Jen81
New member
- Sep 5, 2014
- 1
- 0
- Parrots
-
Loki - Pearly Conure - Hatched 4/16/14
Blueberry - Parakeet - Hatched 7/2/14
Sunny - Parakeet - Hatched 7/4/14
Hi all.
My daughters have been begging for parakeets for about a year now and about 2 and a half months ago we visited a small family owned bird store who sells hand-fed babies. The girls were told they didn't have any parakeet babies available at the time but we were put on a waiting list and about a month ago we got the call that the babies had hatched and they could come choose their babies. My oldest chose a bright yellow budgie with just a little green under his wings and promptly named him Sunny. My other daughter chose a little blue and grey budgie which she named Blueberry. It was love at first sight. Obviously, they were still being formula fed and weren't ready to come home yet so we visited them weekly. While the girls were playing with their babies, I tended to gravitate towards this little baby Pearly conure who often was left in his cage instead of out on the playstands because he was a biter and tended to bully the other birds. However, while he was nippy with me, he never tended to bite hard and once he was out of his cage he would curl up against my chest and snuggle. He LOVED being pet and I figured it would only help him find a home faster if he came to trust people. Well, on labor day the call finally came that the baby parakeets were successfully eating their pellets and refusing formula and were ready to come home! So we went out to pick out their cages (they are being kept separate so they really bond with the girls), toys, etc. And of course the babies! While the girls were doing their shopping I (of course) was snuggling the Pearly and the owner of the store came over and said she had never seen that bird take to someone the way he had to my husband and I and while she knew that I had expressed interest in getting a green cheek, would I consider adopting the pearly instead. I told her I would think about it as we were already bringing home two other birds and we have quite a zoo at home already but the next thing I knew my husband was loading a parrot cage onto the counter and thus we now have Baby Loki.
So far everyone seems to be settling into home nicely. The girls love doing their homework with their birds sitting on them and in fact, I walked into my youngest daughter's room yesterday morning to wake her for school only to find she was already awake and reading to Blueberry. It was so sweet. And Sunny obviously loves my other daughter too. Everytime she walks by his cage he waits by the door for her to open it and climbs right out to be with her. He even calls for her if she leaves the room or when she turns out the light for bed but once she answers that she's there he settles right down.
Loki is doing well too. He is still quite nippy and has actually bit pretty hard a few times but we are slowly learning what his boundaries seem to be and all learning to trust one another. He is super snuggly and loves to "hide" in my hair and peek out - it's like he thinks he is invisible. He also loves to cuddle up in your hands - sometimes on his back and get petted all over. (Especially his cheeks). He responds well to step up and I think with a little time he will calm down. He is my first larger parrot. I had a cockatiel when I was a kid and the parakeets seem fairly straightforward but if anyone has any suggestions for a beginner conure owner I will happily take them. He's currently eating roudybush and I know he needs some veggies and we've been researching what to try but he doesn't seem interested in much else at this time. Also, what are some good training treats? I can't wait to dive into the forums!!!
It is wonderful to meet you all!
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My daughters have been begging for parakeets for about a year now and about 2 and a half months ago we visited a small family owned bird store who sells hand-fed babies. The girls were told they didn't have any parakeet babies available at the time but we were put on a waiting list and about a month ago we got the call that the babies had hatched and they could come choose their babies. My oldest chose a bright yellow budgie with just a little green under his wings and promptly named him Sunny. My other daughter chose a little blue and grey budgie which she named Blueberry. It was love at first sight. Obviously, they were still being formula fed and weren't ready to come home yet so we visited them weekly. While the girls were playing with their babies, I tended to gravitate towards this little baby Pearly conure who often was left in his cage instead of out on the playstands because he was a biter and tended to bully the other birds. However, while he was nippy with me, he never tended to bite hard and once he was out of his cage he would curl up against my chest and snuggle. He LOVED being pet and I figured it would only help him find a home faster if he came to trust people. Well, on labor day the call finally came that the baby parakeets were successfully eating their pellets and refusing formula and were ready to come home! So we went out to pick out their cages (they are being kept separate so they really bond with the girls), toys, etc. And of course the babies! While the girls were doing their shopping I (of course) was snuggling the Pearly and the owner of the store came over and said she had never seen that bird take to someone the way he had to my husband and I and while she knew that I had expressed interest in getting a green cheek, would I consider adopting the pearly instead. I told her I would think about it as we were already bringing home two other birds and we have quite a zoo at home already but the next thing I knew my husband was loading a parrot cage onto the counter and thus we now have Baby Loki.
So far everyone seems to be settling into home nicely. The girls love doing their homework with their birds sitting on them and in fact, I walked into my youngest daughter's room yesterday morning to wake her for school only to find she was already awake and reading to Blueberry. It was so sweet. And Sunny obviously loves my other daughter too. Everytime she walks by his cage he waits by the door for her to open it and climbs right out to be with her. He even calls for her if she leaves the room or when she turns out the light for bed but once she answers that she's there he settles right down.
Loki is doing well too. He is still quite nippy and has actually bit pretty hard a few times but we are slowly learning what his boundaries seem to be and all learning to trust one another. He is super snuggly and loves to "hide" in my hair and peek out - it's like he thinks he is invisible. He also loves to cuddle up in your hands - sometimes on his back and get petted all over. (Especially his cheeks). He responds well to step up and I think with a little time he will calm down. He is my first larger parrot. I had a cockatiel when I was a kid and the parakeets seem fairly straightforward but if anyone has any suggestions for a beginner conure owner I will happily take them. He's currently eating roudybush and I know he needs some veggies and we've been researching what to try but he doesn't seem interested in much else at this time. Also, what are some good training treats? I can't wait to dive into the forums!!!
It is wonderful to meet you all!