweet potatoes or yams is another way to get veggies in her.
 
Patience! Working with parrots is an exercise in patience. Incremental steps forward (and a few backwards) is the ticket. Parrots rate of accepting change is GLACIAL, when compared with our quick monkey brains.
 
I have a grey that has been cage bound, she is now opening up daily and prefers to be out more than in the cage. The first months were tricky, learning to read her body language and all, but with time she has become the sweetest grey ever. Time and patience and don’t push hard just encourage daily and give opportunity and when she is ready, she will walk through that open door.
 
Thank you so much for your input, I will absolutely try the mashed sweet potatoes! She just does not like anything other than seeds right now it seems, but that is what she has been used to for many years now. Since Serena is both cage bound and cage aggressive it is very difficult to get her out of her cage to the neutral area. Is there anything you recommend to transitioning her there? My dad no longer can really convince her to get out of her cage. She does not really hide in her cage and actually will be right there at the edge of the door so I put my hand to her and she will step up but at the same time I will get bitten (very hard) in order to put her on my shoulder and then halfway out of the room she just flies back to her cage. I have been trying to bond with her right on the edge area of the door and will offer her treats but she just is aggressive towards anything I try to give her.
I would avoid letting Serena sit on your shoulder until she can be trusted not to bite your face, neck and ears. She can really hurt you and your reaction if she does (a shriek, perhaps) is likely to startle her and set back your bonding progress. Just take your time with the old girl. I think it's wonderful that you are trying to improve her quality of life at her age.
 
I would avoid letting Serena sit on your shoulder until she can be trusted not to bite your face, neck and ears. She can really hurt you and your reaction if she does (a shriek, perhaps) is likely to startle her and set back your bonding progress. Just take your time with the old girl. I think it's wonderful that you are trying to improve her quality of life at her age.
Totally agree with this. Shoulder privileges to be far in the future.
 
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I would avoid letting Serena sit on your shoulder until she can be trusted not to bite your face, neck and ears. She can really hurt you and your reaction if she does (a shriek, perhaps) is likely to startle her and set back your bonding progress. Just take your time with the old girl. I think it's wonderful that you are trying to improve her quality of life at her age.
Thank you, weirdly she has never ever bitten my face or is aggressive while on my shoulder. She bites and is aggressive coming out of her cage but once she is out she is calm and does not bite at all. She also refuses to be put on a perch. If she is out of her cage and away from seeing it, she will refuse to sit on anything and flies directly back to a shoulder! I am doing what I can and she does not really seem like she is scared of me, just upset about ever leaving her cage or me getting too close to her while she is in her cage. Thank you thought for this input, I feel like I have been making some progress and I will just continue to try what I can to show her I am trusted and she has it different now than what she has had in the past!
 
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I have a grey that has been cage bound, she is now opening up daily and prefers to be out more than in the cage. The first months were tricky, learning to read her body language and all, but with time she has become the sweetest grey ever. Time and patience and don’t push hard just encourage daily and give opportunity and when she is ready, she will walk through that open door.
I have been opening her cage door, but should I just keep it open most of the time or should it be in increments of time? Thank you so much for the encouragement, I would love if she becomes a super sweet bird I just worry if what I'm doing will work okay for her to finally understand she doesn't have to be aggressive.
 
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Patience! Working with parrots is an exercise in patience. Incremental steps forward (and a few backwards) is the ticket. Parrots rate of accepting change is GLACIAL, when compared with our quick monkey brains.
This means so much to me because I worried quite a few times that I had done some few steps backwards because I had to get her out of her cage to clean her cage and she hated me even more for a little bit but then she seemed somewhat okay with me again after a little while! So knowing there still will be a few backwards gives me such reassurance and encouragement. I know everywhere I have read says to not force her out of her cage but she refuses to leave at all and it got to the point where I really really needed to clean out her cage.
 
Thank you so much for taking on the care of Serena and doing your research. I admire that you are putting in effort to try to give her the things she missed out on in the past. It’s great that she enjoys being out with you once she is out!

Will she step onto a perch from the cage instead of your finger?
 
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Thank you so much for taking on the care of Serena and doing your research. I admire that you are putting in effort to try to give her the things she missed out on in the past. It’s great that she enjoys being out with you once she is out!

Will she step onto a perch from the cage instead of your finger?
It really means so much to me that you say that, thank you. Once she can get over her cage bound anxiety and hopefully the cage aggression, I think she could be a really sweet bird!

Unfortunately she will not, she refuses to leave the cage in any way on her own and bites the perch instead of getting up on it. She also hates the T stand and if I try to put her on it she flies back to my shoulder. I put it in her cage to get her used to seeing it but she still just refuses to be on anything but a shoulder or in her cage right now.
 

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