Aubrie's Animals

Sep-Oct Red Sun Cuddle Bugs

2011-10-15T21:16:00.004-04:00

Our family has been traveling the states to raise money to go to Colombia as missionaries, you can learn more about that at BeMagnified.org (you can even support us!). We have a friend who watches Sunkiss and Pyro while we go on big trips and we were able to bring Sunkiss and Pyro back home for a few weeks, but without their large cage. So, we made a little play area on a six foot table for them. They seem to like it really well, I wish there was more of it in the picture. It has been a joy to have our parrots with us again, we love our cuddly little conures :)

2011-09-01T13:54:00.003-04:00

http://theparrotuniversity.com/clip.php

http://theparrotuniversity.com/flight.php

Thinking on the Wing
by Steve Hartman 2007 / The Parrot University

At the first hint of danger a bird normally takes to flight. During the hundreds of defensive short flights, flighted birds take each day, they are quickly assessing potential dangers and deciding if they need to keep flying to avoid a real danger. These short flights require immediate and appropriate decision making abilities. We call this process 'Thinking on the Wing'.

The Parrot University has spent 20 years researching what makes a parrot �a parrot�. Our 20 year flighted parrot experience includes over 800 flock oriented pet parrots, and over 4,000 flighted baby parrots from more than 50 species. Cumulatively this amounts to over 7,000 bird years of hands on experience. As a result we have found the number one characteristic that defines a �parrot� is its ability to fly. Flight is fundamental to every component of a parrot's mind and body.

Learning to fly well is the most complicated and important task a parrot can learn. Flighted parrots are healthier, more active, more coordinated, and have much better vision. Flying promotes higher intelligence, self-confidence, self-esteem and ultimately makes a more social long-term companion.

Can a parrot, designed by nature for millions of years, be truly mentally and physically healthy without flight?

Serious preparation for flight for the average parrot begins at about three or four weeks old.

Neuropathway development in the coordination centre (cerebellum) of the very young parrot is the first step in preparation for flight. This process begins the first time the baby starts to move around in the nest and is substantially complete by six months. Every new type of physical activity programs more neuropathways in the cerebellum.

The cerebellum, which is at the bottom of the back of the brain, stores the program for coordination and ultimately supplies motor skills for flight. Neuropathways are the brain's electrical connections that allow information to be transferred throughout the body.

Since more experiences and activities lead to better motor coordination by creating more neuropathways, it makes sense that learning to fly adds an incredible number of neuropathways in the cerebellum.

Babies learn best when multiple senses are stimulated simultaneously (i.e.; sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell). The best opportunity for a parrot to learn is when a combination of senses are experienced at the same time. The senses of sight, sound and touch take on a very different nature during flight. When a particular skill is being developed or experienced by different senses at the same time a different neuropathway is reinforced for each sense creating a much stronger neurocircuitry for that skill or knowledge being learned. Flying offers a greater variety of situations that parrots need to utilize for optimal mental and eventual social development.

The parrot brain develops on a pre-determined schedule that has been 'finely-tuned' by evolution for millions of years. Each one of the senses, as well as mental and physical skills develop over a period of time, but not at the same time. Some of the development phases are symbiotic, meaning they need information being developed in another area of the brain for their own optimal development. For example, vision develops best when the baby can move around and see things from different angles and distances. Conversely, coordination develops best when the visual cortex can provide information on distance and perspective. Without this symbiotic relationship of vision and coordination, it is difficult to develop three-dimensional vision.

Two of many important brain functions required for flight are coordination and vision.

Coordination and vision develop in different parts of the brain, but are essential for the other's optimal development and critical for flight skills.

Coordination develops in the cerebellum at the back of the brain as the baby moves around and repeatedly tries new and progressively more complicated activities. The parrot's visual cortex, which is quite different from ours, connects with virtually every part of the avian brain. A baby's vision, at hatching, is a jumble of blurred shades, shapes and movements. The baby has the basic program to recognize these light rays entering his eyes, but needs to learn how to interpret the basic images so they can be directed to the appropriate part of the brain for interpretation.

