New to the Parrot ownership world!

[seagoatdeb]

Nice pics her colouring really is beautifull.

[Wolf]

For me, due to my own level of experience with parrots, the next chance at estimating her age would be when she starts puberty and then when her eyes start changing color, but even then it would only be an estimate as they don't do these things exactly on time it is more like about this age you can see these changes begin to happen. As for the eyes, sometimes they will not change to the yellow/ gold color, but will remain grey, then you bird is referred to as being blue eyed, but only time will answer that.

As with all parrots everything is about trust and it must be remembered that this trust goes in both directions. I would say that trust is the single most important aspect to building a good relationship with your bird. Because of my experiences with Kiki, my Senegal, I am tempted to say that this is more important with the Senegal than with other parrots, but objectively speaking I don't think that would actually be true, but it is extremely important. Without establishing this trust you have nothing that you want with a parrot.

I am a big supporter of learning as much about your birds body language as you can. There are several places that you can get more information about parrot body language and with all of them such as this one, http://littlefeatheredbuddies.com/info/ ... guage.html , keep in mind that while this is helpful it is only general in scope. The body language for most parrots is similar so it doesn't matter if the site shows a budgie or an Amazon as it is only to get you started recognizing what your bird is telling you, but you have to watch your own bird to learn the slight variations in their own body language. Since parrots tend to live in flocks which tend to get too loud to hear and understand what another bird is saying, they use a lot of body language with each other. This is part of the reason that if you are afraid of getting bitten by your bird, it knows this right away, it sees it by your body language, this is not limited to just fear, it holds true with any emotion that we feel, they can and do read it in out body language. So it is always a good idea to take a minute to make certain that you are calm and relaxed any time that you want to interact with your bird, even if that interaction is only verbal.

I hope that this will be useful to you and your bird.

[Pajarita]

Awww, now we can see her beautiful self! Yep, you have a little girl there and they are always easier than males. If you are afraid she will bite your finger when you ask her to step up, simple use a stick. It's always good to teach them to step up to a stick because you never know if she is going to go someplace you simply cannot reach with your hand and need a long stick to get her out. If she feels uncomfortable perching on the back of the chair, why don't you get yourself a stand that you can move around the house with you? I think they call them table stands...

Seagoatdeb, my male has yellow feathers on his head, too, and he is not a pied. They got plucked by his previous mate and grew back yellow. But, like I said, it doesn't matter if she is a pied or not, the important thing is that she is healthy and happy.

[Jesscat]

Well I feel like light is the biggest issue at hand. There is a lot of light coming through the windows and a few lights on in the house. I still feel like she could use a little more because her cage is not in front of a widow but to the side where the sun does not shine. As the day light goes to the other side of the house her spot gets more shadowy. Here is a floor lamp I was looking at....
https://www.choxi.com/daily_deals/view/ ... ted_colors

Not to shine rite on her but to brighten that corner of the house for her. I have also taken Joe outside a couple times. Not everyday and only for about five minutes at a time. She looks very alert and hates the little carrier. I am also getting her a better carrier cage soon. If there is a better lamp please let me know. We do have a fish tank light that my boyfriend talked about putting by her cage. I told him it scares me because I don't want her to get burnt if it's hot obviously. Also I don't want the light directly on her either.

We are building a perch it is almost ready for her. I am going to bake the wood for it today. Also I found a bunch of pine cones and was going to bake them today as well.
As for diet she eats the Roundyhouse pellets as a main. Then at night I mix a little seed fruit mix in with pellets. I have been giving her fresh food as treats carrots, kale, broccoli, yam, grapes, millets. I have a huge garden that's where the kale comes from. Also I have given her a little bit of strawberries and blueberries. I wash everything very well and only give her a small amount.
Also I tried to make her gloop. I need to read a lot more on here how to make it. I did broccoli, carrots, pellets, water it was to runny. I didn't have the beans you suggest so it looked weird. She took a little bite and literly acted like it was the grossest thing she ever ate. So I will read more about it. I feed her more at night. I am seeing that it's probably best to give here a meal in the morning instead of night. Is this because it could keep her up at night?
Also I don't cover her cage at all. If the tv is on should I cover her cage?

[seagoatdeb]

Parrots usually eat two biggger meals a day and may nibble inbetween, I feed mine mostlly vegetables, and use cooked grains, beans and lentils, and or sprouted seeds sometimes with breakfast. For the latter meal, its vegetbles and fruits. I give some seed and nuts during the day.

If you continue feeding pellets supplement with vegetables and fruits twice a day, or if you parrots like it 3 times a dy. The floor lamp looks fine. but a floor lamp isnt very important. What you do is give the birds as much of the natural light as possible, so you let them see the sunrise, the light all day, and you let them see the sunset, and after that they should be in the dark, its bedtime.

[Jesscat]

Well that makes me a lot more comfortable. The guy I got her from said to only feed her pellets and that's it. He said they can get to energetic and when there not flying around they shouldn't get all the nutrition. From everything I have read it seems it depends on the person and the bird. She tells me she wants food when ever we eat. Which is three times a day. I have been constantly keeping pellets and a little seed mix in her dish. If she is flapping and running around for food I will give her a treat. At dinner time I give her more usually broccoli, also cantaloupe.

