Guess we are about to become lovie (etc) parronts again...:)

[Mary in Florida]

It's been three weeks since the death of our little peachie, Sweetpea ( I still find it hard to believe she is gone), and I guess we agreed with the sentiment expressed here about the best way to celebrate a beloved bird's life is to get another bird. So we in the process, but I guess we have to celebrate doubly because we are getting two new additions to our family!

We came across two babies we just could not resist, and we could not choose between the two. One's a lovebird- I know nothing about mutations, but was told this little guy/gal is a whiteface possibly violet (??) with a greyish/bluish/greenish fairly dark back/wing and tale feathers, and georgeous definite purplish rump feathers. The other bird is a pacific blue parrotlet, and both birds are about 7 weeks old, and still being handfed- expected to be weaned in about a week to 10 days, and about the sweetest little guys ever. They're both cuddly and kissy, and certainly vocal! We wanted to get another lovie- fell in love after our long life with Sweetpea, and we had considered getting a parrotlet in the past. Both these birds are georgeous, and sure seem to have sweet personalities.

We found them in a little "Mom and Pop" pet store in Punta Gorda- the owners get in a few young birds at a time, hand feed and handle/play with them, and look to take superb care of them, and they certainly seem to be known among the local population here. I guess they will be ready to bring home in about a week-10 days- we'll have to break it to our cockatiel Coconut that he's about to become a big brother again.

My heart still aches for Sweetpea, but I can say it truly made me happy ( as well as the rest of our family) to look forward to welcoming these new little fids into our family.

[kikibird]

Hi Mary, well congratulations on the two little ones that will join you soon! I'm almost in exactly the same place. My sweetest baby, Nefeli had to leave me on Father's Day. So, that's around just over 3 weeks. It's only been the last few days I haven't really cried hard. Yesterday, I decided to get another female to be a mate for my male. While I'm excited, it kinda brought down the tears again. I miss her very very much. I have 3 other lovies, one without a mate. He doesn't like to be alone. He and Nefeli were never bonded, but were to be. I've only had him for 3.5 months. We'll get our little girl on Thursday. She is not tame, however. Nor is she a baby like yours will be. Maybe if mine have babies, I'll keep one as my own companion. That's what my Nefeli was. She and I were bonded. Please post some pics of your new babies when they come home. I always wondered what a Parrotlet is like. You'll have to let me know.

Take care,
Kiki

PS - do you have names yet for the new babies?

[linda040899]

Congratulations, Mary, on your possible two new additions!
I also have parrotlets and they can be feisty, if nothing else! Blue is a gorgeous mutation and I have a male blue paired with an albino hen. Whether I'll ever let them breed is still questionable. These 2 aren't tame but I still enjoy a vocal relationship with them. My tame ones are Callie and Charlie, Dilute Blue female and male. Both are sweet as anything but also tend to be head strong at times.

I'm still partial to lovies and I'm quite sure that Sweetpea would approve!

[Mary in Florida]

Hi Mary, well congratulations on the two little ones that will join you soon! I'm almost in exactly the same place. My sweetest baby, Nefeli had to leave me on Father's Day. So, that's around just over 3 weeks. It's only been the last few days I haven't really cried hard. Yesterday, I decided to get another female to be a mate for my male. While I'm excited, it kinda brought down the tears again. I miss her very very much. I have 3 other lovies, one without a mate. He doesn't like to be alone. He and Nefeli were never bonded, but were to be. I've only had him for 3.5 months. We'll get our little girl on Thursday. She is not tame, however. Nor is she a baby like yours will be. Maybe if mine have babies, I'll keep one as my own companion. That's what my Nefeli was. She and I were bonded. Please post some pics of your new babies when they come home. I always wondered what a Parrotlet is like. You'll have to let me know.

Take care,
Kiki

PS - do you have names yet for the new babies?

Hi Kiki-
My sympathies for your loss of your precious Nefali.. I know what you mean, these little guys have places in our hearts that nothing else ever fills. But I guess our hearts expand to accomodate new loves, don't they? And you love them all even if they aren't tame, but those birdies that are really are special.

We aren't breeders, and figured we'd do better with getting hand tame babies, and these two babies sure are sweet and beautiful! The pet store owners encourage visiting and handling of the birds by the new owners till they're ready to come home, so we will do that. We've been there twice, and the birds both seemed to be happy to cuddle, and the lovie even ground his beak and vibrated as I held him. They were also curious and active, so that was good too.