Motor skills and vision are in some ways so integral to each other that it is difficult to separate the two. As a baby flies towards a tree, he will begin to associate the visual changes with the closing of the distance between him and the object. As his motor skills develop, he will begin to anticipate an impending crash and learn how to slow down. The faster he flies, the faster the visual ability needs to be and the faster the brain learns to process the information, and the faster he will be able to fly. Teaching the brain to process information faster and on higher levels, promotes faster decision-making and fewer mistakes in all areas of mental, physical and social competence. This combination of skills is significantly more important in parrots since they are a prey species and constantly need to be ready to 'think on the wing'.

Compensating Networks

Now that we understand how important symbiotic neuropathway develop is, we can look at how other areas of development and personality are affected when normal brain development is interrupted.

When the brain is not able to process information fast enough it creates 'compensating, networks'. Compensating networks develop to make quick decisions when education and experience are not sufficient to quickly produce an educated decision.

Basically, when a situation calls for a quick decision, there are usually several variables that need to be considered. Highly functioning individuals quickly analyze every variable and make an educated decision. Lower functioning individuals often use compensating networks to jump to conclusions when they cannot think fast enough. This often occurs for two reasons: the bird wants to bypass a frustration situation, or for defence reasons does not have the time to work on the problem.

'Applied Learning' is the ability to utilize accumulated knowledge to figure out new situations. This ability only occurs after the birds' brain meets a minimum threshold of learning. Low functioning individuals that are unable to 'think on the wing' often use compensating networks. One of the most common is the 'bite first ask later' 'compensating manoeuvre'.

Six main areas where flight is important to a parrot

Sight

The pea sized visual cortex in a human is very tiny compared to the size of our brain. Our visual cortex is comparable to a warehouse that collects visual inputs, sorts them, and then distributes them to be processed in appropriate parts of the brain. A parrot's visual cortex is huge as compared with the birds' brain, and works more like a drop shipping distribution centre than a warehouse. Multiple major visual neuro connections throughout the parrots brain continually sorts and redirects information without the delay of sitting around in a warehouse. This significant dedication of brain power to vision is necessary because as a prey animal, on many predators lunch menus, parrots need to respond to visual stimulus much quicker than humans.

Information received through the eyes travels over many different neuro-highways to many different parts of the brain simultaneously. The more these pathways are used and reinforced through experience the quicker the overall response to visual stimulus will be.

Proper response to visual stimulus should take as little as a few thousands of a second, but the process is delayed when 'compensatory networks' intervene and may take several seconds to sort out, or process.

Parrots with poor visual skills take longer to assess visual stimulus which may cause the bird to need to react aggressively until the information is processed. For instance, a new person entering the room or someone reaching out to touch may provoke 'a bite first ask later' response while the circumstances are being processed.

Flying birds quickly learn to process visual inputs faster as they develop and reinforce new and improved pathways for routing visual stimulus at high speeds in a three dimensional manner. This educational process cannot take place without flight.

Defense

A parrot's primary means of defense is flight. Any time a parrot even suspects danger he takes to flight while sorting out the facts (Thinking on the wing). Parrots fly away so freely and readily that they rarely feel scared in the wild.

Feeling threatened or concerned, and being scared are two distinctly different emotions. As humans we can feel threatened by standing in the middle of a highway; however we need not be scared since we can easily walk to the side of the road to avoid danger. This is how parrots experience threats. They can easily fly away and rarely ever feel scared. Because they can be someone's lunch at any time, they become VERY scared when they cannot immediately avoid threatening situations. Flightless parrots quickly loose the ability to choose between flight or fight (flight or bite in a parrot's world). When a parrot cannot remove himself from a threatening situation, he will default to the second line of defense; BITE. Parrots with no ability to escape danger, or even perceived danger, become paranoid and tend to develop the �bite first, ask later� method of defense. Their defence response system operates so fast, they respond automatically when scared and often unexpectedly bite their owner by accident. Ultimately, most of these adult birds become unpredictable and lead very restricted lives.

