Gold Capped Conures:

Three Easy Ways to Turn Your Screaming
Gold Capped Conure into a Sweetie

The scenario usually goes something like this.  You bring your beautiful and stunning gold capped conure home and all is well.  He’s cuddly, cheerful, playful and possibly the best bird on the planet.  He greets you with a cheerful scream when you enter the room and he actively engages you to play.   

Then something changes.  He becomes nippy, the screaming occurs morefrequently – driving you, your family, and your neighbors insane, and he’s no longer interested in playing with you without biting. 

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to end with your conure alone in a cage unhappy and you in another room with ear plugs in.  In fact, the solution to your birds constant screaming and biting may actually be quite simple. Read on to get some tips or jump over to our training page to see our video on training your conure. 

Step One:  Make sure your Gold Capped Conure is eating well and getting plenty of sleep.

I know this sounds extremely basic but think of it this way.  How happy are you when you get half of the sleep that you need and you’re only food for the day is a bag of chips and a cup of coffee.  I don’t know about you but I’m about as crabby as a cat being chased by a teething puppy. 

What does a good diet mean for a gold capped conure?  It means an organic, non colored, pellet diet with plenty of fresh fruits and veggies.  It does not mean a diet full of seeds and nuts.  This kind of diet will kill your bird and I’m not exaggerating here.  Seeds and nuts, while yummy to your bird, are extremely fatty.  This will fill your conure’s liver with fat, it will slow down his metabolism, and literally destroy his immune system.  There have even been studies that show that a seed and nut based diet causes cancer. 

Now let’s talk about sleep.  Your Gold Capped Conure needs 12 hours of sleep in a dark and quiet room.  If this means that you have to move him out of the main living space and into a dark room every evening after dinner, then take those steps.  It’s the first step toward having a happy, healthy bird, one that doesn’t constantly scream and bite. 

Step Two:  Some birds may be content to sit in a cage all day but not Gold Capped Conures. 

They are intelligent birds that need to be active and interact.  They thrive on stimulation and interaction.  This means that their cage must be big enough for them to roam and explore both horizontally and vertically.  It also means that you must take on the responsibility as their owner to provide a multitude of toys and chewables for your conure to explore and yes to destroy. This means you’ll be replacing toys frequently but if your bird’s bored he’s going to take it out on you.  Spend a few bucks and buy him some great toys.   

Step Three:  If you’ve taken both steps one and two and your gold capped conure is still screaming and biting you then it’s time to take it to the next level. 

Trick training.  Trick training accomplishes these three things: it teaches your bird through positive reinforcement to trust you, it teaches your bird that you’re the boss and biting and screaming are not acceptable, it teaches your bird that trick training is a fun and stimulating game that he can play with you.  Best of all, it will bring your bird back into the loving folds of your family instead of having to keep him behind bars and under lock and key.   

The trick to trick training is to do it right.  The experts at birdtricks.com have developed a fantastic program designed to end your Gold Capped Conure’s bad behaviors through step by step trick training and positive reinforcement.  Use their videos and free resources and you’ll turn your screamer into a sweetie in no time.