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Dancing Senegal Parrot

Kili

Type: Senegal Parrot
Genus: Poicephalus
Species: Senegalus
Subspecies: Mesotypus
Sex: Female
Weight: 120 grams
Height: 9 inches
Age: 15 years, 9 months
Caped Cape Parrot

Truman

Type: Cape Parrot
Genus: Poicephalus
Species:Robustus
Subspecies: Fuscicollis
Sex: Male
Weight: 330 grams
Height: 13 inches
Age: 14 years
Blue and Gold Macaw

Rachel

Type: Blue & Gold Macaw
Genus: Ara
Species:ararauna
Sex: Female
Weight: 850 grams
Height: 26 inches
Age: 11 years, 9 months
Trick Training Guides
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Additional Top Articles
Stop Parrot Biting
Getting Your First Parrot
Treat Selection
Evolution of Flight
Clipping Wings
How to Put Parrot In Cage
Kili's Stroller Trick
Camping Parrots
Socialization
Truman's Tree
Parrot Wizard Seminar
Kili on David Letterman
Cape Parrot Review
Roudybush Pellets

List of Common Parrots:

Parakeets:
Budgerigar (Budgie)
Alexandrine Parakeet
African Ringneck
Indian Ringneck
Monk Parakeet (Quaker Parrot)

Parrotlets:
Mexican Parrotlet
Green Rumped Parrotlet
Blue Winged Parrotlet
Spectacled Parrotlet
Dusky Billed Parrotlet
Pacific Parrotlet
Yellow Faced Parrotlet

Lovebirds:
Peach Faced Lovebird
Masked Lovebird
Fischer's Lovebird
Lilian's (Nyasa) Lovebird
Black Cheeked Lovebird
Madagascar Lovebird
Abyssinian Lovebird
Red Faced Lovebird
Swindern's Lovebird

Lories and Lorikeets:
Rainbow Lorikeet

Conures:
Sun Conure
Jenday Conure
Cherry Headed Conure
Blue Crowned Conure
Mitred Conure
Patagonian Conure
Green Cheeked Conure
Nanday Conure

Caiques:
Black Headed Caique
White Bellied Caique

Poicephalus Parrots:
Senegal Parrot
Meyer's Parrot
Red Bellied Parrot
Brown Headed Parrot
Jardine's Parrot
Cape Parrot
Ruppell's Parrot

Eclectus:
Eclectus Parrot

African Greys:
Congo African Grey (CAG)
Timneh African Grey (TAG)

Amazons:
Blue Fronted Amazon
Yellow Naped Amazon
Yellow Headed Amazon
Orange Winged Amazon
Yellow Crowned Amazon

Cockatoos:
Cockatiel
Galah (Rose Breasted) Cockatoo
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Umbrella Cockatoo
Moluccan Cockatoo
Bare Eyed Cockatoo
Goffin's Cockatoo

Macaws:
Red Shouldered (Hahn's) Macaw
Severe Macaw
Blue And Gold Macaw
Blue Throated Macaw
Military Macaw
Red Fronted Macaw
Scarlet Macaw
Green Winged Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw

Glossary of Common Parrot Terms

Taking Truman to Bird Store and 25lb Bag of Pellets

Comments (10)

By Michael Sazhin

Wednesday August 4th, 2010

Over the weekend I went to the parrot store to pick up some supplies. I brought Truman along for the hour each way car ride in his carrier. It is good for him to become more accustomed to spending periods of time in his carrier and in the car. At the store I took him out of his carrier. I was quite nervous at first that he would start flying around the store. He is still a novice flyer and there are many things that he could bump into or knock over at the store. I brought his harness along with me just in case but decided to test his behavior before putting it on.

I took Truman out of his carrier. He was certainly alert and curious but relatively relaxed. I let him observe things while keeping a close hand to grab him before he could fly off. As time went by I began loosening my grip on his feet and became less concerned. I showed Truman to the employees and let them handle him. This is all good socialization for the parrot. Eventually I will be bringing Truman to this store to get his nails trimmed but rather than start with a stressful experience of having the procedure done, I wanted to give him a peaceful introduction. Furthermore this is his immunal outing as well. Since Kili came from that store and I purchase a lot of my parrot supplies from that store, it's better that Truman be microbialy familiar with that environment and develop an immune system for it. We have progressively worked toward this for some time. First of all Kili comes from that store and his introduction to Kili was the first stage. Then I've been putting fresh toys and perches from that store in his cage. And finally I brought him there all together.

Cape Parrot at Bird Store



I picked up an African Grey Parrot and held Truman up to the Grey to compare size. I'd never seen a Grey and Cape Parrot together before so this was an interesting moment for me to compare. I was split for some time between an African Grey and a Cape but I think this interaction reinforced that I made the right choice. Many of the employees at the store had never seen a Cape Parrot before. While I think the owner was a bit jealous that I didn't buy from her, the fact that she doesn't sell Capes or flighted parrots probably settled it. To make up for this, I bought some perches and a 25lb bag of bird food.