Flight is necessary for the 'Retreat and re-approach' behaviour that is very important for baby birds. When concerned, and unable to retreat from a possible threat, babies become scared and unable to learn during those episodes.

Safety

No parrot ever jumped out of the nest in the wild and knew how to fly. Babies fly into the side of trees, miss their landing sites and end up in a bush or worse. At The Parrot University we have watched thousands of babies use these same experiences to learn how to fly well. By experiencing these near tragedies as developing babies, they have honed all of their senses and will automatically avoid those situations in the future. A juvenile that learns the limits of his physical body, and how to stay out of trouble, will be more confident and easily learn to fit into a domestic human- bird flock as an adult.

�Flightless parrots are safe parrots� is the advice often given by less experienced bird behaviourists. Our 20 plus years of experience working with over 4,500 flighted parrots at The Parrot University have proven that hazards are significantly greater for flightless birds because they are less able to avoid dangerous situations. Not only can they not get out of harms way when necessary, they rarely know where danger lies because they have very limited life experience.

Some common arguments in favor of clipping wings include:

The bird may fly onto the stove or into a boiling pot of water.
Birds learn more quickly than us where danger is. In just a few minutes a parrot that has always been flighted can easily be taught that a stove is dangerous. If he finds himself accidentally headed in that direction he can easily hover like a helicopter and fly in another direction. Clipped birds that become airborne have very little control over which pot they land in.

When a bird flies onto another bird's cage, in a multiple-bird household, he will get into a fight.
Birds in a natural situation rarely get into fights. At the first thought of danger, one of the birds backs down and flies away. A clipped bird that accidentally ends up on another bird's cage will often get hurt because neither bird has the option to back down. It is very easy to teach parrots in a multi-parrot household to get along and respect each other's space, if they can fly.

Flighted birds can get to the floor and get stepped on or eaten by the dog.
When a flighted bird accidentally finds himself on the floor, he can easily fly to a safe position. You must watch clipped birds very closely because they can only walk when they want to go somewhere and often fall off the perch. It is common for dogs, cats and human feet to injure birds that cannot fly.

Clipping wings will make a parrot easier to handle.
This reason has some truth to it. If a bird was not raised properly when young, and becomes an unruly adult, rendering him flightless will limit his 'retreat and approach' options. This eliminates the ability to get away and can result in dependency on the owner.

Flightless parrots are constantly exposed to situations where they feel afraid and out of control. With no control over their life parrots often develop paranoid schizophrenic behaviours. These individuals lack the ability to trust others. This syndrome is a significant factor in the development of the 'one person bird'.

Birds are unable to learn not to fly into windows and walls.
All young birds and children walk/fly into walls and windows, but not forever. Flighted baby parrots learn very quickly. In the middle of Hartman Aviaries indoor nursery hangs a large window for the babies to practice flying through. It takes a maximum of 72 hours for a baby parrot learning to fly during their 'sensitive period' of flight development to realize they can see through glass but cannot fly through glass. This 'sensitive period' occurs when the average parrot is 8 � 10 weeks old.

Most parrots that are rendered flightless as a juvenile end up regrowing enough feathers to gain lift. These uneducated birds repeatedly fly into windows and consistently crash land because clipped birds are unable to develop flight motor coordination during the sensitive period of the cerebellum development. These disabled parrots are generally unable to 'think on the wing', and perpetuate the myth that parrots are too stupid to learn to fly in a home. This lack of coordination causes a kneejerk reaction by many humans to clip even more of the wing and worsen the problem.

Exercise

A parrot in flight for just a few minutes receives more exercise than an active flightless parrot receives all day. A healthy wild parrot does not pant after flying a long distance yet very few pet parrots can fly across the room or aggressively flap their wings without an extended period of panting.

We all know the mental and physical benefits of exercise on all aspects of life. If a parrot is healthy it can concentrate and focus its attention, learn faster, and is more easily trained and will probably live longer. Young parrots must gain the maximum advantage from exercise to assemble billions of neuropathway synapses and achieve its potential IQ to become a high-functioning adult while its body and brain are still developing.

