I’ve had budgies and pigeons before but never a conure, and we just got an 8-week-old one last week. She still flies away if we try to hold her and if she escapes and we do catch her she will attempt to bite as well. For the most part I’ve been leaving her in the cage and just putting my hand as close as she’ll let me, but I don’t know what else to do. Do you think that I might be doing it wrong or will it just take time?
Hi,
Was the bird hand fed? If not, it takes a lot more time to work with a wild parrot, even if it is young. Eight weeks is barely old enough to be weaned, depending on the species of conure. Sadly, many breeders these days just want to get the birds sold, so they force them to wean and this causes food & behavior issues. I’m going to give you the links to our behavior and training pages, as well as a couple of webinars that can help. If you can’t handle the bird, do not let him out. When you have to chase him down and grab him, he feels like you are a predator trying to catch him. Parrots are a prey species and do not like being grabbed from behind. At this point, he really doesn’t trust you, especially your hands. You will need to take things very slowly to gain his trust. Until he is showing an interest in you, you should not put your hand in the cage or try to pick him up. He needs to approach you and be interested in interacting. You can sit next to the cage and talk to him, with your hands in your lap so he doesn’t feel threatened. Be sure to read through all of the behavior and training information before trying to work with him any more.
This webinar below can explain some of the issues a bird can have when forced to wean too soon.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