I brought the huge bag of pellets home and divided it up into smaller portions to freeze. I ended up filling 7 ziplock bags and they took an entire shelf of my freezer. Now I won't have to worry about buying pellets for over a year. I would never have done this with Kili alone but since both parrots now eat the same pellets this has become economical. Truman eats about 3 times as much as Kili so between the two of them, a 2.5lb bag gets used up in a month. That would require me to buy a bag of pellets every month. Not only is that inconvenient but also quite pricey. The 25lb bag cost about $55 while the regular 2.5lb retail bags cost $14 each. $55 vs $140 is a pretty significant saving at merely the cost of some freezer space and bags. So I recommend buying pellets in bulk for owners of large parrots or who own multiple parrots.

Parrot Pellet Bags

Bird Food in Freezer2 shelves in freezer for pellets and bird treats



Part of: Health, Nutrition, and Diet, General Parrot Care, Cape Parrots
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Comments

Post Your Response

Shonta

Posted on August 4, 2010 04:46AM

You're lucky you have a parrot store. The San Francisco Bay area is pathetic with finding a large volume of toys, playgrounds, etc. Luckily there are a couple of large bird fairs a year where you can get a decent selection.


ginger

Posted on August 4, 2010 07:13AM

I agree with Shonta. There are only a couple of bird stores around here, and none of them are very good. I go to the birdmarts to get some things that I can't find anywhere else. I don't like Petsmart or Petco as far as selection of Parrot toys and equipment. Besides, it just kills me to go in there and see the poor birds they have that are kept in isolation. So sad. Michael, I absolutely love this video and the article. I never would've thought about the immune building experience. Now that you brought it to my attention, it really makes perfect sense. Seeing that baby Grey reminded me of when Ozzy was a couple months old. All parrots are so cute when they're babies. I love to watch them as they drink in the world around them. They sure do soak it up. Thanks again for your videos. I don't know how you do it. I know it takes time to make them, edit them, and post them. And that doesn't even count the time to write up the editorials. BTW, who's your camera man? Pretty great to have somebody available to go on outings with you to film the progress of your birds. Whoever it is does a great job.


Rrrma

Posted on August 4, 2010 03:10PM

I am totally jealous of people with good petshops! All we have is a small Petsmart. If I drive for an hour I get to a small petshop that carries about 5 birds at a time. I could drive for the 3 hours to the only Parrot shop in the state, but I'd rather order from their online store lol!

Shonta

Posted on August 5, 2010 02:00AM

It truly is pathetic Ginger. I really can't go into a Petco or Petsmart type of place. The conditions those birds are in is dismal at best. Breaks my heart. I wish I could rescue them all! The clerks don't know sh*t about proper bird care and they could care less. I think like adopting a kid it should be the same way with birds or any animal. Be committed and learn the right way for the poor thing that you are bringing home, especially birds who can live so long! We have an organization in N. Cali called Micaboo bird rescue. They have a website of birds that they've rescued. Some have such sad stories from people who didn't know what they were getting in to.


Nathaniel

Posted on August 5, 2010 02:29AM

I acually have a good petsmart, all the employees have pets and are knowledgable about them, the fish and birds and rodents are kept in good condition and it is a very clean diesease free enviorment. So.....


Rrrma

Posted on August 5, 2010 03:30AM

Yeah ours is pretty awesome on cleanliness and knowledge... it's just the lack of products that suck.


Nathaniel

Posted on August 5, 2010 03:59AM

I have two of them on the same plaza, so one usually has no animals but a huge selection of products and the other has an entire wall of fish( ), large adoption centers for dogs and cats, and a huge thing of birds, reptiles and rodents. All the birds are fairly socialized(I can hold almost any of them with no bites), the fish are all healthy, and so on, so on. I am pretty satisfied with my petsmarts. In fact I was suprized to hear so many complaints about other ones.


Rrrma

Posted on August 5, 2010 02:13PM

Jealous! I think it is probably because of where they are located. You know I hear people complain about Walmart all the time, but ours is always clean and nice and well stocked and the people are friendly and... I really think it has to do with where you live.


Nathaniel

Posted on August 5, 2010 06:28PM

Yeah. Our wal-mart has a subway and a mcdonalds right next to each other :lol:


Mr.Darcy

Posted on August 7, 2010 01:55AM

I hope you don't take this the wrong way but....The picture with your freezer full of bird food reminded me of the Tweety and Sylvester episode where Granny takes them to a cabin in the winter and they get snowed in and every cupboard and the fridge and freezer all had bird seed but no cat food!! you are too young to remember it I am sure. wink wink

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Trained Parrot is a blog about how to train tricks to all parrots and parakeets. Read about how I teach tricks to Truman the Brown Necked Cape Parrot including flight recall, shake, wave, nod, turn around, fetch, wings, and play dead. Learn how you can train tricks to your Parrot, Parrotlet, Parakeet, Lovebird, Cockatiel, Conure, African Grey, Amazon, Cockatoo or Macaw. This blog is better than books or DVDs because the information is real, live, and completely free of charge. If you want to know how to teach your parrot tricks then you will enjoy this free parrot training tutorial.
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