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!
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!