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jamaio
Just hatched
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 28
Location: New Orleans, La |
| Sam's Story |
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I will start with how I got my passion for birds. When I was about 5 my grandmothers neighbor had a large Macaw named Polly. She was on a second floor balcony 2 houses away. We couldn't see Polly but we would talk to her when we went into the back yard. We were fascinated by the fact that she would always answer us back.
I always wanted a large parrot but thought of them as messy and noisy. I have had friends with Macaws and Cockatoos and both were always in their cages, no one could go near them for fear that they would be eaten alive... ok maybe just bitten.
Then a friend of mine had Rosy. Rosy was cage bound as well and very mean or so I was lead to believe. After hurricane Katrina my friend could no longer keep Rosy so I took her in. She soon became a sweetheart. My love for birds grew. I now wanted a larger parrot that talked so I got Congo. Congo is a great bird but still too young to talk.
I injured myself at work and have been out of work now for 3 months. In my spare time, which I have alot of now, I started to visit my local bird store. That is where I came across Lucky. He was left at the bird store by his owner and needed a good home. Well I wanted a talking bird and he talked so he came home with me. It wasn't enough to satisfy my want for a talking bird.
The bird store has a Yellow-Naped Amazon as their mascot named Antoine. I asked if he was for sale and of course they said no. Then someone brought in a female YNA named Cisco to sell. She was a nice bird... to some people, she hated men. I tried my hardest to get her to like me to no avail. I had just decided that I really wanted her and I would make her like me and a woman came in and bought her. I had the chance to have a great talking bird and I let it slip through my fingers. I started looking though the Sunday paper with no luck, then I started visiting the bird store even more.
Thats when I found Sam. I had stopped at the bird store to have a look around and saw him. I just knew I had to have him. I told the lady I would be back to get him later that day. When I returned to the bird store the lady told me someone was on their way to buy Sam. I told her I had already claimed him and he was going home with me. I wasn't going to let him get away like Cisco did. She called the man that was on his way and told him Sam was sold and he was mad because he was driving in from 2 hours away and was almost there.
Sam is 12 years old. I am told he has a large vocabulary but he doesn't say much yet. I have had him since 01/24/06 so he is still settling in. He came with his cage and all accessories. His previous owner bought him for his wife and Sam never liked her. He would climb to the floor from his cage and chase her across the room. After three years of this they decided to sell him.
Sam is friendly to most people but some people he just does not like. He can be nippy at times but he never bites hard. I have found that Sam prefers women and he has nipped me when I tried to take him from a lady that was holding him.
Sam had a smell and he was very dusty when I got him, he looked like he didn't have a shower in years. Now he loves to take showers, he smells better and he looks better too.
He has learned a few tricks in the short time I have had him and loves to preform for a crowd. He is a wonderful companion and I am glad to have him in my flock. For now my flock is complete... at least until I get some more money.
John |
Thursday April 13, 2006 3:18 am |
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Sue
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 10102
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What a story!  I also enjoyed looking at the photos.. Especially the last, what a caption! |
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Thursday April 13, 2006 6:47 pm |
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Chaquita's Mom
Experienced flier
Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 1028
Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
What a beauty! Welcome to fluffies jamaio! He looks just like Chaquita  I think it's funny how birds look almost exactly the same  Same species anyway. Chaquita is about 27 years old now and I got her last summer. It's been great! She's learned a few new words but with older birds, it take longer for them to learn. Repeat words or phrases throughout your day, daily. Greys are the best talkers out there! They can mimic just about any sound you can toss them. Amazon's are probably second best. But you have to understand that it can take months to learn just one word or phrase. Younger birds are quicker learners.
Just out of curiosity, what do you feed your birds? What kinds of foods do you offer them? Is your greys wings clipped too? How much out of cage time do they get? Also, how much research did you do on the two breeds that you got? Sorry, am I being too personal  |
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Friday April 14, 2006 7:40 pm |
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jamaio
Just hatched
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 28
Location: New Orleans, La |
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quote:
Originally posted by Chaquita's Mom
Just out of curiosity, what do you feed your birds? What kinds of foods do you offer them? Is your greys wings clipped too? How much out of cage time do they get? Also, how much research did you do on the two breeds that you got? Sorry, am I being too personal
To answer your questions:
All of my birds get a base of seed mix that has dried fruits and veggies. I also give them fresh veggies daily and fruits and nuts as snacks. The also get Avi-cakes and other assorted treats. Sam and Congo always get a taste of what I am having for dinner.
All of my birds wings are clipped. Sam was clipped when I got him and I think the guy did it him self by the look of his clip.
