Buying a parrot! Help

[Hirro8]

Hmm.. so I'm not going to have a good parrot experience with a Pinous that's parent raised? Buying a single one is just cruel since they're companion species and if I'm buying two, they will be to shy and VERY hard to separate and get tame? What do I do then? :/

I've been checking the internet for adult Pionus parrots for a couple of weeks and there haven't been a single one for sale.

[Pajarita]

I don't know what to tell you... The decision is yours, I am just sharing with you what I know but you don't have to take my word for it, research parent-raised and hand-fed companion species (if you put 'parrot' in your search engine, make sure that you are not reading about aviary species instead of companion) and see what they say about the difference. See, the thing with parrots (and all animals, actually) is that there is a very short window for both sexual and filial imprinting - with altricial birds, it always happens when they are still in the nest. The filial imprinting is the one that tells them to which species they belong which is necessary for the species continuation because, if an animal did not want to mate with another of its own species, they would become extinct. This filial imprint is the one we use to trick them into being tame with us - we steal the babies from the nests when they are VERY young and hand-feed them so they believe that we, humans, are its parents. The sexual imprinting is the one that determines, in their minds, what is the best or ideal mate. Problem is, when we steal them for the filial imprint, we, sometimes, also make them imprint to us sexually so they tend to believe that we are the ideal mates (which creates the 'identity crisis' in pet parrots). Allowing the parents to raise them is VERY healthy for them because they imprint both filially AND sexually to the right species. But it also makes it that they do not recognize us as 'family' - which is what allows us to develop a human/bird deep bond. Birds that know they are birds and do not recognize us as family can be tamed but they cannot be made to bond because the imprint is simply not there and the window of opportunity to establish it closed long before they come to us.

Personally, I do not see a huge change in what your plans were for the birds... You can still get all the things you wanted: the dedicated birdroom where they could live cage-free with a good diet, good full spectrum lights, etc . They will be beautiful, independent and give you very little trouble because they will have each other and a room all of their own - the ONLY thing you won't be able to do is train them to do tricks because, if you take the time and put the work into it, you can train them to go back into their cage for the night same as I did with mine.

As to finding a specific bird for adoption... well, all I can tell you is that I looked for 2.5 years before I found the male African Red Bellied parrot I wanted as companion for the female I had taken in - and after all that search and wait, she did not even look twice at him because her love is reserved only for my husband. She was handfed/imprinted to humans and my husband is her 'chosen one' so she waits for him to get up every morning (she hangs with her claws from the top of the bedroom door for him to come out) so she can then perch on his shoulder or right next to him. Only today she has been waiting there for more than 3 hours because he left the home before she woke up this morning - and she will continue to wait there all day long if he doesn't come back because, as far as she is concerned, he is her mate (she was imprinted both filially AND sexually to humans). So, all I can tell you is that, in my personal experience, if you wait long enough, you will find the bird you want to adopt. In all honesty, when it comes to parrots, getting stuck on one single species and no other really makes no sense because anybody who keeps multiple parrots can tell you that our relationship with them is always based on both the human and the bird's personalities and not the species of parrot. But, if you are in a hurry, I suggest you try looking at other species... for all you know, the perfect birds might already be out there.

[Chai]

Hi Hirro,

I just saw this and wanted to jump in and say that I have 2 parent raised wild caught African Greys that I adopted from a rescue and they are wonderful birds! They were about 30 years old when I got them, and it took time and patience for them to get used to me but it was worth the wait. They do not let me handle them, but they talk and mimic noises and make me laugh with their antics. Like Pajarita said, I was able to train them to go back to their cage at dinner time, so they spend every day out walking around and sitting on top of their cage (they can't fly) and they willingly go back in their cage for their seed/nut dinner. Because I stick to a solar schedule with them, they even know when to anticipate dinner and will head back to their cage a little before I feed them. If I need them to, they will also go in earlier for a piece of walnut. Just because they don't step up doesn't mean you can't get them to do what you need them to do. They love each other very much and I think they are happier than my single amazon, who I am still searching for a mate for. I don't have nearly the experience that Pajarita does, she is just a fountain of knowledge, but I do think that with time and patience and the correct diet/light schedule, you can make a happy life with any birds, they don't have to be babies.

[Hirro8]

Thanks for that information!