Family Portraits

Trying to get a good picture of these babies is worse than trying to photograph children! They are constantly moving and my camera speed is too slow to catch the best shots! So I was happy to get this one with them all looking at me and no one moving to make the picture blurry! I included the second picture so you can tell which is which. I know it now, but from my other experiences where I thought so easy to tell I have learned that memory often fails me! Look at the size of #3's feet compared to his brother who is a week older! Their feet seem to grow the fastest of anything!

The responsibilities of caring for a parrot

I am so happy with this batch of babies! They have been so healthy from the start and have just thrived! I remember when Java and Kiwi hatched, I was a nervous wreck. I had raised so many baby cockatiels I cannot even count them, but never had I hand fed a baby parrot. And to make it even more complicated, I was taking these on from the day of hatching! I worried so that I would do something wrong. I remember dreaming one of the first nights that one of them was sick, and I was carrying the newborn baby parrot around, and he was the size of a chimpanzee in my arms! It does not take a psychologist to see that the weight and enormity of the responsibility was getting to me! But with each batch that I have raised, I have learned so much and with each batch gained confidence so that I can enjoy them more!

What always weighs on my heart though, is the responsibility that bringing these birds into the world places on me to find them good homes. My son, Ryan, raised hamsters for a time when he was in 4-H. We carefully selected our breeding pairs using offspring of a many year breeding plan my brother had started. We put weeks into handling them, making sure they were tame and well socialized so they could become good pets. When it was time to find them homes, I agonized over each and every one of them. But there is no comparison in my mind between the responsibility of owning a hamster vs the responsibility of owning a parrot.

Parrots are one of the most intelligent animals on the planet. That alone makes having one in your home a real responsibility to make sure that their minds are engaged and that they are well adjusted. Combine that with the fact that parrots are challenging pets, and definitely not a pet for just anyone, then add the fact that they can live for 65-80 years, or longer. You want them to have a life where they are loved and appreciated for the long haul! One batch a year is enough for me! I have been relieved that with this number we can give each of these babies the start in life that will help to ensure they make excellent pets and live happily ever after!

#3 has his 3 week old birthday!

Even though he is a week younger than the other two, this little guy holds his own with them very well. I wonder if he will be more precocious for having to follow the footsteps of a baby so much older than himself. He definitely watches and attempts to copy what he sees his older siblings doing!

Happy Birthday #1! One month old today

It is the oldest baby's one month birthday today. I am continually amazed to see the growth and changes that these babies go through in such a short amount of time. Their intelligence and inquisitiveness reminds me so much of a human baby. They seem to take the same pleasure in their accomplishments. When one is working hard to stand fully upright and they manage to make it, I take joy with them, and they do seem to respond and appreciate the recognition. I believe this lays the groundwork for later training and hopefully give them a greater understanding of the parntership in which they find themselves.

The babies are becoming cuter every day with the covering of soft gray downy feathers! They love to be held and are very happy snuggled up under my chin. I have found that three babies are much harder to hold safely than two, which creates a problem in holding them. So what I have been doing is bringing their basket over to the sofa and then sitting and holding them while watching TV. They snuggle up under a warm blanket and gently nuzzle my chin. They are so gentle with their beaks! I feel this time of just holding them is so important to their emotional development, having taken them from their mother who would have been with them this way.