Okie dokie, I am gonna tell you what I think. I always do.

 

You have already chosen your baby bird, but you don't realize it yet. The 7 month old IS your bird. He loves you. No one else can do what you have for him. You even said your heart tells you to get him.

The missing feathers still worry me, so to me a vet visit is an absolute must. But it is a must with the breeder's baby, too. You need to get tests done, on record for future use, so your vet has a starting point if he ever does have an illness. Baseline bloodwork, etc. You cannot know what disease the breeder has in her facility. The stress of moving any bird from one place (the breeder) to our homes can cause birds to begin to show illnesses that were pretty well hidden before.

Another thing we all need to do is start saving up money for an emergency for all our birds. Vet visits are so expensive and some demand payment at the time of the service. You don't want to have to hunt during an emergency for a vet who will do his job on credit. Folks often don't pay their doctors' and vets' bills, so times have changed and many won't see you unless they know up front you have the cash..

When buying any bird, there will be expenses you never dreamed about. Vet visit, a good heavy duty safe cage, foods, toys, veggies every single day, and so on. It is an expensive pet, much more so than a pup or kitty.

I sound like I am trying to scare you. I am certainly not, but I got a shock when I got my first bird many years ago. I had no idea how much everything cost to just get ready for the bird.

Blessings. I hope you can make that hard decision and be so happy with what you have done.

I can hardly wait to hear your decision.

Annie

 

I am sorry you did not like my answer. It was not put here to be mean but as a true response to her questioon as I see it. My credentials-limited though they are --to answer it came fro)m what I do. I wean and socialize ekkies for a breeder-in fairly large numbers-8 just since Christmas that I have placed. We consider them babies up to 8 months-then juveniles until a year. We know most of the problems with young ekkies arise between 4-and 6 months(probably the"real" reason this guy is back in a pet store. Even the sweetest of the sweet start to beak and test the strength of their beak--for an inexperienced person this is a bad time. They tend to take it personally when it is nothing more than a bird being a bird. And ekkies have beaks like razor blades-it hurts!

Vet checks-ours are--and we still insist the birds be taken to a vet-do you keep your dogs away from a vet until they need one? The bird has to to know a vet and the vet needs to know the bird-otherwise they have nothing to base appearance, weight or personality changes on. Looking for an avian vet during an emergency is not an easy thing to find. And as I said-some diseases and vitamin difficiencies are only seen in very young birds.

And on top of that-for credentils-I am owned by forty birds--and I work in a pet retailer, wholesaler.

It was an honest answer based on experiance really-and with 4 cats and 3 dogs in the house-I know you can't ever compare any of them. Because birds are a whole different ballgame.

Katz

 

 

As an assistant manager I deleted a previous message as I considered it a personal attack and it will not be tolerated on this board.   Should that kind of thing continue, any person involved will be banned. di

Okay Di-I just answered the question-is that a bona fided concern. My answer was no. If that could be construed as an attack anyone with anything personal you hold against them is in trouble here.

Katz

Your answer was not the attack,it was challenging someone to delete it..that is attacking someone.  Warning #2.

 

You answer and your opinion on birds and their care is always welcome and sought after here as you do have so much to offer and so much experience to draw on.  All of us appreciate that, I'm sure.  I know I do..  di

kkr, I've been thinking about this alot and I have a bit of a different view on the bird you want. 

I wanted and African grey for over 20 yrs.  It wasn't necessarily the talking thing that drew me to the greys, but the size and the elegance and the fact they didn't seem to have such a threateningly large beak as some of the other birds.  I wasn't really aware that they were such outstanding talkers until shortly before I got Twiggy 5 years ago.

 

My feeling about the bird you get is that ultimately, whatever we say, it will be up to you to decide and you have to follow your heart. 

 

Many people who are away from home 8 to 10 hours a day  have birds   Luckily, I have a home-based business and am able to be with my two African greys 24/7.  I'm not sure mine are anymore well adjusted or happier than anyone else's birds, but they are very dependent on us being together most of the time as a family/flock.

 

If you really want a bbird that speaks, go for it!  I would recommend that you purchase an older bird that is already talking.  That way, you are assured of getting what you really want.  Don't settle for something you will never be happy with.

 

di

kkr,

I yhink I have mentioned this once all ready but you might want to check out a shelter or in the paper for an older bird. Many birds from shelters don't have any problems, but are there because the owner died or in the casr of the one 7 month old bird, there is an allergy or something.

 

Almost half of my birds have had previous homes and have worked out wondefully well. and you would know if was a talker which seesm to be of such importance to you. Nan

 

Thanks so much for all your comments today.  I went to visit the 7 mo. old.  It was a strange experience.  He was in a TERRIBLE mood.  The shop owner had moved his cage to the other side of the room. . . in fact, most of the birds had been moved around.  And he was wet on one side. . . she had sprayed him.  She also greeted me when I walked in the shop with "If you don't want him, I've got someone who does."  I don't know. . . I was ready to put a deposit on him today. . . I got him out. . . and  he proceeded to bite the you-know-what out of me for almost the entire time he was out.  I do not blame him for this. . . apparently he had a lot of people handling him yesterday - potential owners, I guess.   And she had moved his cage and sprayed him, so his little world had been quite shaken up I would imagine.

 

I went in there prepared to tell her I'd come back and get him when the shop reopens on Tuesday.  I already have the vet appt set up, but I couldn't make the decision.  I told her if someone else wanted him, for her to let him go. . . if he's still there on Tuesday or Wednesday, maybe he really is meant to be mine.  I believe that everything happens for a reason. . . maybe him misbehaving today was someone trying to tell me that he really isn't the one for me. . . he may need to go to a home with more experience dealing with birds than I have.

 

Like I said, I really don't blame him for what happened today.  His world had been shaken up and he's not in the ideal situation right now. . . with many people handling him, etc.  I'm going to think about it and ask for guidance about it and we'll see where things stand on Tuesday.  It breaks my heart, but. . . like I said, everything happens for a reason.

Kkr, this is not to change your mind. Just a comment on what you experienced today. He acted like a bird. They all will. Every last one of them. You will someday be kissing and hugging on your bird and your lip will be pierced. Happens to all of us. Your ear will also get pierced if you allow him on your shoulder. Your thumb will be cut for no apparent reason at all. He's a bird. Birds bite.

I do agree that all that commotion probably set him off, but moving him across the room in your own home can do the very same thing.

I didn't touch my African grey for his first three years with me without getting a nip or a genuine bite. Like to drove me nuts, but we both eventually got thru it and he calmed down a lot. He still gets touchy and sometimes bites hard, but I can read his body language pretty well after almost 13 years. That really helps so you can avoid some of the bites. You will learn, too.

Annie

I have 6 birds and only 2 of them were babies when I got them.  The others have had multiple homes.  It still brings me to tears when my little LC amazon loves on me since he has never trusted anyone.  I know he will never talk like some of the rest but he is my little angel that needed me and he humbles me with his trust in me.  I also have 2 CAGs that are 2nd hand birds and Sugar and Spice have been total loves of my life.  They both talk up a storm and like everyone says every once in a while they get cranky and try to bite BUT so do the ones that we hand fed. I don't mean to sound unkind but I get nervous about anyone owning a parrot that is afraid of it biting them.  There are sooooo many parrots out there that had owners that didn't know that birds bite and as a result they had the only world they knew turned upside down.  If you have any doubts my opinion is that you don't get a bird at all unless you are sure that you want this bird forever.  I hope I don't sound mean or negative I just think buying-adopting an animal should be a lifetime thing.   Margo