Hi
Congrats on your new fid!! (feathered kid) & I am SO glad you have been checking them out on the net, not many new bird owners do.

I'm not a conure owner but I am a parrot owner so I can answer general Q's for you.

I've never heard of 'honeymoon period' though I am guessing what is meant by this. Firstly the period can depend greatly on the bird itself, how long they take to get used to you, your household & new environment. This can take anything from a few days to several months. I'm guessing the honeymoon period ending is what I call the "you can't tell ME what to do!!" stage LOL. This is a stage all parrots go through in their new homes once they've settled & sussed things out. It's a trying you out period to see how far they can actually go before going too far. Little like kids really. It's simply upto you to "stand your ground" & say NO! enough is enough. Birds are NOT dominant in the wild, nor are they in captivity. How they act (agressive, lovey etc) depends on what you as an owner has tought them & how you treat them. The honeymoon period is simply where the learning curve for Tango will start & where you will need to start to train & teach her a few simple house rules.

Some parrots don't like petting or head scratching, others love it. How old is Tango? Hormones can often play a part in their moods too as well as them chosing to be scratched. The key to keeping her open to being handled is to earn her trust, then continue handling her. She's doing fantastic with you at the moment, I think you're 1/2 way there already. Liking a pet or not isn't usually a tease, it's usually a chosen to like or dislike at the time depending on moods, molting etc. Keep trying but if she says no, then don't push it. The nipping & sqwarking would be her testing you. As painful as it may be, a bite is to be ignored, as if it didn't even happen. A reaction to a bite is like a reward for her doing it, therefor she'll keep doing it. Same thing goes with sqwarking. There is also something else about the 2. On an occation a parrot can do those not just to test but really mean it so it's vital to learn their body language, they rarely lash out without showing signs first.

Being eager to be on her playgym is good. She's interested in it so load it up with toys & let her go for it because there will be days when you will want her to stay on there.

The diet they advised is good. To tempt her to eat the right foods you can eat them or pretend to eat them in front of her & make them sound REALLY YUMMY!! Keep trying as often as you can before offering pellets. There are so many different bird foods & recipes you can search on the net. It may be something as simple as, she had too much of one thing so now she's tired of it or she prefers cooked, or fresh, or iced. Try whatever you can, there are alot of ways of dishing up food to a parrot that's sick of the same old thing or hasn't really found something she likes yet (I know LOL). Oh except the shop didn't mention to you to try FRESH cut fruit & veggies. Boiled egg & shell, pumpkin, sweet potato & brown rice is one favoured by most parrots & very good for them. You can also try sprouting your birds seed. It's easy to do it just as they start to sprout is when they have the best nutrition in them & daily it gives them MOST of their vits & mins needed.

Thank you so very much for all of the advice.

Tango is 8 months old and the first parrot I have owned (which is why I decided on a smaller, more affable species for starters). I have had numerous budgies when growing up, and I lived with an African Grey when with my father.

Last night, Tango did a turn around of sorts. We have found that if she is giving us the 'cold shoulder' all we have to do is get in front of her and start passing a toy back and forth while saying its name, or we carrying on a conversation. Soon, she wants in and we will pass her the toy or she will make quiet noises as if she is talking too. She actually ate a bit of dried papaya and corn and some fresh carrot...not a lot but enough to show interest. While we watched a movie she wanted down off of her playgym to sit with us (it is in the living room in between the chair and couch so whe is with us). I would take her down and she would climb all over me, then up the back of the sofa, along the sofa, all over my friend and back yet again. Lots of head bobbing (we tell her to Rock....or perhaps Rawk!) :)

Her cage is smaller (24 x 16 x 16) then I would like, but she is in it only at night and if I run out somewhere. It was a temporary cage (good for a sleeping cage or to take on trips) as a friend was going to let have a nice one she had. Once I got Tango, my friend said I could use it until she decided to get another bird...and I would rather wait a few months and get her a really nice, large cage with a play top for an extra play area, rather then use her cage and then have to move Tango again. Plus the one I 'borrowed' smells very much like cigarettes and is lacking a bottom grate (I like them as it keeps the birds out of their mess, she doesn't and uses corn cob). She also had her brid for a fairly short time (a year or so) and it died of unknown causes, making me also worried about using the cage. Is the cage size alright for now, given that she is rarely in it? I would rather spend money on toys and save for a stainless steel cage which would be purchased in about 6 months. I also thought a smaller cage might be better while doing the initial training, as I don't want her cage to be more fun than being out.

