Meyer's Parrot?

[BudgieGirl]

Hello-
I really like your forum- I recently got a meyer's parrot, Tumnus, and beforehand I read a lot of the info here on the poicephalus birds. It was very helpful. But I do have a question- what is the normal size range for a meyers? Mine is over 200g at 11 weeks, and still growing! He is not overweight at all- the little guy is solid muscle. Are Meyers' bigger than I thought, or do you think he is an unusual subspecies? It is just a matter of curiosity. And, are they really more sensitive to dietary things than other birds? My bird's breeder just about fell over when I told her that my birds get small oatmeal cookies on their birthdays, pie on Thanksgiving, the occasional bite of pizza, etc, etc. Pretty sure she considered sending me home birdless then and there. I have owned probably 40+ birds, mostly budgies, (I bred for about 10 years and took in rescues), but have very little experience with African birds, so while allowing my birds to snack never hurt mine before, perhaps this one is different?

[theparrotletdude]

Don't worry, parrots fluctuate in size. While it isn't possible for a parakeet to grow to the size of a macaw, they may have small size differences.

I don't reccomend feeding them pie however.

[mtaylor1021]

I'm jealous. My local pet store has a few meyers parrots about the same age as yours and I absolutely love them! Awesome birds!

[cml]

I would question whether its really a Meyers considering its TWICE the weight of a normal Meyer.

The Meyer's Parrot (Poicephalus meyeri) is a small (about 21 cm, 90-130g)

Do you have pictures of your parrot?

Don't worry, parrots fluctuate in size. While it isn't possible for a parakeet to grow to the size of a macaw, they may have small size differences.

Thats the keyword there, small, I would at least look into why its so abnormally big with regards to its species normal weight.

[Andromeda]

Wow, that's super large for a Meyer's! My Poi (brown-headed parrot) hovers around 130g.

I'm like Liz; are you 100% sure it's a Meyer's? If so I'd be concerned that it's almost twice the weight it should be...

Could it be a Cape Parrot?

Also you should not really be feeding them pizza since they don't have the enzyme to digest cheese. When I have pizza I break off a small piece of the crust and give it to my birds. That way they can share dinner with me but they aren't eating cheese.

[GlassOnion]

He could be a Jardine's... Does he look like this?

[BudgieGirl]

Hello,

Don't worry, they only get the crust of pizza, and the pie I give them is "birdy pie" that I make for them- not much sugar, etc. Except for that one time when a bunch of them escaped and all landed IN the pie I was making and refused to be dislodged.

Here is my little monster:

IMGP1005.JPG

(55.83 KiB) Downloaded 435 times

He definitely looks like a Meyers, I think... He is down to about 190 now- I checked again. He is solid with a well defined breast bone. (He spends most of his time either running or flying.) No hint of squishiness or anything. He isn't just big around- he is quite tall/long. Do you think he is a hybrid, or something? Or just ginormous? I seem to have a knack for finding odd birds, or just oddly sized birds. My vet makes fun of me.

Thank you for the help!

[Natacha]

Does look like Meyer's..
He certainly is big. Both of mine are around 130g and are the heaviest of my small Pois.

[cml]

I agree with Natacha, it really does look like a Meyers, and a nice looking parrot at that!

I have no idea as to why he is so big, maybe its just an abnormality, or maybe he's a hybrid like you say?