Training Conures the RIGHT way!
The Conure is one of the most popular birds to own. There are hundreds of varieties of this lovely bird and they’re readily available in just about any pet store. They’re more affordable than the larger parrot breeds and are known for being entertaining and comical creatures. The conure is a hearty bird who is generally easy to care for. That’s the conure on paper; the reality can look just as bright if you invest in a little conure training.
A little insight on Conure training
When you first get a new conure you’re probably going to find that everyone and their brother has information and advice for you. Unfortunately much of that advice is downright awful.
For example, a new conure owner was recently told by a pet store owner to flick their bird’s beak when it nipped at them. That’s a horrible idea. Conure’s have the reputation for being nippy birds. This is caused by a number of reasons including fear and the owner allowing it to become a habit. Flicking the bird’s beak only makes it more fearful and breeds further problems.
Before you go seeking training advice from every Tom, Dick, and Harry, explore what might be causing your Conure’s behaviors.
Fear- Birds have very strong natural instincts to fly when there’s a predator nearby. However, in your home they cannot fly to safety. They’re fairly captive. The result is fear and stress which shows up in unwanted behaviors like biting and screaming.
Part of a conure training process will not only socialize your conure to situations, environments, people, pets and objects it will help them develop their own natural process to adapt to new situations without panicking. This is a step by step training process where you introduce them, as slowly as they need, to new commands, situations, people, and objects.
Boredom- Conures are active and energetic creatures. Keep them in a cage all day, deprive them of activity and toys and you’ll have a very unhappy conure. Not to worry, they’ll let you know how upset they are with screaming and even biting. The solution? Let them out of their cage each day and give them toys to play with when you’re gone. Top it off with a training session each day or two to stimulate their intelligent minds and you may never have a behavior problem again.
Jealousy- A very common cause of aggressive behavior. They’re loving and affectionate birds which leads to a strong owner/bird bond. As your bird approaches adolescence they may begin to resent your interaction with other people and animals. The result will be aggressive behavior toward that person. Training nips this behavior in the bud. It teaches your conure what behaviors are acceptable and makes them comfortable in many situations.
Bad habits develop easily. For example, you walk in the front door and your bird hollers to welcome you. You walk over to their cage and let them out. Unfortunately, you may have just started training your conure to screech when they want to be let out of their cage. The same thing happens if your bird nips you and you put them back in their cage, we’ll now you’re teaching them that all they need to do when they want to be left alone is nip you. Not good. Training helps eliminate bad habits.
There’s an abundance of bad advice about conure training. Much of it makes conure behavior problems worse. Instead, take some time to understand your conure’s behavior and needs. Set aside time to modify their behavior and yours. Don’t give up. A little time, attention, and positive Conure Training and you’ll have your happy, loving conure back in no time.
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