I did have another short (promise) question for anyone out there with smaller parrots. There are a great many preschool-like toys out there that look great for training/teaching parrots under supervision, but as they are preschool toys, they are too large for my small conure. Are there any ideas for toys that don't hang from the cage? We let her play with a monkey from the Barrel of Monkeys when she is with us, and she likes a wadded up paper ball (though I worry about her eating the paper). Are there any ideas for 'foot toys' and the like that are easy to make or get?

Thank you so much for your advice and reply.
Tara
"Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best." ~Henry Van Dyke

Well, I'm not quite sure about toys, as my own conure doesn't like them much... she prefers to play with my budgie Salty, so I cant' help you much on that front. But she does like really brightly colored woods and woven palm fronds, so perhaps those might be a good idea to use... Dunno.

I personaly feed Aderyn a mix of seed, ZuPreem pellets (the cockatiel blend, since she's too small for the conure brand), and fresh fruit. She particularily likes apples, red peppers, and corn, though she will eat broccoli and other green fruits.

Darby
Aderyn (GCC)
and Salty (budgie)

Hace you looked for baby toys? They're great for small parrots & you can also get a baby blanket (or make one) with interactive things on them. There are also websites around that sell boys & parts & interactive birds toys for the correct size birds.

Tango sounds like she's doing extremely well.

Thanks again for all of the great advice! Tango is eating more today, not much variety-wise but the quantity is up. I bought some grapes and organic dried apricots today and I figured that sooner or later, if I keep offering stuff that is bright and pretty, curiosity will win out and she will try it. She was actually excited to see me when I got home from dinner this evening, so she appears to be settling in nicely. She has even begun playing with the hanging toys in her cage, so I will begin to get more to rotate regularly.

I will look into the baby toys, Kim. The interactive blanket is a great idea. I let her walk around on a blanket on my bed sometimes when I am on my computer. (If I let her on the desk she gets obsessed with the mirror behind the monitor). The blanket would be great to keep her occupied and I know the exact type you mean. I still worry about the cage size, but as I said, she will not be in it for long and she is out more then a lot of birds (5-8 hours a day).


Tara
"Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best." ~Henry Van Dyke

Tango began playing today a bit more and I am getting creative about toys I can find around the house that are safe for her while supervised (plastic milk caps...washed, that sort of thing). She is far more interactive today.

How did you get Aderyn to play with Salty? Do you have them out together? Which did you have first? I am sure Tango will have a friend eventually and I am curious how to acclimate them.

Thanks so much for your comment.
Tara
"Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best." ~Henry Van Dyke

I've had Salty for three years - he'd previously lived with my two other birdies who both, sadly, died. He was alone for two months before I got Aderyn.
Basically, I just sort of let Salty out of his cage and Aderyn out of hers, and they sort of sat together on top of the cage. They like to chase eachother around the cage, and eat food together. Aderyn is very rarely aggressive towards Salty, except when he tries to court her and she doesn't like it. Poor Salty, this is the only female bird he's ever met since the pet store (Pep and Peep were both male), and he's completely forgotten that Aderyn is quite a bit bigger than him and is of a different species.

I kind of wish I had not had Salty before Aderyn, though, since she prefers to spend all of her time with him rather than with me. When Salty isn't in the room, she'll be content to sit with me, but when he's in the room...

Darby
Aderyn (GCC)
and Salty (budgie)