Alexandrine sounds & cage accessories

[PinPinn]

Hi, I recently(two days ago) bought an Alexandrine and i love him to bits. However he started making some sounds which resemble a bit creaking. I would like to mention that this is my first bird ever, and I do not know if those sounds are normal as he is getting used to me and the cage or there is something wrong with his peak. Moreover I would highly appreciate any tips and advice regarding the accessories and treats that should be found in his cage. So far I bought him a cuttlebone, some toys like a swing and colorful stuff. In the petshop I saw different nutrition supplements containing various vitamins and minerals as well as some kind of medicine to counter parasites; should i buy him any of these? And if I should, is there a specific time when i should feed him the said vitamins/medicine? Or is he getting enough vitamins from fruit?(which i fed him already and he enjoys them)

 

[Remy]

Congratulations and welcome!

All birds make different sounds. Creaking sounds normal, haha. Could it be beak grinding when he is relaxed?

Regarding diet, I would start him on high quality pellets. I prefer Harrison's. With that, he shouldn't need any supplements. Medicine should only be given when the bird is sick, as directed by a vet. Also, I would recommend a checkup with an avian vet, to make sure he is healthy.

Make sure you make your home bird safe, if you haven't already. Cooking with teflon (non-stick) pans can mean instant death for a bird! Also, do not feed avocado or chocolate.

By the way, we love pictures.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Don't buy supplements, you can accidentally overdose your bird. They should only be used if your vet says To. zoo-med sells pure calcium powder. Good accessories are multiple types of natural wood perches(I love grape), planet treasure toys are awesome and safe. And also foraging toys and boxes. Sometimes wooden toys have arsenic in them for brighter color! And the metal can have dangerous zinc or lead in it so make sure metal toys are true stainless steal. Be wary of toys that don't say stainless Steal, or colored with food dye/bird safe.

Don't feed him seeds or colorful pellets(full of sugar and dyes), and try making a bird chop mix. I love Harrison's pellets & totally organic.

a really good perch is the pedicure pumice perch, I use one with Rosie and never need to clip her nails.

Hope that helps a little you should add photos of your buddy and his home

 

[PinPinn]

Thanks a lot for the quick reply!

At the moment I feed him a seed mix the guys at the pet shop recommended me. I bought him from a pet shop and he is about 8-9 months old. Regarding your advice about the pellets brand, I live in Romania, Europe and we have other brands in stores; about pellets, should I feed him seeds or pellets? or a mix of both?

And once again thank you for the info and the quick reply!

 

[PinPinn]

Thank you for the reply as well! I will be back with photos, by the way, should i wash new toys before I " install" them in the cage?

By the way, when I bought the cage, I received a wooden toy as bonus, but it is coloured... should I remove it? I will be back with pics of him and his cage, including the toys he has so far. This community seems so great so far!

 

[gemini84]

congratulations on your new family member and welcome to the forum. i now have 3 alexandrines, 2 males 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 (prince and bruno that i rehomed 3 days ago)and a 6month old (oxy that i have had since 11weeks) not sure of his sex yet.
they are beautifill intelligent birds and will provide u hours of entertainment.
i now have so many different sounds going on in my house from wolf whistles and meowing to lots of honks and beeps (i was in hysterics when they started yesterday).
As for toys lots and lots of chewing toys. Alexandrines love chewing, i made a mistake when i got my first alex and didnt research, i didnt provide her enough chew8ng toys so she chewed my walls and window sills, as did my 2 new ones to their previous owners house.
another word of warning, they will want what ever you use alot.. phone, remotes, keyboards etc. so if you like your bottons and keys dont leave your bird unattended with them as you may find a few missing/ chewed keys.
i tried feeding my baby pellets but he wasnt too interested in them, so now i feed them all a combination of seeds and pellets, slowly reducing the amount of seed. i also feed them a wide variety of fruits and veges every morning and afternoon.
enjoy your new baby you will be provided lots of entertainment.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

With seeds parrots can pick out parts of the seed and make that the majority of their diet. My galah used to have a staple diet of sunflower seeds and when I got her she had organ failure and was emaciated from not getting any nutrients(this was strange, as normally parrots become obese on that diet). Pellets fill in the gaps, but most parrots won't eat pellets if they also have seeds. Seeds are a fun food to eat for parrots, they love cracking them open.

I believe a good diet is 50% pellets, and 50% healthy veggies, grains, and a little bit of fruit. Here's a fantastic chop mix recipe, I make it in bulk then freeze it. There is also a great cook book from birdtricks.com. that has seasonal chop mixes so your parrot doesn't get bored, and a huge assortment of healthy reciepies they you can replace a meal with a few times a week.

