stray parrot - need help?

[rebeccaturpeinen]

Hi, I have a stray parrot in my home (you can read the hole story in the introduction thread) and as I have never had a bird I have a few questions. I would like to explain his behaviour and maybe someone could give some comments on if he seems stressed or not...

He is pretty calm and eats a lot. He is pretty brave, will eat out of the hand (through the bars) after just 3 days. He is interested in everything we hang in the cage and he makes little noises, not loud, just kinda like he is talking . Every once in a while he whistles a little higher but again, just seems to be talking. Then he also sometimes runs back and forth on his perch... is this exercise or stress? He does make high pitched noises once in a while, maybe a stress call? Remember, he has only been in the cage for 4 days.

We have been reading a lot about food since to me this seems to be the most important thing to learn. He gets special Australian Parakeet food and those sticks with food on, dont know what they are called. Then we have been giving him nuts but he seems to play with the more then eating them He also has orange. And then he has a toy with apple and honey and he LOVES apple. We have tried some veggies but no luck so far. Can he have to much apple? Should we be careful with that? Right now we are trying to just give him apple when we are trying to tame; we just figured it might go easier since he loves apple so much.

His cage is 44 inches wide, 26 inches deep and 47 inches high. Im assuming this is sufficent? We bought the biggest one we could find... cos maybe he needs a friend? He has about 4 toys in his cage now but we wanna get more. Different perches on different levels.

Now, how necesary is it to take him to the vet? This would TOTALLY stress him out I would think... He has lost a couple of feather around his neck but we dont know how long he was outside eather. He seems to go to the bathroom just fine.

Im spending my evenings with him so he can get used to me and he really seems to like the company. My husband is at home during the day. We have two dogs but are ofcourse not letting them get to Joe.

Final question, what comes first; taming and then out of cage to fly or first out of cage to fly and then taming?

Sorry this thread was so long... we just really dont wanna do anything wrong. We have really grown attached to Joe (Im actually pretty suprised how fast that went)

Here are some pictures of when he was still outside:

[Banksie]

He is pretty calm and eats a lot. He is pretty brave, will eat out of the hand (through the bars) after just 3 days. He is interested in everything we hang in the cage and he makes little noises, not loud, just kinda like he is talking . Every once in a while he whistles a little higher but again, just seems to be talking. Then he also sometimes runs back and forth on his perch... is this exercise or stress? He does make high pitched noises once in a while, maybe a stress call? Remember, he has only been in the cage for 4 days.

It sounds to me like he just wants to get out of the cage. Are you in the room when he makes the high-pitched sounds? Parrots make "contact calls" which are generally the loudest sounds they make - it's their way of saying "I'm here, where are you?" but obviously they're designed to be heard from across the jungle/savannah. An upset parrot generally squawks and flaps its wings and generally behaves as though it's scared - is it like that? Different birds vary but it doesn't sound to me like your bird is stressed. The other members might know more...

Can he have to much apple? Should we be careful with that? Right now we are trying to just give him apple when we are trying to tame; we just figured it might go easier since he loves apple so much.

Apple is fine. A basic rule for feeding parrots is that if it's healthy for you, it's healthy for the parrot. Avoid avacado and chocolate as these are poisonous to birds though.

His cage is 44 inches wide, 26 inches deep and 47 inches high. Im assuming this is sufficent? We bought the biggest one we could find... cos maybe he needs a friend? He has about 4 toys in his cage now but we wanna get more. Different perches on different levels.

That's fine size-wise. I wouldn't get him a friend yet as you don't know how he'll react to another bird. If you've only got one cage and they fight...well you can guess the result.

Now, how necesary is it to take him to the vet?.

Final question, what comes first; taming and then out of cage to fly or first out of cage to fly and then taming?

If you are definitely going to keep him then you need to find and avian vet and take him for a check up. Birds hide illness very, very well and for the bird's health and your peace of mine I'd go sooner than later.

I'd let him settle and at least try to teach him to step up before allowing him to fly around. If it's not happening (he's nowhere near tame) then let him settle in to the point that his cage is 'home'. Then when you let him out, eventually he'll go back of his own accord. Believe me, chasing a bird around a house is not fun and, of course, stresses the bird out too.

I'm not surprised you've fallen for him; birds are SO rewarding. Good luck!

(edited for spelling)

[rebeccaturpeinen]

thanks!! your answer was very helpful Joe doesnt squawk or flat his wings and definitly doesnt look scared. He usually looks relaxed in my opinion. We have been working lots with him and he is jumping up on sticks now he seems to be pretty tame so I really think its a shame we cant find his owner, someone must have worked with him before. He is almost taking food from the hand, dont think that will take much longer. We opened the cage today so he could come out and fly.... hehe, we waited about 2 hours before he finally came out. Then he flew around the room three times and sat down on top of his cage and then almost fell a sleep. He is so cute!! He had an exhausting day so he is sleeping now.

Anyway, thanks again, your answer really clarified a bunch of things.