A Second Sun?

[Skittys_Daddy]

Yeah, I paid almost as much for Skittles first cage, a cheap one I got at Petco for $99 as I did for his new one which cost me just over $100 (after I used my bonus). The cage he is in now, sells for about $300-400 in pet stores. Ridiculous.

I'm not going overboard with Skittles this year. I'll get him maybe five or six presents. Of course I say that every year and then I end up spoiling him. LOL

 

[BridgetsFlame]

Just for fun, heres a pic of the new hub at the breeders, h/she is seven weeks old, and also attached is a piccy of Atti at eight weeks old (he's the one in my hand). When I collected Atti I thought he was rather red... it moulted out into a fire engine red with pied yellow tips on his tail and wings. I don't have an adult pic of him on this computer to show off, humph,

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I just LOVE baby birds, they are sooooo cute!

I never got to see Skittles as a baby. He was a little over a year old when I got him. He had been shipped to several pet store locations before I bought him.

 

[BridgetsFlame]

Awww, I hate how birds get passed around. Sounds like he landed on his feet with you though!

I've been very lucky to have had a breeder nearby both times. I visited Atti weekly from when he was first pulled for hand rearing until I got to take him home. He wasn't so cute when he was bald though. The breeder of this new baby has been taking photos weekly, so I have all of them as well, and an open invitation to visit as much as I want until bubba is weaned.

The breeder is hand rearing eight conures at the moment, three turquoise green cheeks, three pineapples and the two suns. It's endless adorableness.

 

[MikeyTN]

They're so cute!!!!!!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Skittles did in fact land on his feet but he swept me off mine!

I wasn't even looking to get another bird at the time, much less a conure since I knew next to nothing about the species at the time. Luckily I did research BEFORE deciding to get him. That whole 'hopping' thing just melts me every time.

I truly believe Skittles comes from good stock. The pet store location I bought him at is a local chain, not a national one. I have found that this makes a LOT of difference in how the birds are cared for. This store had the breeder's contact info and offered it to me since his breeder likes to have follow ups on all the birds she sells to them.

 

[BridgetsFlame]

So the cage I was looking at feel through (mainly because it was too large to fit through doorways and I need something I can regularly take outside and hose off).

So I went back to bugging the pet store to find out if they could get a certain style in cream/off white. They think they can but are still confirming it and it will cost $500 minimum. Then I thought I'd have a look on ebay... Same cage, same brand, same model for $220 + $70 shipping. I know rural stores have to mark products up but really? And the ebay guy confirmed immediately the cage is cream and isn't that hideous stark white colour.

It's 36" x 24" x 42", same size as Atti's cage but with a scalloped top instead of a play gym. Matching cages make me very happy!

New picture of the bubba (currently called Rea until/unless I receive confirmation that bub isn't a girl), she's the one on the perch.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Did you check Amazon? That's where I got Skittles new cage. It came in a box, not 'pre-assembled' so it's easy to fit through narrow doorways.

I paid $130 for Skittles cage (before discounts I had) and I found that same cage for about $400 on some other sites.

If you are looking for a 'matching cage' you might well find it on Amazon at a cheaper price. You'd likely get free shipping given that the cage you will get will be more than $35 (unless the seller charges extra S&H for bulk/heavy items)

 

[BridgetsFlame]

Amazon doesn't ship to Australia

 

[BridgetsFlame]

Just thought I'd add an update. DNA came back today and the suns were a male and female. My favourite is the female . Its worked out perfectly actually, the other person who put a deposit down specifically wanted a male and preferred the other baby. So we each got the sex we wanted and the baby we preferred.

Rea is at the 7 week mark now, and will come home on the 29th at 10 weeks old. I ended up finding a secondhand unused flight cage for sale cheap which I've bought for now while I keep trying to make a decision on what cage I want to buy Rea. This cage will be useful anyway as I've somehow ended up as a go to person for parrot rescue. I work in animal rescue and am currently helping a group get all the paperwork through to get a private rescue up and running, and they/we will be starting out with birds and dogs.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

@BridgetsFlame Thanks for not including another picture. I was afraid I was gonna have to call the Adorable Police on you! HAHA

They don't have an Australian equivalent to Amazon? I think the UK has one. Isn't Australia part of the UK? Royal family and all that.

 

[BridgetsFlame]

Only reason there isn't another pic is because I couldn't work out how to embed a video. The breeder sent me a pic of Rea and her sibling and the other hand reared bugs all clustered together on a toy falling asleep. I melted into a puddle on the floor when I saw it!

Technically the british queen is our queen, but we are separate from Britain in all bar name. And there is only twenty million people scattered across a continent the same size as America. There's a lot we don't have because of our population size. We have ebay, but things like amazon, no. And shipping can be horrendous. I live in a rural centre, basically the biggest town in the area that has shops, and we have 18,000 people. In Aus if you aren't in a capital city you pretty much don't exist. The fun of rurality.