HI, everyone! So sorry I'm late, we got back a little later than expected and then when we got home we discovered that one of our dogs had pooped and peed TWICE in our house... Which she never does. I had asked my mother (who lives right next door) to let them out a few times while we were gone... Well, obviously she didn't at all.
Anyway, the moment you've all been waiting for!
I am officially a PARRONT!

Ricco will be coming home June 30th!!!
When we got there, we walked up and introduced ourselves. She asked if my partner (female) and I were a couple and we told her yes. She said, "Oh, my daughter is gay, too!" LOL so I guess that was good! She took us back to her "bird room" and introduced us to Ricco. He was in his (tiny) cage and had his crest up all excited. We were talking to him and stuff, but since there were so many birds in there (she breeds Quakers) we couldn't really hear each other talk. She took him out of the cage, though I noticed he doesn't step up reliably, he did it eventually. She held him on her hand and bobbed up and down and he danced for us.

Then she said, "Can you say Ricco?" And he said, "Ricco!" and bobbed up and down. Oh, it was so cute.
She took him out to his outside stand and set him down on it. After talking with her a bit, (thanks, luvmytooo!) I asked her if she thought he would let me step him up. She said, "Oh, maybe. He doesn't usually take to strangers very fast. Might have to give it some time." I got a little disappointed, but I tried anyway and after testing my fingers with his beak, he stepped right up on my hand and then fluttered to my chest, and climbed up my shoulder!

He sat on my shoulder for awhile and she said, "Out of curiosity, I'm going to try to get him off of you." She tried, and he wasn't having it. LOL. Finally, I got him to step down and my partner got to hold him for a little while, although he nipped her a good one on her finger. He didn't bite me at all. The whole time we were there he stepped right up for me and sat on my shoulder!
I fell in love with him, I really did. And for a first time meeting, I think it went pretty darn well!
Now, for the few "bad" things:
1. His feathers didn't look too bad to me in person. She said he rubs up against a certain toy and that's why his feathers are like that??
2. He has a problem with stepping up/down. This can be trained, obviously, so I'm not too concerned about it. As soon as he steps up, which he will do pretty reliably if he's on someone's hand, but not in his cage and not on his playstand it seems, he will go right up to your shoulder and stay there. If you try to get him down, he'll just go to the other shoulder or down your back!
3. His droppings seemed very watery to me, although I only saw one. Not sure what this could be an indicator of, but I do plan on getting him checked out by an Avian Vet as soon as I bring him home.
4. He wouldn't drink any water. We were there for about an hour and he was outside in the sun the whole time and he was panting, but when offered water, he wouldn't drink. Something to be concerned about or was he just nervous? (Also: He drinks out of a bottle in his cage and she was offering him a dish, so maybe that's why?)
5. His grip didn't seem very strong. He fell off his playstand once, pretty hard, and broke a blood feather...

I felt so sorry for him. She clipped his wings while I was there, too. Anyway, I didn't notice a lack of grip when he was on my hand, but he didn't grip very hard when on my shoulder and he kept slightly falling off his playstand and having to flap his wings to get back on. Or perhaps he was just playing? Should I be concerned about this or not?
So, there you have it, folks! I finally get to bring my baby home. I have to wait three weeks because I wanted some time to prepare and she will be out of town in two weeks

But that's alright! I can't wait to get him here!