I have been out of work since Dec. 9, 05 with a shoulder injury so I am home most of the day. All my birds are out when I am home. I will be out of work until september and I will ween them of their time out of their cages before I go back to work.
Rosy came with a book on Cockatiels which I read, I also did alot of research online after I got her. As for the others I did 4 months of research before I got Congo and I looked into all kinds of birds. I have read several books on parrots and behavior. I am an information junkie. I belong to over 20 online forums. I own a forum on Amazons and I spend most of the day reading about birds.
I did not get Sam just to have a talking bird, I love all my birds and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.
John |
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Friday April 14, 2006 10:38 pm |
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Chaquita's Mom
Experienced flier
Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 1028
Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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I'm glad to hear all I didn't mean to sound so nosey, but sometimes we get people on here that want to have a bird for senseless reasons, have NO IDEA what they're in for, are totally clueless on how to be a parront and the bird suffers for it in the end  I am very pleased to learn that you did a lot of research on your breeds. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being an info junkie Some of us have had birds for many years and still are learning new things 
I'm glad you came to join fluffies and we all look forward to upcoming adventures and pictures
There is one little thing I want to mention. Do your birds get any kind of pelleted food? You know, the different shapes and sizes and sometimes colored kinda food? You probably do, but, they should get 3/4 pelleted food and 1/4 seeds. Amazon's, especially, are prone to obeisety (spelling  ) and can suffer from a fatty liver disease amongst other problems. Be sure, with all your birds, you watch their salt and sugar intake. Avoid regularly feeding canned food. Use fresh or frozen. Canned foods are very high in salt and sugar. I hope you find this useful information as sometimes research doesn't specify that.
Take care and most of all, HAVE FUN!! |
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Saturday April 15, 2006 7:18 pm |
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jamaio
Just hatched
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 28
Location: New Orleans, La |
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Thanks Chaquita'sMom. I personally don't like pellets. My Amazon was on a pellet only diet when I got him and his coloring was bad, he had an awful smell and he wasn't active at all. Since I have had him he takes regular baths and his coloring looks 100% better. My avian vet. approved the diet I am using and I monitor my birds weight on a daily basis.
Here is the ingredients of the seed mix I use: safflower seed, whole wheat, oat groats, buckwheat, white proso millet, small yellow corn, banana chips, peanuts (shelled), red proso millet, kibbled corn, small crack corn, carrot dices, cantaloupe seed, cucumber seed, white pumpkin seed, vitamized oat groats, dehydrated green peas, pineapple dices, papaya dices, peppers, pinenuts, orange oil (vitamin c used as a natural preservative)
I have done alot of research on pellets and have found that most contain soy products which are bad for birds. Here is an article on soy.
http://www.nexusmagazine.com/a.....ngers.html
here is another article on a natural diet.
http://www.avesint.com/phyto.html |
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Saturday April 15, 2006 10:16 pm |
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Chaquita's Mom
Experienced flier
Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 1028
Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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Regular bathing can make feathers look 100% better. Maybe his previous owner didn't bathe him often causing him to be stinky too. His activity level was probably due to lack of interaction and boredom. Pelleted diets are highly recommended by most avian vets. People who own birds don't have access to their natural diet of exotic fruits and berries, bark, roots and greens amongst other things. Nuts and seeds should be given sparingly or as treats as they have low nutritional value. Fresh fruits and veggies daily, not canned. Scrambled eggs are good too and high in protein, given on occasion. Pellets have a complete and balanced mix for each breed. Developed by nutritional experts at avian research centers. A good healthy diet should consist of 3/4 pellet and 1/4 seed, nut, dried fruit and veggie mix. Fresh fruits and veggies daily. With a mostly seed and nut diet with your amazon, he could suffer from a variety of fatty diseases and nutrition deprivation. Pellets don't consist of only soy. It is an ingredient but not the only ingredient. Soy is good but not as a sole diet. Too much of any good thing isn't good. If you lived off of fruits and veggies, you'd suffer from other vitamin and mineral deficiencies because of the lack of.
