Sun Conure in a new home

Question
QUESTION: About 6 months ago, my fiance and I bought a Senegal Parrot, Hermes.  Given that we spend so much time studying at college, Hermes was the best pet/study buddy we could have ever asked for.  Unfortunately, as of late, there are 2-3 days of the week that we are gone for up to 12 hours.   

To keep Hermes company we decided to get another bird.  This time we got a sun conure (from craigslist...I know I know).  Tony, the sun conure, interacted relatively well with the owner.  It seemed, however, that the bird spent the majority of his days in the cage.  He was "OK" with the owner picking him up and nuzzling him, but he inevitably flew back to the cage (no, his wings weren't clipped).

Now that he's in our home, he interacts exactly as we wanted with our Senegal.  However, he lunges and bites anytime we get near him.  I have been quite persistent, although he's broken the skin a few times, and have successfully gotten him to "step-up" about 2-5 times a day.

At this point, we've had him less than a week and I was wondering how long we should be persistent before we come to the conclusion to walk away.  Also, if we use an oven mitt or garden gloves he will step up (after attacking them ferociously).

Any help would be appreciated.

ANSWER: hello. thank you for your question. do not take this wrong, but your story exemplifies the reason that i try and tell people to take their time and think very carefully prior to purchasing a parrot and/or a second parrot. although it is understandable that you are worried about Hermes being alone for that long during the week (and was very conscientious of you, so few parrot owners are aware that birds get bored when they are alone) there are other ways to keep your bird buddy entertained when they are home alone without having to purchase a second bird. i know that is not your question, and my job isn't to sit here and tell you "i told you so", so i will move on.
sun conures, and conures in general, can be terrific companions. however, if Tony was left in his cage the majority of the time, he, like most parrots, has probably learned how to keep humans "at bay" with his aggressive behavior. it sounds like its been working for him for the most part. incidentally, i don't really have an issue with the fact that you got the bird on Craigs list...i always think it is honorable when someone decides to give a "secondhand" (or third or fourth hand) parrot another shot. i am sort of curious though as to why his owner decided to get rid of him but that is neither here nor there...
anyway, i am glad to hear that he has become a friend to your Senegal. that is great. on a cautious note, i hope that you are not putting them together or having them out together as that can be dangerous to put two birds of any species together. all 'together" time should be supervised very cautiously.
i digress...on to your question! i know about the pain of the sun conure bite. i have had my sun for 15 years and am currently nursing a horrible bite to my neck. my point being, there will always be a certain amount of aggression/biting expected from this crew...there is no getting around that. it is how you handle it that matters. sun conures can get very protective of their "flock" (meaning its owners) and can give vicious bites to anyone attempting to "invade" their territory. in fact, sometimes they only choose one person who they let handle them and everyone else gets the angry bites. my husband has had to learn this the hard way. you may already know this however it sounds like you have had a different experience with the more personable Senegal.  although i say that biting is just part of conure ownership, you should only have to "tolerate" so much.
you say that you have had him less than a week...trust me, it will take much time and patience which i assure you will be worth it as suns can be wonderful companions for humans. when you say "walk away", i am wondering if you mean just no longer attempting to play with him vs giving him away. it would be sad to see you give him away after you chose to have him in your life but what would be worse would be to keep him in your home but not handle him. this is not fair to you or him. birds need social interaction and you will be dealing with a far more aggressive bird if you cease your attempts to hand tame him. furthermore, he will become a nuisance and start screaming and being destructive if left to his own devices.
my inclination is that your new conure is simply scared.
birds bite mainly because of fear...fear of a new place, fear of new people, etc. your bird may just be "settling in" and realizing that this is his new home.
another reason birds bite is out of jealousy...like i said, if your bird was previously attached to one particular person in his household, it is possible that he is biting because he does not recognize you as his prior owner. I'm not sure if the prior owner was the only person interacting with the bird but this could be the case. when birds pick their favorite person (their "mate") sometimes everyone else is subject to a vicious bite. if you do stick with training this little guy, prepare for more of this if he decides to only bond with one of you. in fact, I've found that my sun and most suns bond with females better as opposed to  males (some people say it is because females have higher pitched voices).
i am also wondering if you are certain your bird is a male. conures become sexually mature at about one or two...causing some hormonal changes. if your bird is female, she may be getting ready to lay eggs for the first time and can be quite protective of her impending "babies". solo female birds do lay eggs but the poor things don't know that there are no "babies" in them! males can also become moody during hormonal changes as well...it's best to let it run its course.
i know this is alot of info but over time, you will understand your conures moods and signals. sometimes, birds bite simply because they want to be left alone at times (usually for afternoon naps) and when they are down for the night (make sure he is getting at least 12 hours of darkness as tiredness makes for a cranky parrot). please don't let the biting discourage you from interacting with him as neglecting a bird can also cause them to bite you out of frustration. sometimes with new birds, like children, they are simply "testing the waters" to see what their limits are and also exploring new places.
when he does bite, a simple blow of air to his face and a firm "No" can help. please do not flick the birds beak or hit as some people have suggested. you want him to trust you to set limits with him. if that doesn't work, put him in "time out" as you would a child. say "no" and place him in the cage and do not interact with him for several minutes. then resume interaction. be sure to award positive behaviors with treats and petting.
i understand your inclination to use the oven mitt/glove..my husbands family does that with their vicious lovebird. however, the reason he attacks that is obvious, because it is scaring him. but the reason he eventually gets up onto the glove is because you are not pulling away! when a bird bites your bare hand and you pull back, he is getting what he wants (you go away). when he bites the glove but you continue to hold it out, he realizes he cannot "win" and eventually gets on. although the glove is "safe" i urge that you eventually stop using it. as painful as a bite may be, it is better to have your bird get on your hand not because he is scared/annoyed by you, but because he trusts you.
just remember..i have had my conure for 15 years and there are still the occasional "bites" that i get when i am interrupting his "me" time or when he is in a crabby molting mood.
i hope this helps and please continue to work with him and spend time with him...sun conures are amazing pets and can be very rewarding to own. thank you for your question and good luck.
alicia




