Expectant Alexandrine Owner in Melbourne

[Holden1960]

G'day all,

My name is Harry and I have recently committed to the purchase of a Male Alexandrine Parakeet.

This is a decision that has not been made lightly and it was a journey that spanned the best part of 6 months reaching the conclusion that this species best suited the entire family.

It all started when we saw someone walking down the street with a Cockatoo on their shoulder. Keep in mind that we are in Australia and these birds are everywhere, but we don't see too many "Domesticated" ones in our part of town.

Now, my youngest son (Almost 12) has for years been nagging me for a pet, and he does have a soft spot for all animals, however we do not have the space for a decent size dog, I have never found any of the rodents interactive (I could be wrong, but that is just my experience) and due to the fact that I quite like my furniture and curtains a cat was out of the question.

So...back to the Cocky.

The boys and I get home and give the "Leader of the opposition" the great news that we have worked out what sort of pet we are going to get....LET THE RESEARCH BEGIN!!!!

Started out on U tube where there are thousands of videos showing how amazing these birds are and we all start developing designs on dressing up like pirates and teaching it to hurl abuse at other peoples dogs as we walked through the local shopping centre.

Then we got serious, Cockies require massive amounts of attention, they scream louder than if I had a train running through the lounge room, they produce heaps of dust and they live FOREVER, from what I can gather it would be like living with a 2 year old for up to 100 years. This was a pet I had to consider who will I will it to? Depending on how we go with the Alex who knows what the future may hold.

What did get me hooked however were the behavioural issues and challenges they presented. I have done some university level psychology studies, and trained up 2 kids. Now, before I go further you must be made aware that the younger son had a severe case of the terrible 2's...5 long bloody years and we all came out of it well, so in that regard my wife and I have already had some medium term experience with this type of behavior.

But I digress...So Cockatoos are out, but now I really want a parrot, for all the things that make them difficult to own as a pet.

So I start looking into Cockatiels, big bird personality in a small bird package, and based on all the criteria we had developed all seemed to be stacking up.

So, I find a local mob who bred these wonderful little things and took the family along to just to have a bit of a face 2 face Q & A session. Unbeknownst to us, they breed a number of species.

Now, once again, we are in Australia, we probably have more indigenous species of parrot than any other nation in the world, so I never even considered looking at an exotic species, so I was oblivious to the existence of Indian Ring Necks, Conures, Amazons etc...

So I am grilling this breeder when the GLW calls from the other end, "Why do you want one of those little birds, I like these ones."

She was looking at a breeding pair of Alexandrines.

So, we thank the breeder for all the info (Cockatiel and Alexandrine) and off we go, back to the beginning to learn all we could about these beautiful birds.

As it turned out, they ticked all the right boxes for us. So we are now on their waiting list, and we are all eagerly awaiting the call. It may be as soon as 3 weeks away, it may be 8 weeks away, it may be next year, depending on his ability to fill all the orders in front of us.

The bird will be hand reared and weaned, after all the reading I have done I did want my bird to have the ability to fly, however the breeder suggested that he clip the birds wings so that it is more manageable when we initially get it home and after its first molt he will be able to fly.

This did make a bit of sense to me, although if anyone wishes to provide their thoughts or insight into this matter I am all ears (eyes in this case)

We have already met with an avian vet and he will be the first visit our new family member will be making, we have a cage, I was told for these birds a minimum of 60w x 60d x 80h (2 x 2 x 2.5 feet) in the old language, when I went to buy the cage in my mind it looked way to small so for an extra 10 bucks I bought one that measures 100 x 80 x 150 (3 x 2.5 x 5) but I am hoping that we can get to the point sooner rather than later where we can just leave the cage door open whenever we are at home giving it as much space as we possibly can.

Anyway, it is now just a matter of waiting and reading and reading and waiting, the kids have been reading everything they can on parrot training and care, but at the end of the day I have only agreed to undertake this excersize because unlike a dog or a cat that I have never had much interest in, I am looking forward to the challenges I face and even when the kids have discovered it is all a bit too hard because they don't just talk and sit on your hand after a couple of days of ownership, I will still be working on it.

If you have read down this far....thank you and I look forward to providing regular updates on our progress.

