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Getting a Sun Conure

Ciel

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Ciel
Hi! I haven’t been on here for a while.

So long story short; I am rescuing a baby sun conure from a cruel shop, according to them he’s about 3 months old (will attach a picture)

I have a few questions first

I know they are very loud but how loud are they? And are there any tips on how to mute them a little? Now trust me I do know that loudness comes with the bird and I would never punish it or love it less. I’ve raised a loud macaw and an Indian Ringneck.

I’ll be home majority of the day as I’ll be studying from home but might leave for a few hours a day. I’m planning on just buying the biggest cage I‘ll find at the shop because the bigger the better to me even though I do not plan on keeping it in the cage majority of the day.

I currently have no other birds in the house, the store recommended me to get a pair but I’ve never bought my previous parrots as pairs because they were always fine with being with me and bonded to me and my family (we have no small kids, the oldest in our household is 14)
He also said that they will lose their current olive coloured feathers and grow orange later, is that true?

Any tips or any additional information or things I should prepare for? Specific comments on the diet?

I forgot to say that I also want to get him a harness so when should I introduce him to it? Is it ok to get them used to it at this young? I’ve never harness trained my birds before but I want to be save and want to be able to take it outside for healthy sunlight

01C92FF1-8DBC-4A70-B0C2-BB0FB87F79BA.jpeg
 

Greylady1966

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Have you looked at The good, bad and ugly in Conure Court? A friend of mine had Suns, very loud to me but it was the high pitch that got me. I'm used to a Macaw and Amazons. Do you still have your BGand IRN?
 

peachypjm

Strolling the yard
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4/12/21
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Massachusetts
Hi! I haven’t been on here for a while.

So long story short; I am rescuing a baby sun conure from a cruel shop, according to them he’s about 3 months old (will attach a picture)

I have a few questions first

I know they are very loud but how loud are they? And are there any tips on how to mute them a little? Now trust me I do know that loudness comes with the bird and I would never punish it or love it less. I’ve raised a loud macaw and an Indian Ringneck.

I’ll be home majority of the day as I’ll be studying from home but might leave for a few hours a day. I’m planning on just buying the biggest cage I‘ll find at the shop because the bigger the better to me even though I do not plan on keeping it in the cage majority of the day.

I currently have no other birds in the house, the store recommended me to get a pair but I’ve never bought my previous parrots as pairs because they were always fine with being with me and bonded to me and my family (we have no small kids, the oldest in our household is 14)
He also said that they will lose their current olive coloured feathers and grow orange later, is that true?

Any tips or any additional information or things I should prepare for? Specific comments on the diet?

I forgot to say that I also want to get him a harness so when should I introduce him to it? Is it ok to get them used to it at this young? I’ve never harness trained my birds before but I want to be save and want to be able to take it outside for healthy sunlight

View attachment 379561
if you're ready for the responsibility, totally go for it! I recommend the prevue Hendryx flight cage in large or extra large for the conure. sun conures are a bit louder than the average green cheek, but definitely nothing you can't handle if you've owned a macaw! conures typically can become one person birds, don't listen to the shop. I think the one sun conure will be just fine for now, especially if it looks like it's in rough condition, another buddy may stress it out. for diet, find out what the pet store gave it so you can convert it to pellets if it's not already on pellets. Roudybush daily maintenance pellets for conures are my favorite ! chop mixes with collard greens, kale, carrots, bell peppers, blue berries and raspberries in moderation because it's sugary, quinoa (cooked), oats (cooked), pasta (cooked), broccoli, squashes, cucumber in moderation, peas, sugar snap peas, many options ! for treats, almonds, cashews (organic), Nutri berries, pumpkin seeds, dried fruit, etc. and for the feather colors, if he ends up an actual sun conure and not a hybrid, yes that's true the green will lessen. for harnesses, I recommend the aviator harness! just find him the appropriate size, and for training for that I am not very experienced, so look at videos and threads!! in the meantime get a travel cage so he can get some light outside, don't let him out of the cage outside though so he doesn't fly away! UV avian lights for the inside are good, like for cage lighting. hope this helps !
 

Sunni Tiel

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Congratulations! Suns are beautiful. Introducing a harness this young would be fine, get him used to it while he's little. The Aviator harnesses come with instructions I think, and I wouldn't recommend any other brand.
 