The parrotlet is a Pacific Blue, we're told (he's all blue), and I'm told parrotlets are feisty- but we're used to that as Sweetpea was the Queen of Attitude and feisty to the last! I'll post pictures as soon as I can- I'm guessing at the mutation coloring of the lovie- he's a whiteface, and has a purple rump, looks like, with slate ( maybe a hint of greenish?) back and wing feathers, and lighter slate (same color) underneath.

We're working on the names- haven't come up with names we all agree on yet. That'll come. We'll take suggestions too, so if you have any ideas, send them along! My daughter thought she wanted to name a new bird Reptar ( this apparently was the name of a toy dinosaur that the cartoon "Rugrats" kids played with), but she was thinking that for a green bird, not sure about these guys.



Best of luck with your new lovie- and hope she bonds well with her intended mate! And you know you'll have your pick of a new companion bird for you in one of those future flocks that your lovies present you with!

Take care, Mary

[Mary in Florida]

Congratulations, Mary, on your possible two new additions!
I also have parrotlets and they can be feisty, if nothing else! Blue is a gorgeous mutation and I have a male blue paired with an albino hen. Whether I'll ever let them breed is still questionable. These 2 aren't tame but I still enjoy a vocal relationship with them. My tame ones are Callie and Charlie, Dilute Blue female and male. Both are sweet as anything but also tend to be head strong at times.

I'm still partial to lovies and I'm quite sure that Sweetpea would approve!

Hi Linda,

Thanks! We'd actually considered a parrotlet when we got Sweetpea, so maybe she prepared us for the feisty. This time around we thought maybe we needed a parrotlet, or possibly another lovebird (a different color than Sweetpea- we just didn't think we wanted another bird that looked exactly like she did). We saw these two babies- the lovie and the parrotlet, and wanted them both. I'm guessing we'll probably have two headstrong birds now, but we're looking forward to the adventures! We're retired now ( although I do consulting work at home- all via the internet) and our daughter lives with us so they'll get lots of attention, as does Coconut.

Guess when we get pictures of the lovie posted you can tell us what kind of mutation he might be- we know he's a whiteface, and has purplish rump feathers, but he's still a baby so guess he hasn't gotten his big bird feathers yet, LOL. The feathers on his head are still greyish, and those on his back and feathers seem to be a slate grey but I think I see a tinge of green ( or bluish?) there, and a lighter greyish on his underside. Whatever, he'll be a beautiful bird!

[linda040899]

Is the parrotlet a male or a female? Males will have darker blue on their rumps, at the corners of their eyes, as well as on their wings. Females don't have this. Pacifics can be visually sexed as soon as their rump feathers start to show. I have no gender preferences with parrotlets.

One thing I know for sure. These 2 are going to an excellent home and I know they will want for nothing!

One thing I'm going to pass on here. When you feed mutation parrotlets, Sandee Molenda (probably one of the foremost experts on parrotlets) advises that they should NOT be fed pellets, as the mutations don't digest them properly. My parrotlets don't get pellets and they do just fine. They eat seed plus just about any other kind of fresh food they are offered. There are a lot of opinions on this but I'm choosing to follow the suggestions of someone who's been breeding/working with parrotlets for many, many years. When you first bring yours home, make sure you offer millet 24/7 for at least a month. Sometimes youngsters will revert back to wanting to be handfed but will eat millet if nothing else.

[Mary in Florida]

Is the parrotlet a male or a female? Males will have darker blue on their rumps, at the corners of their eyes, as well as on their wings. Females don't have this. Pacifics can be visually sexed as soon as their rump feathers start to show. I have no gender preferences with parrotlets.

One thing I know for sure. These 2 are going to an excellent home and I know they will want for nothing!

One thing I'm going to pass on here. When you feed mutation parrotlets, Sandee Molenda (probably one of the foremost experts on parrotlets) advises that they should NOT be fed pellets, as the mutations don't digest them properly. My parrotlets don't get pellets and they do just fine. They eat seed plus just about any other kind of fresh food they are offered. There are a lot of opinions on this but I'm choosing to follow the suggestions of someone who's been breeding/working with parrotlets for many, many years. When you first bring yours home, make sure you offer millet 24/7 for at least a month. Sometimes youngsters will revert back to wanting to be handfed but will eat millet if nothing else.