Cheers
HARRY

[Wolf]

Welcome to the forum. I am glad that you got the larger of the cages that you mentioned, but as the adult Alexandrine Parakeet is about 20 inches in length, I am concerned that the cage is still going to be too small. As a general guide we recommend that the cage be approximately twice the wingspan of the bird as the minimum size. This particular species of parrot is usually recommended as an aviary bird as opposed to a companion bird. It is also a native of Australia.
I don't have any of this species of parrot, but it is a beautiful bird. I understand that it does mimic noises and sounds, but I don't know if that means that it might be a talker as well. I would be sure to remember to give it a good supply of wooden chewable toys as I understand that they are renowned chewers. There is more that I don't know about this species of parrot than I know.
I will be looking forward to reading more about your adventures along the way. May I recommend that you consider visiting and/ or volunteering at a bird rescue or sanctuary to get some hands on experience with parrots while you are waiting for your bird.

[liz]

Welcome to the forum. You seem to be doing great preparation.

Breeders don't always know what is best. Please don't let him clip the wings. Their personalities are insecure when they are clipped. You have better control because they are afraid. Myrtle didn't trust me until her feathers grew back.

[Harpmaker]

Welcome to the forum!

Most breeders and pet stores insist on clipping parrots' wings. My bird and I were both very pleased when she regained lift, because it is very easy for a small bird to be stepped on in my house. You should be warned that it takes TWO molts to regain full flight capabilities, because only half the feathers molt at a given time. Poor Corsair got lift but couldn't manage the stall maneuver for a landing on a perch. She went through a couple of weeks of stopping by hitting something--people or curtains preferred, but a wall would do. She had me worried for a while, because I didn't figure out the problem until much later.

People who have birds that were never clipped say their never-clipper birds are better fliers than the ones who were.

[Wolf]

Yeah, sorry that I didn't mention it in my first reply to you, but please ask them to not clip your birds wings. You will have a much better adjusted and smarter bird by not clipping him. The ability to fly has an impact on every aspect of a parrots life. It affects their personality, it affects their entire bodily system and functions and it affects their ability to reason and solve problems as well as their ability to learn new things. I know that this sounds a bit far fetched but their have been scientific studies that attest to these things.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum and thank you for doing so much research before you made up your mind - but, I might as well tell you that no amount of research will give you even a close idea of what it means to live with a parrot. For one thing, they take more space, more work, more time and more money than a dog so the fact that you don't 'have the space for a decent-sized dog' but think that you do for a parrot worries. I have 7 dogs from less than 5 lbs to 120 lbs and all of them put together are not as invasive of human space as a single parrot for the simple reason that a house doesn't really need to change infrastructure-wise for a dog but it does for a parrot. Same with lifestyle, a dog lives on your schedule and it doesn't require more than 30 minutes a day (for two walks) while you and your entire family will need to live a bird schedule and spend 4 hours a day focusing on the bird. A dog is fed commercial food but you need to cook and prepare food on a daily basis for a parrot. A dog will love everybody in the family group, a parrot will not. A dog will learn not to chew anything other than his toys, a parrot will not. A well-trained dog will not bite a familiar human but a parrot will bite a chunk out of you (and your children) without a single problem.

Now, don't misunderstand me, I think parrots are wonderful animals, utterly fascinating and endlessly entertaining but they don't make good pets for a 'normal' household (it's very hard to keep them healthy and happy) and very few of them make good family additions. Alexandrines, been psittaculas, require extensive and experienced daily handling or they revert to what people call 'their wild ways'... they are also known for been a one-person bird which is not good if you want a family pet. I would never recommend a psittacula as a first bird or a family pet. Personally, I think you are choosing the wrong species but I might be wrong and yours might end up been the lone exception to the rule.

And, please, if you still decide to go with it, don't allow the breeder to clip it. He will never develop as well as he should have if you don't allow him to learn and master flight. Is a clipped bird easier to handle? Sure! But then a child that is tied to a chair is also easier to handle than one who is not.

[Holden1960]

Thank you all very much for your insights into ownership.

As a family we are aware of the adjustments that we need to make and we are all working toward the same goal.

We are also aware that a parrot will probably attach itself more closely to one individual than to the entire family unit. However one of the reasons we have chosen this species is its aloof personality.

I also think spending time at a parrot rescue is an awesome idea, especially for the kids, the only issue I have is that the only one I can find here is located a couple of hours (By commercial jet) away from where we are. Even our local RAPCA has no listings for parrots.

One thing I have discussed with the breeder is the possibility that if we turn out to be poor parrot parents that we could return the bird (I made it very clear that the birds well being was of utmost importance to me and that I wasn't in any way inquiring about a refund) I would hate to think that even though I am spending some decent coinage on undertaking this journey, another intelligent life is involved here and I do not want that simply reduced to a dollar value.

