Sun conure screaming/biting when playing instruments. Seeking advice

[CaelumScott]

Hey everybody! Brand new to this website. My girlfriend and I just adopted a rescue sun conure from the SPCA and we adore her. She is extremely cuddly (especially with me) and loud (to be expected from a sunny).

We've had her for about 3 weeks, and one issue I have noticed with her is that she acts very strangely when I play an instrument. I play the banjo and have been for about 7 years now, and play almost daily, so it's not really something I can give up. As soon as I pick up my instrument, she will instantly fly over to my shoulder without fail and proceed to scream constantly into my ear, as well as start furiously biting at my shirt collar, which has resulted in 2 hard bites into my neck. She will also crawl down my shirt and try to bite my hands/instrument as I play.

It doesn't seem to matter where I put her, as she will IMMEDIATELY fly back onto my shoulder and continue biting/screaming if Im holding onto my instrument. This almost always results in me having to force her into her cage so that she cannot continue flying to me and screaming.

I know that she will always be loud, and I know sunnies are the absolute loudest. I am perfectly fine with her making her calls from her cage or even my finger, but I can't allow her to scream as much as she does while on my shoulder. It is physically painful for me.

I am sort of at a loss for what to do at this point. I don't want to always have to keep her in her cage while I play, because I play so often. I read online that other people's conures seem to enjoy it when their owners play an instrument. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to accustom her to the sound to the point that I can allow her to be out of her cage when I want to play?

 

[maddox]

I totally get your frustration, my conure Maddox also had completely irrational fears. For example, he hates my laundry bin so every time I do laundry I have to put up with his screaming and frantic flying. He has the same issue with the broom and the vacuum (which I can understand that one). I started keeping him in his cage when I need to clean or do laundry so he can get used to the presence of these triggering objects, and eventually Maddox got completely over it. Now Maddox is totally fine outside his cage and does not demonstrate a lot of fear.

 

[Icca]

Hi Scott congratulations on your new friend.
I have a similar situation I adopted a Nanday conure about a year ago and am also a musician. And we also went through the screaming process every time I brought out the guitar or drums.

The advice I got when I asked on here was to take things nice and slow and that weeks in everything is still brand new to your bird.

That said what I did was start with the hand drums since they where not in cases and my bird "The Rebel" could see them all over the house. I would leave my nanday in her cage and sit across the room and play softly. This started with some screaming but she would settle and eventually enjoyed the drums quite alot.

The guitar was another story. All my guitars are in big black scarry cases that open like giant monster mouths! Yikes!
That is how I imagine my bird sees or atleast how she responded to them. So before I started playing while she was out of cage, we practiced taking treats while I just open and closed the case and let her see the guitar. Any time I played I left her in another room. But have faith your bird will get comfortable with your playing especially if you play everyday. If you can try a foraging to full of millet for you bird to work on while you play.

Last thing look up desensitizing training on this forum that will give you a better step by step on how to do all this.

Happy picking! Have fun it will all be great!

 

[fiddlejen]

...... Does anyone have any suggestions for how to accustom her to the sound to the point that I can allow her to be out of her cage when I want to play?

Buy a tuner? oh wait.... those don't work with that instrument, do they? (...ooops, sorry, wrong website ..)

Okay just a little commiseration. My Sunny liked my fiddle playing a LOT more before I decided to spend a few months re-learning my (minimal) piano skills. (On a pretty minimal electronic keyboard.) Well she Loved that (1) the notes were always correct... that is, of course I hit wrong notes but Never any intonation problems! (2) I played slower and at lower volume, and most importantly, she retained Full Dominion over my (aka HER) Shoulder and my hands were NOT giving SCRITCHES to a RIVAL BIRD which was SINGING TO ME.

I actually Stopped working on piano because, as her approval of my piano playing grew, her JEALOUSY of the OTHER BIRD, her shoulder-rival, increased.

At this point she has returned to dancing & apparently enjoying my fiddle-playing, but only from the far corner of her cage. Still see some occasional hints of jealousy.

So anyway for you, Icca's suggestions are quite good for desensitizing, especially if it's fear-based. (Fear=she is trying to drive You away from the threatening object. vs Jealousy=she wants to drive away her rival away from you.)

Most importantly, I would suggest, make sure she is in her cage, with door closed, First, before you start playing. Lure her in with some treats or something. So that you do not have to FORCE her in. (Avoid creating any further unpleasant associations with your banjo!) And then, give her extra attention between tunes and when you're done.