Pete is wild caught

The vet just told me Pete is wild caught based on his leg band. I knew he had an open band, but I just thought maybe that was what was used back in the day. His former owner told me he was hand raised. Well, she said the numbers on his band indicate he's a wild caught bird.

If he is, he's an awfully sweet guy.

wow thats an interesting thing to learn. How did his appointment go? Is he feeling any better?

Hmmm....so she lied, eh? What's wrong with Pete? I must have missed that thread. He doing okay?

Not all open banded birds are wild caught., my Niles came with an open band and is clearly a baby still. I think closed bands can only be put on for a limited time as babies and closed can be put on forever. My vet said that typically open indicates wild caught but not always.

Actually he is doing really well now. But, Merlin caught an infection in the airport or plane and he caught it as well. And it was Sunday when he got sick. The vets were in Florida for a conference and my other vet was on vacation. I guesstimated his weight and started giving him Merlin's meds, and probably saved his life. And here I guessed exactly right on the meds dosages for him, so I was very happy to hear that. The previous vet had never told me his weight. But, he had to go in so the vet would give me more meds to cover him as well. But, after explaining the whole thing to him, he agreed with me it was the same infection, so at least this vet visit wasn't as costly

He's worn out and a little angry right now. But, he actually did better with this vet than my previous one. At least a few times there he was happy and laughing and talking. His laugh is just hilarious, too. Everyone else kept laughing every time they heard him. He was laughing and hanging upside down when I walked in with him because we sang songs in my truck on the way there and he was in a good mood. So as soon as we came through the door everyone started looking at him and laughing as well.

He liked the little Quaker that won't leave me alone there but was afraid of a Senegal that kept flying into the exam room as well.

Well, if he is wild caught, he is a very good boy. Yeah, I wondered about that band myself and did actually ask the previous owner if he was a wild caught bird and he said, oh no! I'm guessing he must have been taken very young though. He loves to cuddle and never bites. And loves to be with his human.

Also he seemed to like the female vet assistants. His former owner thought he hated women so I was on the fence about taking him. But, that definitely doesn't seem to be the case. I think he just hated the former owner's new wife specifically.

Jenlynn said:

Not all open banded birds are wild caught., my Niles came with an open band and is clearly a baby still. I think closed bands can only be put on for a limited time as babies and closed can be put on forever. My vet said that typically open indicates wild caught but not always.

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Well, I questioned that as well, and they wrote down the numbers and said, yep, he's wild caught. I said oh my gosh, but he is really sweet! And she said, well, he might be pretty domesticated now, but he hasn't always been!

oh i am glad to hear he is doing better! Is merlin doing better too?

Yes, they are both completely back to normal and I'm no longer flipping out, lol! I'm broke right now, but my babies are all good. I'll get my income tax return soon enough and replace the money I've spent on them and my own medical expenses soon. I just hope nothing else goes wrong for at least a month

aww i am glad you are all back to normal. Sorry to hear its left you broke. i can completely empathize being in a similar situation. I have times where the animals needs take over and i dont have much either. we eat a lot of home made soups and stews and homemade breads it saves a lot of money. things will be a bit better around here as far as pet stuff goes since a bunch of my foster animals are going to forever homes this weekend. I hope your refund comes in soon!

I have my doubt about them knowing that he is wild caught as a fact. Not saying you can't tame a wild bird, but its not simple at all!!! If the young was taken out of the nest at a age too old for closed band, they put open band. I've seen parakeets with open band. And i know they're not wild caught for sure because of their colorings.

MikeyTN said:

I have my doubt about them knowing that he is wild caught as a fact. Not saying you can't tame a wild bird, but its not simple at all!!! If the young was taken out of the nest at a age too old for closed band, they put open band. I've seen parakeets with open band. And i know they're not wild caught for sure because of their colorings.

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Yeah, I'm thinking he must have been pretty young still. I know I've only lived with him for a little over 2 months, but I was pretty surprised. He is probably closing in on 29 years old now, so he's been with people a long time, but he is solely responsible from my being afraid of zons to loving them.

And maybe he isn't the age I was told either. Who knows!

The former owner had told me over the phone he had something from the breeder, but when I got there he said he didn't have it. I didn't think too much of it, thinking it was just misplaced. I was just kind of sad that I didn't know his hatch date.

Speaking of which, when are amazons generally hatched? I want to give him a hatch day to celebrate. I was just going to use Rowdy's. We use it as the cat's birthday as well since i know she had to have been born at the end of March or beginning of April. Rowdy's is April 8. And Merlin's is 3 days after mine

It sounds like Pete is a great Amazon, whether he was wild-caught or not.


George, my YCA, was wild-caught-- quite common many years ago. George was close to 30 years old in 1969 when he joined my family, and he was a wonderful companion until his passing in 2010. I hope you'll enjoy many happy years with Pete as I did with George.

Boy it's been a hard day. Pete decided sometime after breakfast that he was very angry with me for taking him to the vet yesterday. He wouldn't take his bread with the meds without nipping me. He didn't want to eat any of his pellets today. He did eventually eat the 2 servings of bread with meds and 2 servings of veggies and a couple of nuts. He is really mad about his talons being dremeled.

It wasn't until this evening that he started to forgive me. I'm hoping tomorrow he will be much more back to normal. It was hard on me having my sweety boy hating me.

Well, I think he is still a tad upset with me, but he is nearly back to his normal self now. He's talking to me in amazon babble, eating pellets again and doing his batman routine.

I will have to go through this again though when he goes back for his 2 week checkup. Come spring I will have to start taking him more places so he gets used to that.

I think actually it may have been the ride home that upset him the most. While we were in the vet's office, a very strong cold front started coming in. The winds got up to 60mph. He first got scared there when he heard it come roaring between 2 buildings. Then on the way home the sounds it was making passing around my truck were truly awful. We even saw 2 trucks get completely blown over off the interstate. I don't think he saw the one on the other side of the road, but I do think he saw the one in front of us go down.

I think it's actually kind of cool if he's wild caught. Gives him a little something extra to make him unique! Sounds like he's an awesome bird. Hope for a speedy full recovery for them both.

Hey Roxy. Most imports are banded with open bands at USDA quarantine station. Researching bands is impossible but they should say USDA and year and code for which station they were quarantined. I have wild caught babies and they make as sweet a pet as US bred birds. I'm in the Phillipines right now but will check in more when i get home in a couple of weeks.

My Rosie came with an open band from her breeder and I had to have it removed. She was hatched in Fla.

Yeah, I may never know for sure. That is just what she told me. Either way he is a wonderful bird, and I love him

roxynoodle said:

Yeah, I may never know for sure. That is just what she told me. Either way he is a wonderful bird, and I love him

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... and that's the only thing that really matters...