Jardine's Parrot, a new owner

[Mechanical8dragon]

Figured I'd make a thread here now that I've made a choice up from my cockatiel. For a quick background fill-in from my previous thread. I'm new to the bird world, but doing research and getting ready for my first bird. At first, I planned to get a Cockatiel, simply because of the two choices they were easier to find and 'cheaper'. That was... until I visited the other pet store about a 25 minute drive away (family owned since 1980, their original store, the one that's nearest to me is their newer location, the one I went to was their original) and saw they had my 2nd and most favorite choice, a Jardine's Parrot.

I had called last week asking if they'd accept down-payments, which they said yes. The original plan was to just come in later this month with about 500-600$ to start it off, but after I hung up, I thought I better get some money on her now so I didn't have to worry about someone buying her while I waited for more money.

So my paycheck wasn't as big as I was hopping for today. But because she's a 'special case' (more on that later) they let me put 100$ down on her. AND THEY LET ME IN TO VISIT WITH HER! She isn't DNA sexed, but they think she's a she because she likes men more than women. After she's settled in and is accepting me better, I plan to take her in to the vet for a full check up and a DNA sexing just to be positive and of course to make sure she's healthy.

From the info I gathered, they said they've had her since she was about 6wks old and have had her for 4-some years now (got her in 2011) and she was hand raised with them. He said she's a good bird and they've been trying to find her a home for years now, hence why she's a 'special case' and why they were so willing to accept such a little amount today.

She didn't seem too interested in interacted with me (to be expected) but didn't show any outright aggression when I offered my hand to her to see if she'd step-up. She looked me up and down for a bit and did nibble my finger a bit, mainly just my finger nail, touching it with her tongue and such. She stepped up for the guy that was with me and he put her on the ground after about 10 minutes and told me to see if she'd step up for me from there, which she did, EASILY. But she very clearly wasn't ready to be pet yet (again, to be expected) as she gave my finger a good pressure pinch when I slowly tried. Which is fine. I didn't expect her to be like "Oh yeah go ahead Im chill yo". I was testing my boundaries, just to see what she'd accept as a first meet-and-greet, and it was like I expected it to be.

But I asked about visiting to start building a bond, and they said that would be no problem at all. So I'll be visiting at LEAST once a week (depends on my work shifts cus half the time I don't get off till like... an hour before they close shop which means days off would be the only times I could go in and they don't really want me in on Tuesday's, cus that's when they get their weekly shipments).

All and all, I'm excited This is my dream bird, and the perfect chance for me to have a wonderful companion for my life. I knew if I didn't jump on this opportunity now, I may never get another chance.

I asked about her diet, and they said since they got her, she's been fed Zupreem (both 'baby forumla' and adult food of which they carry). From what I saw, she only had the 'fruit blend' food in her cage, which the guy said she enjoys the most. But they carry the regular pellets. Now... I've heard things about 'dyed foods'. Should this be something I should attempt to switch her off from or feed her less of? Or is she okay? I've heard Zupreem is a really good brand so I'm not overly concerned over it. They also have these 'dried fruit' bags that the guy said she really enjoys too, so at least I know two foods to get for her. She does appreciate seeds as well, but I know I want to find one without sunflower seeds, yes? I've ready they're really fatty?

Totally spaced on taking pictures, but for now I'm just focused on building a starting bond. Would it help more if I visit her in the same clothes each time for a bit until she gets more used to my face/voice?

As a side question that I just remembered, I did ask the guy there who's been with her since she was a chick, about why she was shaking. It wasn't cold in the room, I asked if she was perhaps nervous and they guys said no, that it was because when she's around someone she really likes, she does that; however, when she stepped-up onto me, she continued to shake, although a little less noticeably. Is what the man said true? Or should this be something I point out to my vet when I take her in down the road?

 

[RavensGryf]

Congrats! Jardine's are beautiful birds . I wonder why she didn't sell all this time?

Hard to say without seeing what the shaking you mentioned was about. Whether it's the quivering body language they do when they want to go somewhere, or temperature regulation... I can also usually feel, even when I can't see, a tiny amount of body vibration from the birds who let me hold them that close. It's normal if it's what im imagining, they're bodies are so different from mammals.

I would still get her vet checked for all the usual things such as blood tests for organ function, fecal for bacteria or yeast, and blood check for viruses.

