A Newbie with an Alexandrine....Please Help!

[silentcyborg]

Hello Everyone,

I'm not sure if my questions are repetitive but it'll be great if i get some help with my new baby.

4 days ago my bother found an Alexandrine on the ground of the building where we live. The crows were attacking him/her (i really dont care if its he/her...its just adorable). We took him to our local vet (we have 2 dogs who are extremely friendly and have welcomed the new guest). The vet said Bubba (I want him/her to be named so... haven't really named it yet) looks okay but is scared and suggested food and vitamins.

We bought a big enough cage for him. He looks like he's from the wild and maybe fell while migrating (not sure if they really migrate though). He seems to screech as if he's calling his mates, and finally started to eat well today (i had been giving things like mashed bananas, grapes, oranges, etc through a syringe, the way we feed small puppies...today i just help grapes that he seems to love and he ate from my hands)
I have a few questions as to how to take care of him and hence thought of asking here because i feel the bird lovers here are much more informative than anyone else. Kindly help.

1) I'm not aware of how old he/she is because we just found him. I'll be posting pics of him soon.
2) How many times in a day should we feed him? As of now, every time he screeches i think he calls us and simply feed him something. If he eats i take it he was hungry and if he doesn't i simply wait for him to call us again....On an average we feed him around 5-6 times a day...But he only eats like 3-4 grapes, quarter of an orange or half a banana every time. I dont want to underfeed him in anyway.
3) Today he seems puffed up all day. Most of the websites I googled state he could be bored or sick. I take him out of the cage many times and let him explore my bedroom (i make sure its safe and nothing hurts him). What else could be the reason?
4) I also read he could be sleep deprived, hence I make sure he gets enough sleep in my bedroom (as of now he only sleeps in the cage)
5) We really love him and want him to be free but are scared to let go off him only because he should not be attacked again. Please tell me what to do? Will he be able to adjust as he really looks he's from the wild and grown enough?

I may be missing on some questions so please give as many inputs as you can. Every bit of information would be helpful as I have no idea of having birds in the house. Thank you everyone and God bless!!


P.S. I love to read every post here and really love all your babies

 

[Boysmom]

I suggest offering a quality bird pellet in the cage at all times. Are you covering the cage at night ? The puffing up could be many different things. I would give Bubba a few more days to adjust to the new enviroment. Where are you located at ? Are you in an area where Alexandrines are native ? If not, then its not a wild bird, but one that has most likely escaped or been lost from its previous home. If it is eating on its own, there is no reason to hand feed it. Just offer fresh fruits/ veggies twice a day in a food bowl, along with pellets in another food bowl at all times. Remove fresh food after 2-3 hours to prevent the eating of food that may be spoiled. Does Bubba have a black ring around its neck ? That would indicate a male, they usually get their ring between 1 1/2 to 2 years of age. Below is a picture of my Male Alexandrine Buddy, you can clearly see his ring.

 

[aliray]

Welcome to the forum. and I agree with the above poster. I do not have any experience with an alex but their are a lot of people on the forum that do and I am sure they will be along to help

 

[BradGC]

Welcome to the forum!

It sounds like it's an escaped semi tame pet. He is eating well and enough, they really like apples too.
Also a good toy/treat to keep him busy is almonds and wallnuts in the shell.

Good luck with him!


PS, he squaks like that as a companion call. And if he's tame, humans are his companion, so whenever you go out of sight, he'll call for you

 

[LoveMyParrots]

It sounds to me it's a pet parrot that has escaped from its owner, because there's only very little possibility (probably none) of a wild parrot allowing you to handle him/her.

If its eating on its own, you don't need to hand feed it. I recommend that you buy some parrot pellet, and have some in his/hers bowl 24/7. Unlike dogs, parrot needs food all day, their food process are extremely fast and will need to eat every few hours. Have a bowl of pellets, and anther bowl of fresh fruits and vegetables, changed every 2-3 hours.

