My new pet female Alexandrine: PHOTO AND QUESTIONS :)

[WallyMed]

I got this cutie about a week ago, a ~5yr old female Alexandrine parrot. Here are my assortment of questions:

1) I feel like she's a fatty. I weighed her and she's 270 grams. From what I'm seeing online, the average weight for an Alexandrine is 250 grams and I would assume females should be on the lighter side of that average. Her previous owners had her on a fatty diet. They were feeding her 6 nutriberries balls twice a day. I've heard those should only be given as treats, not a diet staple. I've changed her diet to a pellet diet with veggies, but she doesn't like it as much its WAY less on it. I'll toss her a couple nutriberries throughout the day because it worries me. Any advice on this?

2) She's tame and has bonded really well with me and its only been a week. Only thing is, she's extremely horny. I'm a guy, I'm not sure if she can smell my testosterone or what but whenever I pet her head she'll toss her ass up in the air, make a weird humming sound, and cock her head up. Whenever she does this I just put her back in the cage, but its a bit annoying. I've heard that giving her more full darkness 12-14 hours a day cover on the cage at night should help. Any other advice?

3) Her previous owners did not train her tricks/ to talk well. She only says "hello". I've been trying to get her to learn "what are you doing?" and "kisses". I repeat these phrases probably 100+ times a day. She's on my shoulder pretty much all day and I just talk to her as if she's a toddler. Whenever I'm doing something I'll vocalize it to her to build a communicative relationship. However, she's had 5 years with owners who never trained her. Any tips on getting her to learn more words? She already says hello throughout the day, she I reward her when she says hello with treats to get her to understand if she talks she'll get rewarded? I feel like once she realizes if she learns words she'll get rewarded it'll be a quick upward cycle to learn more words. Any advice appreciated!

4) I'm trying to get her to fly to me, she NEVER had her wings clipped. However, it seems like she's scared to fly. My apartment is not huge, and she is a big bird. Could that be why she doesn't want to try flying? I want her to just do short flights to my hand across the room? Any advice?

Any advice to one or more of the 4 questions above GREATLY appreciated. Whether you have personal advice, youtube videos I should watch, forum links, website links, etc. Please send them my way.

Thank you and happy holidays!

 

[zERo]

1. I'd say your girl is a bit overweight, just have mealtimes and the you can control and see exactly how much she eats; I'd limit her consumption of nutriberries to like 4 to 6 a day or less if she's ok with that.

2. Firstly you said you let her sit on your shoulder all day, this is very close to you, I mean she's standing on you, I'd try a more hands off approach with her and encourage her to perch independently. Do not pet her anywhere but her head and neck and only for a very short amount of time; also if the pellets your feeding her has the main ingredients of corn, wheat and soy (soy especially) makes birds hormonal. Soy is very high in protein.

3. Not all birds talk, but if she says hello she'll probably learn more words, just give her time.

4. If she never had the opportunity to fly with her previous owners while young she may be hesitant to do it now. Just ask her to step up, when she does, give her a treat, then start slowly moving your hand farther away, only as far as she's comfortable with though, eventually she'll be opening her wings more and more the farther young hand is away from her.

Hope this helps!

 

[Zoruace]

she looks very wise
AND THAT AVIARY WHA-

 

[Munalondon]

I got this cutie about a week ago, a ~5yr old female Alexandrine parrot. Here are my assortment of questions:

1) I feel like she's a fatty. I weighed her and she's 270 grams. From what I'm seeing online, the average weight for an Alexandrine is 250 grams and I would assume females should be on the lighter side of that average. Her previous owners had her on a fatty diet. They were feeding her 6 nutriberries balls twice a day. I've heard those should only be given as treats, not a diet staple. I've changed her diet to a pellet diet with veggies, but she doesn't like it as much its WAY less on it. I'll toss her a couple nutriberries throughout the day because it worries me. Any advice on this?

2) She's tame and has bonded really well with me and its only been a week. Only thing is, she's extremely horny. I'm a guy, I'm not sure if she can smell my testosterone or what but whenever I pet her head she'll toss her ass up in the air, make a weird humming sound, and cock her head up. Whenever she does this I just put her back in the cage, but its a bit annoying. I've heard that giving her more full darkness 12-14 hours a day cover on the cage at night should help. Any other advice?

3) Her previous owners did not train her tricks/ to talk well. She only says "hello". I've been trying to get her to learn "what are you doing?" and "kisses". I repeat these phrases probably 100+ times a day. She's on my shoulder pretty much all day and I just talk to her as if she's a toddler. Whenever I'm doing something I'll vocalize it to her to build a communicative relationship. However, she's had 5 years with owners who never trained her. Any tips on getting her to learn more words? She already says hello throughout the day, she I reward her when she says hello with treats to get her to understand if she talks she'll get rewarded? I feel like once she realizes if she learns words she'll get rewarded it'll be a quick upward cycle to learn more words. Any advice appreciated!

4) I'm trying to get her to fly to me, she NEVER had her wings clipped. However, it seems like she's scared to fly. My apartment is not huge, and she is a big bird. Could that be why she doesn't want to try flying? I want her to just do short flights to my hand across the room? Any advice?

Any advice to one or more of the 4 questions above GREATLY appreciated. Whether you have personal advice, youtube videos I should watch, forum links, website links, etc. Please send them my way.

Thank you and happy holidays!

