Sun Conure Help Please

[dotberet]

So I recently bought a baby sun conure.

Born 7/14/2021

Any and everytime I have her out of her cage the only thing she wants to do is pick at my hands.

She doesnt hurt me at all. I try to distract her or move her to her open play area but right after she will fly to my shoulder, climb down my arm and begin picking at my hands again.

Instead of having her out the entire time I am home, I have to limit her time because I cant even clean up or do anything around the house because she will not stay off my hands.

Any advice would be appreciated. My whole plan when I got her was to have her out all the time but I have been unable to stop this habit.

 

[foxgloveparrot]

Try (gently) setting her down and giving her a treat right away for not being on your hand. Then extend the period of time she has to be on a perch or cage top before she gets a treat.
Maybe teach "step up" as a command, so she knows not to just do it unless you ask.
Be patient. Good luck.

 

[Laurasea]

I've seen this behavior in burds that haven't had enough attention and contact. So when they have contact they want to obsessively preen the person. In one foster they would actually strip the skin around my fingernails .

So what helped in that situation , and what would be my recommendations for you.

Flood them with out of cage one on one attention . ignore the finger attention and just endure. I didn't give negative attention or postive attention to it.. While Pet, preen, sweet talk and cuddling until they are able to stop this focus on your fingers. For me this took over an hour each time. Then I did as foxgloveparrot recommended above. Placed them on a perch with a treat and pretend busied myself but stayed just a foot or two away. In just a couple if minutes I'd go back over praise them, then move them to a different perch and do the same thing maybe a little longer. then hold them and give one on one attention again. Then move them to top of cage with stuff to do again, veggies, shredder paper with seeds mixed in. ( I usually need food to keep them distracted at furst)And build on that. But expect each time you get them out you will have to spend time with the soothing cuddling. But over time they will get less frantic about it.

No magic takes place in the cage, just more frustrations, more need for attention.

Mine require daily preening and cuddling for over an hour. More some days but can be split up during the day. Plus several hours of out of cage hanging out near me with a few hellos and treats sprinkle in. Plus activities time, foraging together, a few extremely simple tricks, like come to the perch I tap on, climb this ladder for a treat, pick this up for a treat. I just spend a few minutes. But many have fun doing more.

Stuff that occupies them

Enrichment ideas, share yours

I'm often posting how I use ceiling hooks abd heavy weight fishing line to create what I call an aerial gym. I attach foraging stuff, stuff to chew, and treats to find to keep my flock busy. So now I will share examples to inspire you. Hopefully you all will share yours to inspire me too! this...

www.parrotforums.com

This can be a lot of fun to do together, but you have to start simple and easy