After 3 years, finally have feathered friends!

[codyf]

I started looking into parrot ownership ~3 years ago.. just couldn't make it work. On Thursday evening I brought these two little girls home with me:

http://i.imgur.com/cmIPVJY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/g7j6z6e.jpg

(hardlinked the images because the forum isn't re-sizing them for display)

They make the cutest little beeps!

Hopefully going to start some out-of-cage training today.

[Wolf]

I started looking into parrot ownership ~3 years ago.. just couldn't make it work. On Thursday evening I brought these two little girls home with me:

http://i.imgur.com/cmIPVJY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/g7j6z6e.jpg

(hardlinked the images because the forum isn't re-sizing them for display)

They make the cutest little beeps!

Hopefully going to start some out-of-cage training today.

Please don't, it will be a mistake!
You have had them for only two days, they have not yet had enough time to get accustomed to their new home or to you. Spend the time just hanging out with them, just talking to them and finding out about them. Things like what is their favorite food? Occasionally offer them a treat, which is harder to do unless you know what foods to retain for treats.
I didn't see any toys in the pictures you shared with us, do they have any and if so what kinds of toys? They need toys, which they are going to destroy, so don't scimp on the toys.
What about diet? What are you giving them to eat and how often? Of the food that you give to them what are they actually eating?
Do they step up for you? It is important as you will need to be able to get them out of and put them back in their cage. By the way how big or small is their cage? You will need to take them to the vet for a check up. If they step up you can let them out, but hold off on training for a while you will have a better relationship if you just spend time on bonding with them and earning their trust. Let them get to know you. Also how old are they?

[codyf]

Please don't, it will be a mistake!
You have had them for only two days, they have not yet had enough time to get accustomed to their new home or to you. Spend the time just hanging out with them, just talking to them and finding out about them. Things like what is their favorite food? Occasionally offer them a treat, which is harder to do unless you know what foods to retain for treats.

I've just had them out on the playstand on the coffee table, offering them a couple of toys to see what they like. No training except "step up". Falka does it without even asking but Triss doesn't. Won't be doing anything until I get that down. So far I've been limiting them to 15-20 minutes at a time out of the cage (or thereabouts.. I'm not actually timing it..)

I didn't see any toys in the pictures you shared with us, do they have any and if so what kinds of toys? They need toys, which they are going to destroy, so don't scimp on the toys.

I have a bunch.. some foraging toys, foot toys, a cardboard/wood hanging toy they can chew up if they want. Some other wooden things they can chew up. All of the toys are made out of a variety of materials. At the moment only the hanging toy is in their cage. I have a couple of foot toys available on the playtop and playstand. This is only my second day with them and they're definitely more relaxed today but obviously haven't shown any real interest in toys yet, so I need to wait and see what they like before I start giving them a few in the cage.

I do need to get them some type of climbing toy though. Off to the bird store in a few to see if I can find one.

What about diet? What are you giving them to eat and how often? Of the food that you give to them what are they actually eating?

They have pellets available throughout the day (and fresh water, always), in the AM they get a couple of small pieces of fruit (yesterday was apple, today was strawberry and melon). I was chopping up some fresh green-beans this morning so they got a couple of pieces of those, too. A little later they got some nutraberries but I'm going to be giving those to them very rarely. They seem to like them way too much (too much seed?) so they won't be getting them often at all.

For dinner they get a variety of vegetables (they REALLY love their broccoli). Last night was pretty basic, but I have a variety of grains (barley, lentil, quinoa, couscous, a couple of other things I can't remember) that will supplement dinner.

At the moment treats consist of pieces of almonds and walnuts.

Do they step up for you? It is important as you will need to be able to get them out of and put them back in their cage. By the way how big or small is their cage? You will need to take them to the vet for a check up. If they step up you can let them out, but hold off on training for a while you will have a better relationship if you just spend time on bonding with them and earning their trust. Let them get to know you. Also how old are they?

3 months old. Cage is as large as I could physically get with small enough bar spacing (I could have put two smaller cages side-by-side, but the total available area would have been significantly less than one larger cage). IIRC it's 32" across by 23" deep. Every larger cage started at 1" bar spacing. Cage availability around here really sucks.

One steps up no problem (I don't even have to ask, just put my finger in front of her). The other one still tests the finger with her beak first and when she discovers it's not solid she won't step on it. Made a bit of progress this morning.

[Wolf]

Glad to hear that you are doing as well as you are, and it is better than I thought. Unfortunately most of the people who post the same things as you did, are not nearly as well prepared as you seem to be. I hope that I did not offend you as that was not my intent. I am merely concerned for the birds well being.

[codyf]

No worries. I understand too many people buy parrots without any idea of just what they're getting in to.

I have zero idea what to expect from the birds themselves. It's a learning process all-round

[Yarrow]

They're very sweet. I love their names. I assume you're a fan of the Witcher books and/or games?

[codyf]

They're very sweet. I love their names. I assume you're a fan of the Witcher books and/or games?

Yup.

The names fit too.. Triss is the sweeter and more timid of the two... Falka is the wilder one and likes to beak my finger every chance she gets lol.

[codyf]

We had our first vet visit today.

Girls are healthy, weight has stayed roughly the same since I brought them home (I need to get a scale..), vet approves the diet. Only concern is that they're getting too much water in their foods. It was suggested I restrict them to just the pallets and some other hard foods for a few days to see if that hardens up their stools a bit.

Otherwise we're in good shape!

They really, really hate the carrier though. While being examined Falka was making a screaming sound I'd never heard from her before. Didn't know that little bird could make such a terrible noise!

[Wolf]

I think that if you are giving them the amount of fruit that you mentioned in your earlier posts, that that is where the excess water is coming from. Cut back on that, instead of doing the pellet thing and I am sure that the problem will be eliminated. Doing the pellet thing for a few days is not good for them and will only work while you are doing that. Try it for 24 hrs. and you will see.

[Pajarita]

I don't believe in feeding parrots pellets or free-feeding the high protein food. As to watery stools, are you sure they are watery all day long? Because the first one of the day is always big and watery but, usually, they 'even out' during the day. Also, if you are feeding colored pellets, that's most likely the cause of the watery poop (the artificial colors and processed sugar does it).

I don't follow avian vets advice on diet or behavior because these are two subjects they don't study in school so, unless they have had multiple parrots of their own for a number of years and have done research on them, they know the same as anybody else. For example, I would not restrict fresh plant material in favor of pellets. Plant material is what they are supposed to eat and it's live food while pellets are just processed grains with man-made vitamins in them: dead, dry, processed food without any phytonutrients... not what you would consider the best option, is it?