Hi Linda,

Well, I was darned if I could remember if our parrotlet was the same color of blue all over or what, but I asked my daughter, who stopped in to see the birds today and she tells me that his wings are a darker blue than his underside, so now that I know what to look for, I'll see about his rump feathers when we go see them tomorrow!

Thanks a bunch for the tips on feeding the parrotlet- I've been combing the internet for information on parrotlets and had run across comments warning against feeding pellets to parrotlet mutations, so I had figured I would ask about it when we pick up the bird. But with your advice we'll make sure he doesn't get pellets. Honestly I've never been able to get any of our birds to eat a lot of pellets, they weren't weaned on them, and I never forced the issue. I've fed our birds ( lovie and cockatiels) Higgins' Nederland's Vita seed for cockatiels for quite a while- that has all sorts of seeds, pellets, fruit pieces and nuts in it, and the birds seem to like that best. Coconut especially seems to like the variety there as he "knoshes" at any time of the day, standing over the food dish like a guest at a dinner looking over the hors d'oeuvres to make his choice before he selects them! I've seen each bird we've had eat the seeds, pellets and fruit pieces out of the food at different times, and the seeds are fresh ( they sprout when planted, I checked). I'm wondering if the parrotlet will need a different type of seed mixture than the lovie and tiel, and if he shouldn't have pellets even available to him.

I know parrotlets also need veggies, and we feed them to all our birds- at least the veggies I know they will eat. Amazingly enough, Coconut learned not to be so picky from seeing Sweetpea eat anything she could get her beak around, so he eats veggies ( carrots, broccoli, green beans especially, pretty well. So naturally we will have those around for our new arrivals as well. We also give them scrambled eggs, and they love pasta or rice of any kind- they've shared our meals with us for a long time, so they get to at least try a variety of foods- so hopefully we eat healthy, they will too. We'll keep a special eye out to make sure the babies are eating well. I really appreciate your heads up on all of these feeding issues (and the parrotlet sexing information, as well).

Lovies' sexing I assumed always had to be determined using DNA testing, or waiting to see if the lovie laid eggs ( that's how we learned Sweetpea was a female, although we suspected she might be earlier than that). But one of the breeders we spoke to said that a sure way to determine if a lovie was a female when they were babies was to wait till they were weaned ( maybe 3-4 months?) and give them some shredded papers. She said females would tuck those paper strips under their wings/tail but the males would not. I remember that shortly after we got Sweetpea, she would follow the cockatiels around, and pick up their "spitballs" ( Coconut and Freckle chewed paper into spitballs, and then toss them all over), and tuck the spitballs under her wings- a sure sign she was a girl, I guess! I don't know, and it really doesn't matter to us what the sex is, so we'll wait and see.

And the folks at the pet shop have given us the name and location of an avian vet they use that's relatively close by.

I'll make sure they all have plenty of millet too- I know that is a favorite with all birds.

Yup, you know we'll be dedicated bird slaves to these little guys, as I think we are to Coconut, and we'll love every minute of it!

[Mary in Florida]

Is the parrotlet a male or a female? Males will have darker blue on their rumps, at the corners of their eyes, as well as on their wings. Females don't have this. Pacifics can be visually sexed as soon as their rump feathers start to show. I have no gender preferences with parrotlets.

One thing I know for sure. These 2 are going to an excellent home and I know they will want for nothing!

One thing I'm going to pass on here. When you feed mutation parrotlets, Sandee Molenda (probably one of the foremost experts on parrotlets) advises that they should NOT be fed pellets, as the mutations don't digest them properly. My parrotlets don't get pellets and they do just fine. They eat seed plus just about any other kind of fresh food they are offered. There are a lot of opinions on this but I'm choosing to follow the suggestions of someone who's been breeding/working with parrotlets for many, many years. When you first bring yours home, make sure you offer millet 24/7 for at least a month. Sometimes youngsters will revert back to wanting to be handfed but will eat millet if nothing else.

Hi again, Linda,

Just an update as I've been looking to see what you meant by the blue markings on male parrotlets- that's a bright, cobalt, hard to miss blue at the edge of the wings, near the eyes and on the rump. I don't think our parrotlet has those bright blue markings, (I'd surely remember those vivid markings) but is more of a solid blue, so I guess we will need to look for girls' names for her, LOL!

[linda040899]

Hi Mary,
I use a basic Cockatiel mix with my parrotlets, just one without added pellets. I buy my Tiel food at our local feed supply store and I buy just basic seed, nothing added whatsoever. When I get the seed home, I add my own mixture of whatever I want to be in it but I take out the seed for the parrotlets first. I've been known to add canary seed, finch seed and a veggie mix, if I can find a decent one. I do feed sunflower in the mixture.

