A NEW ADDITION to my mini flock <3

[andrea.faerie]

Meet Bleu!

I found Bleu (formerly Squeaky) on craigslist! We're not sure if she's a she or a he but I'm going to order a DNA test in the next few days and find out shortly. She's a pretty 5 year old blue head pionus and says "hi baby!", whistles, and apparently clucks like a chicken occasionally. She's so ungodly cuddly. The previous owner told me she was a good bird and she definitely is! She was cage bound since January but doesn't have any signs of aggression AT ALL. I know the golden rule is to not let a new bird on your shoulder, but she's just so darn cuddly! lol she's well behaved and oh so very quiet. Her feet are terrible... her claws wrap around, thank god she let me cut them tonight! I only have 3 left to cut, and she got a tad agitated so we let her be. I was hoping for the best since the previous owner told me that he kept macaws for a number of years... but sadly I saw her feet and her cage was caked in poo... She was rather apprehensive but we decided to take the commitment and if she needed work then so-be-it! But we got her home and she's just a little snuggle sponge!! We also found out she's flighted! She flew from her perch in the bedroom to my boyfriend's shoulder in the bathroom haha. I'm not sure if I want to clip her or not I know I should but she's had her wings for so long... I don't want to take that from her if it'll cause her to be depressed anyways... This is my new baby! I'm sure plenty of pictures are to come too. She's a sleepy bird now so she's all settled in her clean cage for the night.

 

[Rio Mom]

Bleu is beautiful! Congrats!

 

[andrea.faerie]

Thank youu! I'm working on my lab report tonight but I've been piloting toys on lucy for about a week to see what she takes to cause then I'll know what to make more of to send to internet birdie pals!

 

[merlinsmom13]

She's beautiful, Congrats.

 

[brianlinkles]

I love her, she is beautiful! I love pionus! they are so sweet, there is a baby available at the aviary that I am getting my grey at. I can't believe no one has taken her yet!

 

[andrea.faerie]

She's quite aggressive today, which we expected, she was just so exhausted last night she didn't care. Today she's testing us. She bit my boyfriend pretty good and test-bit me a few times. She's talking and eating pretty good though so I'm pretty sure she's settling in, just nervous and scared. We're concerned it's cage aggression but she doesn't seem to mind us being in the cage and moving things around, she just doesn't want us touching her unless it's on her terms. We're also concerned about her flight ability. She's not clipped and we're having trouble finding somewhere to clip her, we're also struggling with the moral dilemma of clipping her wings She's had them for so long... I'm not sure if I want to take that away. I think we'll let her settle in and then think about getting her clipped... It's not like she can get outside. I know accidents happen for sure, but we never even open her cage unless the bedroom door is closed, and we only have one door out of the apartment, and even if she got out, there's ANOTHER door at the end of the stairwell that is usually closed...

 

[KBEquine]

She is beautiful, but hasn't been with you nearly long enough to be settled in; it's sometimes a long process. We were worried how my white capped Pionus would handle the addition of the amazon last July, since the Pi had only been with us since around February & probably wasn't yet completely secure in his place in the flock (and we're talking around 6 months of 'settle in' time at that point). He did fine with the 'zon, but became needy when we later added the final parrot, a Grey.

Along the way, we had a "honeymoon period" a period when we were "negotiating our agreement" on cohabitation, a brief but painful (for my fingers) hormonal period when I reacted a bit too much & he learned to enjoy the 'bite the human' game & then we got THAT under control. We're now negotiating the addition of other roommates (the Grey).

So don't expect too much too soon & enjoy the adventure.

 

[coral1]

congratz on your new addition i also have a rehomed blue headed pionus named marty pretty sure hes a boy but its not that important just kinda curious if he is anyways, my boy loves to chew wood! hes pretty aggressive with everyone but me but he was mistreated in his old home and his cage was also covered in poo and his claws were bad to! marty turned out to have a bacterial infection and something else that i cant remember but he had to have a gel medicne and antibiotic for 2 weeks! so make sure to take your new addition to the vet!

my pionus took about 4 months to actually settle in and he doesnt want to be pet unless its on his terms and he will come to me when he wants my attention if i try to pick him up sometimes he'll bite me. i got his wings clipped the second day i had him and then took him to the vet after a week because he was sneezing. he adjusted to the wing clip just fine. its safer for him with all the animals i have and safer because he flew and attacked people now he just runs at them lol.. marty was 4 when i got him and had never had his wings clipped before i got him so dont worry about your guy adjusting he'll do fine! the vet can clip if you dont have a parrot store around you.

 

[andrea.faerie]

I'm planning on taking Bleu to the vet as soon as I can, I have to find an actual VET near me that does birds, not just a pet store. I live out in the boonies so a vet is kinda hard to find, but I'm wondering if one of the farm animal vets would be able to do anything, I found a vet that does clipping, not sure about an avian spe******t though, but I'll be sure to get it done within the next 2 weeks. Bleu is doing well I believe, no sneezing or evidence of ill health other than the nails. The guy had her on a good pellet diet so I know she was at least fed alright. We know it'll be awhile before Bleu is comfortable, it's just promising that she's already allowing us to interact with her on her terms <3

 

[coral1]

thats awesome im really happy for you it took weeks for marty to want to interact with me hes such a drama king xD keep us updated! and to be honest with you im in animal care and grooming at my school and we do wings you can actually learn how to do it online if you dont trust that person to do it and that must suck not having an avian vet close! also id watch closely for signs of illness because they can get sick from having so much poo in their cage stepping in it then touching things with their feet thats how the vet thinks some of martys illness came from :/ as i said keep up updated!

 

[andrea.faerie]

Fortunately the poo wasn't caked on the bottom too bad, but the tray below the safety grate was pretty full :/ She did have some poo on her feet though, but no open sores that I could see and she let me get close enough to clip her nails. I can cut birds' wings okay and i'm comfortable doing it, i just don't want to leave a bad impression on the new baby

 

[Nykia]

Congrats on your new Pionus! It is always nice and heartwarming to hear of a neglected parrot finding a loving home. I recently added a BHP to my flock as well and i completely adore these birds and think they are under appreciated!