Sun conure Behavior

[Anastasia_black]

Hello!
I have a sun conure named mango and have had him for 2 months now. He is fantastic but his behaviour is confusing. When we train he happily gives me kisses and will lightly nibble my finger for treats but will not dare let me touch him. I have a clicker and tried stick training but is not having any of it. Over the past few days he has been flying near me and around me as if he’s curious and screams when I leave. Does anyone have any advice on how bond him more and what it means when he gets close to me?

 

[saxguy64]

Hello, and welcome to you and Mango!


You've come to a great place, with lots of folks happy to help and answer questions. Hope you'll stick around, and enjoy!



How old is Mango? Helpful to know where he's at developmentally. Sounds like he is wanting to be with you, but not super trusting yet. Try to look at things from his perspective. Parrots are prey animals, and so have no reason to trust us. We have to earn it. It's only been two months, so don't worry too much over that. Some birds just take longer than others. You need to move at HIS pace, whatever that may be. Expecting too much, too soon, can make things take much longer, or blow the trust all together. Here's some reading that should be helpful for you. I'm new to posting links to other threads, but I'll try it. Here you go...


http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html


Also, do you have pictures of Mango you'd like to share? We do love pictures here.

 

[Scott]

A warm welcome to you and Mango, thanks for joining our family!

The advice and link provide by "saxguy64" above are superb and the basis for clicker/stick training. Really, everything builds on basic trust and a bond. Establish that and you should see steady success!

Please keep us updated on your progress with Mango!

 

[Anastasia_black]

He’s now 7 months old! He’s super silly! I’d love to post a photo but I’m still trying to figure out this website lol

 

[Anastasia_black]

http://www.parrotforums.com/members/anastasia_black-albums-mango-picture22451-my-favourite-toy.jpeg Here you go!<3

 

[saxguy64]

Ahh. I'm not terribly knowledgeable about conures and timing of such things, but I'm thinking that on top of being new, he might be entering the land of puberty and hormones. Fun times! Conure folks will surely be along to help shed some light on that.

Anyway, love the picture, he's beautiful!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Jen5200]

Welcome to you and Mango! He’s adorable. What kind of training have you been doing with him? Are you using his favourite treat as the reward? To me it sounds as though he’s very curious about you, he’s assessing the situation and wants to interact with you on his terms. I have a few thoughts...completely stream of consciousness, so please forgive the randomness.

I have 5 conures and they’re pretty individual about how they train and developed a bond with me. I figured out what their absolute favourite treat is, and then use that only for training. Target training worked well with 2 of my conures and not so much with the other 3 . Some of my conures really took a lot of time to want to be handled (in fact I’m still working with one of them on step-up). Work at their pace, and don’t force handling (unless its a safety issue). There’s a lot of interactions you can have, training you can do and games you can play without pushing his boundaries too soon. Mr Tee loves to ride around on my shoulder but has a lot of hesitation about hands and being handled. We work with it and some day I hope he trusts me enough to step up. Tango has never loved being touched, but rides around on me all the time, flies to me from wherever she is, loves doing tricks for treats and likes interacting on her terms. We play games where I toss a ball or jing a bell - and she tackles it - great fun. Most of mine like to sit near and talk to me - I talk back - and they tell me all about their day. You’ll develop a connection as you interact in more ways and with time. It sounds like you are doing great so far...just take your time and be patient .

 

[Scott]

He’s now 7 months old! He’s super silly! I’d love to post a photo but I’m still trying to figure out this website lol

You have a limited amount of server memory with forum membership and can upload images using the "paper clip" icon in the control panel immediately to right of the smiley drop down memory. (located in the grey box above the blank space to write text)

Best method is to post directly from a free hosting site such as Imgur: http://www.parrotforums.com/technical-support/6287-how-post-pictures-6.html#post718293