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Post: new sun conure

Posted by aly on 11/04/08

My husband and I bought a 3 month old sun conure about 10
days ago. Previoulsy, I owned a severe Macaw for 10 years
and am familiar with handling birds. Our little guy is very
sweet - lots of conure kisses and he loves water (he played
in our shower today!). However he runs from our hands
everytime we go to pick him up, yet, it is easy to scoop
him up without alot of drama - just a little chasing. I can
pet his nares, head, mandible (if he has one...) and have
even gotten under his wing once - but I have to capture him
gently in one hand and start rubbing him and slowly let go.
Otherwise he runs from approaching hands and fingers. He
learned to step up, once we are holding him, from one hand
to the other - but not off the cage or to step down.

We take him out to play every day and he spends plenty of
time out of his cage. Just today, however - as he is
getting comfortable and his wings & legs are getting
stronger he has gotte a little more nippy. Nothng major -
but a solid pressure bite while handling him.

We would like tips, advise and info on the following: 1.
How long does it typically take a conure to warm up to
handling 2. How often and for how long should we handle
him? 3. How assertive should we be? - I don't mind chasing
him around the cage a little but - I don't want to scare
him by pushing too fast and losing his trust in us. 4. what
are the 5 most important things to teach a new bird
(step-up, and.....) 5. We bought a cool cage, unfortunately
- half of it is about 6 " taller than us. I know from
expereince this creates a dominace issue. Should we put
steps around the cage so we always stand taller than him?
6. What is a good way to deter btiting? 7. He eats pellets
all day and a small amount of seeds at night - sunflower
mostly -- what do you think about sunflower seeds? Good?
bad? in moderation? 8. he does not seem to like vegetables
yet -- do we just keep offering? We want to stat away from
sugary fruits. But he love the apples and has snubbed the
carrots. Any ideas?

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posts on this thread, including this one

new sun conure, 11/04/08, by aly.

Re: new sun conure, 11/04/08, by Birdmom.

Re: new sun conure, 11/08/08, by Sharon.