Feb. 12th, 2008

Weather

Feb. 12th, 2008 08:31 am
Of course the day I'm actually going to visit birdies (pair of bonded GCCs) is the day there's a winter storm warning. Thankfully I'm meeting her at 11am, so I should be back home before the snow hits at 5pm. I'm just going to have to keep an eye on the weather on the radio.
So I finally met Piddle and Paddle, bonded pair of GCCs today. Apparently "slightly tame" means "won't lunge at you when you get near the cage." They wouldn't interact with me or Ellen (the woman running the rescue) at all, instead hiding in their Happy Huts. NOT what I'm looking for in a bird(s).

So I was also introduced to an Indian Ringneck Parakeet named Barney who was "tame" - and this time I agree with the appellation: she loved having her head skritched while making the cutest little whistles of pleasure ever and her eyes were pinning madly. (It was really strange to see the eye pinning, I've never noticed it in the cockatiels I've owned, probably b/c 'tiels usually have dark colored eyes so it's less obvious if they actually do it.) She only stepped up once, and bit me once (barely breaking the skin), but I'd still call her tame; that seemed more of a not trusting *me* issue (because she didn't know me yet) than a not trusting *people*.

Barney was a sweetheart, and I fell in love with her. She could talk a little, saying things like "Barney's a sweet boy" and "Hello". Her first owners were an elderly couple, had her for most of her 7 years of life until they had to go into a nursing home. They thought she was a boy, hence the name Barney and her calling herself a "sweet boy". Barney was with the elderly couple's son for a while, but he wasn't a bird person apparently so gave her up. Barney's been at Ellen's for 4-6 weeks now, and Ellen says she's less skittish now than then, and her diet has improved from sunflowers exclusively to a seed mix. She's really wonderful, and I know with just the slightest bit of effort she'd warm up to me further and step up in addition to allowing me to scratch her.

And then I left. And as I was driving back home, I remembered that - as wonderful as Barney is - I'm not looking for a sweet loving bird. I'm looking for a playful bird, with some cuddliness too, but the playfulness is the primary characteristic I want. Barney would be the sweetest little thing, but she would be a compromise, settling for less than what I really want. It makes me a bit sad now - I had all these questions I was going to ask about IRNs, and now it's a moot point. (Unless someone tells me they really are as playful as GCCs, but I highly doubt that.)

In a mopey mood and approaching home by that point, I decided to stop in at a local birdstore, the Crystal Parrot, which breeds their own birds in a responsible manner. When one woman there was done feeding the cockatiel chicks, I told her that I was interested in a green-cheeked conure, or possibly a Senegal. She pointed me towards a few birds they had that were not already spoken for with similar characteristsics: one that was similar to a senegal but w/ a more fearful personality, called a brown-headed something-or-other, and two Dusky Conures (aka Dusky-headed Parakeets).

OMG those two were a barrel of monkeys in the size of a cellphone! The way they just leaned off my finger to somewhere was ridiculous, and one even flipped upside down to try and make a point (not that I figured out what his/her point was). Once they got more used to me, they both started beaking everything - my finger, my knuckles, the web between my thumb and pointer, my fingernails... They mostly knew how hard was acceptable and how hard wasn't, so I only had to jostle them a little bit to get them to stop when they bit too hard. When I was handling one at a time it was completely doable, when I had one on each hand it was a little bit crazy, so I passed one off to the woman helping me and took turns with them. I couldn't tell any personality differences with them for the short time (half hour maybe?) that I was there. The woman helping me said that I clearly knew how to handle them. That's a relief, I'd never had a bird that beaky on me before (let alone two of them) and I was just "winging" it! :-P They were comfortable sitting on me by the end (though their motion NEVER stopped, it was so adorable!), though they didn't let me pet them. The woman demonstrated how they'd let her cuddle them and hold them and such, so I know with time I'd get that aspect of their personalities showing too, they just didn't trust me yet.

So now I'm totally in love with Dusky Conures. (This is why I purposefully kept out of pet stores until I was ready to bring a new bird into my life.) And somewhat disillusioned with rescues - I'm ready for a bird, I'm ready for a bird NOW (or at least very soon), I will be getting a bird soon be it from a rescue, responsible breeder, or responsibly breeding local store. I would only get one bird, as I'm not sure that I could handle two if I didn't have to do so. These two currently live together but soon are to be separated into two cages so they can get used to life w/o their buddy. They have not been sexed but I believe will be prior to being sold. All their birds get "tested for bacteria" (I believe this means gram stains?) and on the webpage it says they get a full vet checkup and polyomavirus vaccine before sale. They have been weaned, and are currently eating pellets and a veggie mix; the woman I talked to said they are not picky at all and will eat anything. (Apparently the woman in charge doesn't like Harrison's, though I didn't get the chance to ask why not.) I think she said they're 10 weeks old, and have an expected lifespan of 20-30 years. The cost for a Dusky Conure would be $297.50 (they're "on sale" right now, usually $350). The woman in charge of the place said that my EFC would be "large" for one and recommended I may wish to buy a smaller cage, or at least fill the large one with toys so that it's not so agoraphobic feeling, but didn't insist. I see nothing wrong with an oversized cage myself, since she said the bar spacing is fine.

So my questions for you...
* Why shouldn't I buy one of these beebs who're just what I want for the same "price" as a rescue bird?
* Got any good resources for Dusky Conure info?
* What else should I be thinking about or asking?

I have to say I'm leaning towards purchasing a dusky conure. It wouldn't be a *bad* choice to adopt Barney the IRN, but it wouldn't be a *good* choice either.

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asterroc

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