Questions about my new Superb Parrot

[Jobaby]

Hello,

I have just received my Superb Parrot 8/18/2022. He was hatched 6/5 and I could use some advice and opinions.

I have attached a few pictures of my new baby. I have a lavender indian ringneck hatched 2/23. According to my reading my Superb should be similar in size to my ringneck. This does not appear to be the case. The Superb dwarfs my ringneck.

I am a little concerned that he seems to be so much bigger or maybe the info I read online is incorrect? He is beautiful but as stated in another thread, VERY fearful. I have been letting him come out of his cage on his own.

I wonder a few things, if he is a superb parrot (Barraband Parakeet), if the bird is male (I plan to DNA), shop said aviary manager knows its a male and did not DNA has 30 years experience, and if he is as young as stated June 5th 2022.

I hate to be so skeptical but he seems so much larger and girthier than expected and stated online. I know Colors don't come till a year.

I also would like to know what people feed their Superb Parrots? I got no extra food, no care sheet, no wings clipped.

I had his wings clipped due to him getting loose and a half hour trying to get him in his cage when I received him. I also need them clipped for training. Once he is trained, he can fly all he wants.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Terry57]

I have no experience with Superb parrots, but will bump this for you in hopes that someone who does will see it and can help

 

[Jobaby]

I have no experience with Superb parrots, but will bump this for you in hopes that someone who does will see it and can help

Thank you, and my apologies. Feel free to remove from the other thread.

 

[freshprincess87]

Hi jobaby,

I have one superb parrot named Percy. I think he's about 6 years old now. He was given to us when he was about 3 years old some time in 2019. Regarding the gender of yours, I was about to say female, but then read about their adult colours not coming through until they are a year old. So I'm actually not sure of the gender of yours. Mine is a male. But a DNA test will be able to tell you. Please keep us updated as I'd love to know what gender your's ends up being. Percy is also very fearful. He will not tolerate being held at all, and will squawk the WHOLE TIME he's held. And bite a bit too. However he is happy for me to reach into his cage and clean his bowls etc. As long as he isn't touched. He seems to know me, and like yours, if I leave the cage door open, he will come out by himself. Yesterday I actually found him on top of his cage door when I went into the bird room to start cleaning up. I was actually surprised. I made sure he was alright and no one harmed him, and he was ok. He likely just stayed on the door of his cage which was good.

You mentioned clipping the wings of yours and doing training, so you may have more success in taming yours. Like you, we also have an indian ringneck parakeet as well, named socrates. Percy likes socrates a lot (and has even mimicked his sounds!), but socrates only likes Percy sometimes. I'm not sure why. I'm guessing it is because Socrates was the first larger parrot to come here so he saw himself as the king among all the lovebirds we have. However sometimes he doesn't mind Percy. But he doesn't like him being too close to him. Their cages are located right next to each other because Percy likes to be next to Socrates. He actually gets upset and looks for socrates if we have taken socrates out for awhile.

Regarding diet, both get fed a small parrot seed mix, and this usually consists of a variety of seeds in it such as millet, sunflowers, safflowers, hulled oats, unhulled oats. I see them both peeling most of the seeds. Percy seems to eat more millet though, than Socrates. Both in the seed mix and hanging spray millet. Socrates doesn't seem too fond of millet. They also seem to enjoy fruits a lot. I have found that larger parrots seem to love fruits, more than vegetables. But smaller ones like lovebirds seem to prefer vegetables, instead of fruits. Fruits that Percy (and socrates) seem to enjoy include most berries, apples, oranges. Make sure no fruit seeds or pits remain like apple seed and get seedless oranges. They also don't mind corn as a vegetable (cooked). Percy also seems to like peas. I'm not a fruit eater myself so my partner is the one that handles fruits for the larger parrots and he always organises these fruits for them to eat.

Regarding size I am not sure if they are smaller until they get older or anything. But Percy is a lot bigger than Socrates. Always has been. But Percy was three when he came here. Socrates is about 15 years old (brought to us when he was 10 in 2017). Yours does look like a superb parrot. I showed the photo to my partner and he thinks the same.

I've attached a photo here of both percy and socrates. They are older but it shows their size and colours etc. Percy is more bigger than socrates. socrates is actually quite small, if not for his long tail. Percy has a bigger body even with his long tail.

I hope this was helpful. I'm not sure if it was, but hopefully at least the diet part will help you with feeding yours for the time being. Anything you feed your indian ringneck should be fine for the superb parrot too.

 

[Jobaby]

Hi jobaby,

I have one superb parrot named Percy. I think he's about 6 years old now. He was given to us when he was about 3 years old some time in 2019. Regarding the gender of yours, I was about to say female, but then read about their adult colours not coming through until they are a year old. So I'm actually not sure of the gender of yours. Mine is a male. But a DNA test will be able to tell you. Please keep us updated as I'd love to know what gender your's ends up being. Percy is also very fearful. He will not tolerate being held at all, and will squawk the WHOLE TIME he's held. And bite a bit too. However he is happy for me to reach into his cage and clean his bowls etc. As long as he isn't touched. He seems to know me, and like yours, if I leave the cage door open, he will come out by himself. Yesterday I actually found him on top of his cage door when I went into the bird room to start cleaning up. I was actually surprised. I made sure he was alright and no one harmed him, and he was ok. He likely just stayed on the door of his cage which was good.