Egg food is something my parrotlets relish. CeDe is a good one, if you can find it or Petamine is another option. Being young, it shouldn't be too hard to get your new ones to try/eat veggies. The minute mine see any kind of fresh food, it's like they've not eaten in a week!

[Mary in Florida]

Hi Mary,
I use a basic Cockatiel mix with my parrotlets, just one without added pellets. I buy my Tiel food at our local feed supply store and I buy just basic seed, nothing added whatsoever. When I get the seed home, I add my own mixture of whatever I want to be in it but I take out the seed for the parrotlets first. I've been known to add canary seed, finch seed and a veggie mix, if I can find a decent one. I do feed sunflower in the mixture.

Egg food is something my parrotlets relish. CeDe is a good one, if you can find it or Petamine is another option. Being young, it shouldn't be too hard to get your new ones to try/eat veggies. The minute mine see any kind of fresh food, it's like they've not eaten in a week!

Hi Linda,

Wouldn't you know, I've been giving our birds egg food ( a little sprinkled on top of their seed mixture) for some years now. What I could find was Higgins Protein Egg Food, so that's what I used- hope that's ok. I figured that both Coconut and Sweetpea could use the extra protein as they were getting up there in years, and they both seemed to like it ( both ate it right off the top of the seed mixtures). So I guess it'll be good to add to our new guys' food as well. Coconut (and Sweetpea) got to where they pretty much would try anything we gave them ( especially if we had on our plates, or they saw us eating it), although they didn't always like everything. Their favorites were broccoli, carrots ( we always said Sweetpea liked carrots because they reminded her of fingers she could bite through), green beans ( Coconut likes veggies with pointy ends, so I cut them that way) or the little round tops of broccoli. I also make birdy bread for them, and my husband discovered that they like plain cooked oatmeal- they scarf that down, get their beaks all caked with oatmeal, and then fight having their beaks wiped off. They'd much rather come along and wipe those grubby beaks on a shirt.

We'll try lots of new things with our new little guys. And thanks again, so much, for all the tips. We're in parrotlet virgin territory here!

[linda040899]

Mary,
I've used Higgins brand before and they have quality products. I didn't know they make and egg food so I'll have to check that out! I use a lot of carrots here, too. Great source of Vit A, and many parrots tend to be Vit A deficient, per my avian vet. I shred mine and everyone loves the orange strings. :)

I'm fairly new to parrotlets and I'm still learning. Best information source I've found is Parrotlet Ranch. I try to learn from those who have been there so I don't have to make the same mistakes they made along the learning curve!

[Mary in Florida]

Mary,
I've used Higgins brand before and they have quality products. I didn't know they make and egg food so I'll have to check that out! I use a lot of carrots here, too. Great source of Vit A, and many parrots tend to be Vit A deficient, per my avian vet. I shred mine and everyone loves the orange strings. :)

I'm fairly new to parrotlets and I'm still learning. Best information source I've found is Parrotlet Ranch. I try to learn from those who have been there so I don't have to make the same mistakes they made along the learning curve!

Hi Linda,

Well, we're just beginning on the learning curve for parrotlets so I'll join you at Parrotlet Ranch for sure! Yeah, Higgins makes egg food, and a red egg food for red-factor canaries. It's called Snack Attack Protein Egg Food.. I find it in the Pet Smart stores in 8 oz. packages, it'd probably be available in larger sizes somewhere if you have lots of birds who eat it, but I haven't looked to see that for sure. I also like ( well, the birds, anyway) like the Higgins Vita cockatiel seed which we also get in the PetSmart stores- it's got a lot of variety in the seeds/pellets/fruit pieces/nuts and our birds have always seemed happy to "knosh" on what's in that food. We only feed a few birds, so really don't have to consider a big volume when buying bird food, so the 5 lb Higgins Vita cockatiel is great for us ( I keep it in the freezer till we use it).

I hadn't realized the problems with parrots and vitamin A deficiency, thanks for the heads up on that. Our birds have always liked carrots, and they're easy to cut into "pointy sticks" ( Coconut likes those), so we give them to the birds. I've also added sweet potato to birdy bread and they like that too.

