Sun Conure is acting aggressive toward my daughter

[ScubaQueen85]

Hello everyone! My husband and I got our sun conure, Chiquita, when she was just 7 months old. The lady I purchased her from was very good to her in the time she owned her but simply worked too much to be able to spend an adequate amount of time at home with her. She told me that she bought her from a breeder and that she was sexed through DNA as a female. When we brought her home, she was the perfect companion. We have 3 children, a 9 year old son, and two daughters, ages 2 and 6. My six year old daughter is extremely attached to her. If she could spend all day with Chiquita and take her everywhere, she would.

Here's my problem. Back in May, my 2 year old, Adrina, hit Chiquita with her baby blanket. Ever since then, the sight of both Adrina and/or the blanket make Chiquita furious and she has actually attacked and drawn blood on her if she gets close enough. Adrina wants so badly to hold her. They used to be buddies. I have so many pictures of her holding the bird and it seems this one incident has ruined everything between them. 6 months later, I am still trying to figure out if anything can be done to reacquaint them or if this a lost cause. I really don't want to get rid of her because it would break my 6 year old's heart, but I just don't know what to do. Can anyone please give me some advice? Thank you!

 

[EAI]

Don't give up! Parrots have excellent memories and can hold grudges for a really long time. I don't have personal experience with long lasting bird grudges but hopefully someone will chime in.
All I can suggest is that Adrina can offer treats, i mean offer *lots of treats through the bar spacing to get their friendship back. I'd still take caution with the treats because if there's lunging she could get scared and jump, startling Chiquita as well prolonging the process.

 

[weco]

When you say that Chiquita was "the perfect companion" in the beginning, that's probably what is referred to as "the honeymoon period."

When a bird is brought into a new home, they tend to be rather laid back, getting used to their new environment, then after they feel comfortable (several, days, weeks or even months) in their new surroundings, their real personality will emerge and if you, as the flock leader, have not established limitations for your new flock member, you will have a "bratty" sun conure to contend with.....

Which of you, you or your husband does your conure gravitate to most? Whichever it is, that is going to have to be the person who will need to be the intermediary to try & reclaim the relationship between Chiquita & your daughter.....I am not a bird trainer, but the several times I have had a bird with an attitude, I first establish the relationship between the bird & myself, then will hold the bird & place it on the person I'm trying to establish a relationship with the bird with, having told the person to not move or fidget.....once Chiquita realizes your daughter is not going to strike it, you can start with your daughter offering food & treats by hand, then eventually maybe she will be allowed to touch/pet Chiquita, but always with you putting Chiquita on her.....the problem with children is that they tend to be flighty, short on attention spans & tend to jump around quickly, all actions many parrots & most conure species don't trust...also, where a child has been bitten, the child may pull their hand away, removing a solid perch from the bird, causing the bird to not want to perch on the child's hand.....

On the topic of children getting Chiquita to step-up, you and/or your husband need to learn how to keep the tips of the Chiquita's nails trimmed/dulled, because feeling a sharp nail tip grab tender skin is a great way for the child to jerk their hand/arm/bare shoulder away.....jerking hands/arms/shoulders away from the bird sets up trepidation again for the bird, so, children need to be schooled that they need to be very slow & careful around Chiquita and that often what the child considers playing, Chiquita may consider it as a threat to its wellbeing.....

Since your two year old did hit Chiquita, she really needs to be schooled that any interaction between her & Chiquita needs to only be with you and/or your husband supervising.....

Good luck.....