Introduction & requesting advice

[Barbara]

I have 2 parrotlets; both are about 4 months old. They are caged separately. The little female chose to come home with me, and has turned out to be the sweetest thing who loves to come out to visit, cuddle and groom. I purchased the male 2 weeks ago, to be a companion to the female because I'm away at work all day.

He was supposed to have been hand-fed but he seems to be fearful of fingers/hands/arms. I've been working with him and he enjoys being talked to and will take a sunflower seed from my fingers but will not make contact. They had been kept in separate rooms with the door shut.

This morning, I moved the male's cage out to the living room to sit beside the female's. They chirp to one another now but their first 'meeting' was hate at first sight. Hopefully they will become friends and will be able to fly loose together at some later date while continuing to be housed separately.

Am I being too impatient with the progress the male is making? Is there something I can do to let him know that I'm a friend and that he's not in danger? Will he learn friendliness from seeing the female being handled? I suppose that he could be just a more standoffish character, and that's fine, but I'd hate to miss him becoming a good pet if I can do something to help.

He seems well settled and does not seem nervous at all. He eats very well and is not disturbed by me cleaning his cage, removing and replacing his food & water dishes but will move away from my hand/arm.

Thank you for any ideas or suggestions you can offer.
Barbara

[Wolf]

I think that you are being impatient. Parrotlets are beautiful little parrots and they do have t tendency to be a bit nippy, at least as adults. If you have any other parrots than these two you would probably be well advised to keep them in a separate room from the parrotlets. This is due to their reactions when they bond and mate. The best that I can do for you now is to provide a link to the story of my two parrotlets Rajah and Keeta. here is the link viewtopic.php?f=25&t=14369&start=0&hilit=rajah

[Pajarita]

Welcome, Barbara and plets!

I agree with Wolf, you need to give him more time but, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, getting a male and female plet to accept one another is both easy and very hard. I don't know why you say that it was hate at first sight and I think that if you tell us exactly what was it that you saw that made you think this way, we might be able to clarify. But the one thing you need to take into consideration is that they are both very young and that there are no sexual hormones flowing there pushing them to establish a mate-bonding.

The fact that they are both juveniles works in your favor though because as the days are getting much shorter, they are going into the resting season and, next year, when the breeding season starts, they will be used to one another. BUT that could also be when all the trouble begins because, apparently, it's not uncommon for the males to attack the females. I have no personal experience with this species but it seems to me that it's more a matter of space than anything else so be prepared to buy a HUGE flight cage for them.

As to the male not been friendly, this is very common in all parrots and, in truth, you were very lucky with the female getting attached to you so quickly. Just keep on talking to him and, when you see him eager for your presence (he will get close to the side of the cage from where you approach and even hang from the bars as in an effort to get as near to you as possible), start letting him out to fly at the same time you do the female because cages always seem to mess up parrots relationships and it's always much, much easier and safer to introduce them when they are loose.

[seagoatdeb]

You got good answers to your question, so i just will say welcome to the forum!

[Barbara]

Thank you for your thoughtful advice. What I saw when they saw one another for the first time is that they both fluffed out their feathers and wings, screamed and went to go after one another with their mouths open. The male was in his cage and I had the female in my hands and we were about 18 inches apart. If any bird came at me that way, that I would call it aggression.

I don't plan on them being housed together or breeding them; I would just like them to become companions so they can be let out to fly together. And if it doesn't work out that way, fine, I can let them out one at a time but it would be nice to watch their aerobatics if they became friends.

The male is in a large bird cage that gives him plenty of room. The woman I purchased it from raised finches in it. The female is in a Prevue flight cage so she can fly when she chooses. I have read about bird fights, injuries and deaths online and on this list, and it scared me enough that I would be afraid to house them together even if they seemed to be friends.

Right now their cages sit about 2 feet from one another and they seem to be getting along just fine. They chirp to one another and they both get quite vocal right before bedtime which seems to be a parrot thing I am told.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you feed? I am mixing equal portions of Harrisons High Potency pellets, Roudybush Maintenance crumbles and Roudybush California blend which is pellets with dried fruit and veggies.. I sprinkle a little bit of seed on top (1/2 tsp). The male is not fond of veggies or fruit and will throw them on the floor. The female is not fond of veggies either but will take a taste before she throws them on the floor of her cage, but she really seems to enjoy fruit.

