Parrot owners/breeders/experts of BYC- I need you!

[kargo]

Please help me.


My mom and I have picked out a baby Sun Conure who is five weeks old. He/She is at a pet store owned by breeder. I very much admire and respect her. She has a huge variety of animals at the store as well as at her home. Recently, I went on Yahoo! answers to ask how old people thought my Conure was. (The breeder had been busy that day and I hadn't been able to ask her.) Along with the answers I wanted, I got answers that adamantly said that I should not bring home the baby before I2 weeks, and another person said 14 weeks. Now, before I go any further, I just want to state- yes, I am a teenager, so no, I don't know more than most of you. However, I own 40+ animals (I would very much appreciate if you didn't tell me to sell/get ride of/bring some "extras" to the pound as my classmates have.) I love animals, and each and every one has a different personality. They're like people, but better, because they care about you. I try to be as mature and responsible as I can, and, as my mom and I aren't exactly rich, I'm doing everything I can to pay for as much of the cost of my new bird and its cage, toys, etc. (I offered to pay for all of it, but my mom wants to contribute.) I've sold my gaming sytems, and we are having a garage sale Friday and Saturday to raise money for the bird. Now that I've tried (and probably failed, since you probably hate me for being so stupid as to lose my last conure, for which I hate myself. I miss hearing "rommy" (mommy) every day when I come home so much. I really miss that bird, and I'm so sorry that I lost him.) to plead my case as a person who cares for their animals, I'll get to my point. The breeder wants us to pick up my bird within four weeks from last Tuesday, which is well before when those Yahoo! answers people told me is appropriate. Problem is, I trust that the breeder knows what she is doing in letting us take this bird home before then. I'm asking you guys what you think. Is it possible for me to take the bird home before 12 or 14 weeks? Or will I have to beg, plead, and make more deposits for her to keep it until then? I'm afraid that if we don't pick it up within four weeks, she might say no bird. I've never had a bird so young (we got my last Conure, and my Cockatiel, both from this breeder, after weaning age.), and as much as I want to think I know the right thing to do, I don't. Not in this case, anyway. If you don't believe that this is a good breeder, and want to see for yourself if it seems healthy, then you can check out my bird here.

and here. http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/userlookup100/MyConure002.jpgb (P.S., It did get more food than that. I couldn't seem to manage working the camera, so I only got the last bit on video.) Also, here is a picture of the Conure I lost, Ty, so you can see if the breeder did a good job raising him. http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75/userlookup100/Ty2.jpg Thanks so much for you time and advice, and, I beg you, please don't call me irresponsible and heartless and tell me to give my animal to a home that will love it more like the people on yahoo! answers did.

 

[verthandi]

I have hand raised parrots for many years, I can never give people a solid date that they might be able to take their baby home. There are average times that each species of parrots are expected to be weaned, but they will decide when it is time. Sometimes they will be eating well on their own for a couple of days, then they slip back into needing to be handfed some. My best advice is visit your new bird as often as you can, learn all that the breeder will teach you and spend the time bonding with your new friend. I would hesitate to take the baby home if it is still being handfed unless this breeder is willing to teach you how to properly handfed. Baby parrots are very delicate to the temperature of the food that they are fed and their crop can be burned all too easily. (which they usually will die from) or sour crop, over extended crop or aspirate if fed incorrectly. It is not something that can't be learned from a good teacher, if she is willing to teach you. But you will be taking the baby's life into your own hands. I'm curious is she saying this bird will be weaned at 9 weeks? I only deal with larger birds so that seems rather early to me.

 

[kstaven]

IF your Sun Conure weans normally, 9 weeks is within the normal range to wean off formula.

 

[Sjisty]

Hi Kargo -

I agree that you shouldn't take him/her home until weaned. I would visit the bird as often as possible and get to know it. If you have to take it home before it's totally weaned, get some (many) lessons from the breeder in hand-feeding. Be very careful - you could easily feed into its lungs if you don't know what you are doing and it will die. If she does make you take it at 9 weeks, it should be weaned or on only one feeding a day. Give it lots of fresh fruits and veggies along with a good pelleted food and some seeds.

In my opinion, if the breeder is reputable, she won't make you take it before it's weaned.

Good luck - they are beautiful little birds!

 

[downtime]

I used to raise cockatiels and red rump parakeets, and never sold any before they were weaned. I honestly don't know the age a conure would be (on average) before it was weaned.

Having said that. I don't know you or the breeder. It is possible to learn to successfully handfeed. I didn't have anyone actually show me in person how to handfeed my little ones and I only lost one, ever (and actually DH was hand feeding at that time, but the rest of the clutch was fine-he called me at work to tell me the one had died, at about 3 weeks. I can't say what happened, but it wasn't burnt crop or sour crop or the others probably wouldn't have been ok too). I say this because I don't want to say you cannot take your baby home before it is weaned. It is a lot of work, and needs to be done carefully though-and they have a schedule that has to be kept to, so keep that in mind (whether you can keep to it with school or other responsibilities).

I would ask her if she feels the baby will be weaned at that point. If not, talk to her about handfeeding, and ask yourself if you're really and truly comfortable and able to do it. Even if you REALLY REALLY want this little one, you'll want to be honest with yourself on this, and say no even if you don't want to, if you feel you can't do it. A good breeder will not push you to take on this responsiblity if you don't feel you can.

It's also possible she feels he/she will be weaned by then, and then the above part about handfeeding would be moot.

 

[High Roost Ranch]

I'm with the others on not taking the baby home until it's completely weaned. The transition time from being hand fed to solely having only adult food is stressful enough for a baby, and if you aren't experienced in recognizing trouble starting to happen, it could be a very costly and sad ending. Every bird is different, no two are alike. Don't rush bringing baby home because you think you won't bond if you aren't the one hand feeding. That's a myth. I would wait until you know (s)he is weaned and eating on its own for two weeks or so. The breeder giving you an exact date, i.e., "this bird will be weaned at 9 weeks", sounds too like production raising and not raising a baby in the baby's best interest if that makes any sense. I always say approximately such a date, depending on the bird.

 

[cubalaya]

i handfeed baby conures,senegal parrots, cockatiels and others. they are not weaned until they are eating regular food and don't need the baby food in order to keep up their weight.

 

[kargo]

So, we've taken him home, and he's doing wonderfully. We took him back to get his little wings clipped the other day, and she said he looked great. We were given plenty of instructions and demonstrations and I feel sure we know what we're doing.

 

[Parrot]

I run the Tall Grass Parrot Sanctuary, Ink in Lecompton KS. If you have any questions please feel free to email me. [email protected] or go to www.tallgrassparrot.org and click on the email link. Ill help you out anyway that I can.


Kail

 

[TurtleFeathers]

No "reputable" breeder would sell an unweaned baby bird to an inexperienced handfeeder. Its only asking for trouble, and the one that suffers is the baby bird. I raised parrots for over 20 years and NEVER let a baby go before it was weaned, unless it was one of my breeder friends who I knew for a fact was experienced.

Different species wean at different rates. A baby budgie or baby lovebird might wean at 6-7 weeks, but an African grey may not wean until its 14-16 weeks. And individual birds within the same species are different, too. Conures are normally weaned around 8 or 9 weeks, depending on type.

But regardless of species, when I was handfeeding babies, I never let a baby go to its new home until it had been weaned for AT LEAST a week or two, sometimes longer depending on the bird - that way, I could monitor its eating/drinking habits and make sure it was holding its weight.