Did you buy the cage from the store you bought your Alexandrine? If so, try calling them and asking if they have more information on that toy.

a great pellet is totally organic, and it is shipped all over the world. There are no stores in Europe that sells it, but you can request a bird store to. They also ship it to individuals all over the world but that is expensive.

Harrison's is also a great brand, equally as good and possibly even better than totally organic. It's sold in Europe but not Romania. You may be able to have it shipped cheaper if one of the stores that caries it ships. Here's the index of countries, if you click on a country it will tell you the name of the stores and you can find their website

 

[PinPinn]

I really appreciate all the tips and info you provided me with!

This is my first ever bird and I really wish to do everything right. I will take into account everything you guys told me. Here are the pics of my alexandrine and his cage

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Your bird looks like a Indian ringneck, they are the cutest birds ever and one day I want one D: Here's a adorable video [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffu3vcRQFqA"]video[/ame]

One thing You'll want to do as soon as you can is throw out the wooden dowels that came with the cage, they are terrible for birds and destroy their feet. Imagine if you had to hold your hands the exact same way all the time, I'll post some good examples of perches


Here's a Alexandrine(male with female)

 

[PinPinn]

Thanks for drawing my attention.. and... frankly...I like my ringneck more than the alexandrine in the picture ) and sorry for posting in the wrong section :-s

 

[Featheredsamurai]

With perches you want your birds feet to change shape and how big and small they are. A perch that is the perfect size for their feet should be their sleeping perch.

This is a grape wood perch, it changes in diameter throughout and it exercises their feet really well.

Rope perches
very popular, they are soft on feet and give birds a break from always standing on a hard perch. Because these perches are cotton if your bid eats it(any cotton toy) they can't digest it and it can get stuck in their digestive system. Rosie has a cotton rope but I don't give her any cotton toys. This type of perch must be carefully maintained to make sure there are no loos strands(birds may bite them free) or areas where our birds can get their toes stuck.

This is a sisal rope perch. Sisal is commonly found in hardware stores but should only be purchased if they are specifically for birds. Preservatives are used in sisal and it is extremely bad for birds, I bought a sisal rope from the osh once that said completely natural, but when I opened it smelled so strongly I new it wasn't at all safe.

Java wood can be a great perch, some places even sell them textured. Most will be sand blasted and very smooth. This can cause your bird to slip and give them bumble foot, but it also may work out fine.

Manzanita have the same problem as java, they can be slippery. Rosie has two older manzanita perches that have texture to them from wear so Rosie doesn't slip

This next one is one of my favorites next to grape wood. This is Dragon wood. It has a soft bark that birds love to scrape off and comes in many different sizes

One perch that I think is a must for any parrot owner is a safety pumice perch. You can get these perches in several forms, one as a bamboo perch and another as colorful plastic perch. These perches have smooth tops to protect your birds feet from sores, and very rough textured sides. Eventually the texture will rub away but it takes a while and eve after you can still use it as a perch. With this perch you don't have to clip your birds nails. I use to have scratched hands all the time, it would freak out my mom and she thought I would have a rash. Within two days of using the safety pumice perch I haven't been scratched by Rosie's nails since.

Using a calcium perch can also be great, I use the below type that is a calcium and mineral perch. I wish they sold a pure calcium perch though.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

You'll want to make your birds cage easy to clean too, a lot of people use newspaper. I just buy newsprint and cut it to size.

And toys toys toys Birds get board easily, so you'll want to change out some toys often. With young birds every 2 weeks and adults birds around once a month. I have a little stockpile of Rosie's toys and I rotate them. You can also keep destroyed/old toys(if there's anything left) and make it into new toys. I do that all the time.

I made this toy for Rosie out of a old coconut toy I took apart, shredded paper, and I stuffed walnut(I break it up into smaller pieces) and 2 nutriberries into it so she had to forage. I also give her foraging boxes, she loves them and it's the only thing she will destroy.

Sorry for all the photos XD

 

[PinPinn]

Wow! Thanks a lot for the detailed advice and for the pictures! I really appreciate it! The confusion I made between Alexandrines and Ringnecks arose from the fact that in Romania, Ringnecks are commonly known as "Little Alexander", while Alexandrines are known as "Big Alexander".

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Your welcome That's actually really cute that they call them big and little. How is your ringneck doing?

I forgot to mention that sisal perches can be safety ingested, and to not use perches that are roughly textured all over(rough cement perches, sand perches, and sand paper perch covers). Also avoid using grit, it's often marketed towards parrots but they have absolutely no need for grit as they lack a gizzard. And bottle brush perches are popular, but it's a Florida wood so it might not be available to you.