My Birds

[Jessica23]

Hey,

I've just joined up and thought i should introduce all my animals! I decided i'd start with the birds as they're my favourites!! :D
I've been keeping birds for about 4 years now and have had everything from cockatiels to cockatoos!! I currently just have two, though am looking to buy another soon. I also have a lot of rescue birds in my house at any time. I work for Birdline UK who rescue and rehome birds and I have to pick up unwanted/neglected birds and assess them for a few weeks before they go to new homes! This is great because i get to handle and look after SO many different types of birds! :)

Anyway.. These are mine...

I'll start with Molly cos she's my baby :) She's a green cheeked conure and she's about 2 years old now. She is VERY cute but also very naughty. She goes everywhere with me (even university occassionally!lol) and even sleeps on my pillow!! As you can tell she's very spoilt.. Here's a recent picture of Molly:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Jess2308/mollycloseup12022005.jpg


And then there's Magic... He's a 10 year old Galah Cockatoo. I've had him since September and he's lovely!!! He was one that i adopted from Birdline UK. He'd been neglected and had no feathers at all on his chest, he also has deformed feet which he's currently getting treatment for as he's starting to get arthritis in them.
Here's Magic:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Jess2308/lukeandmagic16022005.jpg

So... Thats the birds i have at the moment!! Im sure i will be quite active in this part of the forum as i have a tiny parrot addiction and love talking about it and them! lol! :D

Jessica

[lovechick]

Welcome to the forum :p Your birds are lovely, I know how difficult it can be raising neglected birds but much more rewarding, I have 4 birds( 2 budgies and 2 lovebirds) and theyre all rescues, my main priority is my female lovebird Pettie who plucks herself bad, but recently I have switched her to better pellets and shes been thriving on them, her feathers are all back and I'm working with her attitude and trying some natural herbs for her aiety.
I hope you like it here, this forum isnt exactly very active, so I reccomend this one:
www.tailfeathersnetwork.com

Enjoy~ ;)
P. S here are my tweets:
1) Together
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/vikachica/lovies3.jpg
2) George(lovebird) and Paulie- theyre best buds..lol
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/vikachica/lovies2.jpg
3)George feeding Blue
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/vikachica/lovies4.jpg

[Jessica23]

Awww! Your birds are so cute!!! I wish i could have my two out together like that - Molly attacks Magic if he gets too close though!lol

Thanks for that link, i'll check it out! :)

[melissajean]

I love your green cheek conure. I allmost got a gcc as my first bird. they were so cute. I have one normal grey tiel, his name is beaker. he is little over 4 months old and going thru his first moult. he is my first bird, but I have researched birds for 4 years now. wow I didnt realise it had been so long. lol welcome to pets hub. :)

[Jessica23]

Molly is lovely!! She can be very grumpy with other people but she's SO sweet with me.
Will you get any other birds?

Just thought i'd post these "before and after" pictures of Magic.

This is him when i'd had him about 3 weeks
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Jess2308/12.jpg

And this is Magic taken about 2 weeks ago - 4 months after the previous picture was taken :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Jess2308/magic429012005.jpg

Oh, and here's one of the bird im getting. This isn't the actual bird as that's not even hatched yet! :D But its a Vosmaeri Eclectus :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Jess2308/eclectusfemale.jpg

[melissajean]

an ekkie. omg you are so lucky. those are my dream birds. yes I want more birds. i am trying to convince my boyfriend that my tiel needs a friend lol (another male of course, no breeding for me) there are so many other birds i would love to have. your too is looking great. she is so pretty. I love galahs. I would love to hear more about your birds

[Jessica23]

Yeah, i cant wait to get my ekkie! :D I already have the cage and even a name picked out. The breeder is still waiting for the eggs to hatch. If they do hatch i'll then have to wait for a couple of weeks to find out if she has a female - I hate waiting!!!!

There's not much more to say about my birds lol. Magic has settled in VERY well since i've had him, he's certainly part of the family. he's got to go back to the vet on Thursday for X Rays on his feet though :( They think it may be an old break...

Molly is just... Lovely!! :D She's suddenly come out with new words. her two latest are 'step up' and 'good boy' and she sounds SO cute saying them!!! Molly is incredibly spoilt. She has alovely big cage that she NEVER goes in!!lol Im fairly sure she thinks shes a person... lol

I think you should definately get another bird- They're addictive!

[lovechick]

gosh, magic looks so much better on second pic, I will post some pics later of my female, before and after. I will be trying some herbs for her and see if those work.
What have to tried to reduce the plucking?

[Jessica23]

To be honest, all Magic needed was calcium (he was deficient) but mainly attention. He's a VERY affecionate bird and obviously hadn't had the attention he needed.

There are lots of sprays and powders out there to encourage feather growth, but calcium is the best thing. :)

[melissajean]

I wish I could have an ekkie. you will have to tell me alllll about her when you get her. I even had a dream I had one lol. yes birds are very adictive. there are so many more I would like to add to my flock lol

[Jessica23]

Lol! I will certainly tell you everything when i get her!! :D

I've decided that i only 'need' two more birds. In a few years i will get a Scarlet Macaw (my dream bird!!) and then i will get a Bird of Prey. I'd love something like a Harris Hawk, they're beautiful!!