Ciel

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Ciel
Have you looked at The good, bad and ugly in Conure Court? A friend of mine had Suns, very loud to me but it was the high pitch that got me. I'm used to a Macaw and Amazons. Do you still have your BGand IRN?
Yes I’ve read through it. I don’t have any birds at this moment so I think I’ll be able to focus on the new guy better too. I’m used to loudness as well but I guess I need to build a tolerance for the high pitch
 

Ciel

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Ciel
if you're ready for the responsibility, totally go for it! I recommend the prevue Hendryx flight cage in large or extra large for the conure. sun conures are a bit louder than the average green cheek, but definitely nothing you can't handle if you've owned a macaw! conures typically can become one person birds, don't listen to the shop. I think the one sun conure will be just fine for now, especially if it looks like it's in rough condition, another buddy may stress it out. for diet, find out what the pet store gave it so you can convert it to pellets if it's not already on pellets. Roudybush daily maintenance pellets for conures are my favorite ! chop mixes with collard greens, kale, carrots, bell peppers, blue berries and raspberries in moderation because it's sugary, quinoa (cooked), oats (cooked), pasta (cooked), broccoli, squashes, cucumber in moderation, peas, sugar snap peas, many options ! for treats, almonds, cashews (organic), Nutri berries, pumpkin seeds, dried fruit, etc. and for the feather colors, if he ends up an actual sun conure and not a hybrid, yes that's true the green will lessen. for harnesses, I recommend the aviator harness! just find him the appropriate size, and for training for that I am not very experienced, so look at videos and threads!! in the meantime get a travel cage so he can get some light outside, don't let him out of the cage outside though so he doesn't fly away! UV avian lights for the inside are good, like for cage lighting. hope this helps !
The pet shop only gave it seeds so I’ll need to introduce it to pellets and veggies/fruits. As for the cage I still have my macaws old cage which is in good condition and I can use! I’ll be sure to not let him go outside unless he’s used to the harness which is why I want to introduce him to it asap. I’ll look into the UV lights :)
 

Ciel

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Ciel
Congratulations! Suns are beautiful. Introducing a harness this young would be fine, get him used to it while he's little. The Aviator harnesses come with instructions I think, and I wouldn't recommend any other brand.
Thank you! Unfortunately I live in the Middle East and I don’t think they sell that brand but I could see if ordering is a possibility
 

Sunni Tiel

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Thank you! Unfortunately I live in the Middle East and I don’t think they sell that brand but I could see if ordering is a possibility
I think the Aviator site ships to the Middle East, but it takes a while.
 

KevinC

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Kevin N. Carpenter
We have a Sun Conure, and housesit another. Both seem quite comfortable in this: PREVUE PET PRODUCTS Wrought Iron Small & Medium Birds Flight Cage, Black Hammertone - Chewy.com There is a non-namebrand Chinese clone that is made somewhat worse (yaheztech or some such) - we prefer the doors and overall fit of the Prevue brand.

Ours is loud, but nothing like a macaw. If we lived in an apartment (we don't), I suspect the neighbors would hear it, but it would hardly wake them up or anything. They are loud enough that if they alert scream when on your shoulder (say somebody walks into the room...) once, you might be annoyed. 4 or 5 times and your ears will be ringing. Worst case was when I was house sitting and called my Mom - bird went nuts thinking it was the old lady she stayed with. Only time I had to move the bird to another part of the room in order to be able to talk. Ours greets us every morning (its cage is in the bedroom) as soon as we move letting us know its alive, sleep time is over, and it wants out now.

They are PEOPLE birds - they will want to be with you all day. They will happily sit on your shoulder and nap, or cuddle into so crevice (like between my arm and torso when I'm at the computer) and nestle in for a good rest. Nestling is when they back in, head out so they can see what is going on. Sleeping is when they crawl under your shirt. Our does that also immediately after sunset. Ours wills scream if its caged in and we are out-and-about in the house. We have settled into a routine that I take it out and place it on a shower perch when I take my morning shower. Sometimes it comes to my shoulder to shower with me, sometimes it just sits and watches. Ours will fly away to do its business, then fly back. It is totally oblivious to our cats - which is NOT a good thing. They don't bother it, so far, but do pay attention to it.

Getting it back into its cage at night is a hassle. We do leave the door open, and only feed it in the cage (other than snacks when we eat), so sometimes it will go in on its own.