Happy 4th Hatchday Sunkiss my beautiful girl!

2011-07-22T21:09:00.002-04:00

Pictured in front

Flighted Parrots/ Not Clipping Wings

2011-06-30T15:19:00.007-04:00

I was recently asked by someone who is wanting a parrot that can fly if I ever have any trouble with my birds flying into things and getting into trouble. This was my response....

Hi there,
We haven't really had many problems with having flighted parrots. Though, you wont want to run the ceiling fan when your bird is out of its cage and occasionally when I need them to go back into their cage they will fly up to our ceiling fan where I cannot reach them because they want to stay out longer. Usually, they go back into their cage really easy when I give them peanuts and treats, but if I give them lots of treats when they are out with me then they are less motivated to go back into their cage.
One important thing you will want to teach your bird right away is to fly to you. Pretty much you just call for it to come and give it a treat when it does. So if it were ever to fly up in a tree or something, you should easily be able to call for it and it come back to you. My birds can go outside with me and not fly away, if they get spooked or scared they try to go under my hair or down my shirt. However, I don't recommend taking your bird outside without lots of training inside 1st and even after training it would be a big risk. A great place to fly your bird might be a church gym, big building, or just at your house. So your bird is safe from hawks and other outside hazards.
I have never had problems with them flying into windows or toilets or boiling pots on the stove, nothing like that. I took my birds to the windows when they were younger and let them tap on it with their beaks and see that they can't go through it, and I even taught my female about the stove being hot by heating it up (not hot enough to burn) and having her feel it. But you might want to use more caution than I did with stove stuff and just keep your bird away from a hot stove when its out of its cage. And make sure to always keep an eye on it when it is out of its cage. Sometimes my birds escape out of their cage, but they always find me wherever I am in the house. The link at the bottom has some good info-
The 5th article down deals with flighted parrots. A great thing about flighted parrots is that you can potty train them to fly to their cage to go potty. yay :) enjoy

http://theparrotuniversity.com/articles.php

Sunkiss and Pyro below

How to tell if your bird is going to lay an egg :) ?

2011-06-03T14:18:00.004-04:00

Sunkiss below is a single factor, red factor sun conure and she is about to lay an egg!

Notice the big round egg looking bottom of the bird, and the wings are held slightly down. Sunkiss always holds her wings lower when she is about to lay, maybe its the discomfort of having such a large egg in a small space.

(Here is a tip video on how to get your parrot to stop biting for anyone who is struggling. Its not my video, but I occasionally get asked about the subject. So here you go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbXHrqqEIp4 )

Red Factor VS Single Factor

2011-05-21T15:04:00.006-04:00

I often call my single factor sun conures, red factor sun conures because people are more likely to know what I'm talking about. However, I cannot completely use the two different types interchangeably because of this....

This 1st sun conure in the picture below is being sold as a 'red factor sun conure' and I talked to the lady about it and she said that it will 'color up' with more orange sooner than her other ones, but as an adult they usually look about the same. Hmm, and its being sold for more money.

Some people/breeders claim 'red factor' if they come across a pair of suns or a chick that has a little more red/orange on them, or get their adult colors sooner than other normal chicks. For the most part these are normal chicks with a little more orange color than other normal chicks. I'm not saying they are trying to deceive customers by selling normal chicks off as red factor, but there is a significant difference in chicks and adults who are 'single factor, red factor'.

Sunkiss below

and Pyro below

Even as chicks, it is very clear to see the difference. If you want a very red sun, I recommend not waiting for a normal chick to 'color up' but buying a chick who has the color you want already. Single factor conures carry that special gene that can be duplicated. In breeding you know what your chances and outcomes are, and you can tell right away when they start feathering if they are single factor.

I suppose the only challenge right now is finding one available... I will post when I come across some available or if mine ever produce. lol

Pyro hatched May 1st 2007

2011-05-04T14:40:00.004-04:00

Happy 4th Hatchday PYRO

Pyro as a chick with his brother

Pyro going through his 1st molt

Babies and Parrots

2011-04-13T11:23:00.005-04:00

I had mentioned that I would post on this topic after seeing how life goes with having two sun conures and a baby. My daughter is now 1 year old and loves the birds. With any pet you want to be very cautious and always supervise your pets around your children especially if they are babies.

