Cage aggressive sun conure

[Amberle42]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I owned a sweet cockatiel 20 years ago that I got just after she was weaned. I've missed having a bird and when my 15 year old step daughter wanted a bird, her and I talked my (apprehensive) husband into letting us adopt a bird. We adopted a beautiful 15 year old sun conure (no idea if it's male or female, but I'm assuming female because she doesn't speak and only seems to "know" a couple very simple whistles). When the bird is out she loves shoulder time and will kiss and cuddle some. She doesn't care for pets or scratches. We don't know her history, so we just stay in her comfort zone.

However, she hates leaving her cage. My husband reached in to try and get her to step up (he wants to bond with her) and she bit hard drawing blood. She lunges if you try and take her out of her cage, and the only way I can coax her out is to hold her food dish up to her and hope she steps up on it. Then I can bring the dish and her out of the cage and she'll step up.

I just don't know what to do... we've had her about a month, and I'm worried that she's never going to warm up to us. She came with the cage (it's beautiful and very large) and it's in our daughter's room. We're going to refurbish a cage my mother in law gave us so there's another cage for her in my room or downstairs, and I'm hoping to eventually create outdoor space for her, as well. But, how do I get to a point where she wants to come out of her cage? I'm just at a loss...

 

[Mizzely]

It's only been a month in the life of a15 year old bird that's a drop in the bucket! She's somewhere new and as a prey animal it is totally normal behavior.

What all does she have out of the cage to do or feel safe on? Any perches outside of the cage for her to go? Basically... What reason does she have to go outside?

I would leave the cage door open, maybe put her bowl of food on top as an incentive. Perches on the door or outside of the cage can help.

It might take her some time, but give her options and try to show her you respect her need to go slowly as much as possible. Bonding right now should be done with whistling with her, talking or reading to her, and giving treats (you can leave them in a dish if she prefers, just make sure she sees you put it there).

Also she may be a boy While cockatiels it is true the male is often the talker, many other species, conures included, have equal opportunity for talking or not regardless of gender.