by Nora Caterino

Created on: October 07, 2009

Conures can be wonderful pets but only if the owner is well aware of the personalities and noise level associated with these comical companion parrots. All too often, a person sees a beautiful conure, especially the brightly colored sun conure, and simply have to own the beautiful bird without any knowledge of what they are getting into.

Conures are LOUD. While they do not scream all the time if treated properly, no conure will ever be silent if it is healthy and happy. They will scream a "hello" and a "goodbye" as you come and go and scream when something frightens them or they are in need of food or water.

When an owner does not know how to deal with the screaming, they often scream at the bird and this simply causes the conure to become a chronic scream. Then they place the poor bird in a closet or other horrible location and ignore it. Soon, they rehome the conure, simply because the conure was being a conure. This is unfair to the bird and leads to serious emotional problems which the new owner must deal with.

Before buying a conure of any sort, whether a sun conure, nanday, mitred or another type, do your homework. Read books on dealing with conures. Focus on books written by parrot behaviorist such as Greg Glendell because these books will focus on parrot problems such as screaming.

Understand that conures must be entertained all the time to prevent feather plucking. This doesn't mean you must spend every minute with your parrot. It means that the conure's cage and play stand must contain interesting toys which can be chewed and destroyed, bells which can be rung, and puzzle toys to challenge the bird's brain. Toys should be rotated frequently and some put away for a while. When you later return the toy, your conure will think it is brand new.

Conures do want quality time out of the cage with their human flock every single day. They are so playful that if you love your conure, this won't be a problem. They are light-weight little birds and will gladly ride on your shoulder around the house as much as you will permit.

Conures do love to chew. This makes teaching your conure the "NOT YOURS" command very early in your relationship an important task. Because conures are so intelligent, they learn quickly as long as you are consistent with commands and yours will soon get the idea that "NOT YOURS" means it can't have or chew that item. Then give your bird something it can play with.

Conure diet is important for health. They will eat a wide selection of "people foods". However, like all parrots, they can not have foods which are high in fat, salt or sugar. They also can not have avocado, pits from peaches or apple seeds, chocolate, caffiene, alcohol, raw meat or under-cooked eggs. They should be fed a good seed mix with few sunflower seeds or a top-quality pellet diet along with lots of people foods. Most conures love raw vegetables, fruits, pasta, rice, bits of cheese and egg, a cracked cooked chicken bone from which they eat the marrow, and they love to eat with the family.

If you consider obtaining a conure, you should consider it a lifetime commitment. It is akin to adopting a child and you should never consider a parrot of any kind as a disposible, temporary pet. They bond to their people and mourn if they are rehomed. But if you can commit to a conure, they can be great companions and even learn to talk.

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