My daughter heard Sunkiss and Pyro when she was still in my womb and after she was born I nursed her near the cage. She could easily sleep through their screaming and after a few months she would giggle if they screamed.

My male Pyro showed a lot of aggression and would lunge at the cage if I held her up to the cage and Sunkiss showed no aggression. Since Pyro seemed to be upset about having a baby close to his cage I began to ask him to do a trick and then I would give him a treat. Several things have happened over the past few months. We left the birds for a couple weeks with my in-laws when my husband and I went to Colombia, and we moved into a new house. So, with those 3 factors - treating him when my daughter is near, moving to a new house, and leaving him at the sitters - he has not shown any aggression towards my baby anymore. I'm thinking it mostly has to do with giving him treats, but who knows maybe he thinks we will take him back to my in-laws if he doesn't behave Haha.

Anyways, when my daughter was 11 months old I let her start giving them treats through the cage herself. I have only let her give them millet because that creates a lot of distance between her hand and the birds. I will try to upload a video to show her feeding them.

Since my female Sunkiss has never shown any aggression towards my baby I let her out of the cage today and took their picture together.

Usually I let both birds out of their cage when my daughter takes her nap. Occasionally I let them out when she is in her walker or crawling around, and they always seem to want to stay away from her, which I think is a good sign (I'd rather they ignore her than fly at her). I'm always with them when I let them out and I'm very cautious not to let my daughter touch them at this age since she's at the 'grab everything and put it in your mouth' stage. When Sunkiss was around 10 weeks old my little Niece could hold her and gently pet her with supervision and Sunkiss was too young to think about biting. Now that Sunkiss is older I wouldn't trust a baby petting her quite yet, maybe in a few more years when my daughter can pet nicely.

Tips-

When introducing your baby to your parrot...

*Read your birds signs -If your bird has shown any aggression when he's inside of his cage don't let him outside of his cage with your baby near it.

* Give it time- let their be a few weeks of your bird showing good signs toward your baby before letting them near eachother.

*Give your bird treats when your baby is near.

*Babies fling their arms around a lot so make sure your baby doesn't hit or grab your parrot.

*Take your parrot out of its comfort zone. -time for family pictures- We took Sunkiss and Pyro to our church to have family photos done. Pyro was not cage protective because he wasn't around his cage. He did great around the baby and showed no signs of aggression. The only down fall was that one of my birds pooped on an usher's head :O

*If your bird bites you, don't chance it with your baby. You need to deal with your bird trusting you before letting it around your child.

*The younger the bird is the easier it is to introduce them to your kids.

*Never leave your baby alone with your bird.

*Try to never yell at your bird or your child. If your baby or kid touches the bird cage and you respond in a negative way, your bird will pick up on that and maybe become even more aggressive when your kid gets near the cage. Vice-versa if your yelling or mean toward your bird, your child will most likely follow your example.

BEST WAY IS TO BE VERY POSITIVE. If your baby touches the bird cage - pick your baby up and give your birds a treat together, and soon both baby and birds will be happy and get excited when they see each other.

Single factor sun conures- Happy New Year!

2011-01-05T12:16:00.003-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-17T10:50:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday to our Wonderful Savior Jesus Christ! Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord

He was born to die so that we might have eternal life! All that place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ will be saved. Romans 10:9 -That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Thank you Lord for taking my sin on the cross, I love you!

Dashing through the snow!

