How long is your Alexandrine???

[Betrisher]

I know my Barney and Madge are not as large as most Alexandrines, but I don't know whether that's because of their nutrition, age or breeding. They're about sixteen and eighteen months old respectively now, so would they have reached their full adult size? Or will that not be achieved until sexual maturity around three years?

I've read descriptions of the four/five subspecies till I'm blue in the face and I'm afraid I simply can't compute the differences, except that the Nepalese subspecies is the biggest and the Laotian is the smallest. My pair has the red shoulder patch and massive beak, so I don't think they're hybrids (with IRN). If they were, how would I tell? They certainly don't sound like IRNs (which seem far more high-pitched in their call than the Beaks are). Since I've been wondering all this, I've been trying to measure them. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to approach a flighted bird with a tape measure? LOLOL! That didn't work. My best guesstimate is about 50cm. I'd be interested to hear how long other people's Alexes are just for comparison.

 

[Bundiibird]

Trish, before Bundii become a duck bum, she was approx 54 cm long. Now this is an approx as I too had trouble approaching an Alex with a tape measure. She was not impressed with either the metal kind hubby has or the soft dress making type.

In the end I got hubby to be there since Bundii just loves him and I was able to measure.

I have not been able to distinguish what type Bundii is either. After all she was supposedly DNA as a male. I was conned, but I love her anyways. I do know that her longest tail feather usually measures around 34 cams and she is about 4.5 years old.

I will see if I can video her call and upload it so we can compare them if you like.

 

[kezzaj]

Bob is 25 weeks and around 35cms but he does have severe duck's butt at the moment.. and as yet we are still waiting for him to make a noise other than the cute little grumble he does at night and the occasional (almost) hello.

 

[Terry57]

I am so glad to hear that your birds are not fans of the tape measure either! We have not tried to measure any of them, but just using it in the room freaks them out.
I will have hubby help me measure on Saturday after we pick up our new Alex

 

[Bundiibird]

Terry that is awesome that you are getting an Alex. Bundii is such beautiful birdie. Now if only she would stop biting my hands

 

[Terry57]

I know, I am quite excited He is a little plucked, and on a horrible diet (seeds, pizza and hot dogs!?!?) but that can all be fixed Bundii is stunning! I am happy to be joining y'all's Alex club

 

[Bundiibird]

Bundii says thank to your compliment.

Can't wait to see photos of your new baby. That is so sad. Why would anyone think that that is an acceptable diet. Bundii always loves to try things we are having and I guess every thin in moderation. But there is no way that would ever be acceptable type diet. Sheez. I am sure that your Alex will thrive in your care.

Sorry Trish kind of sidetracked your thread.

 

[Betrisher]

No probs, Amanda - Terry had mentioned her new Alex and I'm excited for him to get home as well. He won't know himself once he gets into a decent environment and has a proper diet. I wish I had more space: I'd be out scouring the pet shops and collecting all the needy birdies.

Funny you say Bundii bites your hands: Barney and Madge bite mine too. Not badly and not all that often, but often enough that it annoys me. I usually do the stretchy-handy thing or put them off me, but nothing has really stopped the behaviour. Madge is worse as she bites harder than Barn. Also, if she's on my head or shoulder and doesn't want to be moved, she'll hoe in and go for the pound of flesh if I ask her to step up. Naughty birdies!

Earlier on, when the Beaks bit out of fear and poor socialisation, I found it useful to carry a chopstick. I'd use that to distract them while I stepped them up or did whatever. That might work to deflect Bundii just for a while? I've found the Beakies will form silly habits (like biting hands) and all it takes is changing or distracting from the habit till they form a new one.

Gotta tell you a story:

You might already know that my son, Matt, is autistic? When he was very little, he was very autistic and did a lot of the classic things autistic folk do. His favourite was hand-flapping. He would flap his hands on either side of his head, just inside his peripheral vision. While doing this, he would rock violently back and forth. Of course, that looked pretty fearsome to people who don't know autism and it became imperative that we work on a way of stopping it. (LOL! Stopping an autistic person from 'stimming' is like trying to stop the tide - just call me Canute).

Anyway, long story short, but what you do is, you modify the behaviour slowly over time and change it into a different one. I worked with Matt to slow down the ferocity of his flapping, then eliminated the rocking by turning it into gentle head-nodding and eventually turned the whole stimming thing into him flicking his fingernails inside his pocket. This enabled him to sit through school all day, travel on the bus and walk around our neighborhood without any repercussions. He would flick his fingernails wildly inside his pockets, but no one knew he was doing it. Then, when he got home, he'd head for his room and stim like a demon to get all the pent-up energy out.

That was how I learned about behaviour modification. I didn't know it even had a name back then - I just knew the world couldn't cope with my son's stimming as easily as I could.

So the moral of the story is, don't assume you have to remove the behaviour. Just change it into something which is acceptable!

PS. Forgot to add: this process took several years but it was so worth it! It has made the difference between Matt being able to function in society and not!

 

[khaiqha]

It's impossible for me to give a correct length of my Alex, as he unfortunately bites the ends of his tail feathers off. It's such an annoying habit. It started from stress (i think) and now it's become a habit I have been unable to change. It's funny though, he bends and breaks his tail down till where it is as long as a female irn's tail, and then he doesn't mess with it anymore. Sometimes I wonder if he honest to goodness just prefers a shorter tail.

Actually...now that I think about this, he's done this ever since he was a baby. I have no clue why he does it.

 

[UMARKHANMARDAN]

My Alex almost 16 years old is 25-14 inch from head to tail tip.Its the largest sub species Nepalese. I don,t know about the exact length difference but i can clearly see that the wild caught Nepalese are larger than home grown. Another factor i see the wild birds are more greener.These birds live in medium flocks. Its a native species here but even then its one of expensive parakeet.I don,t like to keep wild caught birds but i got a chance i,l post some pictures of wild caught stock. Wild birds are mostly used as breeding stock by the breeders.

 

[Terry57]

Trish, no wonder you are so good with your birds You instinctively knew how to modify behaviour with patience and love then, and it has served you well now.
How is Matt doing, btw?

 

[Betrisher]

Matt's good, thanks Terry. He's thirty seven now and still flaps when he's alone. He has worked on and off since he was eighteen, but it can be a real strain on him as he tries very hard to 'act normal' and that takes its toll. He's between jobs right now but is starting to gear up toward finding something else to do. Fingers crossed.