[Pips mom]

Congrats Mary on your new additions! I know it's so hard to get another sometimes after you lose one, but you have to remember that there are so many other special birds out there who need a good, loving home. It's such a great loss when you've had a pet that long, and getting another can't replace that, but it can really help you get over the loss and put some sweet lil lovie chirps in the air again. I don't know what I'd do without that and the fluttering sound of those little wings! I don't know why, but I was never too crazy about parrotlets, which is strange because I tend to love the smaller birds. My neighbor has a parrotlet, male, his name is Bob and him and my other lovie Rudy hit it off and just loved each other, so we would share the two back and forth every several weeks or so. It was a nice situation because you got a break for a while and they were right next door! Then I had to move out and back home to get away from a boyfriend who became abusive, and my lovie Rudy now lives with those neighbors and with his buddy Bob! I still visit when I get out there and the two look happy together and Rudy is really doing well there.
Anyway........congrats and this will be good for you and for these little birds!

[Mary in Florida]

Congrats Mary on your new additions! I know it's so hard to get another sometimes after you lose one, but you have to remember that there are so many other special birds out there who need a good, loving home. It's such a great loss when you've had a pet that long, and getting another can't replace that, but it can really help you get over the loss and put some sweet lil lovie chirps in the air again. I don't know what I'd do without that and the fluttering sound of those little wings! I don't know why, but I was never too crazy about parrotlets, which is strange because I tend to love the smaller birds. My neighbor has a parrotlet, male, his name is Bob and him and my other lovie Rudy hit it off and just loved each other, so we would share the two back and forth every several weeks or so. It was a nice situation because you got a break for a while and they were right next door! Then I had to move out and back home to get away from a boyfriend who became abusive, and my lovie Rudy now lives with those neighbors and with his buddy Bob! I still visit when I get out there and the two look happy together and Rudy is really doing well there.
Anyway........congrats and this will be good for you and for these little birds!

Hi Pip's Mom!

I know, my heart still aches for Sweetpea, and I cried all over again last night when I found one of her little green feathers kind of attached by the shaft inside one of my nightgowns- she spent a lot of time inside my shirts/nighties and left me a little reminder there, I guess.

It's great that you can visit your little Rudy and you know he's doing well. I'm glad to see, also, that it's possible for a lovie and parrotlet to get along!

I think I have to admit to a preference for lovebirds, but then I'm not experienced at being a parrotlet mom. From all the folks who do have them talking about how loveable they are, and all that, I figured I'll love this little girl (I'm sure it's a girl) that will be joining our household. She's sweet, but I'm equally sure she's going to be an independent, feisty little critter! I don't guess you can really tell how they'll be when they're still unweaned be babies and not home with you, but I get the impression that this tiny, fragile little parrotlet has a mind of her own! The lovie ( a whiteface cobalt whose parents were both regular green/redfaced peachfaces, they tell me!) seems just as sweet and cuddly as he/she can be- he snuggled down into my husband's shirt yesterday, and stuck his head out to see what was going on, but stayed there, and he snuggled down on my shoulders as well. Both birds seem to love head scritchies. I'm thinking the lovie's probably like the newborn baby in the nursery that we marvel at for how well he's sleeping, and not crying, but who comes out with his own personality when we get him home! What cracked us up the other day was when our lovie saw a cold water bottle ( condensation on the outside) on the counter and ran towards it because he wanted a bath. He fluffed and spread out his wings- pushed himself up against the bottle, and when we moved it, he settled for looking at the bottle and acting like he was bathing on the counter. I think he'll be a character!

And thanks for the congratulations! We're looking forward to the challenges and joys...

[linda040899]

If the parents of your new lovie are both Green Peachies, he's got good genetics behind him! That means both are split for WF Blue so he's a visual. When I need to make my bloodlines stronger, I breed to wild green color and then breed from splits. :)

Callie and Charlie are both fiesty and loveable at the same time. They are brother/sister but different clutches. Callie is the dominant one of the two and I finally ended up separating them because she just got too aggressive with him. Parrotlets are the smallest parrot and also members of the Amazon family.

Callie grew up with a baby Tiel and the 2 of them got along great! However, I couldn't get the Tiel to wean because I have Callie's cage where Callie and Isis could see/hear me hand feeding other babies and Isis would just cry and cry for formula. That's OK......up to a certain point. Beyond that, formula is too high in protein and will destroy a baby's liver. My vet gave me a time frame to have Isis weaned and eating on her own or my vet suggested euthanizing her. (Isis still wanted at least 1 hand feeding/day at age 19 weeks....WAY to long! I moved her in with her current mate and Peter finally helped her eat by herself but she narrowly dodged the euthanasia bullet.

