A good way to get them used to veggies is putting it in bird
bread. You can also grate the carrot and sweet potato real
fine and put it in as the first meal of the day for a hour.
For instance when trying to get a bird to eat their veggies
grate them up mixed like a small birdy salad I usually grated
carrots the heads of broccoli some chopped spinach or another
green. sprinkle some alfalfa sprouts on it (buy organic
already sprouted at grocery store if you do not want to sprout
yourself.
Put that in the food dish in the morning for their first
rounds while you are cleaning cage and water and have all
other bowls out of cage.
Leave the salad in for a bit and watch to see if he eats.
You can add a little grated apple over it it but keep that
limited so that he will at least eat some.
If this does not work try having breakfast with him
Before feeding in the morning fix yours and fix him some a
small bit of egg with carrot grated put his on a plate or in a
dish on a table top t stand. Sit and eat with him pretend to
eat his and in most cases his curiosity seeing you eat will
make him eat.
I have gotten many a bird on a healthy diet this way.
Also making mach or bird bread with the goodies in You can
make it once a week and freeze and microwave as needed There
are some you can buy online called Gonzo bird cakes that are
good too if baking is not for you.
Some great recipes can be found here
http://gaiaexotics.com/Bird_mash__bread_recipes.html
http://www.netpets.org/birds/reference/kjohnson/recipes.html
Make sure to Never use the corn muffin mix that is sweetened.
You can ass a bit of honey or fruit juice or applesauce but
make sure to use the Non sweetened
i usually just use corn meal and make my own adding extra egg
and even grating the shell and adding for calcium.
As far as the nipping you need to be strong and assertive with
conures or they can become bossy and nippy. Be firm and if and
when he nips place him in the cage without any reaction and
without saying a word and totally ignore him keeping your back
to him for a few minutes. Then go back and pick up again
You can train him to start stepping up on a small perch if he
refuses to step up on the hand. You can also make it always a
Great thing when it comes to your hands. Whatever his favorite
treat is save that treat for training he never gets it unless
he is working on his training. Start small with just sitting
and handing him one getting him used to hands and good things
then bring your one hand in and say step up while holding the
treat with the other hand above. If you place your finger at
the breast and push gently to the Bird they will usually step
up as a reaction. When he does give the treat and tell him
good bird and keep working on it.
As i said you can try with a perch first if it is a huge
problem with hands.
If you need more tips feel free to email me.
>
> On 11/04/08, aly wrote:
>> 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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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