Sun Conure issues

[Emily9880]

I have a 8 month old sun conure, I’ve had him for 5 months now and although he’s been loud at times it hasn’t ever been a problem because I had a ton of time to spend with him, as I just graduated in June and when he’s with me he’s completely quiet. I have just gotten a job and my parents have told me his screeching is completely intolerable and I have to do something about it when I’m gone. I’m not sure if it’s stress related or attention seeking. If he thinks no one is home he’s completely quiet, but if people are walking around his cage and he’s in it he yells almost nonstop. My mother suggested me locking him in my room or getting him a friend. Both options are not ideal but i don’t even want to think about rehoming him. I’m completely in love with this bird but I also want to do right by him. I’m not sure what to do. Getting him a friend seems like the best option at this point but I’ve read it might make the problem much worse. (I’m assuming he’s a boy, but he actually hasn’t been tested). I only am gone 8 hours at the most, but that still seems way too long for him to be locked in my room alone. ANY advice is appreciated.

 

[KateMyshkin]

You can move his cage to a remote room and keep the bird there for 8 hours a day. Working folk do it five days a week. The bird will adjust to your schedule. As long as the bird has all its needs taken into consideration I can’t see how shutting it in one room will hurt it. There will be many times through the next 20-30 years where your life will change and so then your birds life will change. The bird will adjust.

 

[chris-md]

What you’re experiencing is called line of sight screaming. He’s quiet when he can we you, loud when he can’t.

The fix should be simple. Keep his cage in the busiest place in the house. Not sure where you’re keeping him now but when you describe “when he hears someone home” it sounds like he’s already in an out of the way area.

This idea of keeping him farther out is the biggest mistake you can make. You are teaching the bird to scream when you isolate him like this.

Your family needs to rally here to prevent, at minimum, future behavioral issues.

Bird cage needs to move to the living room, or wherever is the primary social gathering area for the family in your parents home. Birds at social creatures and should never be isolated. Being in the busiest area of he house should generally curb the screaming since there is Always someone there.

Will you be moving out of your parents anytime soon?

 

[LordTriggs]

getting a friend is the absolute worst idea if your parents want things to be quiet, then you just have 2 air horns egging each other on

like said above, he should be in the busiest spot in the house. Also your parents can interact with him, say hello, give a treat through the bars maybe even poke one of his toys through the cage bars to get him playing with it.

to be honest though sounds less like screaming and more like contact calling, he's trying to figure out where you are and why he suddenly became alone. Of course the variable here is what your parents are considering "out of control" to some people hearing the slightest noise is screaming the place down non-stop.

 

[Notdumasilook]

Indeed they can get loud when doing there 'locating call'. Your lil birdie is a flocking bird and when separated from the flock will call out searching for the flock... which seems to be you. Its all about survival in the wild, the instinct is still there. Just a guess, the other family members are not socializing much with your conure? If not, you are the 'flock' the lil one has. I'm with the rest, locking him away all day while you work he's gonna call his heart out..at least for now. I managed to teach my birds what to expect of me and almost all of the locating calls ceased... and just became more of a greeting call when I'd drive back up in the driveway. But that takes time. For now Id ask help from the family, getting them to also interact with him and as advised, keep him in the main busy part of the home.

 

[PickleMeDickles]

I have two Suns housed together since fluff balls. Even so, "I" am their flock, or mommy, or whatever. I am sure if I worked on it I could lower the volume a little, but am not sure how much.

We live in the country and it is just the two of us so we have chosen to not fight this battle, but we have tried to tweak the odds to our side. When they flock call us we always responded with "okay", so now instead of screaming for an hour, they will call out okay. I also say "good morning" every morning and they reproduce that with incredible clarity. That has also helped. Your little guy may be a bit young for talking, but a soothing flock call return is of great help, perhaps a whistle or "okay".

Cartoons. We have cartoons on all day for the birds to watch. This keeps them quite entertained, although we had to switch it up a bit at first to see what really attracted them. They love this one that plays all day with a green bad guy. They will all yell when his face is big on the TV but it is not at the flock call volume, more for fun.

Lots and lots of chewy toys and foraging. We recycle a lot of cardboard around here for the birds. The more they can thoroughly destroy something the happier they are. I have at least four different food sources to keep them busy, sometimes more. Each food source has a variety of tastes and textures. I try to change it up a bit. Today I made a bean/brown rice/wild rice/quinoa/dehydrated vegetable mix in the rice maker, they love this and the warm food seem to calm them.

Baths. For some reason, a good bath quiets the beasts. I think it just makes them feel good and takes their mind off of being in jail (our Suns spend more time "in jail" then our GCC just because they will attack strangers and we have a business we run out of our home. My best employee finally threatened to leave when Winston nearly tore her ear in half).

Short supervised times out of the cage when you can, and as much time out whenever feasible. Mine are also near a window where they can watch traffic, the sheep and horses and wild birds and such.

A dependable schedule, as much as you can, and doing things in a dependable manner. Cleaning the cage at the same time, feeding at the same time, time out of the cage at the same time, stuff they can depend on to reduce their anxiety of not being with you "right now". Also, having "stations" throughout the house so they can travel around wherever you are.

Eating with the family. This seems to really satisfy something very base at its core. Its what birds do.

If they are wound up at night time we pull their curtain and play lullabies and sing to them, just for a few minutes. It definitely settles them down.

My conures are a ton of work, more so than any of my other critters and I still feel like I'm not doing everything right. If I had known about the Suns in advance, I would have gone with one, if at all. But they are here are are my children just as surely as my human ones and it was my fault (and my husbands) for not really DOING the research, which is totally unlike us. Lesson learned but it will be a 30-40 year (hopefully) lesson.

There are so many positives about Suns too. So so smart. Smarter than me. Beautiful, no doubt. Total jokesters, they just make you laugh. Very loving and loyal. If any stranger were to enter this house they would let us know before one of my 4 dogs. So snuggly (in general). The variety of ridiculous noises they make is crazy (not the loud ones). There just all around good guys. My Suns have never laid a beak in meaness on me or my husband, Pickles my GCC has no hesitation in nailing you, but not to the point it hurts, she is just more dominant.

I hope something here helps. Good luck.

-Jen

 

[clark_conure]

Everything everyone above posted, also.....see if your parents might try making friends with the bird. When I was a kid my mom wasn't a bird person or really even an animal person of any sort. (Ironically now she is like a board member of the local humane society where she lives with her husband).

But anyways, sometimes when our cockatiel was making noise she'd just go get it and put it on her and go about her stuff just so it would chill out, till me and my brothers got home. Two hour gossip phone call with her friend in the kitchen on the rotary phone....why not have a bird on your shoulder listen in.