(Sunkiss playing the part of a reindeer or some other kind of animal that pull sleighs, lol)

Sunkiss and Pyro above

Sanchez in front of the little Christmas tree

(You can get a calendar with Sunkiss and Pyro on it and note-cards at http://www.cafepress.com/ShopICA )

Single factor sun conure- young

2010-12-08T18:41:00.012-05:00

(He will get even more red the older he gets and the more he molts)

How to weigh your parrot

2010-09-15T23:48:00.003-04:00

I'm sure there are many ways to weigh parrots. Here is just a cheap tip. I use a gram food scale from Walmart that didn't cost much. With a little treat bribery the birdies don't take too long to weigh. Also, healthy Sun Conures should weigh between 100 -120 grams. Weighing your parrots often can ensure that their health is prime. If you notice a significant drop in weight it could be a sign of illness. Though, don't worry if your birds weight fluctuates a gram or two. Sunkiss sometimes will weigh 10 grams heavier when she is close to laying eggs.

Remember every species have their own healthy weight range so make sure you know what your parrot should weigh.

Red Factor Sun Conures Sunkiss, Pyro, and Sanchez

2010-09-15T22:55:00.006-04:00

Pyro

Sunkiss (front)

Pyro and Sunkiss making shadow puppets! :)

Sunkiss and Pyro's backs

Sanchez

Sanchez was hatched three days before my daughter was born. Enjoy the pictures of this little one. It looks a little different because it is going through a molt and still quite young. In a couple years this youngster will look like Sunkiss and Pyro!

_ Red Factor Sun Conures _

2010-08-07T00:22:00.008-04:00

Red Factor sun conures, Pyro above and Sunkiss below, have just been let out of their cage this week after setting on eggs. They look more red than ever. 8-6-2010

2010-08-06T12:19:00.002-04:00

We Love You Daddy

2010-07-22T14:42:00.003-04:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Sunkiss!

International Conure Association

2010-07-16T10:45:00.003-04:00

http://www.cafepress.com/ShopICA.419590520#

Sunkiss and Pyro won a place in a contest and are on the ICA photo calendar and note cards. Your able to purchase them at the link above. I think the money might go to conure conservation.

Red factor Sun Conure on eggs #3

2010-06-28T14:54:00.002-04:00

Sunkiss is on eggs again! She laid her 1st one Sunday June 27, 2010. She typically will lay one every 3 days until there are 3 eggs. Guess we will see what happens this time :)

The picture is from just minutes before Sunkiss laid. Pictured is Sunkiss on the left, Pyro on the right, and my 3 month old Amira.

I will candle the eggs in a week or so.

Sunkiss is on eggs again

2010-04-10T12:18:00.004-04:00

Sunkiss is currently on eggs again, can't wait to see if we have any chicks this year!

Poor Pyro behind bars until the eggs hatch

http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/6Ii5j4f82xQ/default.jpg

Conure Hybrids

2010-03-16T22:44:00.002-04:00

Nanday Conure

crossed with a

Sun Conure

equals a

Nansun Conure

Blue Crowned Conure crossed with a Nanday Conure

(now this is something that I have just seen 4 days ago, these two birds below were suppose to be paired with their same kind but when separated they stopped eating. So, the breeder put them back together and let them go at it and the two pictures under them are two different chicks from their clutches (not exactly chicks they are around 7 years old)

Chick #1 BlueDay Conure, NanCrowned? lol I don't know what to call it

Different Chick #2

And its somewhat common to see Jenday and Sun Conure crosses and the chicks look similar to both, but at this past Atlanta Bird Fair one breeder said that they knew of Sun Conure Green Cheek hybrids....

Is is possible? I'm eager to find or take a picture.

Many breeders do not like or condone the mixing of conure species. Making mix breeds on purpose. It can ruin the purebreds if there become lots of mixing, and others may say that it can cause bad health or genetic problems.

Others think its quite neat to mix the species. So far in avian culture hybrids seem to be sold for lots less than purebreds, unlike designer dogs these days like when you cross a yorkie and poodle (yorkiepoo) you get more money for the mutt.

Flight Photos

2010-03-14T21:38:00.007-04:00

Though not very easily attained, here are a few photos of our red factor sun conures in flight :) enjoy!

Our little bat bird lol

Red Factor Sun Conure Siblings

2010-02-15T13:00:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone,

I have just around 7 weeks before our little daughter is born and I was looking for some advice on raising a human baby with parrots. I know parrots, especially sun conures, can be very loud and somewhat possessive. So if any one has had some experience in this area please let me know any tips, thanks!

