My little Sun Conure

Question
My husband and I are animal lovers. Once we read up on conures, we decided to get a sun.  We found a breeder that was wanting to sell some 6 month old ones, that she had not fooled with that much.  We knew that we were determined and ready for the challenge including some patience .. I just need some reassurance.  The bird that we have named Samson.... was a basically a wild bird. The previous owner never handled it, and it was free to do whatever it wanted.  It is a BIG BITER  (and it hurts) but we are determined that with patience this bird will end up being a lovely pet.  He has already made an improvement. It loves to ride on our shoulder. It will let you nuzzle it with your face, but if you bring your hand even remotely close, it will snap and get you.  How long do you think it will take for a 6 month old sun connure that has never been handled to trust us?  Or will it ever?  How can I teach it not to bite?  We handle it quite often, is too much handling bad?   I just hate that it bites SOOOOO hard until he draws blood, he will not let go.  But I dont want to give up on him... please help.

Answer
The  biggest plus is that this bird will nuzzle and not bite, is only 6 months old and has patient, caring people like you.

I've got step by step behavior modifications at my site so take a look and let me know how it goes (it's all free).  

 This little one is frightened, insecure and doesn't know what is really expected of it.  Stay patient and keep handling.

The one caution I'd express here is that it's never a good idea to force the handling.  The bird needs to be respected and to know that what it wants is important too.  So if the bird really doesn't seem to want to participate in your interaction, don't push.  Instead, try to convince it with praise, rewards, interesting things to engage in, etc..  There's a fine line between letting the bird rule and letting the bird have some of it's own space.  You've got to trust your instincts ok?

 Take a look at my site for how to modify behaviors:

www.4AnimalCare.org (click on the bird tab and scroll down).