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Immediately after I posted this question we took the conure into the pet store to have him professionally groomed (I'm not all that secure in my toenail trimming abilities as of yet).

Immediately after he was groomed his demeanor made a complete 180.  He has not bitten us a single time since (although, with conures, I know I should expect an occasional bite no matter how friendly).

He's currently allowing us to pet and play with him just as we have our senegal in the past.  We have him in a smaller cage right now, the cage he had with the previous owner was quite large and most likely added to his defensiveness.  Once we feel he's comfortable with us we'll let him stay with his cage on a more permanent basis rather than just a play-stand during the day.

I understand you're distrust towards the initial situation, however, I assure you that my fiance have done quite a lot of research on the situation before electing to purchase a second parrot.  Although Hermes is quite young (approx. 20 weeks), we began to suspect early on that he was not entertaining himself as he should.

In order to "see" whether or not this was the case, I actually set up a webcam to "watch."  I turned out that he never once interacted with anything but food, water, and millet in his cage. We tried upwards of 10 different styles of toys (and hiding peanut butter and treats in the toys) as well as leaving the radio and TV on for him (cartoons, animal planet, discovery, etc)...nothing changed.

Maybe it was because he's still very young and still figuring things out, maybe he's just not quite bright, or maybe he's simply uninterested by the toys.  

Either way, so far it seems that the conure has been a blessing.  In less than 24 hours he turned from a standalone and defensive bird to an affectionate buddy to the whole family.  I don't think it could have worked out any better.

We do practice the proper styles of discipline with our birds.  The worst they've ever gotten is a blow in the nostrils and a loud "NO!" Timeout has yet to become an option at this point.  I knew from the beginning that the oven mitt was a bad idea...at that point it was our only means of getting him into the carrying cage to get him to the bird store.  

Again, thank you for the information.  I hope that my experience with our new conure and your expertise will help others in similar situations.  The good news is that a beautiful sun conure went from a horrible neglected situation to a relatively pampered one.

Answer
thanks for updating me. yay! sounds like you are really making some headway with him. i forgot to mention the old "attitude adjustment", as we affectionately call wing/nail clipping, as a suggestion for curbing conure aggression! my sun tends to get a little too big for his britches whenever i have allowed his wings to grow out even the slightest bit...almost like he "knows" he can fly so he acts like he is tough or something. as soon as he is clipped, he turns into a lamb. I'm not sure if its the clipping or being placed in physical "check" by a human, but either way, it works! sounds like since then you have really made a great deal of progress with him and your Senegal has taken to him. that is so great to hear! I'm also glad your little sun is able to have bird AND human buddies as it sounds like he didn't have much interaction before. btw, i think its hilarious that you put up a cam to watch your bird. I've often thought of that with my dog. good luck and take care. alicia