Should I?

[why_fly_high]

OK, I REALLY want a Conure. I have been researching, looking, learning, etc. I have had a couple birds over the years, Tiel when I was a kid that I loved and it loved me. It became egg bound and died before I left home. A Budgie we were given when the owner lost their home. Never out of its cage with the previous owner but in a few weeks it was cool coming out and hanging out with us and would step up. not affectionate and would not lets us pet him but would hang out with us and seemed happy. Not sure why he/she died after we had it for 5-6 years.

My concern, We are the average family that is gone during the day. We leave the house at 7:30 and the kids get home at 3:30 and I get home at 5:30. We are home most every night and most of the weekends. I think the bird could be out most of the time we are home but is this being fair to a Conure?

 

[GaleriaGila]

Lots of people will have more specific and constructive input. All I really have is my own story, but it brings up some of the issues you may face, so I'll tell it. Also, I LIKE telling it!
I got the Rickeybird in 1984 when I was in college. I was immediately fearing getting evicted due to his noise, and my family at the time HATED him. But at least I had a schedule that allowed me to spend a lot of time with him. Somehow we made it.
Then there were were years (about 25 of them) when 5-6 days a week, I was gone at 7:30-ish and back at 6-ish.
Some did and will consider me wrong and think I should have re-homed him.
Anyway, here is what I think made it work.
I moved and got new jobs maybe 5 times or so. BUT...
Every morning, he had at least ten minutes, and every evening, he had 20 or so. I have always kept him on a natural light schedule, in a separate room, so sometimes those times together were in the dark. During the day, he had a big window looking out on something interesting, a television on his favorite channel (CNN - he loves talking heads), a biggg cage, lots of fun foods, and toys.
He KNEW he could count on those two crummy sessions a day. Somehow we both made it.
I'm now retired and times are good again. He's with me most of the day, usually. I can't imagine life without him at this point.
Good luck to you in making a decision. And welcome to the Forum... you'll get lots of empathy and advice here.

Glad you found us! I commend you for thinking and researching and reaching out!

 

[JBassset]

I work a fairly typical schedule as well. I'm out the door by 7:00 and usually home by 5:00. Some nights I meet friends for a beer, have after hours meetings, etc and may not be home till 8:00.

Other nights I get home but have to leave again and don't get home till closer to bed time.

What I do is a lot like what was described above. Stephen gets at least 20 minutes with me in the morning. When I get home he comes out and spends most of the evening with me either cuddling or on his play stand. No matter what, it's at least 30 minutes as long as he's willing to engage with me. Sometimes he's already put himself to bed so I just leave him be.

While I'm gone, he's in his cage, watching out the window, has many toys, food and things to do.

I keep him on a natural light schedule but he doesn't seem to care about that preferring to be up when I am and down when I'm not.

He seems happy and has been doing very well. I've only had him a month but in that time we've got from frequent bloody bites multiple times a day to no bites at all. Unless he sees your toes because those are evil and he needs to attack them.

My thought in your situation is the kids. How old are they and can they safely handle a bird without supervision?

 

[snowflake311]

Lots of people will have more specific and constructive input. All I really have is my own story, but it brings up some of the issues you may face, so I'll tell it. Also, I LIKE telling it!
I got the separate in 1984 when I was in college. I was immediately fearing getting evicted due to his noise, and my family at the time HATED him. But at least I had a schedule that allowed me to spend a lot of time with him. Somehow we made it.
Then there were were years (about 25 of them) when 5-6 days a week, I was gone at 7:30-ish and back at 6-ish.
Some did and will consider me wrong and think I should have re-homed him.
Anyway, here is what I think made it work.
I moved and got new jobs maybe 5 times or so. BUT...
Every morning, he had at least ten minutes, and every evening, he had 20 or so. I have always kept him on a natural light schedule, in a separate room, so sometimes those times together were in the dark. During the day, he had a big window looking out on something interesting, a television on his favorite channel (CNN - he loves talking heads), a biggg cage, lots of fun foods, and toys.
He KNEW he could count on those two crummy sessions a day. Somehow we both made it.
I'm now retired and times are good again. He's with me most of the day, usually. I can't imagine life without him at this point.
Good luck to you in making a decision. And welcome to the Forum... you'll get lots of empathy and advice here.

Glad you found us! I commend you for thinking and researching and reaching out!