And the list of birds i dont 'need' (and i REALLY do NEED them!!lol) but i do want are:
-Palm Cockatoo
-Greenwing Macaw
-Major Mitchell
-Hyacinth Macaw

Obviously i will NEVER be able to afford those though! Three out of those four cost over £4000!!! :D

[melissajean]

lol my list is
green cheek conure
pionus (not shure what one yet)
female eclectus
quaker~maybe
jardine
red bellied parrot
blue and gold macaw~maybe, still looking into those
list subject to change lol

[Jessica23]

Oooh, i nearly got a Blue and Gold Macaw from Birdline (parrot charity) but i said no as i wanted a scarlet! lol

If you want a macaw a Greenwing is the best to start with! They're big, cuddly babies!!! :D Good choices with the list though.. :) I've just thought of another bird i'd quite like - A Lorikeet!! :D Not the most unusal bird i know, but the colours are just amazing!!!

[melissajean]

I would love a creamino lovebird. they are so pretty. I allmost got one a little while ago, but I heard they have the most anoying scream of all birds lol, I cant remember where I heard that from. some where on the internet.

[ddoublelife1619]

Are Conures lou? I've heard that they are. All of these birds posted are very cute. I have a 7 month old lovebird named Gus. He is very loud at times, and I have considered getting him a parakeet friend, but I have heard mixed responses on how they react to them. I have just tried putting a mirrior in his cage to see if that interests him otherwise, he just sits in the same spot all day til I let him out. He has a huge cage too, with many perches, ropes, and toys, and he even has a huge playpen up top. But when he comes out, he jumps on my desk and watches the compuer screen for hours.

[Jessica23]

It entirely depends on what conure you get. Sun or Nanday conures for example are VERY loud!! They would rival any bird three times their size in decibels!! lol But IMO they more than make up for it in looks (esp a sun conure!!) and character. Most conures are very cuddly and affecionate and love to be with you.

If you're considering a conure i would advise a Green Cheek (the one in my first post) or Maroon bellied which looks almost identical to a Green Cheek. They are lovely cuddly birds but very quiet. Mine Very rarely shouts and when she does its usually her calling me if ive 'forgotten' her!lol

I wouldn't suggest putting another bird in the cage with your lovebird though, the conure is bigger and may very well attack him. If you wanted one to go in the cage with Gus i'd suggest another lovebird or a budgie :) Separate cages and you can have pretty much what you want!!

[melissajean]

lovebirds can be very mean and can actually kill birds larger than themselfs, so I would say go with another lovie

[luvmyfids]

awww... molly is so cute! i'm thinking about getting a GC for my first bird (someone reccomended them to me) what would you say? and OMG that ekkie is beautiful!

[fufuthegreat]

Conures can be very loud.

If you're looking for a conure, but want a quiet one, I'd go for a blue-crown. Mine's a darling (even though he bites), and he's not very loud at all... that is, if you don't teach him annoying, loud things.

[fufuthegreat]

http://www.geocities.com/mergfkt/birdbutton.gif

That's Bird, my blue-crown.

The only time he's really loud is if there's a lot of noise to compete with. Like if I'm holding him and listening to music loudly. Or when the dogs are barking. He makes his own barking sounds.

[Jessica23]

Green Cheeks are the quietest conures and are often recommended for people living in apartments who need a quiet bird. Molly my GC was my first 'proper' bird. I'd had cockatiels and kaikarikis that weren't hand reared and although they tamed down a bit i could never hold them upside down in my hand and play with them like a hand reared bird! So if you do get one, definately pay a bit extra and get one hand reared from a reputable breeder :)

The one thing to remember about ALL conures is that they are huge macaws in a little birds body!lol These birds have all the attitude of any macaw, as well as the temper!! I've heard a lot of people say that their GC's have turned nippy and moody. Personally, i have two and haven't had any problems at all. Molly can be a bit grumpy during her moult as she's particularly sensitiev to it, though she wouldn't dream of biting! And my new one Mac is also very well behaved!
I think it mainly comes down to discipline! You have to set certain rules with your bird as soon as you bring it home and stick to them permenantly otherwise it'll take advantages as conures are very intelligent little birds! With mine, if they threaten anyone (fluffs up and tap their beak on something!) then they get a firm 'NO'. If they then go on to nip, even very slightly which although its rare, Molly occassionally does to my brother as he teases her, then straight in the cage, covered over for a couple of hours!

As i said, they're very intelligent so they soon learn the boundaries and you're more likely to get a better behaved bird... Personally, i would always recommend a GC to someone cos i think they're fantastic birds!! But you have to have all the time and attention to give them that you would for a large parrot. It is a big responsibility to take on a conure, as im sure any other owners on here can tell you!! If you need any help or advice im sure we'll be able to help if you ask though :)

[luvmyfids]

:p thank you so much for the info jessica!!! :jumping:

[budgiefreakGC]

I have two budgies a cat a tortise a geeko and a brother those a my pets I will try to get pics