When you say seed. I have been reading a little about this. Is it just germinated vegetable seeds? Can I put the seed in a wet paper towel and let it sprout a little?

She is getting a lot of natural sun light. I had her in the kitchen for a couple hours today. The sun was shining through two windows. It's just in the living room. I know she can see well because she is very observant of what I am doing. I'm just thinking the lamp will brighten it up more. I understand what your saying though.

[seagoatdeb]

Yes that is one way of sprouting seeds and it works, just fine. If your parrots like soaked seeds, it makes them easier to digest and starts the process of becoming a plant so it is at the top of its nutrition value. You can use any kind of edible seed that parrots can eat.

The guy that told you to only feed pellets really doesnt know what he is talking about. That would be like us eating only food they give to astronauts, and never anything else. Talk about boring food. Your parrots already like their vegetables and fruits and some of what you eat, so thats very good.

[Wolf]

I looked at the lamp that you are talking about and to tell you the truth since it is a full spectrum lamp, it is of far more importance than anyone was saying. It it not the lamp itself that is important it is the bulb that fits in it. That is a specialty lamp and only takes certain bulbs, so here is the thing a full spectrum light to be safe for your bird must have the following specs printed on the bulb, usually on the base, 94+CRI and 5000 to 5500 K Temp. Anything different that this could easily blind or severely burn your bird and it does not take a lot of exposure to do either. I do not let my bird get closer to mine than 3 feet. I use it for the small amount of UV that it produces as they will enhance your birds vision. The full spectrum lights sold for birds claim that it helps them to produce vitamin D-3 and assist in calcium absorption, but this has been refuted by a few independent studies.

You bird does need a bit of unfiltered sunlight on a daily basis ( about 20 minutes) and it is better if it is either indirect or in the shade rather than full on sunlight as the latter could overheat your bird. If the sunlight that your bird receives comes through window screen or glass then the UV portion of the light is filtered out and it does not have the same effect on the bird as the indirect unfiltered light does.

It is normal for your bird to want to eat whenever you eat as this sharing of food is a bonding activity as well as a social event for parrots, instead of giving the bird seeds or pellets at these times, unless that is what you are having, this is a great time to offer them pieces of fruit and vegetables. Of course you should be having some of these at the same time so the bird can see that you are sharing the same foods with it as you are eating, this is important to them.

[liz]

I went on Amazon and ordered the bulbs needed for my birds. Since I can't put a timer on the overhead light, I put a stand up lamp with two bulbs in it on a timer. Part of the lamp is set to shine on the ceiling and the other part on the floor. They have a window but it isn't big enough for 13 birds at one time.

When we eat the birds have their own plates for hand outs so as to keep them out of our plates when they see something we have that they want. I eat non stop but I eat healthy foods. If I have an orange they want some too even if they have it on their morning plate. They get a piece of the crust when I have a sandwitch or a noodle when I have a "Cup of Noodles". I have them in the dining room and they see all and want all.

Mine don't bite unless I am helping them get out of something that they tangled in and are distressed. They grab my fingers to try to pull themselves out of it. That is the only time they bite except for the one bloody day that Myrtle put me through.

[Pajarita]

I like the light to come from above and, as I have the same problem you see to have (meaning, the ceiling fixture not been directly or even close to been above the cages), I solved it by putting a hook (like this one: http://www.homedepot.com/p/1-75-in-x-1- ... /205399590) on the ceiling and hanging a lamp (like this one: http://www.homedepot.com/p/75-Watt-Inca ... /205139241 -I actually have two together hanging from the same hook) with a good full spectrum light in it (this is the one I recommend: http://products.mercola.com/light-bulbs/) Do NOT use any lights meant for reptiles, fish or even avian - they are not good!.

Please be careful which 'regular' fruits and veggies you feed her. Parrots are all undomesticated species (well, with the single exception of the English Budgie) and have no resistance whatsoever to bad chemicals so, in my personal opinion, they should not be fed any of the ones on the 'dirtiest list' (strawberries are the worst). Here is the list for your information (they put out a list every year: https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/).

You are free-feeding the protein source food and, contrary to what the breeder told you (breeders are really not the best source of information on pet birds), this is not really recommended. Birds need protein for life and breeding and, because the sources of plentiful, high protein are VERY rare in nature, they are hard-wired to crave it and gorge on it when they find it so, if you free-feed protein food, they will eat too much of it and too little of the 'healthier' food (produce, whole grains). I feed mine the healthiest food in the morning for breakfast and all day picking and the protein at night (because, in the winter, the nights are very long and, as the body takes longer to digest protein than it does produce, they feel full longer). I don't feed pellets because, after doing research on parrots diets for over 20 years, I still haven't found anything about them that tells me they are the best dietary option for them.

I would also not take the bird out until she feels 100% comfortable in your house and trusts you implicitly - unfamiliar and open spaces mean danger to a parrot (read high stress), especially if it's all by its lonesome (the flock provides the security there is in numbers). Your bird is only now beginning to get over plucking and, if I were you, I would do my outmost to keep as much stress as possible from her life (stress creates anxiety and that's why they pluck).