Sun Conures?!?!?

Question

I Want To Get A Sun Conure.

I've Seen Them For Sale For Around £120 ($240) For Hand Reared Ones.

How Long Do They Live For??

How Much Fruit Or Veg Do They Eat??

Anything They Shouldn't Eat??

Anything I Should Know About Them Before I Decide??

I Have Heard The Are One Of The Worst Birds For 'Screaming' Lol

Thanks

Nicole

x

Answer 1

Oooh! They're fun!   I got mine, handfed, for $400, (that's considered cheep in my area!).

And yes, they are incredibly loud -I don't think mine is that bad, but it varies, person to person what they consider 'loud'.  They make adorable grunting noises (actually quietly) when they're not sleeping or racing around their cage screaming because you just woke up and came downstairs in the morning.

They should have as much veggies as they want, and probably no more than 10% of their diet should be fruit.   They should be on a high quality pelleted died, Zupreme (natural), roudybush, harrisons, give them seeds every once in a while, let them eat cooked pasta, beans and rice, with the occasional raw almond, or pecan.  Broccoli, squash, carrots,  are good stuff for them.   Things not to feed are avacado, chocolate, alchahol, caffiene, salt, heavy spices, excessive sugar.

Something to know about them, is they do go through stages, they'll get hormonal, and your sweet bird that never bites may go through a nippy stage -I'm not looking forward to that with my sweety (he's about 8 mo old), but, whatever he does, I'll always love him and work with him.

Get him a big cage and lots of toys as they are very, very active!   Also, get them one of those happy hut bird tents to sleep in, mine adores his and cuddles up in it for naps and at night.

They're all around, wonderful birds, not unlike a macaw in personality (though not in size).   Just beware, if you ever end up in an apartment, you might not be able to keep him there.

Answer 2

Hi Cola!

Q> I've Seen Them For Sale For Around £120 ($240) For Hand Reared Ones.

A> That is about right. But then you need the cage, the toys (which they like to have ones that they can distroy), the food, the bed (they love to have a cozy spot), the yearly vet check, and, oh yeah... THE TIME. Tons of it. And perhaps money for a good psychiatrist. And to buy a house in the country before your neighbors kill you. Well... ok... those last two are a bit much. (True... but a bit much! LOL)

Q>How Long Do They Live For??

A> Most live for 10-15 years. They CAN live for around 30 with proper care!

Q> How Much Fruit Or Veg Do They Eat??

A> I use fruit for training - they LOVE most fruits.

     They really should have some veggies each day.

Q> Anything They Shouldn't Eat??

A> Go here:

http://www.avianweb.com/toxicfoods.html

and for bad stuff around the house:

http://www.tgpa.com/List.html

Q> Anything I Should Know About Them Before I Decide??

A> Where you can buy earplugs.

      How to boil water with goodies in it.

      What kind of bandaids work best (they CAN nip)

      How to sit really still for 3 hours because it has fallen asleep under your hair leaning against your neck.

      How to make bird toys from pieces parts.

      How to explain to boss/teacher/loan officer etc why your paper looks like confetti. (They LOVE to do this!)

      Which vacuum works best on different types of floors for everything from seed hulls to mushy broccoli. (Birds are messy... no way around it!)

       How to get dried on mashed potatoes off the wall.

       Whether you look good in camouflage print. (Does double duty... hides bird poo that may be on you, hides you from neighbors that do not prefer to get up at dawn on Saturdays and have chased you from house bearing torches and pitchforks. *If they are screaming "kill Frankenstein's monster! Burn it!" make sure you take your bird with you! LOL*)

Q> I Have Heard The Are One Of The Worst Birds For 'Screaming' Lol

A> Nope... they are one of the best at it... trust me!

      BUT!!!! - if properly reared and trained, they do NOT scream nonstop all day. It is the pitch (screech!!!) and volume together that make it objectionable. It is usually only bad (or in the case of badly conditioned birds... worse) in the morning and at dusk. They may do a single screech or three if they are excited. They will alert you to "danger" as well - but this can oft times be mitigated by over-socializing (get them used to EVERYTHING - so they do not get panicked when something odd happens) or training to stop once you have been "informed".

