A Feathered Pumpkin

[linus69]

A few weeks ago our Mitred Conure/Parrot who was 30yrs old (this species lifespan) suffered a severe stroke and went into kidney failure. After an exam by an avian vet who stated she never saw one this old, he was put down while I held him. It was identical to putting a dog down in all ways, my wife couldn`t even bear to be present, it was very hard.
She swore never another bird, and she put a plant in the corner where his cage used to be. Well that plant wasn`t working for me and I started to research Parrots on the web.
I found a private breeder on Long Island and went to her house, she showed me around 20 babies of various types, and though all hand raised and very tame they are wary of strangers.
She had two babies she wasn`t showing me as they were double what my budget was to spend.
Well one was dancing and fussing around in her fish tank so she let her out to see what the problem was and she came right to me, cooing and kissing me.
The breeder was quite shocked and got quite a kick out of it. This bird and I fell in love, basically she chose me. The breeder a very sweet woman was so touched by this instant bond she actually took half of what one of these babies cost.
I went to get the wife and brought her there after much pleading and she too fell in love with this baby girl. She was born on May 5th and is just finished weaning, the breeder however set us up with the food and a baby feeder so we still hand feed her every morning.
This helps establish the parental bond, she loves being "bottle-fed"
but eats adult food like a real chow hound. The breeder had a large dog in the house so she has no fear of dogs, she is quite fond of them.
She loves being stroked, scratched and petted, you can wrap your hands around and gently squeeze her. Unlike other breeds of Parrots that bond to only one human, her breed loves the world.
She is a White Belly Caique and because of her orange head my wife christened her Pumpkin.
These pictures were taken in the breeder`s kitchen, I put her into a bird cage for the first time just before these pics were snapped, the cage didn`t scare her, nor did the camera flash. As her breed is known to be, she is totally fearless.

www.bellaonline.com/articles/art21174.asp







Paul

[quikduk]

Paul,

My condolences on your loss but congratulations on the new addition to your family.

We went through a similar time with our last dog. We swore "no more"...and then a few days later went out and got two lab pups (brothers).

Now I have loads of new house maintenance/repairs to tend to...

Enjoy her and she is very pretty.

Ken

[linus69]

Thankyou Ken, 30yrs is a long time to have a pet, but as the vet pointed out he didn`t suffer a long illness, he was playing in his cage the morning he had the stroke. I hope I live to a humans maximum lifespan and that I`m playing the morning I have my stroke.
The baby girl is working out better than we could have hoped, she has totally bonded to the wife and I and we can do anything to her. She lets me extend and rub her wings which the breeder said is the sign of a birds ultimate trust.
Here she is on the deck for the first time, actually her first time outside, she was totally unimpressed, nothing gets her rattled or nervous. She loves to hang upside down and walks down the sides of her cage head first, this is a habit of her breed, when she gets older she is supposed to hop like a rabbit. She is very amusing just to watch, she is happy to stay in her cage and is happy to be out and about in the house.









Paul

[linus69]

Our new addition is getting quite a personality as time goes by and she is developing the traits that I had read about her breed. She continues to love people and dogs, actually so far there is nothing she doesn`t like with the exception of getting her nails clipped.
She didn`t mind getting her wing flight feathers trimmed at all.
I started to to lay her on her back while in my hand as I had seen the breeder do when we bought her, I did this only a few times.
She now rolls over onto her back all on her own, she just lays down and does a barrel roll onto her back with her feet sticking straight up. She does this when I am laying down and have her on my chest, she scared me to death the first time she did it because I thought she was having a seizure.
She lays there waiting for me to rub her tummy, it`s a riot, and when she wants to get up, she flips over onto her feet like a cat. quicker than you can blink.
She like to rough house and be manhandled and gently squeezed, she will throw herself against your fingers like a football player and if you won`t rub her she will rub herself against you.
She spends more and more time hanging upside down from her toys, her perches, or the top of the cage. Her acrobatic skills seem to developing by the day and as I had read she can`t have too many parrot toys, she plays with any toy I put within her grasp with gusto. She finally discovered that fruit is good and now is eating orange and apple slices.









Paul

[linus69]

Well this parrot continues to develop all the traits and habits that I had read about her species.
She now is laying on her back and playing with her feet, I modified a parrot playgym from Petco by adding some vertical and horizontal ladder sections to simulate a tree canopy, she loves it.
She is also nuts for bells, she rides the large gold one like Quasimodo the bell ringer.











Paul