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Sun Conure Issues

Emily9880

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Emily Herzog
I have a 8 month old sun conure, he is not flighted, I’ve had him for 5 months (and I’m actually not sure if he is a he). He is the most wonderful, snuggly, sweet bird when I’m home. Unfourtunatly I have just gotten a job, and my mother and step father can’t stand his apparently constant squawking when I’m gone. When I’m home he is completely quiet and content, he doesn’t even squawk in the mornings, although when I’m home he’s almost never in his cage. I don’t know if he is yelling is out of attention seeking or stress. When people are walking by his cage he’s at his worst, and when no one is around he’s quiet. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to get to the point where my parents say I need to get rid of him, it would absolutely break my heart. I’m hoping he’ll just get used to my new schedule, but I don’t know if that’s realistic. Any advice is appreciated. (He has a huge cage, with plenty of space, toys, and fresh food and water.)
 

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cosmolove

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Sounds like he's doing it for attention. You can try to get some new toys and rotate them often to keep him busy. Then offer a bunch of foraging stations before you leave for work. I know my blue crown conure when I only had him would skwak a lot when I wasn't home because he was calling out for me.
 

Mizzely

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How big is huge? Does he play with the toys he has? How often are they rotated? Have you tried foraging? Where is his cage located? Is he locked in his cage the whole time? How much out of cage time does he get?
 

Emily9880

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Could you give an example of a foraging station?
Sounds like I’ll go toy shopping! His cage dimensions are about 4 feet by 2 feet by 5. He has natural mulberry perches, his toys get roatated weekly, exept for his favorite which stays in there. (In my opinion he can never have too many toys though)
My grandmother takes him out periodically through out the day when I’m gone from his main cage, in the living room or dining room, depending on where people are hanging out, and into her room where he has a smaller cage (which he isn’t shut into) and a play gym area by the window. At minimum he’s out of his cage for 8 hours a day.
Did getting another bird help? I’m worried that would just multiply the problem by two haha.
 

cosmolove

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Generally adding a second bird means twice the chances of them being loud. So say one is quiet then the other is probably chatting up a storm. Or in my house they have who can yell loudest contests on occasion.

Foraging stations can be a lot of things. I have two pluckers I have to keep very busy so I have a lot of toys that change often and also a bunch of food bowls in various sizes. Basically I make them work for their food a little. I have at least 4 food bowls per cage, water bowl never moves. Each day I'll move the food around and I fill each bowl with something different. So one may have a nutriberry or two, another may have a small portion of seed, one will have their normal pellets, one will have fresh foods. I also have a few hanging foraging toys like little cups and such I can hide treats in.

Foraging doesn't always have to be food either, we are actually going to add a 5th bowl into the two pluckers cage and put foot toys in one. Basically you're just trying to keep them busy.

My vet really put it all into perspective for me as to why foraging is so important for a captive bird. In the wild the majority of the birds day is spent foraging for food, they would really have to work for it. Pet owners often just shove a bowl of food in and then move on. Birds are often busy bodies, moving things around is a great way to keep them mentally stimulated and in shape. Once your bird starts getting the hang of the changing food bowls then maybe once a week redo the cage and move all the perches around and move the bowls around. Keep them busy! :)

In the past I've even taken it a step up and like put their seed inside a coffee filter and tied it shut and put that into a bowl, I also put an upside down paper cup (like a little condiment cup) upside down on top of a nutriberry so the bird had to lift the cup to find it.

Make sure you start easy, don't buy a bunch of super complicated toys at first. My conure is super lazy when it comes to foraging. He'll go find it but if he has to work hard to get it out he'll lose interest and move on. So like his foraging cups and such I don't even hook the lid because he won't bother trying to get it open. LOL! Now my other two will go at it until they get the reward!
 

webchirp

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Is there another room you can make for him that is his toy/play area? My sun conure is only quiet when she cannot see people. My gold cap even tells me "bye, bye" when I have my red robe on in the morning. But yes, foraging, toys and another cage in the bedroom by a window. Create a schedule and he will calm.
 