You mentioned clipping the wings of yours and doing training, so you may have more success in taming yours. Like you, we also have an indian ringneck parakeet as well, named socrates. Percy likes socrates a lot (and has even mimicked his sounds!), but socrates only likes Percy sometimes. I'm not sure why. I'm guessing it is because Socrates was the first larger parrot to come here so he saw himself as the king among all the lovebirds we have. However sometimes he doesn't mind Percy. But he doesn't like him being too close to him. Their cages are located right next to each other because Percy likes to be next to Socrates. He actually gets upset and looks for socrates if we have taken socrates out for awhile.

Regarding diet, both get fed a small parrot seed mix, and this usually consists of a variety of seeds in it such as millet, sunflowers, safflowers, hulled oats, unhulled oats. I see them both peeling most of the seeds. Percy seems to eat more millet though, than Socrates. Both in the seed mix and hanging spray millet. Socrates doesn't seem too fond of millet. They also seem to enjoy fruits a lot. I have found that larger parrots seem to love fruits, more than vegetables. But smaller ones like lovebirds seem to prefer vegetables, instead of fruits. Fruits that Percy (and socrates) seem to enjoy include most berries, apples, oranges. Make sure no fruit seeds or pits remain like apple seed and get seedless oranges. They also don't mind corn as a vegetable (cooked). Percy also seems to like peas. I'm not a fruit eater myself so my partner is the one that handles fruits for the larger parrots and he always organises these fruits for them to eat.

Regarding size I am not sure if they are smaller until they get older or anything. But Percy is a lot bigger than Socrates. Always has been. But Percy was three when he came here. Socrates is about 15 years old (brought to us when he was 10 in 2017). Yours does look like a superb parrot. I showed the photo to my partner and he thinks the same.

I've attached a photo here of both percy and socrates. They are older but it shows their size and colours etc. Percy is more bigger than socrates. socrates is actually quite small, if not for his long tail. Percy has a bigger body even with his long tail.

I hope this was helpful. I'm not sure if it was, but hopefully at least the diet part will help you with feeding yours for the time being. Anything you feed your indian ringneck should be fine for the superb parrot too.

View attachment 43511View attachment 43512

Thank you so much for your response. Your Percy is gorgeous!

I knew about pits in fruit. Parrots Don't get avocado either, it is harmful to them.

I am having my "Gem" DNA tested when they go to the vet.

I am working on getting Gem used to me and trusting me. It is going to be a marathon, slow and methodical.

I feed them both fresh fruits, bits of fresh veggies and brown rice with cooked veggies in it. I also give them quinoa with cooked veggies in it.

My Ringneck Floyd is afraid of Gem. Gem is interested in Floyd, I hope they become friends.

This is Floyd, he is a ham, is Socrates a ham?

I will keep you posted on the progress updates and vet results.

Thank you again and it was absolutely helpful!

 

[freshprincess87]

Thank you so much for your response. Your Percy is gorgeous!

I knew about pits in fruit. Parrots Don't get avocado either, it is harmful to them.

I am having my "Gem" DNA tested when they go to the vet.

I am working on getting Gem used to me and trusting me. It is going to be a marathon, slow and methodical.

I feed them both fresh fruits, bits of fresh veggies and brown rice with cooked veggies in it. I also give them quinoa with cooked veggies in it.

My Ringneck Floyd is afraid of Gem. Gem is interested in Floyd, I hope they become friends.

This is Floyd, he is a ham, is Socrates a ham?

I will keep you posted on the progress updates and vet results.

Thank you again and it was absolutely helpful!

No problem at all, I'm glad it was a little helpful. I came across your post when I was responding to some of my own and saw no one had replied for awhile so figured I'd provide my experiences with Percy and Socrates.

Yes that's true, avocado is the worst for them. I don't think I've eaten avocado in years now. I stopped buying them for home preparation since getting birds as I didn't want to take any risks. However I never used to eat it much before that anyway.

I hope your vet visit with Gem goes very well and I look forward to finding out the gender as well. I've never DNA tested any birds here, except one lovebird. And only because when she was a baby she had an injury and suffered from cysts (I think this is what I may have posted about in 2016 when I first joined these forums) so she was pulling out blood feathers for awhile. I ended up sending them away for DNA testing and found out she was a girl. She went on to lay eggs anyway though so we would have found out eventually when she became mature and hormonal. With all birds here I've mostly made assumptions on gender based on behaviour and what I've read on the internet. I've bene correct or the most part, but sometimes found myself to be wrong. Or someone else was wrong and gave us a "boy" who ended up laying eggs But some of the older and larger ones like Percy and Socrates already had their adult colours so we already knew they were male.

Which vegetables and fruits are you giving yours? Sometimes different varieties are in season and I'd like to change and give something new. I also know my partner has given Socrates and Percy cherries before and they liked it. It made their poop a bit darker though. I've never done rice or quinoa for them that sounds interesting.

