note from camarila: When the Williams family, proud new owners of Missy, a Sun Conyer, wrote to tell Kristin that they found this page on Yahoo when looking for info on the breed, we decided to also post that info for others! This is some input from Kristin, in her own words, as she answered their e-mail:
I got Citrus while working and volunteering part time at A Bird in the
Hand in Atlanta. The store is no longer open but was one of very few great places to
buy, own, and train parrots. The very popular and respected bird author Sally
Blanchard was a fan of the store and even raved about it in articles.
In
response to your questions about my bird Citrus, I got him as an "adult". he
was 3 going on 4, I believe. He doesn't talk but he makes the most precious
kissy noises when he wants my attention. Some conyers can be
trained to learn simple words such as "hi," "bye," "pretty bird," etc.
When you
brought up the fact that Missy's colors aren't as bright as they ought to be
a few things came to mind.
1) if Missy is a baby the colors will be a little
dull and Missy may have more green than anything else, but the colors will
develop!.
2) the diet plays a big part in how the colors on your bird turn out. your
parrot should be on a 60% pelletted diet. I buy Zupreem Avian Maintenance
natural pellets in the parrots and conyer size (it has an African Grey on
the bag). I only buy the pellets with no artificial coloring just because it
makes sense that it would be healthier for a bird to stay away from things
they normally wouldn't find in the wild. If your bird hasn't been trained to
eat pellets then please start weaning him or her onto the pellets. Some birds eat
it with no problem, and some won't touch it at first. You might try half
pellets with half seed, or leaving pellets in the cage for an hour (with
water available at all times) and watching to see how much your bird eats
then two hours with fruit/veggies, or seed and so on. The key is to be
patient when introducing new foods to your birds. For the rest of their diet
you should feed 10% seed (once or twice a week at the most) and 30% fruits
and vegetables. Fruits and veggies are very good for your bird- try to get
your bird to eat as many greens as possible. (spinach, lettuce, celery,
peas, collard greens, cabbage, brocolli) but make sure none of what you feed
your bird is canned. It's simply not good for them. I recommend fresh or
frozen. The only things your birds should never be fed are avocado and
chocolate. It is toxic to your bird. Also stay away from fried, greasy,
buttered foods. And nothing you cook for your bird should be cooked in
Teflon cookware. The coating is also toxic (self-cleaning ovens in clean-mode, same deal!).
3) don't forget to shower your bird 3-4
times weekly. Dander builds up on birds and makes their coats appear dull
and worn. Citrus bathes himself in his water bowl regularly so I only shower
him about 1 or 2 times a week.
other tips:
**make sure your cage is the right size and that the bar spacing is
appropriate.
**the cage should have bars on the top as well, nothing should block sunlight
from getting into the cage
**you should get artificial sunlight to your bird with special light bulbs.
they cost about $40 (can't remember the name of them)
**carefully look over the toys you put in your birds cage to make sure it is
in no way harmful to them
**change the cage paper daily
**keep the cage clean
**you should also spend about 2 hours with your bird outside of the cage
daily. this keeps them from getting stress-related problems, it also helps
keep your bird tame, and friendly.
**wash the dishes for the birds food everyday to avoid bacteria. fresh water
should be put in the cage daily.
**I WOULD GATHER ANY MATERIAL YOU CAN WRITTEN BY SALLY BLANCHARD*** she is
incredible! also Bird Talk magazine is great!
**make sure your bird has all of her shots and gets a vet check up yearly.
** i have 4 birds now. a sun conure, quaker, love bird and a budgie! if you
need help with anything else, please don't hesitate to e-mail me!
notes by Kristin Wolf
Midi playing: Breathe (by Faith Hill)
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