New Meyers... feeling anxious

[ziggybird]

Hi all!

I recently (as in 3 days ago) got a new baby Meyers girl and named her Tukki.

I grew up with large parrots (a macaw and an amazon whom I LOVE) and am very use to their personalities. Very loud at some points, but also with quiet time in between squawking and chill time where they just want to be scratched and sit quietly for a bit.

I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to the Meyers.

She seems to have ENDLESS energy and is constantly climbing around on her gym, flapping her wings like crazy every times I pick her up, and chirping chirping chirping almost ALL the time that I'm home, until I put the covers on her to go to bed. It seems like she is incredibly high strung... and her energy is making me feel crazy anxious.

Everything I read about Meyers were that they were "go with the flow" and "quieter". I know there isn't such a thing as a quiet bird... and her chirps are much quieter than many other parrots... but I wasn't expecting the constant chirping that has been going on.

I love larger birds and probably would have gone for a grey or eclectus... but from my research the meyers seemed perfect for my lifestyle. I live in an apartment, work very different hours from day to day, and sometime very long hours, and I read that meyers tend to be ok with wonky routines and can be very independent.

I'm scared that she might be too independent because she seems to want pretty much nothing to do with me, unless it is for me to bring her to her gym or back to her cage. But then seems to get super anxious when I leave the room. I know this will get a bit better with time, but I'm sure how much better it will get.

I'm hoping that most of this is just cause I JUST got her. But I need reassurance.

Will she mellow out a bit? Or is she gonna be super high anxious energy that only wants to do her own thing all the time?

I guess I'm just scared that maybe I got the wrong kind of bird for me...

Can anyone with a meyers give me some advice please?

Did your baby mellow out? Am I freaking out for no reason?
Or do you think this really is not the right bird for me?

 

[MikeyTN]

I've never owned a meyers, BUT she is a baby! She may mellow out as she age. Parrot babies, like all babies, are playful while young. They do mature and change a bit as they age. It's been awhile since I've kept any babies for a long period of time until Nico, I raised her as she came to me at two weeks of age in fragile shape, she almost died a few times but I managed to baby her to full health so we decided she should live here after all she's been through in her young life. She's VERY playful and goes every where and get into everything. She is almost a year old but still going and going and going. Unlike her bird buddies whose all older. But sometimes they may not grow out of it like my Malachai, he's a Black Lory, but it's just how their species are like. He's like a kid on sugar high that never stops....

There's actually no guarantee on any baby you get on exactly what they will do, they have their own individual personalities just like people, no two are alike. You shouldn't feel like you got the wrong type of bird, if that's the case, maybe birds aren't for you at the moment in your current situation. As Greys can be screamers, so can Eclectus, heard about them all the time, but most Eclectus I've met were quiet birds, so are mine. BUT they do have their moment. So the choice is up to you to decide, give the bird a good home and work with her a bit more, instead of expecting her to be certain ways. Or wait to get a bird until your in a better location other then a apartment situation.

 

[ziggybird]

I will say I am feeling much better this morning. Tukki is sitting on her cage right now, and being very calm. Much calmer then even yesterday morning when she was still SUPER high energy, and nothing last night when she was ALL over the place!

So at least I know she will have some chill and quiet moments!

I think her anxious all over the place energy last night was just freaking me out, and the fact that it freaked me out was freaking me out even more cause I never ever thought I would feel like things wouldn't work and second guess myself, which then made me panic... and as much as I tried to stay calm and not show it, I'm sure she sensed my anxiety which probably made her feel MORE anxious.

It was a vicious circle kinda situation.

I was expecting that it would take a while for her to adjust to me... but I forgot the part where it would take me a while to also adjust to her!

I thought I had done so much research and I spent a good chunk of time with her in the store, and felt very confident in my decision to get her... but you never really know what a bird is going to be like until actually start living together!

I've never really had to deal with this adjustment period before cause my parents had my macaw and amazon for 5 years before I was even born!

I would still love to hear from other Meyers or Senegal owners too!

Thanks!