What to do???

[MaryG]

I recently became a parent of a senegal parrot. We all fell in love with Loki. He is definitley part of our flock.
My daughter, who is 22 years old, wants to get a parrot of her own. She really wants to get an Eclectus. But I recently found an opportunity to get a Turquoise GCC (male) and a Yellow-sided GCC (male) that have been both recently weaned. I really would like to get these two. I like the size of the birds and that they are not as loud as an Eclectus can be.
We also have a 2 year old grandson and have concerns with him being around a larger bird although he is very gently with Loki.
Should I hold out and get the Eclectus (she like the vibrant colors and the intelligence) or the Conure pair?

[zazanomore]

Conures.

Eclectus's are VERY finicky birds. They have VERY specialized diets, and from I've heard, don't do well with the hustle and bustle of kids.

Also, you are new to parrots. You do not want to bite off more than you can chew.

Conures are playful little guys, and do well in a lot of environments.

[GlassOnion]

Ekkies are VERY specialized birds, diet is HARD to get right. Did you know that Ekkies generally don't like to be touched at all? Conures are little monkeys that love cuddling and snuggling.

Definitely a Conure.

[MaryG]

We ended up meeting with the breeder tonite and picked up the pair of conures. The male is a Turquoise and the female is a Yellow-sided. The male had already been DNA'd and we are awaiting results from the female. They are a little nippy right now. The male has let me handle him and allowed me to pet him. The female seems a little overcome at the moment. We will let them rest and see how things go tomorrow.

[Jenny]

Best of luck! Let us know how things go!

[Lokums]

We ended up meeting with the breeder tonite and picked up the pair of conures. The male is a Turquoise and the female is a Yellow-sided. The male had already been DNA'd and we are awaiting results from the female. They are a little nippy right now. The male has let me handle him and allowed me to pet him. The female seems a little overcome at the moment. We will let them rest and see how things go tomorrow.

Good choice! I ruled out ekkies because I believe they are too specialized for my lifestyle (not so much the diet as the personality and care). I have a 9 year old B&G so I am not new to the bird thing. Opted for a Senegal. FUN FUN First time bird owner, young children... not sure that would equate with an ekkie.

Mike

[MaryG]

Love my Sennie! Loki is so awesome. We have bonded and he is part of our family already. I know we made the right choice with him.
The conures are still a little nippy. I have been working with them. Let them out of the cage this morning and they loved it. Gave them lots of veggies this morning and some boiled egg. They are eating great. I need to get some supplies for their play stand so they are not so bored when they are out. Loki has taken over the other bird stand. The male sleeps on top of the female. They are so funny. They sleep between the cozy hut and the cage. Maybe I need to place them inside the hut. It took Loki about 3-4 days before he found out he could sleep in it instead of try and eat it. Lol..

[MaryG]

Well we brought home the Conures and worked with them alot. They were very snippy. I had begun to believe these were indeed not hand raised at all. They seemed very wild. They did enjoy being out of the cage and tooks baths daily which was funny to observe. We gave them a great diet and the colors came out in them very quickly. I was very concerned having these two around my grandson. I bought them with the intention to have a "pair". The breeder did do a DNA test on the "female" to prove that he was right by telling that it was a female by looking at it physically. After a week passed it was indeed a MALE! I was very perturbed by this but the breeder has another person calling about these birds the same time that I purchased them. That person contacted me and I re-homed them to her. I am glad the breeded did "do good" by helping re-home these birds.

The same night I re-homed the conures I came upon another local breeder and spoke with him several times. He raises CAG's and lovebirds. The CAG was the bird that we really wanted. He invited us to his home and he had the most beautiful setup and really seamed to care about these animals. I got to see the parents and he helped show us how to hand feed this little guy. The feedings are going great and he/she eats very well. I will want to start offering pellets when he is around 10 weeks old. He/she is currently around 6 1/2 weeks old. We were really intimidated about the hand feeding. But the breeder showed us the technique and the bird is old enough the take it in the end of it's beak. He has such a great feeding response and is so cuddly. I hope I don't get bashed for taking on an unweaned bird. But he eats really well and takes the formula easily. Here is a pic of our little guy. He is in that ugly, awkward stage but is beautiful to us. I can't wait for all his feathers to come in. In the short time we had him he has evolved so much already.

[sidech]

It's too late now but I just wanted to say I don't agree with what everyone said about the difficulties in caring for Eclectus parrots.

They do better in quiet households, but caring for them is easy once you've gotten down all the do's and dont's. They are not any better or worse than any medium size parrot with kids. No animal should be left unsupervised with a kid anyways.

Their diet looks very complicated but it's not. It takes me less than 10 minutes per day to serve mine his meals.

They like being touched if you teach them. I can do almost what i want with mine, because he trusts me and i've taken the time to teach him.

They are really sweet parrots who enjoy just sitting on your hand or shoulder for hours, sometimes talking softly to you or touching your cheek with their beak.

One thing though; they are prone to plucking more than others, especially males, thus clipping is not recommended for them.

I just had to say this. Good night!

[Natacha]

The same night I re-homed the conures I came upon another local breeder and spoke with him several times. He raises CAG's and lovebirds. The CAG was the bird that we really wanted. He invited us to his home and he had the most beautiful setup and really seamed to care about these animals. I got to see the parents and he helped show us how to hand feed this little guy. The feedings are going great and he/she eats very well. I will want to start offering pellets when he is around 10 weeks old. He/she is currently around 6 1/2 weeks old. We were really intimidated about the hand feeding. But the breeder showed us the technique and the bird is old enough the take it in the end of it's beak. He has such a great feeding response and is so cuddly. I hope I don't get bashed for taking on an unweaned bird. But he eats really well and takes the formula easily. Here is a pic of our little guy. He is in that ugly, awkward stage but is beautiful to us. I can't wait for all his feathers to come in. In the short time we had him he has evolved so much already.

What is done is done, you took home the bird.
But did the breeder expose all things that could go wrong with inexperienced people doing hand feeding? It's not just the technique on how to feed but there are other considerations, such as the formula being the right temperature, not too cold because of possible bacteria growth and not too hot because of possible crop burn. Did he talk about the different type of ways to wean a bird? Force them or let them wean on their own?

I do wish you good luck, but I honestly don't believe in buying unweaned birds. So many things can go wrong, I'm just voicing my concerns here for anyone who might see this thread and think it's a good idea. I honestly think the best thing one can do is let an experienced breeder properly wean the baby.