Hi, I know I'm a new member, but I am very knowledgeable about the smaller species of parrots such as, cockatiels, budgerigars(parakeet), lovebirds, conures, caiques, parrotlets, and some larger ones such as eclectus and noble macaws. If I don't post back go to Wikipedia and comment on my Wikipedia name about your issue and i'll answer all your questions
hello. i have a little sun conure named lucy. she is a little over 2 years old. she is poking her head out of my turtle neck sweater watching my type this right now. she is a sweetheart, and i love her however there are a few behavioural problems. help. when there is company in the house, she fluffs herself up and flys at them and attacks. she really bites too. i have to take her away. is she ptotecting us from what she thinks is a threat? and she seem a little nippy lately. she,or he maybe, seems agitated and unsettled somehow. not all the time, but more so in the afternoon. when she rides around in my shirt she nips me and continues to bite my ears, right out of the blue. answers? it is not all bad. she is still the same loving little cutie i got about 2 years ago. maybe its just a phase. what do you think? jen.
Ok, so my 2 year old cockatiel, Ash, is a problem bird. He's evil but ever since I got Misty, he's been way nicer and more willing to sit with me... I still need a glove for him unless I wanna nice gouge in my finger from him though.
That's not what I'm here to talk about though. He's a picky bird and doesn't eat his fresh foods. Hasn't for the two years I've had him. No matter where I put them, he ignores them. On his favorite perch or his favorite mirror he ignores it and walks all over it. In the food dish he just pushes it aside till he gets down to his seeds. I need help getting him to eat his breads, fruits, veggies, etc. I know Misty eats them, they gave her treats like soranges and stuff at the petshop, but she won't even eat them when I give them to her. Any ideas on how I can get my tiels, espcially Ash since Misty's still new and shy so that could be her reasoning, to eat their fresh foods?
you sun is displaying completely normal sun conure traits & behaviours, even if they aren't nice ones.
To start with, suns make the best guard dogs you could ever have fro your home. They can often be loud & annoying & don't like any unfamiliarity within their homes. This includes visitors. They can get used to some visitors if they're a regular visitor the people are gentle with him/her & do not (like my mum does!!) yell back at her. Most of it though, your sun will always behave this way towards visitors & should be put in her cage until they settle to sit down for 5 mins. I know my sun is very quiet if she's on my shoulder when I have visitors. It's the only time she is quiet with them. If things get a little out of hand I put her in her cage, leave the cage door open & shut the bedroom door. She's become to know my actions & what they mean. If she's put in her cage unlocked it isn't a bad thing. If close the cage up after she's in, she's knows she's in trouble.
For the nipping. This sounds like something she's learning to do as a fun game for her. It needs to be stopped. Conures are natural nippers & nibblers. They taste & play with everything but it often gets out of hand if the conure is allowed to do it for too long. It can become painful to the owner. For the time being you should train her to d a few simple things, just to keep her occupied & off your shoulder. She shouldn't be allowed shoulder rides until she stops her biting or nipping. Use other methods rather the shoulder like the hand, don't allow her to climb it.Also cover your ears with a hat or scarf whenever you do have her around you so if she gets to your shoulder she can't nip your ears. Learn when she's about to nip you & quickly place a toy in place of whatever she tries to nip on you. The only other reaction you should ever give to her nipping is to put her down & walk away. Simply refuse her attention when she nips. Continue to go back to her when she appears settled, no matter how often you have to do this, & reward her when she doesn't nip you with extra play, treats etc.
Brewster, you know about eclectus parrots? Do you own one? Yep I am interested in them :-), I own one & interested in what you know about them
hello kimforster, and thanks sooo much for your help. i thought as much, that it was normal behaviour. but just wanted to check. i would hate to be damaging her somehow out of ignorance. she seems most agitated when my husband and i first get home from work, and i go and get her. she is just excited i guess. i would be too, if i were alone all day. she is so excitable. i try to spend as much time as possible with her before i go to bed. i also take her upstairs with me for a little while and let her crawl under the covers while i watch t.v. in bed. for an hour or so. she really seems to enjoy this. i have to remember that the parrot i had before was disabled, and a quaker. that was an entirely different scenario. anyways, thanks again for you help. i shall be in touch. jen.
My sun conure is also VERY excitable to see us regardless of how long or short our outings were. It's definitely just the breed. She never settles until we've both said hello to her & god help us if we don't say goodbye to her before we go out! Under the covers.....another sun conure thing LOL mine loves to do this as well.
We also have a cockatiel & eclectus. The sun conure is VERY different to other birds.
"Hello my name is Elise Viera and i have a male and female cockatiel. it looks to me they are ready to mate. my female has never layed eggs. i have a self made shoe box (just out of curiosity) the male knocks on it and the female peeks inside but she wont go all the way in i think its too small for them. right now i cant afford a nesting house so would it be ok to hang a basket its made from what looks like wood but could be paper but it can hold there weight. its my sons old Easter basket. if i put a cloth down in it do you think they will mate? they like to sleep on top of the box already have in there do you think its ok to do this with the basket?? please get back to me as soon as possible. thanks so much.. Elise"
Please get rid of the box. Unless you are an experienced aviculturist, breeding birds is not a good idea. Parent birds can and have been known to kill babies or even their mates.
Egg binding can kill a female.
If you've never been shown how to hand feed babies, and it becomes needed, you will kill the young.
I am not trying to be cruel, but you should separate the two birds since you really don't have the experience needed to do this.
The things you propose will grow mold and fungus , particularly one called aspergillis which causes a fungal infection in the young and in the parents called aspergillosis. It is deadly.
There are enough cockatiels and I am sorry to say that what you are proposing is unsafe for the birds involved.
