New Parrot: Skull the Cape

[Marsha]

Hi guys, I'm Marsha, 25 years old, from the Netherlands (so I apologize for any spelling mistakes) and my boyfriend and I own 2 male eclectus who are best friends from day 1. We got them a few months after another though so we're very happy how that turned out.

We have been thinking about a third parrot for more than half year now and to me a cape parrot is the best option. (my boyfriend isn't fully convinced )
Because they are said to be very playfull (like my boys) and have a high chance of tolerating other birds. Also, I like the fact that they can be very cuddly and I really like the way they look etc.
Now, you must know that cape parrots are even more rare in Holland then they are in the U.S.
I haven't heard off anyone who keeps them as a pet here, only as breeding birds and even than it's hard to find any. But I happend to stumbly across a breeder who breeds cape parrots and normally only sells to other breeders because, like I said, no one keeps them in their livingrooms here.
So maybe this week I will go see him and the birds and see what they're like in real! I have seen them in real life but that was at a zoo, so that's not a real good impression.

The only think I might be worried about is that he doesn't do handfeeding so I'll get my cape when he eats on his own and won't need his parents anymore. so basically I'll get a "wild" bird.
Does anyone has experience with this? Doenst have to be a cape parrot ofcourse. Do you think that this will cause problems? And might it give problems in the future? Or will it just take some more effort to get the bird tame?

Also, I have some questions to cape owners.

Are there differences between male and female characters? And if so, what are they?

Do you keep other birds besides your cape and how well do they get along? I know that every situation is different and birds could not get along at all but maybe I will get me a little insight on how tolerant the cape is.

What are the pro's and the con's about your cape? What do you really like about them and what do you like less about them?

Well, that's it for now I guess! I hope you can help me with some of my questions!
Thanks!

[Polarn]

Well as for not handfeeding, I honestly doesnt see any negative with it (part from you wont be able to have the bird on your arm or shoulder at once when it gets home) Over here there is a big debate weather or not handfeeding birds destroy them (im definitly not picking sides here couse I know to little and their concerns doesnt concern me) basically their biggest concern is that a handfed baby does not always know what todo with their own chicks if they ever get one, I dont plan to breed, hence I dont care about that. Anyways I got polarn straight out of an aviary from a breeder who does not handfeed, and he was totally unhandled. this however also ment he had no bad assosiations to hands, so the work to get him to accept treats were fairly quick, think by the second or third day he was targeting like a champ within a couple of weeks he did recalls. not always thoguht sometimes he has a grumpy week and wont touch me and he never likes to be cuddled, during the grumpy weeks we have to work on training that doesnt require perchin on me such as recall or step up.

But overall, I don't think its a problem taming a "wild" aviary bird, and the process of shaping it should be easier with your other twos around (once quarantine etc is over) since the new little bird then can study your other birds interacting with you and learning what todo to get treats etc.

[marie83]

Even older parrots who have never been too near a human can be tamed.
You could always ask the breeder to handle the bird a little bit when it is old enough for the parent birds not to be too upset though you may need to pay extra money for that or the breeder may be completely unwilling to do so....

I think parent reared but well handled chicks make the best pets as they tend to have less problems than those that are too bonded to humans.

[Michael]

Cape Parrots are very difficult to train. I don't think it matters so much who feeds it but whether or not the breeder handles it on a regular basis is most important. They are very bold high strung parrots and do what they want. If yours is parent fed and neglected by the breeder, I don't know how cuddly/handleable it will be long term. Mine was hand fed and hand raised and he is still difficult to work with and more people skittish at times than my Senegal.

[Marsha]

I don't know how the breeder keeps his birds, if they're inside the house or maybe a seperate space outside. So I don't know how much the birds get human interaction yet. But I live kinda close by the breeder as it turns out so maybe if he is not willing to handle the bird or doesnt have the time to do it, maybe I can do it myself which would be even better I guess.
I think every parrot does what ever he wants to some extent so you always have to set boundaries and rules.

Maybe interesting for you all, in the Netherlands they have a new law which they want to apply in January 2013. The new law forbids any breeder from handfeeding any baby chicks, sell unweaned babys and forces every breeder to parent raise their baby parrots. But most good breeders are against it because in the essence its a good law but everyone gets a "wild" parrot who may bite more/needs more work in the beginning and they are affraid that people might give up on the bird to soon or get scared and sell it again and that parrot will go from house to house to house. What the good breeders here want is, 3 to 5 weeks with the parents and then being handfed with lots of human attention and getting to know all the noises that you have in an household. They started a petition to change the law into this.

No cape owners who want to give me a little insight on their parrots characters, etc?

[Polarn]

Same laws are on the topic here in sweden as well, but that would also include a law against clipping any birds (the latter i fully support) the previouse well, in my oppinion a parentraised is more natural than a handraised however a suitable combination of perentraised but handled would be best. but we got tons of laws already concerning our winged friends, and its all there for a good purpouse but to many is ignoring them for them to make a big difference since thouse of us who arnt ignoring the laws would still care for them the same way we do. The one that they put the most pressure on is the livingspace and the second one is companionship, saying your not allowed to keep a single bird unless your there to be its mate pretty much 24/7.

These are the basic table used to find a cage that has the minimum requirements here to be legal to keep your bird in ( some birds do have special needs and require other sizes but for most parrots and songbirds etc this is what we need to follow, and ofc these are the bare minimum allowed)

sorry if there are any spelling mistakes i translated the table myself and didnt wanna spend the time proofreading it. but it should atleast be understandable, except that all measurements are given in meters.

Anyways my guess if that if you doesnt alrdy have these kind of laws in netherlands I think their coming soon, I think the L80 is, or is pushed for to be, covering EU...

[Marsha]

No, we dont really have any laws for parrots which is pretty crazy if you think about it cause of their intelligence and specific needs. So we dont have a minimum size for a cage, or that they have to have a companion. But I think if you are good for your animals, you'll automatically live up to those expectations. My 2 eclectus are in a cage that is 160 cm x 88 cm and 180 cm high and we first had only 1 parrot but after 2 months we already thought that wasnt a really good idea, so we got him a friend. I do wish there were more laws for animals here, but then again, you never know if people really abide the law.

[Polarn]

well here more common than not the cage requirements arn't met by atleast most are aware of them and try their best according to the space they have etc to meet them, but as for a macaw having 3,6m x about 2m and 180 high... most people keeping them as pets at home does not meet these requirements, however breeders usually do exceed them. So as you said unless you have some strict animal protection service or whatever checking up on you etc there is no way of knowing if the rules are followed, what annoys me though is when people put adds up and gives em titels such as "big cage suitable for parrots" and the dimensions of the cage is so small that your not allowed to keep any bird in them at all. thats not a big cage, thats a decorative cage if it happens to look nice... and something you put in your garden with flowers in or whatever...

[Marsha]

No cape parrot owners who would like to help me answer some questions?

[cml]

I think Michael and Natacha? are the two only Cape owners on this forum!