I think it is awesome that you never gave up your baby. Yes there might be times in your life that are not ideal for the bird. Those times are often short maybe a year or 2. In the grand picture 1-2 years is not long for a parrot seeing that they live to 20+ years. I think it is always better to keep your parrot and work threw it than rehome.

I have a black capped conure. I have a similar life to yours. I have a daughter , 2 dogs, fish, geckos, and work. Sprinkles is out every night from 6:30-9:00pm. 9 is his bed time. During this time he is on me or running around the table helping with homework, watching tv, and Helping me type on my computer. Others days I will let him out to play in his bird safe room. Sprinkles also has 2 parakeets in the room right next to him. He loves to bother them and have screaming matches with Olaf. I do feel it is good to give your bird another feathered friend to talk with. They don't feel so alone on days you might not be around. Only thing with having more than one bird is. Sprinkles tries to bully the parakeets so I never have them out together. so they get separate out of cage time and that can be hard.

I find it much easier to give my bird what he needs than what my crazy dog needs. My bird is happy just hanging out with me nipping my hand and is just happy to be with me. My dog on the other hand is only happy on 2 mile HIKES or chasing little kitters outside. It is easy to find time to chill with a bird. It is a bit harder to find time to take a 2 mile hike. Yeah I am turning more and more into a bird person as I age. haha.

There are so many other birds to pick from. I love love love my conure they are the best. That said there are times when I feel like he is just too much of a velcor bird and it makes it hard to get anything done with him around. A part of me wishes I had waited for a Pionus that needed to be rehomed. They seem like a great bird for a busy family with kids.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Thanks for that, Snowflake.
I did try giving him some pet fish. I noticed that he seemed fascinated with the aquarium fish in our livingroom, so I got him a big bowl of fish for his room.
Might be worth a try for you folks who are worrying about your bird being alone too much.

 

[why_fly_high]

I work a fairly typical schedule as well. I'm out the door by 7:00 and usually home by 5:00. Some nights I meet friends for a beer, have after hours meetings, etc and may not be home till 8:00.

Other nights I get home but have to leave again and don't get home till closer to bed time.

What I do is a lot like what was described above. Stephen gets at least 20 minutes with me in the morning. When I get home he comes out and spends most of the evening with me either cuddling or on his play stand. No matter what, it's at least 30 minutes as long as he's willing to engage with me. Sometimes he's already put himself to bed so I just leave him be.

While I'm gone, he's in his cage, watching out the window, has many toys, food and things to do.

I keep him on a natural light schedule but he doesn't seem to care about that preferring to be up when I am and down when I'm not.

He seems happy and has been doing very well. I've only had him a month but in that time we've got from frequent bloody bites multiple times a day to no bites at all. Unless he sees your toes because those are evil and he needs to attack them.

My thought in your situation is the kids. How old are they and can they safely handle a bird without supervision?

Kids are 16 and 13 so not much concern there. My research keeps talking about spending a lot of time with the bird. I get that and want to but was just curious if most Parronts don't have normal work schedules.

 

[Loko]

Many people have birds and work.. after all most people arent lucky enough to have the money to do whatever they want all day, that would be nice though . I think what everyone said is true. I also have been off and on working full time, as well as semesters of college thrown in between as well and my sun does fine during these times. Just make sure there is "too much" to keep him entertained. If you have a room that you can "bird proof", you can do what I do and keep the cage open all the time. This way he has a whole room to fly around, go to different playstands, cage, etc. Either way make sure you get a very large cage, I got a really good cage thats roughly 3ft h x 1.5ftw x 2.5ft l . Similar to this Pali Place Bird Cage with Stand, Small Bird Cages, Flight Cages, Bird Cages
but cant comment on that specific cage or company. I wouldnt get anything smaller. Just make sure you are ready for the commitment. Its a great friendship and super rewarding but at times challenging and needs care and love for as long as he or shes around which can be 30 years. If you are going to be working most of the day its crucial that the bird gets time out to excersize and bond with you and the family every single day whenever possible and not just when you feel like it. You can also consider getting two. I dont have as much experience dealing with pairs so someone else would have to help you with any questions regarding that.
If youve done the research and it sounds good, then go for it, conures are fun little birds.
Like GaleriaGirl said my sun also loves CNN, funny you mentioned that. I always leave the tv on so theres something for him to see and hear if he gets bored with his toys. Also get plenty of toys and different types.. chew toys, foraging toys, many conures like things they can snuggle with as well, theres this little hanging blanket toy that seems popular ive seen. Good luck!

