Sun confused by commands after first major molt.

[Arcygenical]

Hello all,

I purchased a baby Sun from an independent breeder about 10 months ago, last month, he began his first major molt (currently has 2 tailfeathers and 4 primary flight feathers growing in) - so he's right around the year old mark.

He (I'm assuming he's male - has the head shape and temperament) always been very smart and eager to listen to commands for treats. For the better part of 8 months he was no longer reliant on treats to produce desired behaviours either.

Ever since the molt, basic commands such as "up," "Down," and "step" are either disregarded, or frustrating to the poor guy. Even a simple command like step causes frustration reactions (beak scraping on my finger, pacing, biting, and eventually looking away as he's aware biting isn't acceptable). This has been going on for about a month. I have tried re-training using an aggressive reward schedule (typically every 1-3 actions, he gets a treat) but he rarely makes it past 1 expression of the desired behavior.

We're still very well bonded (can't say the same for my live-in girlfriend, who he enjoys, but tolerates) as he sleeps on me, desires being on my shoulder, crunches his beak, preens me, and dances and sings along with me. He isn't cage aggressive as he enjoys me playing with his toys in his cage, etc.

Anyone ever have this experience?

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Just a note on the beak scraping. That is a VERY common sun conure behavior that is part of preening. He is using your finger the scratch an itch- Skittles does this a lot. He rapidly bobs his head while he's doing it.

As for his gender, there is no definitive (or even common) way of determining a suns gender outside of DNA testing (unless your sun suddenly lays an egg, lol). So physical appearance has nothing to do with it.

Given that your sun isn't being aggressive, its hard to root out the actual cause. Usually, when they are grumpy (from not enough sleep) or molting and even breeding season- they get aggressive and temperamental.

I'm curious though, are the commands he is now ignoring used daily? Have you stopped using them? You have to be persistent and patient. Even if its a command that you no longer "HAVE TO" use, you still want to use it, to keep persistent.

For example, if I leave the room, Skittles will follow me. I no longer need to command him to fly to me when I leave. BUT, I still do it- otherwise he will only follow if he wants to (which he does, but thats not the point). So when I want him to fly over, I tap my shoulder and say 'come on' and then I leave the room. This is only if you want them to follow you, some people want the opposite.

Also, don't give treats when giving them commands if they don't obey, or even shortly after disobeying. If they are gonna get the treat anyways, why bother obeying?

Suns are incredibly smart and clever and they WILL try to outsmart you daily. They will also try to coax you into giving them a treat whenever they want it (cue the hopping, rapid head bobbing etc) Skittles also makes "kissy noises". You need major willpower to handle that. lol.