Maybe research you avian recommended diet and search the pelleted diet. Birds are living above and beyond their life expectancy due to this healthy pelleted diet in captivity. Someone somewhere is doing something right |
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Monday April 17, 2006 6:26 pm |
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jamaio
Just hatched
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 28
Location: New Orleans, La |
Any amount of soy is bad and every pellet brand I have looked at has soy. I will stick to what my Avian Vet. has told me and what my research has found. |
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Monday April 17, 2006 8:26 pm |
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Cheeta
Moderator
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 7972
Location: Australia |
soy is bad?!?!?!? Huh?!?!?! |
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Monday April 17, 2006 8:54 pm |
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Chaquita's Mom
Experienced flier
Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 1028
Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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Cheeta, there's always going to be a sceptic out there. We can't dwell on that 1 out of 100 vets. There is still the other 99 vets that say the pelleted diet over the seed diet is healthier. Just in the last 20 years, very small amount of time if you think about it, researchers have learned and are still learning that pellets over seed greatly increases the life expectancy of your bird. I actually read this parrot book that was dated from the 80's and said that amazon's live around 30 years  This book also mentioned feeding your bird a diet of seeds and nuts and fruit! Yeah, we all know fresh fruit is very healthy in every birds diet. But, if you feed only fruit, you won't have a healthy bird. We also know that seeds are high in fat with little nutritional value, that's why we only give them as treats. Having too many seeds mixed into their pelleted diet is like eating more junk food than healthy food because we know that those seeds are the first thing that goes in that food dish and that's why we need to put a limit on the seeds. If soy is so toxic to our fids then why are they living the long lives that they live? They are healthy, happy and beautiful A nutritianally deprived bird eating toxic food is not going to be happy, healthy and beautiful with minimal vet visits. How many of us have actually taken our fids to the vet because of some kind of sickness other than getting a toe stuck, a broken blood feather, a flight injury, etc..... All of which were accidents and not major health concerns. We also know that there ARE bird diseases out there that can make our fids sick, it doesn't mean that we caused it from what we feed them. Humans have diseases too that we have no clue what causes them, it doesn't mean we didn't eat right.
Sorry for rambling But if I get onto a topic where there is one sceptic I can go on and on  I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from |
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Tuesday April 18, 2006 4:56 pm |
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jamaio
Just hatched
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 28
Location: New Orleans, La |
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This was taken from an article on Parrot Parrot.
quote:
Pellet Information
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This list is based solely on personal experience and does not imply that one brand is superior to another in quality. To much reliance on pellets as a food source has been reported to cause liver and kidney problems and intestinal blockage. Use common sense. Birds don't eat pellets in the wild so don't make it their primary source of food. A well-balanced diet of fresh vegetables, whole grains, sprouted beans and seeds is best, with pellets and seed mixes as supplements to add protein and "fun" to the diet.
My birds are all healthy and none of them eat pellets. There are birds that are documented to be 70 years of age and older, pellets have not been around for 70 years so what did these birds eat that allowed them to live for so long hmmmm...... must have been seed and fruit and veggies.
You need to do more research on pellets and you should read the article that I posted earlier on soy. I can see why this forum is not popular with the way yall treat new members. You have attacked everything I have done.
Pellets are processed, processed food loses its nutritional value and contains un-natural ingredients that WILL be harmfull to your birds. |
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Tuesday April 18, 2006 5:31 pm |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
I have heard both good & bad about pellet diets, as well as seed diets. I guess in the end, a varied diet, including lots of fresh fruits & especially veggies is best.
Same way with when I was raising my kids, I did what I thought was best & did the best I could with the info I had. |
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Tuesday April 18, 2006 6:01 pm |
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shirin
Moderator
Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 7405
Location: Canada, Toronto |
Most dried fruits contain sulfur dioxide which can cause allergies, itching, skin irritation, and feather plucking. If you're really that keen on giving your parrots an all natural unprocessed diet, I don't think dried fruits is the way to go |
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Tuesday April 18, 2006 7:11 pm |
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jamaio
Just hatched
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 28
Location: New Orleans, La |
shirin, if you do research on organic foods you will find that they use things like copper to aid in growth of plants. Copper and other heavy metals are bad for birds and humans.
I have done alot of research on diet and I am using what I have found to be the best diet for my birds, if someone can show me in print that what I am doing is wrong then I will consider it.
I am even careful in what fruit I buy because for example grapes from Chile are loaded with pesticides. I use more root type veggies because there is a lower occurrence of residual pesticides. |
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Tuesday April 18, 2006 11:53 pm |
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jamaio
Just hatched
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 28
Location: New Orleans, La |
quote:
Originally posted by Cheeta
soy is bad?!?!?!? Huh?!?!?!
Read this article:
http://www.nexusmagazine.com/a.....ngers.html
quote:
Originally posted by Chaquita's Mom
Cheeta, there's always going to be a sceptic out there. We can't dwell on that 1 out of 100 vets. There is still the other 99 vets that say the pelleted diet over the seed diet is healthier. Just in the last 20 years, very small amount of time if you think about it, researchers have learned and are still learning that pellets over seed greatly increases the life expectancy of your bird.
I doubt that you have see 100 Avian vets to get their opinion. I have provided some articles to back up what I have posted and I have seen nothing to back what anyone else has posted.
If you have facts to back up what you say lets see them otherwise shut up. |
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Wednesday April 19, 2006 1:03 am |
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