INTRO OF NEW FAMILY MEMBER

What a fantastic long weekend we had… it was so great that I only have time now to blog about it…

As most of you would know I really needed the time off to just relax a bit, and with the public holiday it was just fantastic… I tried for a couple of days more but unfortunately wasn’t that lucky to be able to get those days as well. Anyway it was still great.

So on Friday we got home and decided to braai with hubbies brother, his wife and their son, and we played a bit a pool, which was nice for a change. They didn’t really stay long as their son was playing club rugby the next morning and he obviously had to be rest out for that. Then Saturday we spend the day over at our friends, and as usual we played some dart and really had another really relaxing day. Then on Sunday hubby and I drove out for a while and were looking for an African grey, as hubby now again decided that he would really love to have a talking bird in the house. We really searched high and low, from the one bird farm to the next and we managed to find two different types, the red tail and the maroon tail, but hubby was still not satisfied so we had to continue looking. So Sunday eventually ended without a talking birdie at home. So on Monday (which was the public holiday) we drove out of town to a little store on the roadside that also have animals. It’s like a little pet shop… they have mice, birds, dogs, rabbits and all sorts of animals. So we stopped and looked at all the birdies they had.

Hubby then enquired about the Africa grey, but they only have little ones being taken from the parents next week, and then we would still have to feed them and honestly, nor me or hubby will be able to do that. It’s not going to be easy to try and feed the little ones at work, and I can’t really leave the birdie without food for the whole day. So we kept looking in the store. So they guy who works there (a real youngster) mentioned that they have another type of bird which can also talk and they are lovely as a pet. They are called Eclectus parrots, so we both went Huh… what? Anyway he then took us to a little glass room where he only had one little birdie sitting there. He explained that he has hand reared the little one and that the bird has just started to eat by himself. Both hubby and I just stood there, what a lovely bird. So as usual, we never carry money on us as it’s much safer and much easier to just buy with the debit card, but the store didn’t take cards. It at least gave hubby and me time to talk about the decision as the guy really didn’t give us any time to talk about our decision, and we prefer to make these types of decisions together.

Anyway so off we went to the nearest ATM which was about 10 min away from the store and 10 min back…. On our drive I “Google” and read as much about our little birdie and we decided that this birdie will definitely be a suitable pet for the both of us, and we returned to the store. On our arrival you could actually see that the guy was not expecting us back, but hey we returned with the money and ready to take our little pet home. He went into the room and clipped the wings for us, he then turned to one of the helpers and expressed how sad he was that the little one is leaving as he really loves the little one and he then handed our little pet over to us. Shame you could actually see how heartbroken this poor guy was to see the little bird go. So we quickly had to pack all the stuff, the cage and food, and we got in the car and started our trip back home. As we got home we went in the house, put our little new pet into his cage and introduced the two doggies to him, however Devonté didn’t want anything to do with this little new creature he was growling, licking the cage and sniffing, Uschcá really didn’t care at all, she walked in, sniffed and laid down close to where I was sitting… I suppose Devonté will still get use to him.

So people without further ado please meet our new member of our family – Whisky (hubby named him)

I thought I’ll ad a bit about this type of bird (information obtained from the web and books bought)

The Eclectus Parrot - They are stocky short-tailed parrots; it measures around 35 cm in length. The male is mostly bright green with a yellow-tinge on the head. It has blue primaries, and red flanks and under wing coverts. Its tail is edged with a narrow band of creamy yellow, and is dark grey edged with creamy yellow underneath, and the tail feathers are green centrally and more blue as they get towards the edges. The upper mandible of the adult male is orange at the base fading to a yellow towards the tip, and the lower mandible is black.

Unlike many other species of parrot they are relatively easy to breed yet difficult to hand feed. Eclectus in captivity require vegetables high in beta-carotene, such as lightly cooked sweet potato, fresh broccoli clumps, and fresh corn on the cob. Fresh greens such as endive or commercial dandelion are a very important in providing calcium and other nutrients. Spray millet is one of the seed items they enjoy, though the Eclectus diet should typically contain much less seed than other birds. A variety of soaked and cooked beans and legumes, along with brown rice, provided in limited amounts help provide protein. Nuts and seeds provide vitamin E, but should be limited in order to avoid too much fat in the diet, as Eclectus parrots can become obese.

The Eclectus are remarkable birds and ideally suited as a pet. When taught properly, they are capable of cognitive behavior from a very young age. The ability of the Eclectus to communicate with humans is a result of their extremely inquisitive nature, a feature strongly linked to their life in the rainforest canopy. This habitat is a rich environment requiring a heightened visual and audible intellect to master. When treated in a similarly caring and intelligent way they will quickly learn to communicate cognitively. Eclectus also prefer a calm environment and have a strong ability to notice changes within their normal surroundings. These highly intelligent birds are very animated and love to participate in daily activities and in doing so, will quickly become acquainted with a daily routine. Eclectus can be kept with other parrot species although it is extremely important that any new bird is introduced in the correct fashion. This involves providing one on one attention with the original bird and as much as possible, maintaining its normal daily routine.