Paco and Mia - Alexandrine Parrots

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Paco and Mia - Alexandrine Parrots

by Linda M Hueftlein
(Phoenix, Az)

Alexandrine Parrots Paco and Mia

We went to a bird mart here in Phoenix on Mother's Day just to learn more about parrots and continue our education since acquiring our 1st bird, Papaya, on March 16.

Ok, fine, we came home with a bonded pair of Alexandrines. They are 5 years old and have never bred but been kept as pets. They are awesome, to say the very least. Paco is somewhat jealous as Mia and I bonded from minute one, and she prefers to be on my over him now. He,tho,is still very dependent on her.(typical, huh!?)She would live on my if it were possible.

They sit on my shoulder and feed each other, then try to feed me. I love these guys so much. Mia has become such a part of me in a very short time. My lovely breakfast room is now the bird room, with both large cages, etc. We even have decorated in tropical decor. I have moved my laptop and monitor back here, and here is where you will find me. When I'm not at work, their cages are open and they have a great time. Right now, I'm trying to get them on to pellets - not a lot of success yet. But they love their breakfast of brown rice, alphabet pasta, carrots, brocolli and some almonds!!! Then it's fruit in the afternoon when I get home. They only have to be alone 5 hours. (..and don't forget popcorn at bedtime!!)No, Paco, I won't forget.

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Paco and Mia - Alexandrine Parrots

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Jun 04, 2010

Beautiful Alexandrine Parrots
by: Vickie

I envy you! Such beautiful birds and nice loving ones too. Wow!!! You sound like you are really good with birds, and the birds know you love them. :-)

I really want to thak you for writing and putting picures too. THANKS

Jun 04, 2010

Paco and Mia - Alexandrine Parrots
by: Linda

Linda, thanks for writing, and I'll tell you WHY you cannot get them onto pellets. YOU ARE FEEDING TOO MUCH AND THE WRONG THINGS. Stop with the almonds as they are extremely high in fat. Stop with the night snacks and only give them small amounts of fruit and veggies a few times a week, not everyday. Please read this carefully because you are killing your birds with kindness, and obviously, you adore them, so follow some simple directions so they can come into optimum health.

The organic pellets are the only pellets to try to change them to, so hope you have a good one like Harrison's. The Zupreem is very low quality and right up there with all seed diets as for health of the birds. If we want quality, we must feed quality. Cheap foods are cheap for a reason, and the health of the birds is at stake here.

The pellets need to be 80-85% of the entire diet, and this means EVERY DAY with fruit and veggies being only 10-15% of overall diet and fed only a few times a week in small amounts. No almonds, no peanuts, ABSOLUTELY NO PEOPLE FOOD OF ANY DESCRIPTION and no late night snacks. Birds are creatures of habit, and you have started them on the road to fatty liver disease and death, so now is the time to make changes for their good. Birds need to be hungry to eat correctly and the right foods, so once you stop with all the fruit and veggies, almonds and late night snacks, you will see them start adapting to the pellets a lot faster. Right now, they do not need to eat the pellets because you are overfeeding them, so they just wait for what they like, not what they need. Birds are like children and have roughly the emotional/mental development of 4-5 year old human children. Treat them just like that as for nutritious foods, rest and play times. They sound like a couple of precious ones, so start anew to give them the best chance of survival.

If they have not been taken to an Avian vet since you got them, please take them in to be checked for infections or other physical problems waiting to cause trouble. Simple bloodwork will show any abnormal kidney/liver functions as well as any infections bad enough to be the in the blood. Have Avian Vet do a throat swab to check for bacterial infections as the anal swab is just about useless for pinpointing bacteria causing infections.

Please take this letter seriously because you are in the process of ruining the health of the birds you love SO dearly. I have been where you are and speak from a hard, painful learning experience. I appreciate you writing in, and also appreciate your honest and true love for your birds. Now, just go the rest of the distance and know you are doing everything right for them now and in the future as well.

Linda

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