That's so cute that Floyd is a little afraid. It may be because he sees that Gem is bigger than him. He may need time to get used to having him around. What do you mean by ham? I wasn't sure what that means but wow Floyd is really beautiful! I think with time, they will become friends. I think that because Gem is younger, you may have more success with taming them. Is Floyd more tame? Possibly by watching Floyd interact with you safely, Gem might learn that it's safe too. A lot of my lovebirds began to get more comfortable around me because of one lovebird named kovu who was not afraid of humans and everyone else watched her and started to want to interact with me. They still don't want to be handled by hand but will eat millet spray out of my hand.

That also reminds me of Socrates's story. He was an aviary bird most of his life and not used to humans at all. Someone was giving him up so he came here and would also run away or squawk when being held at first. But my partner kept getting him regularly and giving him head scratches which he liked. And he seemed curious about us, especially what we were eating if we were having breakfast or something. I think he associated my partner with head scratches and eventually after just a few months, my partner could stick his hand into Socrate's cage and socrates would just hop onto his hand. Still does this today. Except when he's in a bad mood, then he will growl and push his hand away.

 

[Jobaby]

No problem at all, I'm glad it was a little helpful. I came across your post when I was responding to some of my own and saw no one had replied for awhile so figured I'd provide my experiences with Percy and Socrates.

Yes that's true, avocado is the worst for them. I don't think I've eaten avocado in years now. I stopped buying them for home preparation since getting birds as I didn't want to take any risks. However I never used to eat it much before that anyway.

I hope your vet visit with Gem goes very well and I look forward to finding out the gender as well. I've never DNA tested any birds here, except one lovebird. And only because when she was a baby she had an injury and suffered from cysts (I think this is what I may have posted about in 2016 when I first joined these forums) so she was pulling out blood feathers for awhile. I ended up sending them away for DNA testing and found out she was a girl. She went on to lay eggs anyway though so we would have found out eventually when she became mature and hormonal. With all birds here I've mostly made assumptions on gender based on behaviour and what I've read on the internet. I've bene correct or the most part, but sometimes found myself to be wrong. Or someone else was wrong and gave us a "boy" who ended up laying eggs But some of the older and larger ones like Percy and Socrates already had their adult colours so we already knew they were male.

Which vegetables and fruits are you giving yours? Sometimes different varieties are in season and I'd like to change and give something new. I also know my partner has given Socrates and Percy cherries before and they liked it. It made their poop a bit darker though. I've never done rice or quinoa for them that sounds interesting.

That's so cute that Floyd is a little afraid. It may be because he sees that Gem is bigger than him. He may need time to get used to having him around. What do you mean by ham? I wasn't sure what that means but wow Floyd is really beautiful! I think with time, they will become friends. I think that because Gem is younger, you may have more success with taming them. Is Floyd more tame? Possibly by watching Floyd interact with you safely, Gem might learn that it's safe too. A lot of my lovebirds began to get more comfortable around me because of one lovebird named kovu who was not afraid of humans and everyone else watched her and started to want to interact with me. They still don't want to be handled by hand but will eat millet spray out of my hand.

That also reminds me of Socrates's story. He was an aviary bird most of his life and not used to humans at all. Someone was giving him up so he came here and would also run away or squawk when being held at first. But my partner kept getting him regularly and giving him head scratches which he liked. And he seemed curious about us, especially what we were eating if we were having breakfast or something. I think he associated my partner with head scratches and eventually after just a few months, my partner could stick his hand into Socrate's cage and socrates would just hop onto his hand. Still does this today. Except when he's in a bad mood, then he will growl and push his hand away.

"Floyd is a ham" he seems to like to pose for pictures. He is pretty smart. They amaze me at just how smart they are. Floyd loves cherries too! He loves grapes and chicken (cannibal ). Basically if it's healthy for us, I let him have a taste.

Gem came from an aviary too but he is very young (hatched on June 5th 2022) so he should be trained eventually.

I open the cage with Floyd there and give them millet to share. Gem watches Floyd and I interact (I see him with his one trained on us) he pretends he's not looking. I plan to keep doing this and see what happens.

 

[wrench13]

AS far as size, weight is the best measure of size, and you should be checking weight on a kitchen scale every few day (weight loss is very often the first sign if a problem) . Figures given in reference books is usually an average of a population, however there are always outliers to the commonly quoted weights. My own YSA Salty is well outside the referenced weight for his species, but is not 'fat', just a larger then average individual.

 

[Jobaby]

AS far as size, weight is the best measure of size, and you should be checking weight on a kitchen scale every few day (weight loss is very often the first sign if a problem) . Figures given in reference books is usually an average of a population, however there are always outliers to the commonly quoted weights. My own YSA Salty is well outside the referenced weight for his species, but is not 'fat', just a larger then average individual.

Thank you. I do weigh my ringneck and record date and weight. I have not weighed my Superb yet because he has a really nasty bite and is not at all tame. He has really gotten me good a couple times. They both go to vet very soon.

Thank you for your response.