Does it have a dark (brown) eye? Or dose it have a yellow coloured eye? Baby alexandrines have dark brown eyes, and when they are matured, their eyes will change to yellow. Does it have a black and pink ring around it's neck? If not, it's mostly likely to be a female unless if its young.

Parrot will puff for a lot of reason, boredom, stress, illness, etc. I would buy him lots of toys to play with, wood, rope, foraging toys, etc.

Let him sleep in a quite room. And if its safe in your bedroom, he/she can be in there.

I would not let him/her free, it really sounds like a pet parrot since it will eat from your hand! You can go look around, see if anyone is missing an Alexandrine. If you can't find it's owner, I would say keep him/her.

Looking forward to see photos!

 

[silentcyborg]

It sounds to me it's a pet parrot that has escaped from its owner, because there's only very little possibility (probably none) of a wild parrot allowing you to handle him/her.

If its eating on its own, you don't need to hand feed it. I recommend that you buy some parrot pellet, and have some in his/hers bowl 24/7. Unlike dogs, parrot needs food all day, their food process are extremely fast and will need to eat every few hours. Have a bowl of pellets, and anther bowl of fresh fruits and vegetables, changed every 2-3 hours.

Does it have a dark (brown) eye? Or dose it have a yellow coloured eye? Baby alexandrines have dark brown eyes, and when they are matured, their eyes will change to yellow. Does it have a black and pink ring around it's neck? If not, it's mostly likely to be a female unless if its young.

Parrot will puff for a lot of reason, boredom, stress, illness, etc. I would buy him lots of toys to play with, wood, rope, foraging toys, etc.

Let him sleep in a quite room. And if its safe in your bedroom, he/she can be in there.

I would not let him/her free, it really sounds like a pet parrot since it will eat from your hand! You can go look around, see if anyone is missing an Alexandrine. If you can't find it's owner, I would say keep him/her.

Looking forward to see photos!

Hello and Thank you for your quick response

i have been unable to reply as have been running around doing things for Bubba!....I took him to an avian vet who says everything is fine and that he maybe a little traumatic because of the horrid experience with the crows!

Things we've taken care of so far:

Bubba and I got lots of fruits to try along with premium apple flavored pellets, we got foraging toys, a new swing for the cage, ropes and other toys to play with.

I am posting the pics of Bubba. Please tell me if you think he's a baby or a grown up. I think he's a baby because he still loves to be hand fed and DOES NOT eat on his own.

thanks for all your help again.....Lots of love and smiles from Bubba

 

[silentcyborg]

I suggest offering a quality bird pellet in the cage at all times. Are you covering the cage at night ? The puffing up could be many different things. I would give Bubba a few more days to adjust to the new enviroment. Where are you located at ? Are you in an area where Alexandrines are native ? If not, then its not a wild bird, but one that has most likely escaped or been lost from its previous home. If it is eating on its own, there is no reason to hand feed it. Just offer fresh fruits/ veggies twice a day in a food bowl, along with pellets in another food bowl at all times. Remove fresh food after 2-3 hours to prevent the eating of food that may be spoiled. Does Bubba have a black ring around its neck ? That would indicate a male, they usually get their ring between 1 1/2 to 2 years of age. Below is a picture of my Male Alexandrine Buddy, you can clearly see his ring.

Thank you for your quick response!

I got paradise pellets of Vetafarm and also got pellets from Totally organics. Unfortunately Bubba DOES NOT like pellets. Its just lying around in the cage and the play area in my bed room that i created for Bubba.

Something else has gone wrong Bubba stopped having water too!! I think its due to the vitamin drops i added to the water suggested by the avian vet. Maybe he hasnt liked it and stopped having water altogether. He loves grapes like and eats them like there's no food in the world after that!! Hence i (or someone at home) make sure he's fed at least 2 grapes every hour. It looks like he's hydrated well enough with that but I really want him to drink water again just like he did when i found him!

