JawzX
New member
- Aug 22, 2010
- 184
- 1
- Parrots
- 8 year-old second-hand Alexandrine Parakeet Buddy (aka Baby, aka Ms. Prissy Beak)
Hi folks,
I go by JawzX (and various iterations thereof) on these here Internets, and I happen to have recently become a parrot owner!
I had a budgie when I was a child, he was never very tame, but for the 10 years between the ages of 6 and 16 I spent a lot of time whistling with him, and mistaking his beeps for the microwave...
This year, for my 32nd birthday my girlfriend helped me become a bird owner again!
It began with her own search for a bird: She had determined that she would be getting a rescue or second-hand bird for both financial and moral reasons, but wasn't ready to pull the trigger yet. She wanted to meet some birds, feel out the different species and try to find the perfect fit. On one of her trips to see birds we went to a rescue to see an 8 year-old Alexandrine parakeet. As it turned out, she and the bird did not click very well, but one of the other birds there, a 30 year-old, over-weight, perch-potato Amazon named Cody loved her almost instantly. As it turned out, Buddy the Alexandrine was sitting on my shoulder cooing into my ear in another couple minutes. It took some time for us to come to terms with the idea, and to acquire the requisite supplies and do some more research about what we were really getting ourselves into, but the operator of the rescue saved the birds for us, as he said we were the best candidates he had met yet and the birds liked us better than any other people who came to look at them!
a little over a month ago now we each brought home a second-hand bird. Cody, the Red-lored Amazon
is a grumpy old man of a bird much of the time, having been owned by grumpy old people who had died recently and he was not loved by their son before coming to the shelter. The rest of the time he is a silly, silly "fat green chicken" as we call him. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSpTVtJQm58]YouTube - Codyflops[/ame] rolling over on his back, for scritches and pettin's and mumbling to himself constantly in combination chicken/parrot/old man voice. He still needs to loose a lot of weight and he has bad eating habits (seed diet for most of his life) but he's got more personality than you can shake a cane at while yelling "get off my lawn you damn kids!" and doesn't have any behavior problems beyond his tendency to beg like a chick for any food item thats obviously not good for him, sitting like a lump unless forced to do otherwise, and an occasional bout of nippiness.
---
Now we get to my bird: Buddy (aka Baby, Aka Ms. Prissy Beak) the 8 year old Alexandrine Parakeet. She's the quietest bird I have ever met, she hardly ever squawks, and when she does it's short lived and not super loud, most of the time she purrs and coos and makes soft little whistling noises under her breath. She does talk, but rarely and I've only heard three phrases so far.
She's an active forager,
she loves foot toys
and apples and yellow squash, and is too damn smart for my good. In the short time we have known each other she has learned to come when called, step up without hesitation and where the seeds, toys and treats are stored (and how to open the containers they are in too)
You can see the constant thinking and scheming in her eyes. She's smart and she knows it :22:
Ms. Prissy Beak is cage-potty trained from her previous owner and has an amazingly gentle personality. Even when she's being cage defensive (her biggest fault) she never bites harder than a mild nip and even with her big strong beak has never drawn blood. She enjoys a little petting as long you confine it to the neck and top of the head.
I Have been able to find very little information specific to Alexandrines on the internet, despite their long, long, long history of being pets and companions. I'm hoping to find other Alexandrine owners and possibly other parrot owners in the North Eastern united states to connect with and learn from!
She's currently angry at me for not taking her to wash dishes and cook lunch yet, so I best go oblige before she hides my glasses or eats my phone in spite
JawzX (M.) In Vermont
I go by JawzX (and various iterations thereof) on these here Internets, and I happen to have recently become a parrot owner!
I had a budgie when I was a child, he was never very tame, but for the 10 years between the ages of 6 and 16 I spent a lot of time whistling with him, and mistaking his beeps for the microwave...
This year, for my 32nd birthday my girlfriend helped me become a bird owner again!
It began with her own search for a bird: She had determined that she would be getting a rescue or second-hand bird for both financial and moral reasons, but wasn't ready to pull the trigger yet. She wanted to meet some birds, feel out the different species and try to find the perfect fit. On one of her trips to see birds we went to a rescue to see an 8 year-old Alexandrine parakeet. As it turned out, she and the bird did not click very well, but one of the other birds there, a 30 year-old, over-weight, perch-potato Amazon named Cody loved her almost instantly. As it turned out, Buddy the Alexandrine was sitting on my shoulder cooing into my ear in another couple minutes. It took some time for us to come to terms with the idea, and to acquire the requisite supplies and do some more research about what we were really getting ourselves into, but the operator of the rescue saved the birds for us, as he said we were the best candidates he had met yet and the birds liked us better than any other people who came to look at them!
a little over a month ago now we each brought home a second-hand bird. Cody, the Red-lored Amazon
is a grumpy old man of a bird much of the time, having been owned by grumpy old people who had died recently and he was not loved by their son before coming to the shelter. The rest of the time he is a silly, silly "fat green chicken" as we call him. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSpTVtJQm58]YouTube - Codyflops[/ame] rolling over on his back, for scritches and pettin's and mumbling to himself constantly in combination chicken/parrot/old man voice. He still needs to loose a lot of weight and he has bad eating habits (seed diet for most of his life) but he's got more personality than you can shake a cane at while yelling "get off my lawn you damn kids!" and doesn't have any behavior problems beyond his tendency to beg like a chick for any food item thats obviously not good for him, sitting like a lump unless forced to do otherwise, and an occasional bout of nippiness.---
Now we get to my bird: Buddy (aka Baby, Aka Ms. Prissy Beak) the 8 year old Alexandrine Parakeet. She's the quietest bird I have ever met, she hardly ever squawks, and when she does it's short lived and not super loud, most of the time she purrs and coos and makes soft little whistling noises under her breath. She does talk, but rarely and I've only heard three phrases so far.
She's an active forager,
she loves foot toys
and apples and yellow squash, and is too damn smart for my good. In the short time we have known each other she has learned to come when called, step up without hesitation and where the seeds, toys and treats are stored (and how to open the containers they are in too)
You can see the constant thinking and scheming in her eyes. She's smart and she knows it :22:
Ms. Prissy Beak is cage-potty trained from her previous owner and has an amazingly gentle personality. Even when she's being cage defensive (her biggest fault) she never bites harder than a mild nip and even with her big strong beak has never drawn blood. She enjoys a little petting as long you confine it to the neck and top of the head.
I Have been able to find very little information specific to Alexandrines on the internet, despite their long, long, long history of being pets and companions. I'm hoping to find other Alexandrine owners and possibly other parrot owners in the North Eastern united states to connect with and learn from!
She's currently angry at me for not taking her to wash dishes and cook lunch yet, so I best go oblige before she hides my glasses or eats my phone in spite
JawzX (M.) In Vermont