[Mary in Florida]

If the parents of your new lovie are both Green Peachies, he's got good genetics behind him! That means both are split for WF Blue so he's a visual. When I need to make my bloodlines stronger, I breed to wild green color and then breed from splits. :)

Callie and Charlie are both fiesty and loveable at the same time. They are brother/sister but different clutches. Callie is the dominant one of the two and I finally ended up separating them because she just got too aggressive with him. Parrotlets are the smallest parrot and also members of the Amazon family.

Callie grew up with a baby Tiel and the 2 of them got along great! However, I couldn't get the Tiel to wean because I have Callie's cage where Callie and Isis could see/hear me hand feeding other babies and Isis would just cry and cry for formula. That's OK......up to a certain point. Beyond that, formula is too high in protein and will destroy a baby's liver. My vet gave me a time frame to have Isis weaned and eating on her own or my vet suggested euthanizing her. (Isis still wanted at least 1 hand feeding/day at age 19 weeks....WAY to long! I moved her in with her current mate and Peter finally helped her eat by herself but she narrowly dodged the euthanasia bullet.

That's great to know, that Bigger Bit ( as opposed to Li'l Bit, the parrotlet)-not their real names- is genetically strong-we've had such longevity from the wild strains of our birdies we wondered if it was best just to stick with that. This lovie's so beautiful, though, and this little guy's wormed his way into our hearts already!

The parrotlet seems a bit reserved compared to the lovie- I guess first impressions don't really tell what comes later on. She's happy to sit on shoulders, hair, glasses, and she likes her head scritchies I'm not sure she's thrilled at being cuddled, she'll tolerate it, but she doesn't snuggle down and get into it (even vibrating and beak grinding) like the lovie does. They aren't housed near each other at the pet store, but they react to each other- the lovie's chased the parrotlet, she moves out of his way and stands her ground, staring back, and once she chased after the lovie and grabbed his tail! They will be housed in separate cages- next to each other, at least to start with, and Coconut about 10 feet away on the other side of the room, hopefully to minimize their harrassing him. He's such a sweet old guy, and seems so happy, and darned if he hasn't gained about 1.5 grams since Sweetpea died- he's eating well, playing, talking and whistling and strutting around like he owns the place. Long ago he claimed my husband as his own, so he spends a lot of time riding around on Dave's shoulder or on his chest, talking to Dave's pendant ( Coconut flips it over to the shiny side), sharing meals, or grooming somebody's hair.

That's wild about your tiel wanting to keep formula feeding going for so long- was that just because she saw your baby birds being hand-fed, or was it that she just wouldn't be weaned? The thought of having to euthanize a bird because of inability to wean is scary, but thank goodness Isis saw the light and decided she could eat big bird food and didn't need the formula!

[linda040899]

As a breeder, it's always been my belief and experience that the strongest mutations are bred from splits where either one or both parents are wild color - green. With budgies, the longest lived are also green.

Parrotlets and lovebirds have separate and distinct personalities. Lovebirds are generally more playful and active. They are well known for their antics. Vibrating is a lovebird thing rather than a parrotlet one. Being members of the Amazon family, I find their behavior is more like Zons rather than lovies. Parrotlets can be fiesty and many owners will tell you they can be quite a handful for such a small parrot! I won't disagree with that! I see it every day with Callie and Charlie. Callie is my affectionate one. She doesn't vibrate but she will cuddle up next to my neck and just chatter away. She loves her head scritches and all I really have to do is keep my finger in one place. She will move her head to a position where my finger scritches where she wants it done!

[Mary in Florida]

As a breeder, it's always been my belief and experience that the strongest mutations are bred from splits where either one or both parents are wild color - green. With budgies, the longest lived are also green.

Parrotlets and lovebirds have separate and distinct personalities. Lovebirds are generally more playful and active. They are well known for their antics. Vibrating is a lovebird thing rather than a parrotlet one. Being members of the Amazon family, I find their behavior is more like Zons rather than lovies. Parrotlets can be fiesty and many owners will tell you they can be quite a handful for such a small parrot! I won't disagree with that! I see it every day with Callie and Charlie. Callie is my affectionate one. She doesn't vibrate but she will cuddle up next to my neck and just chatter away. She loves her head scritches and all I really have to do is keep my finger in one place. She will move her head to a position where my finger scritches where she wants it done!

