African Grey Breeders – Know How To Choose Them!
If you are reading this article then chances are that you are looking for African grey breeders.
Pet venturing can be quite a wonderful task, but at the same time one needs to take extra caution in knowing how their birds were raised by their breeders. Starting out into the world of birds can be a lot of excitement and fun, but all this starts with a good breeder.
Choosing reputable African grey breeders is more than just the price tag. It’s all about buying these birds from someone who has raised these birds in a healthy condition. This is extremely important when you bring home a pet because this determines the future health of your parrot. An African gray parrot can live more than 60 years and it is no simple commitment that you are about to make.
Here are some pointers on how to choose African grey breeders to find your parrot pet:
Locate: locating a breeder is usually not very difficult, especially with the Internet always handy. Nevertheless, you can start with your local newspaper or even a television advertisement.
Interview: once you have located African gray breeders, it is important to do a one-on-one interaction with your breeder about the breeding practices maintained for parrots.
- It is vital to know all information about the parrot you are bringing home in respect to their eating habits, behavioral pattern, sleeping pattern, adaptation patience, aggression level and training complexity.
- You can also ask your breeder on how long have they been breeding and working with the species that you are interested. This will show their experience in this arena.
- If you find someone who is looking out for some quick bucks, it is likely that they have not raised the parrot properly and the parrot is bound to become sick in a few months. Parrots can be very expensive to buy so you do not want your pet to end their life in a matter of six months.
Clean cages: when you go to see birds, look for clean cages. If you see a dirty cage it is a red sign of the bad quality of the breeder. This also shows that the bird is not raised in clean conditions and that increases the risk of many diseases.
Food: ask your breeder on the type of food they feed their African grey parrots. A good breeder will give their birds a variety of treats and foods to keep the bird healthy as well as motivated. Do not choose African grey breeders who just serve their bird seeds and pellets.
Price: always comes last when you are about to close the deal. Always remember that good things do not come cheap, but there is always a space for negotiation when it comes to selling and buying anything. It is okay to pay a little higher if you think African grey breeders that you have selected are worth it.
Yellow Naped Amazon Parrot
- Image via Wikipedia
If you want a parrot with great intelligence, funny personality, impressive talking capability and awesome singing ability, then it has to be a yellow naped amazon parrot. In their own habitat these parrots can be found in Central America, along the Pacific slope, North Western Costa Rica and Southern Mexico. Deforestation today has reduced the number of these parrots in the wild, yet their stunning personality has attracted it towards a lot of pet trade.
Description:
A yellow naped amazon parrot usually weighs around 480 to 680 grams. They usually come in a size of 35 cm. The most noticeable feature of these parrots is their green forehead with a yellow band across their lower nape. Some parrots develop a lot more yellow on them than others do, while others do not have any yellow feathers at all. These yellow feathers appear with maturity and can also be found at the back of the neck. They usually have pretty feet and dark grey beak with a lighter upper.
Food:
Yellow naped amazon parrots have a very natural and simple diet of fruits, beans, berries, seeds and nuts. It is important to mix and match these combinations in their diet so that they can keep themselves entertained and attracted towards their food.
Personality:
Yellow naped amazon parrot is loved for their yellow and stunning green color along with lovely intelligence and clown personality. They can be quite impressive when they start to talk. What’s more? They can sing too! They can also imitate human voices and have a great sense of voice pitch.
An Amazon parrot can live for 60 years or even longer, provided that you take care of them really well. There are several striking mutations available in many parts of the world with the most beautiful being the Blue Mutation.
Training:
A yellow naped amazon parrot needs excessive training as they are subject to excessive biting, chewing or even making noises during certain stages in their lives. Even a young bird which has not been neglected requires proper care and guidance which makes it very challenging for the owner.
Some of the challenges that an owner needs to undertake while training these parrots are:
- Extreme Chewing: these parrots are habituated to keep their beaks sharp by digging their beaks into tree hollows. However, once they are taken in as pets, they become highly undisciplined, if care is not taken and will chew on anything possible. You can also expect them to chew on electric wire and cause a fire so they can’t be left around the house unattended. To counteract this chewing habit make sure that they have some rough branches in their cage at all times for their beak sharpening.
- Excessive biting: you can expect a lot of biting from these parrots due to hormonal changes. It is really important to understand them and guide them through this undesired behavior.
- Aggression: you can also expect these birds to have hormonal aggression phase. This aggression usually appears between 5 to 12 years of their life. Fortunately, once they pass through this stage, they generally settle down and show no signs of aggression.
To conclude, these birds are really attentive and responsive while training and this is why a lot of people love to own a yellow naped amazon parrot. These parrots have a fantastic sense of humor and their human imitation can surely cheer up the whole house.
Information On Eclectus Birds
- Image via Wikipedia
Eclectus birds give you the most inspirational experience if you are a dedicated owner. These birds are known for their mellow temperament and also for their unparalleled beauty. These birds have a very laid-back character that makes them a favorite of every family and you hardly ever see these parrots getting furious or misbehaving.
Eclectus birds are known for their extraordinary talent to master any mimicry. Although they do not make strong bonds with their pair they love to seek human attention and might get a bit noisy sometimes.
Although these parrots are scientifically known as Eclectus roratus, an Eclectus parrot is known by various other names which might depend upon the species it belongs to. The various names of such kinds of Eclectus birds are:
- Blue Bellied
- Yellow Sided
- Red Sided
- Solomon Island
- Vosmaeri
How big do they grow?
These parrots are basically from Solomon Islands and New Guinea and Australia. An adult parrot may reach to about approximately 18 to 20 inches when measured from their beak to tail and can cost you around $500 to 3000 US. Interestingly, the female parrot is more expensive than the male because female parrots are more colorful and have more gentle temperaments than the male parrot.
How do you differentiate their sexes?
Eclectus bird sexes can be differentiated by their color as they are sexually dimorphic birds. If you see a bright green color on the head of these birds, along with the yellow green blended wing covert, then you can ascertain that it is a male parrot. These male parrots furthermore have red patches under their wings and around the breast area. The tail will be almost black with a yellow tip. The iris will be of dark orange and the beak may have a black color at its lower base.
A female bird can be identified when you see them having rich red color on their breast as well as head. They have deep red wings with a dull blue and purple belly. The tale can be identified with an orange tip along with a blue ring that surrounds their eyes.
How about their temperament?
These birds are highly intelligent species with a very passionate personality. They love the companionship of humans and enjoy socializing with people. If you would like to keep an Eclectus parrot along with other birds, then this is definitely possible.
However, you must be tentative, as you might encounter some kind of jealous tendencies. These birds are far quieter when compared to an African grey parrot.
Eclectus birds might need the biggest cage as they need a lot of space for their housing requirements and mostly consume a diet consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables.
These parrots are highly intelligent with a charming personality and can be quite impressive with their ability to talk and become passionate pets. They love to interact with every member of the family making them quite sensitive in nature.