Answer 3

You can find them from breeders for around $250 to $350 dollars. Depending on where you are.

www.birdbreeders.com

www.babybirds.com

www.upatsix.com

www.hoobly.com (underbirds)

www.birdmart.com

We offer our fresh fruit and veggies in the morning and at night. He's not real big on the veggies...he does love pineapple, mango, strawberries and bananas.  We give him schmidtt's original blend by goldenfeast to eat in his bowl during the day...it is a granola based food that contains dried fruit and veggies in it.

They shouldn't eat chocolate, anything with caffine like soda, coffee or avacado...no apple seeds they contain trace amounts of arsenic.

Conures are closley related to the macaws, so yes they can be loud...and when they bite it can be painful. If you keep your bird busy, and make him feel like he is part of your family- he will not be a screamer. I think it is unfair that these beautiful birds are labled as screamers. Their contact and alert calls are loud...but birds are vocal by nature. We rotate our birds from their cages to their playgyms to window perches. They are happy and content as long as they are in the same room as us.

Conures are chewers...buy him lots of toys. They are prone to plucking...so make sure that you interact with him, and you have lots of toys and things for him to do. They are active birds that hate being stuck in a cage- this can result in screaming for attention. They are an extremely smart species of bird- even though they normally don't talk alot or clearly ( mainly the jendays, suns, nandays). Their voices are so high pitched that the few words that they say usually aren't very clear. But they will understand everything that is said and that goes on around them. They are spunky, acrobatic, comedians. Most love bathing and will relish a shower or a bowl of water to flop around in! Conures are a wonderful bird for a first time bird person...they are easy to handle and easy to train. They are pretty low-maintenence birds. They just need a patient, understanding owner that has the dedication and time to be able to spend with them.

Answer 4

25-30 years



SUN CONURE DIET and NUTRITION

  In the wild a Sun Conure’s diet will consist of nuts, seeds and fruit.  Many Conure owners will feed their Conure a diet of primarily small parrot mix and supplement with millet spray, mealworms, green vegetables and some fruit.  They can also be fed many of the same foods your family eats.

While a commercial formulated diet does meet most of the nutritional requirements of the Sun Conure, it does lack the phytonutrients found in fresh vegetables, fruits, seeds and grains.  A Conure can also become bored with a formulated diet which may cause it to refuse to eat or to display negative behavior.  A seed-only diet does offer more variety but you will need to add vitamin and calcium supplements.

If you do not wish to restrict your Sun Conure to mainly pelleted foods their diet should contain the following:

50% grains, seeds, cereals and breads

45% vegetables.  Fresh vegetables are best because of the vitamin content that your Conure needs but they can eat some cooked vegetables and frozen vegetables that have been thawed can be used when fresh vegetables are not available.

5% fruit and protein.  Your Conure needs an adequate supply of calcium, some of which can be supplied with green leafy vegetables.  Nuts, legumes and meat can supply the remaining protein and calcium needs.  Cooked lentils, navy or kidney beans are excellent sources of protein.  Fruit should be reserved as a treat, given on a daily basis during playtime or socializing.

Never feed your Conure avocados, coffee, salt or chocolate.  Coffee and chocolate contain theobromine, an alkaloid that is toxic to birds.  Avocado is also toxic to birds.  Foods with a high salt content are harmful to birds because they can not excrete salt.

In addition, provide your Conure with oyster shell or gravel in a separate dish or a cuttlebone.  Vitamin supplements can be added to their drinking water or sprinkled on their food.

Fresh water should be offered several times a day.  A Sun Conure will probably want to have a bath first thing each morning, so offering two bowls of water, one for drinking and one for bathing is a good idea.

All Conures are noted for their loud screams, which can be quite disturbing.  If your new Sun Conure tends to scream too often and too loudly, blowing in his face will soon teach him that this is not an acceptable behavior.  This technique is also effective for Conures that want to bite.

If u want to know anythin else the link is down below