Hi Linda,

Well, we're in for some adventures with these new little guys, methinks! We're pretty familiar with birds who prefer not to be cuddled- we had one parakeet many years ago- a beautiful blue girl who lived for 11 years, who got cancer and had to be euthanized (after 3 surgeries!). She followed us around like a puppy and loved sitting on shoulders/heads, and sharing our meals, waking us up on the weekends ( she'd sit on our foreheads and make the radio alarm noise if we didnt wake up soon enough to suit her). But she didn't care to be cuddled and head scratches were on her own terms. Coconut doesn't care to be cuddled either (at least in a hand, he'll snuggle next to a neck), and he prefers head scritches from my husband-but he does his little boy thing on my hand when he gets a chance, he's hysterical when he comes right up to your face and starts talking away, and he seldom misses a chance to groom his people- one hair strand at a time!

It may be that our parrotlet will prefer not to be cuddled either, we'll see. In fact, I always assumed this was the way birds were till we got Sweetpea who of course was a Velcro bird who insisted on cuddling and love-love-loved hands-a lot more as she got older, though. The thing is, I believe, is to let each bird determine how they will best relate to their people, and take their cue. We love them no matter how they are!

We're thinking names for our new additions. Considering "Aurora" for the parrotlet ( who we believe is a girl) and "Loki" for the lovie ( sex unknown as of now).

[Mary in Florida]

Looks as though we'll likely be bringing at least one of our new babies home today. That'd be the parrotlet, who at last report was eating up a storm- at least millet. When we visited these little guys on Monday, little Aurora ( name decided for the p'let- seems to fit, she looks as though she may be a beautiful almost turquoise color, and so sweet!) let us know she was hungry with that baby cry, and when she got near her cage she jumped into it and lunged for the millet, and was still munching on that when we left a few minutes later. The owners say she's mostly refusing her feedings, so we'll see. We've got everything all set up for both birds, and will take the advice of "Mom and Pop", who by all indications love and take excellent care of the birds they hand feed and hand tame, and we'll stay in touch with them in the event of any problems- they're nearby.

I'm sure Loki, the lovie ( who by all indications will be a georgeous whiteface cobalt) won't be real far behind, I'm not sure he's refusing his feedings yet, but they say he is also eating millet. He looks as though he'll be well-named- he's got the lovie gusto for life, it looks like, determination and endless curiosity. But he's also sweet and loves to cuddle- has staked out inside my husband's shirt and claimed it as his own.

I'm familiar with lovies' personalities and mindsets, I think, having had a 17 year introduction to it with our Sweetpea, and I'm told that p'lets are also huge birds in a tiny bird's body. I detect some of that, I think, in our baby p'let- and I am sure that she'll be able to hold her own. But right now, she's such a tiny little thing and seems so delicate- and it seems that Loki is determined, if someone would let him ( they won't) to knock Aurora off a shoulder, or just go after her, and she either just looks at him ( although she did bite his tail as he ran past her on a shoulder). The plans are for separate cages, next to each other, and supervised playtime- traditionally our birds have always been out of their cages when someone's home, but that will come when the new birds are used to things here.

We've got lots of millet, egg food, chopped up veggies ( carrot/broccoli- that's what they get at the pet shop), plan on Goldenfeast Australian blend for the parrotlet, along with the Higgins Cockatiel Vitablend mix for all- at least exposure to it for the new birds, water- offered in a dish, and maybe a water bottle per cage. And anything else "Mom and Pop" suggest to make these guys at home and well on their way.....And lots of love, and time...

Have I forgotten anything?

[Mary in Florida]

I forgot to mention that a vet check with the avian vet recommended to us will also be on the schedule, within a couple weeks, unless something comes up where they need to be seen later.

[linda040899]

Hey, Mary!
Good luck with little Aurora when she comes home today! What a beautiful name, too. :)

Sounds like you've got all your bases covered. Add tons of TLC and you're golden. In my own limited experience, parrotlet personalities vary greatly from aggressive to very passive. Of my tame ones, Callie (Dilute Blue female) is an absolute doll. She's not agressive and she's not a biter. Loves head scritches and just cuddling under the collar of my shirt. If she sees me eating something that looks good to her, she has no problems helping herself!