They seem to be doing well on that food and they are eating very well. In fact, some days they eat like little pigs and I wonder how a little bird can pack away so much food. I have read several articles on line and there are a multitude of foods. If there is a better diet, I would like to know about it because I'd like these little guys to be as healthy as possible.

Thank you again for your time and consideration.
Barbara

[Wolf]

Actually, I feed my parrotlets a cockatiel seed mix for dinner and I feed them fresh raw fruits and vegetables and gloop ( a home made food) for breakfast and for all day foraging. I also use slivered almonds as a treat for them as well as a couple of pieces in their seed mix.

Parrotlets tend to be highly aggressive birds especially when they first meet, introductions need to be made gradually, so take your time.

[Pajarita]

Yes, plets are considered aggressive but I have no personal experience with them so I don't know if this is actually due to their nature or if it's environmental problems. I have to admit that I tend to believe that parrots displaying aggression is more due to inadequate captivity conditions more than nature because they are all highly social species and, if they were that aggressive in the wild, nature would have had made a big mistake -something that doesn't happen in evolution when it comes to social structures. Lovebirds are also said to be an aggressive species but I've never had a single one that actually was.

Why don't you try putting the cages side by side? If they are chirping to each other and not showing aggression, I think it would comfort them to be next to each other.

As to the diet... well, in the wild and as all South American birds, they eat a lot of green stuff and fruits. They also eat seeds but, as they are small, they eat grass seeds (which are the right size for them) and all of them are low in protein and fat (around 12% protein and 5% fat) so I am afraid that the High Potency, in particular (it has a whopping min of 18% protein and 15% fat!), and all the other pellets you are free-feeding are way too high in protein and fat for them so I would recommend you re-evaluate their diet because, with parrots and when it comes to protein and fat, less is better than more. I don't feed pellets or any other commercially prepared food to my birds, I feed gloop with produce for breakfast and a good quality seed mix (the larger species get nuts and the biggest ones get almost all nuts) for dinner and, if I had plets, that would be what I would feed with emphasis on greens.

[Barbara]

Will you please provide me with the 'gloop' recipe. I've searched the site and have found thousands of references to gloop but no actual recipe. Thank you!

[Wolf]

I suppose that is due to it being a really flexible food, using the ingredients that are available in your area or what is in season. As a base recipe I try to keep it simple 40% partly cooked whole grains ( I use equal amounts of 4 or 5 different grains), 40% frozen mixed vegetables ( I buy mixed vegetables in the frozen food section at grocery store) and 20% fully cooked white beans ( navy beans) and lentils ( I use equal amounts of the white beans and lentils.

If you mix the whole grains together and use 1 cup of them, 1/4 cup of white beans fully cooked, you can add the lentils to the grains to cook them about 1/4 cup Then while all of these ingredients are hot and mixed together add 1 cup of mixed vegetables and let cool. You can freeze any that is more than a two or three day supply and thaw it to serve. When I serve this food I very often add a few fresh raw vegetables to it. These vegetable change from day to day. I usually use a separate dish for fruits and often put them on a bed of romaine lettuce or other leafy greens that I give them and these also change from day to day. Especially with leafy greens I try to avoid the ones that are high in iron and I try to limit the amount of vitamin C as it causes the bird to absorb more iron than usual.

I know that this is a very basic type of recipe, but it allows it to be altered to suit your birds as well as for whatever ingredients of the type that you need is available. If a blood test from your vet says that your bird needs more of any vitamin or mineral you can increase or decrease the foods that provide that vitamin or mineral easily and since the vitamins and minerals from foods are natural the bird can use them better than the artificial ones.

I hope this helps. Other people use other variations of this food and perhaps some of them will share their recipes with you.

[Barbara]

Wolf,
Thank you so much for the recipe. I will definitely give it a try.