Hello
I have a female as well. I tried to weight her I think she was under 200g.mine doesn't speak a word and also loves staying on my shoulder. She follows me to another room. Try call her when you go to another room. If she likes you she will eventually come. She will get use to the word come or whatever language you speak to her.

 

[Niteldy]

I have a Male- he is said to be 5 yrs. old. I rescued him as well. I can tell you mine was overweight and had many bad habits. He came at 10.4 oz. he is now at 8.8 ounces that is a perfect weight according to my Vet.
Answers to your questions-
#1- Stan-Lee was on a horrible and dangerous diet- He is now on 2 spoons of seed per day along with sliced cucumber, whole carrots, a few pinto beans, green beans, bell pepper, and a whole apple per day. I change this up with different veggies and fruits constantly and I make chop too. You can find many chop recipes on You Tube
#2 when she does this immediately put her in her cage. Also never stroke or pet her anywhere on her body except only on her head and neck. To pet anyplace else is initiating sex, it is cruel because our birds cannot get a release at all, and they suffer because of it. I didn't know this the first month I owned my boy. Oh, and it's the same for boys and girls.
#3 All my boy says is apple- he will do half of a wolf whistle, and a strange way of saying whaaaaat?
I have been trying to get him to talk to me for the last 6 months to no avail.
as far as training- well I have him shaking my hand (finger), kissing, bobbing his head to say No, giving me a hug (getting on my chest and lowering his head and all of this with clicker training- There are excellent vids on you tube! Just look up "clicker training for Alexandrines"
#4 Can't help you out here- I don't want my boy to fly because we go outside! And I would have a stroke if he flew away!
EXTRA- My boy loves to cuddle in a blanket while I hold him. Like a baby.
He also loves to sit on my shoulder as much as I allow him- His favorite thing to do- Is knock things off the table and if I hand him something he throws it either to his left or right.. Fun and games! I put him on the table with a bunch of small things scattered about so he can toss everything off the table.
We are in Utah- Stan-Lee and I say Hello to you and Your girl!

 

[Munalondon]

I have a Male- he is said to be 5 yrs. old. I rescued him as well. I can tell you mine was overweight and had many bad habits. He came at 10.4 oz. he is now at 8.8 ounces that is a perfect weight according to my Vet.
Answers to your questions-
#1- Stan-Lee was on a horrible and dangerous diet- He is now on 2 spoons of seed per day along with sliced cucumber, whole carrots, a few pinto beans, green beans, bell pepper, and a whole apple per day. I change this up with different veggies and fruits constantly and I make chop too. You can find many chop recipes on You Tube
#2 when she does this immediately put her in her cage. Also never stroke or pet her anywhere on her body except only on her head and neck. To pet anyplace else is initiating sex, it is cruel because our birds cannot get a release at all, and they suffer because of it. I didn't know this the first month I owned my boy. Oh, and it's the same for boys and girls.
#3 All my boy says is apple- he will do half of a wolf whistle, and a strange way of saying whaaaaat?
I have been trying to get him to talk to me for the last 6 months to no avail.
as far as training- well I have him shaking my hand (finger), kissing, bobbing his head to say No, giving me a hug (getting on my chest and lowering his head and all of this with clicker training- There are excellent vids on you tube! Just look up "clicker training for Alexandrines"
#4 Can't help you out here- I don't want my boy to fly because we go outside! And I would have a stroke if he flew away!
EXTRA- My boy loves to cuddle in a blanket while I hold him. Like a baby.
He also loves to sit on my shoulder as much as I allow him- His favorite thing to do- Is knock things off the table and if I hand him something he throws it either to his left or right.. Fun and games! I put him on the table with a bunch of small things scattered about so he can toss everything off the table.
We are in Utah- Stan-Lee and I say Hello to you and Your girl!View attachment 40468

Hello

Thanks for all your advice. Looking at what your little guy eats in a day I am quite shocked. Mine is around 240 grammes but does not eat anywhere what yours is eating. An apple a day plus all the rest ? Mine eat seeds. One passion fruit. She likes eggs and rice. A bit of strawberries. She eats little but I guess her weight has been constant.

 

[Terry57]

I have a male Alex who is 20, and we have had him for 8 years. He was mistreated in his former home, and his diet was terrible.
He now eats pellets, a bit of seed, and he loves his chop. He gets chop twice a day and has access to the pellets and seed all the time. I do not use much fruit in my chop.

There are some wonderful chop recipes here: Chop Recipes Resource Thread

My boy's name is Xander, and he talks a bit. He says "Hello", "Pretty, Pretty Bird", "What are you doin", "Peek-a-Boo" and "Oh, Hi". I believe he already said all of these things when we got him, but it's hard to tell with a roomful of other birds who talk because they can learn from each other.

 

[Niteldy]

Hello

Thanks for all your advice. Looking at what your little guy eats in a day I am quite shocked. Mine is around 240 grammes but does not eat anywhere what yours is eating. An apple a day plus all the rest ? Mine eat seeds. One passion fruit. She likes eggs and rice. A bit of strawberries. She eats little but I guess her weight has been constant.

He does not eat that much he just has a big variety I offer him alot of things but in an amount the size of the first digit of my thumb and as for the apple I give him a small apple, cored , about every 3 days
( they last that long) . So I dont overfeed it just looks that way As my Stinkbug wont eat chop. Ugh Hes a handfull ! But 8 oz to 8.5 oz according to my Vet is Perfect!