Parrotlets

 Parrotlets

The Crazy Bird Lady obsession mentality has struck again! I brought home two new birds! 

Before I tell you about them however, I'm going to give you a little back story . . .

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away.....sorry, sorry I couldn't help myself! Continuing -

Several years ago as I was browsing one of my favorite poultry websites and I came across these tiny birds, called Parrotlets. Oh, I just fell in love with them! And looked high and low for someone in my area that had some, but with no luck.

Fast forward to June, Stockton was searching the pet section on Craigslist and happened upon a listing for some hand raised Parrotlets. He call me over and said: "Hey Aspen, somebody on here has some Parrotlets!" Me: "WHERE?!?! Show me right this INSTANT!" 

 After texting and conversing with the lady for a bit I reserved one of her three babies. A handsome young blue/turquoise male. She sent me new pictures of him from time to time and I just couldn't wait to go pick him up!

About two weeks later the due date for picking him up was drawing near and she texted me one morning and said that she'd decided to sell one of her other babies, a green female, and asked if I wanted her. *ahem* Of course we all know what I said. YES! We decided to go pick them up that evening, and my Grandmother was gracious enough to give us a lift (thank you!! <3). We got back late that night with the new feathered babies and got them settled into a small carrier cage that the lady had given me. That night I got online and ordered them a new cage, that would provide them with lots more room.

The first couple of days with them was rough. The lady said to keep giving them a little bit of formula that she'd been hand feeding to them, to help them get used to me and get them to think of me as their Momma. The green female seemed to like it well enough and would attempt to eat all of it by her onesies. Yep, she's a little pig! ;)

However, the blue male was a vicious, finger biting, devil! And yes, I even thought about naming him Lucifer. Yep, awful I know, but it's the honest truth. 

So pretty much the situation was, they were completely terrified of me, when ever I tried to hold them they would attempt to give me finger piercings. Yes, those beaks are incredibly good at what they do! The situation was going nowhere fast and I was becoming rather distraught about what I should do! Whilst reading several webpages about training birds, all the people recommended clipping their wings, to make training easier. They also suggested teaching them several simply commands such as "Step Up" and "No Bite", boy could I use the latter one!

I decided to give it a shot, so I rustled up my sister and had her help me. We wrapped them in a towel to where only one of their wings was exposed. After a quick trimming of the flight feathers we unwrapped them to see what they would do. First of all they leaped off the bed, in attempt to sail to the curtain rods like they normally did, but instead that mission failed and they dive bombed into the bookshelf *WHAM* After a few more *WHAMS* & *WHACKS* into the wall they gave up and sat on my hand eating treats. This was going MUCH better! After a few minutes of trimming their wings they would both calmly sit on your finger, then slowly inch their way up your arm until they got to your shoulder, then they would climb up your braid and finally reach your head, then they would proceed to stomp around up their whilst rearranging your hair..whether you wanted it rearranged or not! ;)

Since that day, they've been complete angels (mostly). I still receive an occasional bite, but only if they are just being ornery, or if they get scared. Mainly they use their beak as a third foot/gripping/climbing tool. For instance, anytime I get them to hop on my finger, they always (somewhat) gently grab your finger for support.   

So as of right now, their temperaments have totally transformed from the little devils that they used to be! 

Now that you've gotten the basic story, I'm going to share with you a few things I've learned about these tiny parrots thus far:

1). They make great blogging companions! 

2). They like to eat phones.

3). Their bark is NOT worser than their bite! Because in the first place they can't bark....thank goodness!

4). Sometimes it looks like they have beards and I'm tempted to give them dwarf names from The Hobbit.

5). They make adorable mathom keeper decorations. <3

6). They are extremely messy eaters. Even worser and worest than two year olds...I kid you not!

I have named the green female, Emmie, but I have yet to come up with a name for the blue boy. Suggestions anyone?

Blessings - 

~ Aspen