NEW!! Have questions and pics

[ALEX371]

Hi everyone, my name is Alex, I am new to this forum (and to lovebirds). I have a blue quaker named KIm, a green quaker named Kiwi, a lutino tiel named Kenny and I just added a new flock member (Olli my cute baby lovebird). Olli was kind of an impulse buy and I actually ended up buying him from a counter top at a pet shop (instead of from a breeder like my other birds), the lady at the counter who was also the one feeding her/him didnt know much about birds and I kinda of fell bad for the baby plus I was looking to add another small bird so I got him. S/he is still not weaned but in the process (not to worry I hand fed one of my quakers, my tiel and a couple of wild baby birds). My first question is; the lady at the pet shop had clipped his wings before he even learned how to fly >:, about how long do you think it will be before he gets new feathers? will it be 6 months to a year like my other birds? or do lovebirds molt more often? will he molt faster cause he is a baby or not really? It makes me sad to seem him try to fly and not get even an inch of the ground (my other birds are clipped but they were allowed to fledged and fly first). Also can anyone tell what color mutation s/he is, the lady at the pet shop didn't even know that. Thanks a lot any and all help will be greatly appreciated!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/Israels/IMG_0007-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/Israels/IMG_0007-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/Israels/IMG_0012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/Israels/IMG_0013.jpg

[ALEX371]

p.s sorry if I posted this in the wrong place but was unsure of where to post it. Also I posted this question in a qp forum I belong to and some people said they werent sure but that from the pics Olli looked liked a parrolet, s/he was sold to me as a baby lovebird, but the place was so shady I am not even sure anymore. Can someone please shed some light into this!

[Flapjack]

Kim, Kiwi, Kenny and...... Olli? Oh- he's definitely a lovie. The pics are kind of dark, but he looks kind of olive colored. Linda will tell you the proper name.

He's cute! :blush:

Did you quarantine?

Anyway, HI! Nice to have you on the forum. I'm Jeni.

I'm sorry he was clipped before he fledged. >: The breeder of my gcc did that, and now he's almost 2 and still flies like a broken helicopter. Its pretty sad. He is getting a bit better.
You may have to wait until he's a year or more before a heavy enough molt to be able to fly.


Nice to meet you and your flock! :happy:

[momo]

My elmo was clipped before he could learn how to fly.. *grrrrrr*... so called breeder...

This never stopped her from trying.. when she got her first two feathers in on each side she could go about 3 meters. She could fly properly at about 8/9 months from memory. She had about 75% of her flight feathers in. It's all a bit wonky at first. Making sure there are lots of pit. stops for her. Elmo is a bit over a year now.. I swear she thinks shes in the nascar 2000..

Your fid is def a lovebird not a parrotlet :)

[LovelySydney]

Welcome to the boards & congrats on your new baby!! Definitely a lovebird and not a parrotlet! I have a parrotlet and have had him since he was 7 weeks. They don't get the distinctive black on the beaks like a lot of lovebirds get. Your little guy definitely has the baby beak still! What a beautiful slate color, too - very rare to see one of those, how cool!!!

My lovebirds were clipped after they could fly, which helped them because they still knew what they were doing. Oliver was clipped before he ever fledged and you can definitely tell. The poor thing makes this awful noise when he tries to get to the ground and he most always crash lands - never to the point where he hurts himself but definitely not a comfortable land!! I think wings usually take 3 months to grow back, sometimes longer.

[bookworm0550]

you have a lovebird :) i'm sorry she clipped him so early. i don't understand what she was thinking. i'm just glad he's w/ you now. it doesn't sound that pet store is the greatest place.

[Enko_chan]

He looks like a slate mutation of some sort, hard to tell from the photos.

He is super cute!

Welcome!

[linda040899]

Hi Alex and welcome to our community!

Olli is definitely a lovebird! Babies are smaller so he will get bigger! As for mutation, he's a Slate (double dark factor blue series).

Shame on whoever clipped his flight feathers so young! Learning to fly has a lot to do with lack of fear that babies naturally have. The first molt starts at age 4 months, so he should get some of his flights back at that time.

There actually IS something you can do to force the flights to grow back in sooner but it's drastic and it would have to be done by your avian vet. Remove the trimmed flight feathers and that will trigger new ones to come in within a matter of weeks. I would not do this myself, as it would be painful for Olli. Your vet would most likely do it under very light anesthesia. I'm not recommending this be done, just offering it as an option.

[Gill]

What a cutie!

[ALEX371]

Hi everyone,
Thank you all for being so welcoming and for the info and sharing your experiences, I greatly appreciate it. I know, its a real shame that she clipped him/ her so early, but I think ill just wait untill he molts. Over the days I have had him/her he has become more and more loving, he is in my shoulder chirping away as I type this. Thanks again and happy fathers day for all fathers out there

[Sharon]

Aww he's adorable! I have one with the same coloring and his name is Smokey. Slate, double dark factor - He has no blue at all. His beak looks almost the same but he just lost the dark on the sides and now it's only on the very top of his beak.

You sound like you've got lots of experience with birds, though. Ya never know, he might fly well after he molts or his flight feathers grow back.

Welcome to the board (I'm new here too.)

[Flip]

Ollie is definitely a cutie. He looks just like my Icky did when he was a baby! Slates are very beautiful, aren't they? Icky's 16 now--hard to believe!

Shame on the lady at the pet store for clipping him so early. He will learn to fly once he's had a chance to molt, but it will be at least 5 months or so. Until then you can provide him with lots of options for climbing, which will help with his confidence.

Welcome to the boards!

[Janie]

Hi and welcome to the forum. So sorry that the woman clipped him too soon but happy that you adopted him and will take good care of him going forward.

[bbslovie]

Ollie is a little charmer! Both of our birds had been clipped before we brought them home and they're fine. Nothing time can't reverse, those new feathers will grow back in no time.

Barb :)