 

[Kiwibird]

In general, parrots are rather adaptable to varying work schedules so long as they get interaction time daily and have activities to entertain them while nobody is home (i.e. frequently rotated toys, foraging, radio/TV left on etc...). Thing is, you have to dedicate yourself to spending time with the parrot every single day before and after work. That may mean not going out to eat as much, considering how the kids after school activities you may need to go to would affect the birds time, do you go out of town/on vacation frequently etc... Most 9-5er bird owners will tell you they often forego a big social life outside the home in order to dedicate enough time to their birds. Many of us forego vacations entirely, as finding a reliable sitter for a bird is difficult and you become quite attached to the little buggars and miss them when you're away from them. We only go on trips where we can bring our bird, which greatly limits you on what kind of vacations or trips you can go on. Parrots are wonderful but time consuming, attention needy pets. The comparison between parrots and toddlers is a good one. They are a winged toddler who will never grow up. Will that work for your family?

That said, parrots are very social creatures and if harness trained or investing in a suitable carrier can be included in many activities outside the home during the warm months and in fact enjoy getting out and about. Our bird gets quite stir crazy in the winter he enjoys outings so much and gets all excited like a dog when you ask if he wants to go in the car. They also like being included in home too- they'll sit on the shower door while you shower, they'll watch you do chores, they enjoy being at the table for meals, enjoy hanging out while your relaxing/watching TV/playing games/kids doing homework. Not all interactions need to be really direct 1 on 1 interactions and they benefit greatly from passive inclusion in family life.

 

[why_fly_high]

I would plan on harness training the bird. We don't have a lot of activities and don't eat out all that often. We really are home most evenings. I could see bringing the bird to the office as I work with family and don't have many visitors. I don't want to count on that though. I would love to be able to take the bird places with me.

 

[Kiwibird]

If staying in is your norm already, then I wouldn't foresee too much issues working in enough time to have a happy, well adjusted bird.

 

[Reni]

Luckily I've never had this problem, as my husband retired several years before me and therefore there was always someone at home when I used to have my Eclectus.
I only got my cockatiels after I retired.
I've heard that having another bird in the room, even if it is a canary would be a good idea, so that the birds can communicate. A canary would be easier than another parrot, as canaries don't need the hands-on approach.

 

[wrench13]

In your considerations, please factor in time to not only play with your bird, but cleaning up after him. Parrots poop. A lot Like every 15 min or so, and they tend to be very messy with food. Clean up should be done every day or other day. That involves not only sweeping up but cleaning the cage bottom and the teeny tiny nooks and crannies where the bars meet the frame. SO after you come home feed everyone, play with your kids and the bird, its clean up time. Smart use of stands, food bowl guards etc can cut that down some. And wait til molting time comes and there are white floofies - down feathers - every where - tooth brushes (yes) under beds and couches, clothe.. everywhere. If your a fastidious neatfreak, this might bother you. For us, it is 5x worth the effort to keep a parrot but factor in cleaning,

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I think a lot of it depends on the bird.

If you get a bird when its young enough, you can train it to become accustomed to your specific lifestyle.

If you take in a re-homed bird that has spent most of its adult life outside of the cage (like Skitty for example), then it'll be much harder. Not suggesting you avoid a re-homed bird, just stating that it 'may' require more of an adjustment. So just keep that in mind- perhaps you can find a bird for re-homing that is already used to a similar schedule.

While "ideally" a conure should have at LEAST 2 hrs a day of direct interaction/outside time, if you can do say 15-20min in the morning and say an hour or two at night- you should be good to go. I think that allowing that brief time in the morning is very important. When I first wake Skittles up, he expects to come out of his cage. If I have to leave the house I always make sure he has had at least 15-20min outside of cage before leaving the house.

Another thing to consider is cage size. If you get your conure an oversized cage with lots of room and toys you'll be much better off. They can entertain themselves for hours as long as they have the room and toys to do so. You may also want to put music on and have a light on them near their cage. That's what I do with Skittles whenever I leave. He is totally quiet and doesn't make a peep while I'm gone until I enter the house when he greets me and does his whole "lean forward and vibrate" act which means "let me out, let me out!".

I also find that in my experience and based on what I have heard is that conures (suns in particular) are much quieter when kept as single birds and are free-flighted a majority of the time.