Lesley Yeung

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Bird gets most of his one-on-one time from my husband. My husband works pretty long hours. So Bird stays up late and sleeps in. He gets his 12 hours. They get more time together and I get left alone for a while. Bird is content to observe me doing my housework and watches t.v once he wakes up.

If I had to listen to Bird all day, I don't know what I would do. But since he sleeps until noon and spends the day watching me and chatting with me, everyone is happy (usually)
 

Begone

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Did getting another bird help? I’m worried that would just multiply the problem by two haha.
That is my advice. And same specie or size. Birds should always be in pair, and you will understand why when you have two. :)
 

Emily9880

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Generally adding a second bird means twice the chances of them being loud. So say one is quiet then the other is probably chatting up a storm. Or in my house they have who can yell loudest contests on occasion.

Foraging stations can be a lot of things. I have two pluckers I have to keep very busy so I have a lot of toys that change often and also a bunch of food bowls in various sizes. Basically I make them work for their food a little. I have at least 4 food bowls per cage, water bowl never moves. Each day I'll move the food around and I fill each bowl with something different. So one may have a nutriberry or two, another may have a small portion of seed, one will have their normal pellets, one will have fresh foods. I also have a few hanging foraging toys like little cups and such I can hide treats in.

Foraging doesn't always have to be food either, we are actually going to add a 5th bowl into the two pluckers cage and put foot toys in one. Basically you're just trying to keep them busy.

My vet really put it all into perspective for me as to why foraging is so important for a captive bird. In the wild the majority of the birds day is spent foraging for food, they would really have to work for it. Pet owners often just shove a bowl of food in and then move on. Birds are often busy bodies, moving things around is a great way to keep them mentally stimulated and in shape. Once your bird starts getting the hang of the changing food bowls then maybe once a week redo the cage and move all the perches around and move the bowls around. Keep them busy! :)

In the past I've even taken it a step up and like put their seed inside a coffee filter and tied it shut and put that into a bowl, I also put an upside down paper cup (like a little condiment cup) upside down on top of a nutriberry so the bird had to lift the cup to find it.

Make sure you start easy, don't buy a bunch of super complicated toys at first. My conure is super lazy when it comes to foraging. He'll go find it but if he has to work hard to get it out he'll lose interest and move on. So like his foraging cups and such I don't even hook the lid because he won't bother trying to get it open. LOL! Now my other two will go at it until they get the reward!
Okay that’s a good idea! I’ll look into setting some up. Thank you! This bird will do some crazy things for his nutriberries so hopefully he’ll go for it.
 

Emily9880

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Emily Herzog
That is my advice. And same specie or size. Birds should always be in pair, and you will understand why when you have two. :)
I’ll have to do more research into getting another, although I don’t think I’d get another sun. Probably a green cheek. If they end up hating each other that would be awful! And I need to actually determine whether or not he’s a boy. The place I got him from told me he was three weeks old lol (he was AT LEAST three months) and all their birds were on seed only diets, so they were less than competent.
 

Emily9880

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Is there another room you can make for him that is his toy/play area? My sun conure is only quiet when she cannot see people. My gold cap even tells me "bye, bye" when I have my red robe on in the morning. But yes, foraging, toys and another cage in the bedroom by a window. Create a schedule and he will calm.
Unfourtunatly there is not another room which is away and warm enough to keep him in when he needs to be quiet. Hopefully I’ll be able to set up a play room at some point though!
 

Parakeet88

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Foraging toys don't have to be expensive or complicated either. My GCC loves when I put treats through the chains on one his favorite toys. I put cinnamon sticks, sweet potato sticks, and dried green beans through the chain links and he loves it. I also put similar treats through the holes in his whiffle ball toy. I work night shift so it's pretty important that he's fairly quiet most of the day and he does a great job. I don't know if I sleep through his yelling or if he's just a good boy and stays pretty quiet lol
 
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