Make sure you keep the millet available for at least a month. Going from where she is to where you are is going to be a huge change and millet seems to be the one food that has been known to keep them alive if they won't eat anything else. Keeping her food the same as she's used to should help her considerably. :)

[Mary in Florida]

Thanks again, Linda, for the great advice. As I type here, little bitty Aurora is sitting on my shoulder, and I think I hear her grinding her beak! She's the millet queen for sure- we set up her cage with all the foods she was getting introduced to with Mom and Pop- it's in seed dishes along the perches, and scattered on the floor. She's gone through at least one long strand of millet today that I know of-the empty shells are on the floor and her poop looks great so I figure she's eating and drinking ok for now. She's also taken a few swigs of water so I know that's ok. I think I've seen her rustling around in her other food dishes some ( there are millet pieces in there as well), so maybe she'll get the hang of all that other food before too long.

She doesn't seem nervous, maybe just a bit cautious of her new digs- but she sure learned to climb that ladder fast to get that millet sprig hanging on the side there! I felt sorry for the "wittle baby" and moved her to another perch in her cage, only to have her spring right back to the other side because that's where she wanted to be. Ok, I learned- she can get where she wants to be! I think Aurora plans on being a velcro bird- she wants out and on someone when she sees us and isn't hungry. She's snuggled under my hair at this point, on the back of my neck, she nibbles it once in a while and she IS grinding her beak!

Coconut isn't sure what to think. She's so tiny and isn't trying to eat his food, or out-whistle him, so he's just looking at her, but is otherwise non-commital.

A good start, I think!

[linda040899]

Mary,
All I can say is WOW!!!!! I think that's the fastest I've ever heard of a young bird getting comfortable in her new surroundings. She's one very confident young lady, that's for sure!!! Keep the millet in her cage, even though she's eating other things. Now sounds like the perfect time to start introducing anything else you might want her to be eating!

Beak grinding says it all. She's a baby and feeling very loved, safe and comfortable. Way to go!

[Mary in Florida]

Well, she sure loves snuggling! I've been trying to put her to bed, so I put her in her cage, turned off all the lights in this "great room" -except a dim one in the living room we keep on so it's not dark for the birds, and covered the cage a little, to give her the idea. She wasn't sure that was a good idea while she could still see me, but I think she has settled down ( I can't look, that'll get her wanting to come out again. She'll learn that tommorrow is another day, there are lots and lots of snuggles, and baby birds (and old folks like me) need their beauty rest, LOL.

She also makes a sound that reminds me a bit of a little growl-makes it when she's playing, or starting to settle into snuggling, something. Sweetpea made a similar sound sometimes but it's a low-pitched sound for such a tiny critter!

Loki, our new baby lovebird, is still at "Mom and Pops" as he's not refusing his hand-feedings yet, I think they said he's still getting one feeding a day and not a lot of that. He's also sampling his millet and whatever else he finds in his cage, so I guess it'll be a few more days till we bring him home. But we visited him today, played with him, and while he's full of that lovie spunk, he also settled down and was happy to cuddle and get his scritches.

[Mary in Florida]

We re-named her Pixie because once we got her home, it seemed to fit her better than Aurora. And Pixie seems to be doing very well, from all indications, on her second full day home. She is a velcro bird, wants to sit on or cuddle with any human available who'll do it. She's letting us know her preferences as she figures them out, and communicates with little growls and chirps (best I can describe). And she must have read our bird contract that states our birds be shut in their cages only when no one is home or unavailable, and seeing that Coconut's out as he likes, figures that is how it will be.

I had to switch the cage she was in to a "Houdini proof" one- last night when I was trying to put her to bed, she discovered a gap in the bars at the top of the cage ( where the doors latch) that was big enough for her to squeeze herself through and so she did, and right back onto my shirt! I can't see any spots in the new cage big enough for her to do that in the other cage. Fortunately once she registers a protest about being in the cage for the night, she's settled down to sleep soon in a food dish, goes right to sleep, and doesn't seem to move until she hears some activity in the morning.

She is eating well. Probably mostly millet, but she's also eaten some seeds/mix from the Goldenfeast mix, egg food, some birdy bread I held for her, and even broccoli and carrots. She'd prefer it served on the top of her cage ( she has a little playground there), please, ma'am....:happy:

So far, so good....and we're definitely hooked on this little sweetheart.

Our new lovie, Loki, will be at "Mom and Pops till next week, likely, as he's still taking some formula and has yet to refuse his handfeedings- although they believe he's likely eating some food as well, they aren't sure how much. He's about 8 1/2 weeks old now, and energetic and ready to explore as they come, and what a beauty he is!