Hi there. New Red bellied owner

[MartyB72]

Hi - Marty here. Have just aquired a Red bellied parrot. He is 3 yrs old and was in a pet store. He had a reduced £ sign and looked most furlorn. I instantly knew i'd be leaving with him ;-) Anyhow - Meet Viktor! I have many questions (my first ever parrot) so shall post later... Tail end of a very long night shift!!

 

[antoinette]

Hi and welcome Marty
Viktor is a handsome chappy
Enjoy the forum

 

[TessieB]

Hello! Love your new bird! Congratulations on a new family member!

 

[MartyB72]

Thanks Antoinette & TessieB!
I've had Viktor for 5 days now and he has transformed already! He was very shy and nippy and backed away from me constantly. He now steps up and has been out of his cage for the first time today. He seemed very contented and even let me scratch his beak! Most happy

 

[Blancaej]

Congrats on your adoption of Viktor! He is beautiful!

 

[Terry57]

Victor is gorgeous! Congratulations on the progress you two have made!

 

[MartyB72]

Thanks Blancaej & Terry57. He is indeed wonderful.

 

[thekarens]

Congrats on your red belly. Poicephalus are great birds and Viktor is gorgeous.

 

[RavensGryf]

Congrats on your new Red Bellied!
Robin is my male RB, and I've had him for about 19 years. He was a hand fed baby, and was my first parrot also. Robin is the best bird I've ever had (best in many ways). He is also very cuddly. You might hear of Poicephalus parrots not being very cuddly, but some individuals are. He is also very independent! Best wishes...

 

[Mike17]

Welcome, Marty. Beautiful bird, have no experience of the species (rare in Oz). I worked with a guy from Jersey, years ago (he was old enough to have been a kid interned by the Germans).

 

[MikeyTN]

Congrats!!! He's a very handsome bird!!!

 

[RavensGryf]

I just gave myself a brief history lesson about Jersey and Channel Islands! I love this - people from so many different places!

What is the selection of pet parrot species over there like? I know Europe tends to have more than here in US

 

[MartyB72]

Hi RavensGryf! Yes, Jersey is a lovely little rock
Not managed to find any parrot owners so far online! I shall keep hunting.

 

[MartyB72]

Thanks all for your comments and kind words for Viktor!
He has grown in confidence immensely. He has taken to 'dancing' rather frequently. He mimics my phone but hasn't talked as yet. He is out of his cage often and happily sits on my head / arm - but is still scared of my hands. I have a week off next week so much more bonding time and hope to overcome this!

 

[MikeyTN]

If you can have him out multiple times a day with you it would help with the situation. The way I worked with mine is I take them out in the morning before work and spend 25min sitting with them and start the step up training. Then when I come home first thing I do is take the one in training out and start the process again. I do this 4+ times at 25min+ intervals daily and usually have them trained to step up within 3 days and not being so afraid of me in a week. Readily step up out of cage when I ask them to. Within a month they step up like pros and never been afraid of my hands since.

 

[RavensGryf]

Hi Marty, good to hear the update. I know Viktor will come around in time. Red Bellied's are not shy, so once he's bonded with you, you will see more of his personality come out. Robin will be 20 this year, and he still picks up new words and sounds all the time!

 

[MartyB72]

Thanks MikeyTn & RavensGryf - sound advice. Viktor has definitely shown signs of bonding with me. Just think his formative years spent caged in a pet shop has made him wary of fingers!! It's my weeks ambition to overcome that so shall have him out and training regularly.

 

[Nick67]

Hello all, I have just joined this forum, I wanted to try and find out some history about the Red Bellied Parrot I adopted from the animal shelter, and it looks like I found it here.

Unfortunately Marty didn't keep Viktor for whatever reason, and he ended up in the animal shelter, he was then adopted, I presume last year sometime, by a woman who had quite a few different birds. Again, unfortunately Viktor got out of his cage, managing to open the catch, it was unfortunate for Viktor, as he ended up back in the animal shelter, but it was more unfortunate for the finches that the woman owned. They have now gone to birdy heaven!

He had been in the animal shelter for a couple of months before I saw him online, it seems like it was coming to the end of the road for Viktor, they would not allow him to be adopted by anyone with children or other pets, meaning his options were fairly limited with regards to finding a new home. So i decided to adopt him.

I have had birds before, but not a parrot. I don't really think he has ever been socialised and it's going to take sometime for him to become comfortable in his new surroundings.

He doesn't like hands, but he has started to follow me around, he flies to sit next to me in the mornings, and flies in to the kitchen and sits next to me when I am doing the dishes, so he seems to be getting used to me.

They wished me good luck when I left the animal shelter, I think they were all scared of him, but he hasn't bitten me, he has tried to, but after leaving my hand there with the back of it facing him, he has stopped bothering.

I'll let you know how I get on

 

[RavensGryf]

Wow! I looked at this thread and was confused for just a second until I realized this IS the same Viktor with a different owner . Sounds like he was a lucky little guy too. Escaped and was recovered so that you could find him. Maybe it was just meant to be .

Viktor is beautiful. Just curious, how do you know that this is the bird from the previous owner who started this thread?

 

[Nick67]

Hello Julie

Well I don't, but as Viktor is the correct age, and name, and the previous owner was also from Jersey, and you can't get very many parrots over here, they don't bring them in due to the license necessary with the CITES regulation, it would be one hell of a coincidence if he wasn't!

Seems like he has been a little unlucky, I guess he must have been in the pet shop for quite a while, then homed, then animal shelter, then homed, then back to prison as he was a naughty little parrot, then me, ha ha, he really has had some bad luck

Nick