Need help with my Jenday

[JenConure]

Hi everyone!

I am new to parrots and I bought my Jenday Conure a couple of months ago when it was 11 months old. It was a really exciting experience at first, the conure became attached to me right away and was sitting on my shoulder, kissing and feeling comfortable at my apartment the same day. However about a week after I got him his attraction to me went away and he became inseparable from my GF. Now a couple of months down the road he is just in his cage all the time unless she is here, and if I try to hold him he just waits for a little bit and then flies away from me. I am just the person who feeds him and cleans his crap up.

This is pretty frustrating since I got this parrot for myself and it doesn't want to do anything with me. I would love to keep him, but I can't make him like me and I don't want a pet that doesn't want to interact with me.

Please give me advice on how I can win back my little buddy Coco?

 

[cthulhus_minion]

Does she play with him alot? I know I worry about the same thing when I get an African Grey. I'd say keep their interaction down to a minimum and if there is anything he loves whether it be a treat or a toy, make it your time with him. Like everytime you get him out, give him a treat he likes so he will start associating you with the treat or good things. Hope this helps, there are alot of others that know way more than me but I understand your frustration and wanted to try to help.

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express

 

[aliray]

If he is flying away get his wings clipped which will make him depend on you more to get him from point a to point b. They will regrow by his next moult. Then work on getting him to gain his trust. feed him special treats by hand. take your time because building trust with a parrot can take time. look up clicker training and mabey try that

 

[khaiqha]

I recommend against clipping but that's because I believe clipping to be an awful practice for birds.

..but anyway here's an article that might help you.

The 60-40 Rule « Jamieleigh's Parrot Help


I know how you feel, as my birds have never picked me to be their favorites. They always like my roommates who hate them. Luckily they still like me as their #2 person. Something that helped which got them to like my roommates less and me more was I had my roommates be the ones to put my birds up, take unsafe things away, basically all the things my birds hate.

Also, have a special thing that only you do with your bird. Training tricks/behaviors is probably only going to be done by you, so make that a special, super fun time. Have a favorite treat that only you give your bird.

You can also reduce the amount of time your bird is allowed on your girlfriend. For about two weeks my Alexandrine was glued to one of my roommates. My roommate got sick of it and immediately removed the bird every time he landed, or just waved his hands in the air to keep my bird from landing on him. After a week of that my bird took the hint and now only goes to him every now and then. He's still my bird's favorite person, but he knows now that I'm the human that likes to play and feed him, and let him sit on my shoulder.

 

[JenConure]

Thanks for the replies!

 

[Annageckos]

Wing clipping has its place, and may help you bond more with your bird. Then you could let them grow back in. When I got my GCC her wings were clipped so she couldn't fly away. She settled in pretty quickly and bonded with me. Then after a few more weeks or so she seems to prefer my boyfriend, Brian. I am the main caretaker for her, and she still loves me, sits with me and cuddles. But if Brian comes into the room she will fly to him almost every time. We both spoil her but he lets her get away with just about everything while I enforce the rules. You could try finding a treat that your bird loves and you be the only one to give him. Try spending time with him too when lights are low at night close to bedtime.

 

[MikeyTN]

Like it's been said, feathers do grow back, it's not like it's permanent! It's NOT like declawing your cat, now that's permanent and cruel in my book that I would never do to my cats.

Clipping them at first during training period, especially when a bird is new to you, it really helps with a lot of issues, but there's also clicker training and such that can help as well too if you don't want to clip. BUT certain birds are stubborn and clicker training isn't going to work, even with treats. I have a few that's too smart for their own good that no treats or clicker training will work for them. But I am able to hold them though and they're not clipped. I don't clip my birds either as I'm partial with clipping, not a fan of it BUT will do it if I must. I do clip the babies I've raised as it's a lot easier for them to get adjusted to their new homes and the new owners will have the option to clip or not to clip once they molt. I told them all the options before they leave. As there are pros and cons. Don't get me wrong, certain babies are so attached to me and doesn't fly away from me, it hurts me that I must clip them because it's just a lot easier for the new owners when they don't try to fly off when they try to bond with them.

 

[gccgirl]

Tell ur gf to do everything he hates and you do all the good things he likes and eventually he might prefer u over your gf clip his wings if u wish

 

[khaiqha]

I really don't want to hijack and turn this into a clipping vs flighted thread, but I will say that there are other options besides clipping, and that training and understanding a bird yields great long term results.