 

[Puck]

I read that the liking the opposite gender thing is just a rumor... If you care what sex she is you might wanna have her DNA sexed. Personally I'm just calling my new bird a he until he lays an egg, then he can be a she hehe. Congrats on finding the bird of your dreams! I think spending time with her is a great idea, that way you can see what her personality is and everything before taking her home.

 

[Mechanical8dragon]

Yeah, I mean honestly I don't care about what gender she is, but it's still a nice thing to know.

And yes, I will certainly get her all checked out with the vet How long is a good amount of time to wait until taking her in for a vet visit? I don't want to stress her out too much, but I also don't want to wait too long.

I asked why she hasn't sold in 4 years and the guy said "it's mainly the price and partly that Jardine's aren't well-known or that popular around here". Which I can easily understand. She is $1,000 (well a little over but yeah) and that is a lot to cough up for a bird for most people. And the store is located in a pretty small town, AND a college town.

(I did see she had her wings clipped with the outermost primary still intact. I plan on letting her wings grow back out of course, although I can't help but be a bit ok with it just because it'll help when bringing her home I don't have to worry about her flying around too much)

 

[RavensGryf]

Usually the breeder or store has a health guarantee of taking them to the vet within 72 hours. Ask them.

Yeah, over $1000 is a bit high for a Jardine's even at a bird store, but if she's the one you want then it's worth it.

So if she's several years old already, she must have all her adult colors in?

Do you have a name in mind?

 

[MikeyTN]

I read that the liking the opposite gender thing is just a rumor... If you care what sex she is you might wanna have her DNA sexed. Personally I'm just calling my new bird a he until he lays an egg, then he can be a she hehe. Congrats on finding the bird of your dreams! I think spending time with her is a great idea, that way you can see what her personality is and everything before taking her home.

Although this is true but some birds can be sexist....Where they pick one sex over the other. My Macaw Lola does not like woman for some reason, she prefers guys. I've seen many other parrots that does the same thing she does.

 

[MikeyTN]

IF your parrot is enjoying the Zupreem fruit blend, then let it be. Any pellet is better then no pellet. But if you want to try to change it you can. But just take your time to switch it over cause sometimes they won't do the new pellets that you feed. But occasionally you'll get lucky to find one that they will like from the get go.

 

[Mechanical8dragon]

Yeah I'll certainly ask then about the vet thing.

And yeah $1000 is high for such a bird but like I said, I feel if I don't take this chance now I may never be able to in the future so to me it's worth it. And she was so well-behaved.

She's 4 years old and does have her orange/red crown, wing, and ankle bits

As far as names, I'm not sure. Because I don't know her sex yet I'm holding off on settling on a name, but of she is indeed a she, I want to name her Amara which from my understanding means graceful.


As for the food, yeah I plan to offer her both her current diet and see if she'd take to the normal pellets too.

 

[Grraarrgghh]

One of the pellets Albert weaned onto quickly was Zupreem Fruit, which is unfortunate because of the food dyes and the added sugar.

That said, it makes a great training/clicker treat once you wean them onto regular pellets! One of those little bananas can be broken into 3 piece for treats!

 

[Puck]

I'd love to see pics next time you visit her!

 

[Mechanical8dragon]

I will certainly try to take pics I plan to visit her today and I'm thinking of going to walmart and maybe getting a cheap cat toy ball (the one I'm thinking off are those hollow wood twig wrapped balls with a bell inside) to help the process and to add onto it other than me just staring and talking to her LOL

 

[Puck]

I know Sammy loves to play tug o war with a paper towel, so if you don't have time to get a toy (and don't want to buy one at the pet store), you can always go cheap! That's how I taught him something he didn't realize was his toy was his to chew on: I knotted the paper towels we'd been playing tug o war with around it! Then he played tug o war with his toy, only it didn't let him win over and over again like I did, LOL.

 

[Mechanical8dragon]

Didn't find a toy, nor did I feel it right yet to take pics (i dont want to freak her out with the weird cellphone) but she did step up for me from her perch at first wit the aid of a sunflower seed and from there stepped up readily about 5 more times from hand to hand before she wanted back down.

She is still hesitant of me, of course, and did ready her beak for some bites, to which i just moved my hand slowly downwards or to the outside of her top beak (of which I did touch a few times) She does give my hands the 'stink eye' look when i move for her to step up, like she's thinking whether or not to bend down and bite my hand or not, of which she did not, thankfully haha

 

[MikeyTN]

Once she's in your home, it will change! When they're in a public area they tend to freak and untrusting. It's just gonna take you some one on one time on a daily basis to win her trust.

