fell in love with a "crimson ! am i the right person?

[DataStreem]

hey guys,

read loads and loads and loads and just before I commit to it, a few last burning questions....

I am self employed and the hours that I work are all over the shop... so for example some times I'm out the house at like 10am and then other days I'm not going out until 6pm till 3am etc.

So here's the tail......

When i was a kid i used to breed budgies, and wow what a time that was, crossed a few yellow and green and come up with the most amazing of colours on the chicks that it was amazing...the whole life cycle and the egg laying and the stress of egg bound and the love they gave was bliss...seeing them as little pink blobs growing into fine young chicks....turquoise etc.....ha!

So I went into a pet shop to grab some wild bird food (I've just installed a wild bird feeder) and wandered across to look at the birds and then we met....lolol (she or he is all by her self and in a bit of a dirty cage that's probably housed 100's of birds.....i gotta get her out of there! )

I gotta to give her/him some love and lots of it....

she/he climbed down the side of the cage and was all upside down and dancing about.....ha! we bonded....so i got to have her....well I'd like too but I want to be the perfect guy for the task, maybe what the next 20 years or so....

My uncle had his whole back garden done with aviary's and I'd spend all summer down there, feeding cleaning, talking to them all day! ha! he had loads and loads and we'd drive maybe 200 miles to get a new one...

so (long story i know) but i'm worried that my get up times will be all over the place so like one day 8am next day 11am etc.

I can give her/him some thing like 6 - 10 hours a day when I come home....not a problem.....

so yeah any tips and that would be appreciated.

Thank You.

[Navre]

You sound like the right person, to me. While you may not see yourself as "perfect," due to your work schedule, that bird is in a pet shop and will be going home with whoever shows up with enough dollars (or Euros, or Pounds, or Rubles, I don't know where you are.) You know what you're getting into, and will give him a good home.

[DataStreem]

hey thanks..but....what about if for say i work 10am until 6pm one week.....and then the following week....6pm until 2am......?? that's the worry.....

thanks again

oh and UK matey....

[DataStreem]

i've decided........gonna get there at 8.45am......doors open 9....she's coming home with me....ha can't wait....checked a load of "youtube" channels out and this one girl she has posted "gold" on looking after them...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6bpQaORDYw

like your first night with them..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg8qVEvD8Q0

initial costs........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgkbdepat7k

i wont post the rest...just describe......


omg can't wait.....what do you think as a "welcome" gift? strawberries....or nuts ? help me out guys...lol

[DataStreem]

oh and your all probably wondering the name.... "HAWK" suits her! love all ready.....lol..

[Pajarita]

Well, no use giving giving our opinion now but, if I were you, I would not use these videos as good instructions because, on the first one, the birds were clipped and the woman did not even know enough not to caress the bird's back and, on the second, the cage set-up was bad so, again, this cannot be somebody that knows enough to be teaching anybody else - mind you, not that there are any real parrot experts but some things are pretty basic and proper cage-set up and handling are two of them.

You can make it work with your schedule (when there is a will, there is ALWAYS a way) but it will be A LOT of hard work for you and, most likely, there will be days when you will not get enough sleep because these little pyrrhuras need hours and hours and hours of one-on-one and this has to happen every single day AND during the daylight hours (can't do it at night or during twilight).

[DataStreem]

well when i went to get her she'd been sold, only sat in that pet shop for well over 3 weeks according to the guy in there and sold her Sunday.

So you don't think getting one would be a good idea with the hours? your the pro's that's why I'm here....

regarding your answer on playing with them when it's dusk, surly here in the U.K other parrot owners are in the same predicament? where they are not getting home until late i.e dusk.

I want the best for her/him so if you think it would be cruel then i won't

p.s i should mention that it's only one weekend a month where I have to work 6pm until 2am ish....

the rest of the days i'm in a kinda normal routine....so back in the house for like 8 - 9pm (some weeks 5/6pm) and not starting until some times 11 / 9 am...so have a few hours every morning for treats and kisses etc.

and then when I get back from work my devoted attanetion to play time....

shame about them videos....quite disappointing to here....what was up with the cage?

Thanks

[Navre]

I agree about the videos. I watched the beginning of the first one, saw all kinds of touching that will lead to problems in a mature bird, and turned it off.

Sorry the conure got sold before you could get her. I don't know if you have any rescues in your area, but maybe you could check one out. An adult bird who loves you is always a better long-term prospect. Baby birds tend to love everyone, but they can change when they reach maturity. An adult bird is much more "what you see is what you get."

[Pajarita]

The cage was in a dark corner (and, I might add, there was no protection for the walls even though parrots are the messiest eaters!), there was no visible light overhead and, apparently, no natural light coming from a nearby window which is needed to keep their endocrine system healthy. That was number one, and number two was the woman had a dowel in it instead of natural tree branches as it is now recommended. The first woman kept on caressing the bird's entire back which is what we call an 'inappropriate' touch with birds as their backs are an erogenous zones so no person who knows about parrot keeping would do that. And, the birds were clipped, another sign of somebody who doesn't have enough knowledge or experience to handle a bird properly.

I am sorry the bird you had your heart set on was sold but, if I have to be honest, I am, in a way, glad this happened because it gives us a chance to try to talk you into adopting an adult one - which is what I ALWAYS recommend as parrots are in overpopulation (hundreds of thousands of them are homeless) and it's a much easier perspective for somebody with no real previous experience because, as John said, with an adult, what you see is what you get and you have a MUCH better chance of achieving a good relationship than with an unknown element (baby).

Now, as to whether you can do it, it's entirely up to you! If you want to make it work, you can but it will take a lot of planning and a bit of sacrifice because even though your schedules will change, the bird's cannot.

Are there birds who been kept by people who work full time are not kept in a bird's light schedule but a human one? Yes, unfortunately, there are... too many as a matter of fact. It is a sad fact that most people do not know that birds are photoperiodic and need to follow a strict solar schedule. The funny thing about this is that, in reality, everybody knows it! I mean, everybody knows chickens wake up with dawn -roosters crowing and all- and that they go to bed with the sunset, same thing with the birds we see on the trees... we see them following this schedule all our lives. But, for some particular reason, people don't connect the dots and realize that parrots need this schedule too in order to stay healthy and happy! The thing is that if the endocrine system gets confused as to what season it is (daylength determines this), it will become skewed and produce sexual hormones when it's not supposed and will not produce enough 'happy' hormones. The combination of the reduced happy hormones and the excess of sexual hormones creates a real bad situation for them and you end up with an unhappy bird that is in constant physical discomfort - this translates into aggression, screams, plucking, etc.