He's also very inquisitive and has become a major attention-seeker since yesterday! He wants to be only in my bedroom at all times (mostly out of the cage). He's sitting on my shoulder and looking at the laptop while I'm writing this, lol...He also seems to enjoy other talking alexandrine videos that i play for him on youtube! I wonder when he'll start talking but I'm okay for him to take his time. I just want him to relax and take our home as his!

I still think he's from the wild because he still seems to behave like one. His wings are also not clipped (and i dont think i'll get them clipped either). I live in Mumbai, India and alexandrines are not natives here. They migrate from the northern parts of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. I wonder where this guy came from. I havent come across any listings of a missing alexandrine either. No one has come looking for him as well. He looks like a baby who perhaps had a failed flying lesson from his mum and crash landed!

the only things he eats so far is grapes...grapes....grapes...and thank goodness he liked steamed carrots too....I tried everything else but nothing pleases him. I'll keep trying something new everyday.
Oh one more thing!.....He doesnt like seeds too!!....no almonds and sunflower seeds...I'm gonna try walnuts later today...


thanks for all your help again!!


Lots of love and blessings from Bubba

 

[MonicaMc]

Still sounds like an escaped pet. Keep an eye out for any lost alexandrines!

In the mean time, try and make sure he eats and drinks daily. It may take time to find foods he will eat, but keep trying.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I wouldn't put vitamins in his water, plain fresh water is very important. If you want to give him vitamin water give him two water bowls.

And don't give up on pellets, they are very important. It took me 6 months to get my seed addicted galah to eat pellets.
Totally organics is a great brand of pellet.

 

[gemini84]

looking at your picyures i would say he is a juvenile. his eyes are still quite dark, a mature alex has white rings around the iris, where as his/hers are still brown like my 7month old. good luck with your new addition. alexs make great companions

 

[noblemacaw]

Such a cute baby. I love the pics you put up on your "wild" Alex. Lately I have been fascinated by the Alex threads here because one of the parrots I am looking to adopt is an Alex. I am trying to learn all about them before I make the trip to look at the 4 parrots for adoption that we are interested in.

Please keep updating us on your little friend. I would love to hear about how it is going with your new friend.

 

[BradGC]

Yes he looks very young, I'd guess around 6 months. Over the next couple months you'll notice his eyes change. Lucky that you found him!
I wouldn't worry too much about him not drinking much, we were worried as well but apparently Asiatic birds don't drink much water, he gets lots of fluid in grapes etc. And I'd agree about using clean fresh water, they get lots of vitamins and nutrients in their food.

Good luck! It sound like you're of to a good start.

 

[Devann]

I agree with pretty much everything thats been said so far... he/she looks like a baby to me, if its a boy he will get his ring in a little while. I definately don't think this could be a wild bird if its not native to your area and its that happy to be handled. just keep up with the pellets and fresh water in the cage all the time and some fresh fruits and veggies and he/she should be fine... congrats on your new baby!

 

[Marlin]

I believe that it is possibly a pet bird, but over the years I have rescue revive and released wild native birds and have found, that the young birds that fallen from their nest or try to fly and have fallen out of the tree, have a tendency to be friendly with their rescuer. after all wouldn't you be grateful if someone gave you food, water and shelter. and in this case, saved he/her from being killed by the crows.

Questions
is the it time of year for the alexandrine to migrate?.
if so, was there a storm that occurred on the Alexandrine migration path?
this could have blown this parakeet off its migration path.
if this has happen, it's possible it's a wild bird.

there is one other possibility and that is there is a wild breeding pair near by and
has you said "He looks like a baby who perhaps had a failed flying lesson from his mum and crash landed".
but considering the birds behaviour I believe that it is a pet bird as it is sitting on your shoulder, this is usual behaviour from a wild bird.

don't over-complicate the treatment. just give the bird fresh clean drinking water and a if it a young bird give it soft foods as it might not be able to eat hard foods yet
give it a healthy diet of suitable fruit and vegetables
try Mango, I have seen a few alexandrines go wild for mangoes

if you intend to keep this bird start a training system and don't clip the wings.