 

[Mechanical8dragon]

Yup. I plan to go in on my days off (minus weekends cus they're closed) or when i get off early (~2ish pm)

They always have one of the staff in with me, to watch me obviously, which i understand but at the same time they are distracting her from me a bit. Like last time there was a woman in with me and Jardy (as they call 'her').. like I just saw her do a complete 360 in personality when she walked in. Jardy seemed so happy and I could tell she really wanted to interact with her. So yeah... very distracting.

I need to find a place that sells organic fruit. We have a safeway here and I know they have veggies but... I don't know about fruit... haha... I though that next time I'd bring in some sliced fruits for her if they'd allow it

 

[Puck]

I wouldn't worry so very much about it. I know you really want her to love you, but parrots live a long time and you have years and years ahead of you to bond! Don't worry about trying to win her over as your bird while she is still in the store--she is going to trust the people she sees every day more than she does you, that's normal. Don't worry so much about freaking her out, either. She will see things like cell phones and such, it is good to get her socialized and acclimated to things she is not used to that she will see in life. I am sure once you get her home you will bond great.

 

[Mechanical8dragon]

yes, point taken. I suppose I'm expecting too much out of these visits way too soon, which I knew I wouldn't get much in the first place, but I'm probably expecting just a liiiittle bit more than I thought would happen.


Also, i know there are mixed views about this subject, but her wings are currently clipped (with the outermost primary un-clipped for 'appearance'). I personally don't like clipping wings unless for a clear reason (such as them getting into trouble around the house) I was thinking of just letting them grow back out and leave it at that unless a clear need for a trim arises. I do have a cat, HOWEVER, I am never going to allow the cat in the room while I am away/sleeping/or have the bird out and I have no intentions of letting 'Jardy' explore the house. Downstairs is an 'open room' type of area with the kitchen open to the living room and I'd rather not like to expose her to the chemicals dad uses to clean the kitchen (not to mention he also cooks with teflon/non-stick, i've read this is only an issue if either the cookware heats up to a high enough temp to 'burn' or if the bird is in close proximity to it, he always turns on the fan thing when he does any cooking though and I always have my window open so I don't see this being an issue in terms of my room, but it's why I don't want her downstairs at all). Should I let them just grow out? Or trim them a few more times in the future until she's gotten comfortable in the room?

 

[Mechanical8dragon]

Excitement. get my paycheck tomorrow so I can go in later this week (i have thursday off which will give my bank time to fully deposit my check) and stick another downpayment on Jardy. Hopefully.... my paycheck is back to normal now... if I get any more 300$ checks Im going to get angry (i usually get 500-600$ dollar checks.... soooo theres a reference) never been so excited to put down money on something before haha!

I haven't seen her since the 11th cus I worked every day last week (and the car needed gas which I couldn't fill up because I lent my cousin money for.... you guessed it... gas and she hasn't paid me back yet >_>) So I feel bad having not been able to see her for a whole week. Ganna bring one of the toys I bought for her along, just do have something to do.

Got a big ol' shopping cart filled with toys on birdsafestore.com and a few small packages of goldenfeast foods (and their pellets) in a cart on their own website. If anyone else knows of any neat stores to order bird toys from let me know! I mainly just got a bunch of 'softer' toys, ya know the pinata's and such cus all the wood toys they had, what I saw anyways, either looked boring to me, or seemed much too large O-o

Jardy's new cage is still pretty bland of stuff just because of my tiny paycheck earlier this month. she needs more perches, more toys, and I need to construct a playstand for her, I know Ace Hardware has the stainless steal screws and washers I know I'd need to make my own perches and play stand, just need to go in. But I know birdsafestore.com has the items too, but they've been sold out of them this past week so I'd prob just be better off going to Ace. Same stuff in the end just minus the shipping cost haha.

 

[thekarens]

My two favorite stores for toys is: I Got A Woody and Mother Pluckin Bird Toys. Both have great toys for both my sennies and mac.

 

[Parrotlet]

You'll have to stay in touch so we can compare are Jardys, I should be bringing my one home, he's an older preloved pet but seems to have a sweet nature (so far).