Regarding adult color - here is ours:

dragon.jpg

Only hint is that this is a parrot - it will want to hold food in its hand. We give ours large parrot Zupreme and it seems to enjoy it. Oddly, picks out certain colors even though under the dye its all the same. Laughingly, the one we housesit does the same thing - but opposite colors! Our local grocery sells containers of mixed unsalted nuts which they both love. Feed sunflower seeds sparingly. As always, fresh fruits and vegetables are always recommended - ours loves grapes.

Oh, use multiple partition water trays. Many of our birds will drink from one and soak food in the other... bit surprising but cool. Of course, change both once or twice a day.

ps. The housesit bird, when it first arrived, was pretty aggressive on my shoulder - faux attacking my ear and the like. It didn't hurt, but it was really close to hurting. It stopped doing so after the first couple of days. Ours loves kisses and will pick up the side of a finger and start a 1000 rpm head bounce with it... almost like its trying to feed, but MUCH faster, and never with any regurgitation. We think its just showing affection.
 
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MR. Mango

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Speaking from experience of getting a sun conure about a year ago,
They are quite loud but they generally are quite when ur with them or if they’re relaxing, u can look up their screeched to get a feel for it but not too unbearable plus u get used to it after a while. To reinforce what other members have said they are very social and people birds, the color is perfectly normal for that age when I got mango he looked exactly the same so we always joke that he ripened. In terms of harness training my personal experience is that my sun conure hates being held and having stuff put on him so I have a smaller carrier to take him out for his comfort. I originally wanted a pair of conures but my breeder discouraged us because he said that it would be harder to bond with both of them especially since he was my first bird, but looking back I definitely could have managed another conure. image.jpg image.jpg
 

Pepebirdie

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So cute! I have a sun conure. He is loud sometimes, but he is quiet when he is with us. But I have met other sun conures that were SUPER loud. It all depends on how you train them and if you end up accidentally encouraging screaming. They are the loudest conures, but it is not always bad. do not get another one if you want them to like you. They are people birds.
They do lose their green feathers on their face and turn red and orange as they get older.
I would recommend introducing the harness as soon as possible. The younger, the better.
 

Sparkles!

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Maybe I’m in the minority but IMHO, suns are little voices compared to a cranked up IRN. So if your previous IRN ever got a fire going and wanted the entire world to know it, any noise an Aratinga makes is going to be small peas to you.

What happened to your previous birds? Conures can be highly susceptible to several avian borne diseases. Caution warranted if your previous birds had health concerns. Especially since you’re saying this Sun is coming from unfortunate circumstances.
 

Ciel

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Ciel
So c
Speaking from experience of getting a sun conure about a year ago,
They are quite loud but they generally are quite when ur with them or if they’re relaxing, u can look up their screeched to get a feel for it but not too unbearable plus u get used to it after a while. To reinforce what other members have said they are very social and people birds, the color is perfectly normal for that age when I got mango he looked exactly the same so we always joke that he ripened. In terms of harness training my personal experience is that my sun conure hates being held and having stuff put on him so I have a smaller carrier to take him out for his comfort. I originally wanted a pair of conures but my breeder discouraged us because he said that it would be harder to bond with both of them especially since he was my first bird, but looking back I definitely could have managed another conure. View attachment 379870 View attachment 379871
so cute! it was suggested that i only adopt one as well so they bond more easily
 

Ciel

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Ciel
Maybe I’m in the minority but IMHO, suns are little voices compared to a cranked up IRN. So if your previous IRN ever got a fire going and wanted the entire world to know it, any noise an Aratinga makes is going to be small peas to you.

What happened to your previous birds? Conures can be highly susceptible to several avian borne diseases. Caution warranted if your previous birds had health concerns. Especially since you’re saying this Sun is coming from unfortunate circumstances.
My indian ringneck would repeatedly scream whenever she’d be bored or she just felt like it and it was always ear piercing!! So i was really surprised to hear people say conures are even louder lol. My indian ringneck didnt learn how to talk so she’d stick to the loud screaming which i didn’t mind. She died naturally when she reached 20 and the macaw I raised was an abused rescue that I trained and had for a while before putting it up for adoption, I still see him regularly:) I honestly did not plan on getting any new birds but I’ll never say no to adopting a cute bird. I’ll make sure to do a vet check up as soon as I get the conure and organise a healthy diet.
 
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