I have just started reading Michael's book and am learning about food/weight management along with training techniques. From everything I have discovered about this species and read about achieving great behavior outcomes, I have been given no reason to believe that the outcomes one would expect with an amazon or macaw could not be achieved with an Alexandrine. From what I have seen locally I have no been given no empirical reason to doubt the possibilities.

All we can do now is hope I am right, the commitment to ownership has been made and I am waiting with baited breath for its arrival, although I have also now sent the breeder an email letting him know I want an unclipped bird.

[Wolf]

Sounds pretty realistic to me and I certainly must applaud your efforts, I hope only the best for you, your family and your new addition to the family. Glad to have you along and will be happy to share and assist in any way that I can.

[liz]

You are waiting for a male but are you going to choose which one you want of the nestlings?

[Holden1960]

I don't think so.

I have paid a deposit to the breeder which has bought me a place in the cue.

Apparently I am number 16 in the cue, and we have accepted that we may not get a bird till the breeding season next year. (There are other breeders both here and interstate), but I have decided that I want to deal with this particular breeder.

This species seems to be becoming more popular around here. I have not been able to find any information on what to look for in a chick, (apart from a basic determination that it is in good health) except that I need to accept that there are always exceptions to the rules.

I could end up with a bird that will never talk despite the species being known for good mimicking abilities, or a bird that loves to be touched and handled, even though for the most part they avoid contact. So I am basically preparing myself and the family for all possible eventualities.

The only things I am aware of is that I should in no way accept a specimen that has any outward signs of health issues, or has not been fully weened.

One of the other things I have discussed with him is that we will be taking our bird to the avian vet on our way home from picking him up for an initial check up. The breeder is quite happy to replace the bird should the vet check show up anything concerning that will have an impact on its long term health. (I don't think I want to know what this means for a bird with either a disease or congenital condition once back in the hands of the breeder)

One of the things that got me over the line with this breeder is that he has written a book himself just about making the purchase (It''s not a long book, but I found the information invaluable and basically provides a code of conduct that I can hold the breeder to) so for us it was not just about determining the best species for us, but also the best breeder we could find.

Let's face it, at some point the breeder probably had nothing more than an interest in parrots like the rest of us here, but has found a way to commercialize it and I am not going to fool myself that this is now not his greatest motivation for breeding and selling these animals. This is why I looked elsewhere in order to determine if this species was a good fit for our family, it was only then I started to look at breeders.

As we have never owned a parrot before, nor have I known anyone with parrots, I didn't want to purchase an older bird from a prior owner as I think it will be challenging enough for us to raise a parrot from the earliest possible time in its life and with no overcoming trauma issues, however, if we are successful companion humans for our new boarder, we may consider re-homing if we are to open our house (and hearts) to more birds.

Abandonment does not seem to be a big issue here. There is only one parrot "rescue" that seems to operate more like a re-homing service and at the moment are only listing 21 birds available for adoption. Then if you think about it, I have a sneaking suspicion that considering most popular pet parrot species (Cockatoo, galah, cockatiel, lorikeet, and more) are indigenous here and I suspect that many owners who have not had the successes we all strive for have given up and simply open the window.

Finally just to clarify and ease some minds...hopefully

When I said we do not have the space for a decent size dog, it is basically due to the lack of open yard space. We live in a town house which only has a courtyard for which I have plans for building an avery (I could probably build something 4 - 5 times larger than his cage) for our bird to get some fresh air and natural light and can spend time around us when we are out there.

As far as the cage size we have gone with for our new feathered friend, once tamed should not be spending more than a couple of hours a day actually locked in as my wife works from home and is usually not out for more than a couple of hours. However, if we do find that it is a bit cramped for him, I can always get a bigger one. But our plan for the cage is basically to be its bedroom.

I have bought a play gym, but will probably over time build it something else, but I am waiting to see what it will enjoy doing (Probably just chewing the hell out of anything it can put in its beak, this species is renown for chewing stuff up) and would like to think that we can train it to use that when out of the cage, instead of the top of the TV or the piano for example.

The one thing I have learned is that the whole family has to make the paradigm shift from "happy wife, happy life" to "Happy parrot, happy life" I am acutely aware that I am going to be dealing with an emotionally complex being and if the difference between a well adjusted, well mannered and happy bird is few extra cubic feet of personal space...we can do that