New Additions :)

[IcyWolf]

Thanks to Amy's Aviary, we will be getting 2 pairs of parrotlets tomorrow. It looks like we will be getting two pairs of green x blue and from my understanding the greens are split to blue. There is a slight chance one of the pairs may be green x fallow but those chances are pretty slim as she was pretty sure someone was going today to get both fallows. Either way, we are quite excited. We have been entertaining the idea of expanding a bit and getting a few more pairs, we have been talking over what kind of species we would like and I've been talking with a lot of local breeders and getting they're opinions as well. I've been looking for a female budgie, and we had considered linnies, p'lets, and some different pyrruhra conure species. Then Amy contacted me about some parrotlets, I spoke with my SO and the woman selling them and we decided that we are going to take them. So I guess I'm off to go set up some new cages for the little guys, we should be getting them tomorrow afternoon Just excited and wanted to share.

 

[chksbak]

cool getting new birds is always exciting

 

[cockatielfan17]

awsome! hope to see some pics when they arrive in there new homes

 

[roxynoodle]

That's wonderful! I'm sure they will be great additions to your flock.

 

[suncon97]

That's awesome!

 

[lene1949]

Congratulations...

 

[IcyWolf]

We are very excited for them to arrive, I actually just had to send hubby out for more cuttlebones lol, I was freaking out because I just realized we were out It's kind of a rushed thing, we didn't even know about them until yesterday and we will be getting them tomorrow, luckily I have extra cages and supplies so it's not a huge deal or I would have waited, she did give me the option to wait until next week but I think we can have everything ready and set up for the little guys. I've honestly never kept parrotlets before so this will be a new experience for the both of us. I think I've read through just about every decent website on them and every section on them in all of my books in the past 12 hours. I feel like i'm back in high school cramming for a test or something I think they'll settle in nicely, I've finally figured out a way to arrange them so that they can hear but not see each other, the only thing I can't figure out is the nestbox placement. Everything I've read says that the nestbox should be on the front of the cage but none of my cages are set up for that. I suppose I could always cut another hole in the front but one of the cages is already cut for a nest box and the other is a pretty nice cage with a designated nest door on the side so I'd hate to have to chop it. I'm trying to figure out exactly how necessary it is for the box to be on the front of the cage. They will be in a very low travel room without a lot of disturbances so i'm hoping I can get away with side mounted boxes. If not I guess I will have to break out the tin snips.

I just realized I'm going to end up running out of space on my signature picture, still have to add the amazons and now 3 p'lets! lmao:09:

 

[roxynoodle]

Might be a dumb idea, but what if you keep the cage turned sideways so the next box seems like it's on the front?

 

[IcyWolf]

I thought about that as well, but these cages both have the food/water doors in the front and where I have to put them wouldn't make it too easy to get in from the side to give food/water or pull the tray out to clean. I'm not sure what would disturb them more, having the nest on the side or having the nest in the front and having the extra hassle and commotion of me struggling to give them food and water twice a day. I'm really wondering how much it actually affects them to have the box on the side, from the people I've spoken to in person they all act like the p'lets are really easy to breed, one woman even told me that her single pair "breeds like rabbits" and she actually has to make a concerted effort to get them to stop. Then I read on websites and in books that they can be kind of nervous, need the box on the front and that you have to have more than one pair that can hear the others but not see them. I know that certain things have to be just right(light cycles, proper size nest box, etc) but sometimes I can't help but wonder if some people aren't over complicating things a bit. That's at least the way it seems when I compare the things I'm told from local breeders vs. the big professional breeders.

 

[mnkeastman]

Congrats on the new additions I am with the above poster I can't wait to see pics

 

[amysaviary]

I had my pairs in cages that had the nest box doors on the sides and never had a problem with them breeding! Most breeder birds like it better if other birds and or people don't stare into their box if that makes sense. I face them to the outside walls so other birds don't see in the box. Also best way to have them hear each other but not see each other is to stack the cages. Also i use shower curtins from the dollar store to hang in between cages so they can't see each other. They r cheap and EZ to clean also can cut them to size. hope so of that helps.

 

[lene1949]

I knew a breeder, who simply put the nesting box on the floor of the cage - in a corner.

 

[MikeyTN]

I had my pairs in cages that had the nest box doors on the sides and never had a problem with them breeding! Most breeder birds like it better if other birds and or people don't stare into their box if that makes sense. I face them to the outside walls so other birds don't see in the box. Also best way to have them hear each other but not see each other is to stack the cages. Also i use shower curtins from the dollar store to hang in between cages so they can't see each other. They r cheap and EZ to clean also can cut them to size. hope so of that helps.

LoL....I hung shower curtains on my walls with velcro straps so I can remove them to wash.....Stuffs we do for our birds....lol....

 

[IcyWolf]

Okay, I figured it out so that the boxes will be on the side of the cage but the entrance will be facing a wall so when they are in the box looking out, all they will be able to see is their cage and then the wall on the other side, and I did stack the cages so they won't be able to see each other. I've been rearranging and cleaning all day, been making toys for the past hour or two now. haha, I don't think this is how normal folks spend their saturday nights. :22:

 

[MikeyTN]

It sounds pretty normal to me....lol.....I wish I had the time to make their toys as they're all destroying all they've got....But I spend my off days cleaning and remodeling....

 

[roxynoodle]

I make toys on Saturday nights, too. But, then I have no social life.

 

[IcyWolf]

Well, we just got the little guys about 2 hours ago, they seem to be settling in nicely. There are 2 green split to blue females and 2 blue males, the girls are sisters and the boys are brothers but the pairs are unrelated to each other. After only 20 minutes of being here they were already chewing on their toys I can't get over how tiny they are! They are even smaller than our budgies She also mentioned that one of the females even laid an egg today(I assume infertile).

I got the nest boxes from amy as well, thanks amy!

The woman that I got them from was great, she was really nice and not only brought them here but even trimmed the beaks of two of my birds for me! I was just talking to the vet last week about making an appointment to bring them in to have their beaks trimmed(the female zon and our conure), and she just did it for me in a couple of seconds. The birds don't seem to happy with me about letting this stranger come in and do these "horribly things" to them but they are all munching on some baked sweet potato right now so I think that maybe they will forgive me.

Now off to the good part, pictures!

Here's the first blue male

And his wifey

Here are a couple of the second blue male:

And here is his partner

 

[pagie]

They are so pretty, how you going on names? Love your budgies names, very cute

 

[MikeyTN]

They're adorable!!! My nutritionist was trying to give me hers. But I nicely declined....

 

[IcyWolf]

Still haven't come up with names but it usually takes us a bit since I try to get to know their personalities and name them accordingly, but I have named every animal in our house so far and I told my other half that he could name these guys. It has me kind of worried because he's usually not the most creative when it comes to names(He named a savanna monitor, savanna, a leopard gecko, leah, and a red iguana, little red lol). It's not that he is picking the most convenient names, he just doesn't seem to find anything odd about naming them something very generic lol. Amy had the good idea of naming two of them Blueberry and SweetPea which I liked but I'm going to try to let him decide this time. I always tell him he can name the animals and then I end up doing it so I'm going to try and keep my mouth shut this time around lol.

Is it just me or does it look like the first green female has really tiny eyes compared to the other three? Is that just a normal difference or possibly a sign of something? I noticed when we first got our budgies that Barnaby was the same way and aside from his mysterious inability to fly, he seems completely normal and healthy, in fact he is the only one out of five that actually enjoys playing with toys lol.