My red factor sun conures are both 2 years old. The male is easy going but my female is a bit more bonded to me and a little possessive.

Beautiful Red Factor Sun Conures

2010-01-15T10:32:00.001-05:00

Sunkiss and Pyro next to a mirror. Pyro on the left :)

Birdie Fun

2010-01-11T11:33:00.003-05:00

Sunkiss and Pyro playing on the table where the candy is this past week, and a video of them from right before Christmas with their new toys.

Christmas Time

2009-12-13T16:45:00.006-05:00

Sunkiss and Pyro enjoying new Christmas toys. Merry Christmas everyone! :)

Happy Birthday Jesus

2009-10-10T12:48:00.004-04:00

new photos

2009-10-10T10:34:00.010-04:00

Looking for a new idea for videos. . . .

Sunkiss and Pyro this week flying around

2009-07-31T12:35:00.003-04:00

my pretty birds

Sunkiss celebrated her 2nd Birthday July 24th

Happy Birthday Sunkiss!

Father's Day Special

2009-06-17T14:02:00.004-04:00

Happy Father's day to all! I'm dedicating this post to my wonderful husband, who is a great Bird Dad. I Love You Honey!
You know you've found a wonderful man when he can be biten, pooped on, and still marry you - and love both you and the birds. I'm so thankful and blessed to have Aaron in my life to help me through all the challenges and adventures life brings. He's my best friend, soul mate, and Love of my life. I enjoy growing closer to him each and every day. I am so proud of him for all of the work that he does everyday. His disign work that is out of this world (http://www.vancegraphics.com/ ), his compasion for his work at the children's special needs facility, and especially for his Spanish preaching :) . His passion to tell others about Jesus Christ is so sexy (am I able to say that on here? since I'm married to him it should be alright). I'm just so thankful that he is mine, my one and only forever!

Happy Father's Day to the Dad that I grew up relying on more and more, God. I didn't have much of an earthly father when I was young, (...I guess I should send my mother a father's day card too, lol), but the Lord God our creator took care of me. I relized that I wasn't perfect and made lots of mistakes when I was around four years old. I understood that I had sinned and needed to ask God for forgiveness of my sins in order to go to Heaven when I died. I knew that Jesus died on the cross and rose again 3 days later and his blood covered my sins. So, I asked Jesus to save my soul and be my Lord. Since then He has been my great help and guide throughout my life. Thank you Lord for being with me always, Happy Father's Day! I Love YOU

More Bird Talk:

The 1st egg should hatch on father's day or the next couple days after. We really can't wait for them to come, I can here Pyro now still celebrating over the eggs (ha, he's screaming his head off). We still have 3 eggs, and they are doing fine. I did not candle them to see if they were fertile, I thought it could benefit my patience skills if I waited- ha, not really- I just didn't want to touch the eggs or bother Sunkiss and Pyro.

WARNING 'Doubles' -- Up Date

2009-06-10T10:50:00.009-04:00

Pyro,

To the right, is standing guard at the entrance of the nestbox where Sunkiss is incubating their 3 eggs. He is still quite friendly and nice as long as Sunkiss is in the box, when she comes out he becomes very protective of her. He spends much of the day taking food into her while she's in the box making little whimpers :). Their 1st egg should hatch on Father's Day, how exciting!

As for the WARNING*CAUTION

-Single Factor sun conures crossed with Single Factor sun conures have the ability to produce Double Factor sun conures. These Double Factor Sun Conures have a reddish-bronze color covering much of their bodies. Cool right? Not exactly quite yet, it has been discovered that Double Factor babies do not live much past weaning, just several weeks old they die without a known cause. Necropsies have been done on such babies, but all they could come up with is that it is a cumulative gene, possibly too many red factors breeding. Currently we are trying to find the root cause and possibly a solution that could help save these babies.

The chance of a Single Factor sun conure pair producing a Double Factor sun conure is 1 out 4 chicks.

Please think about it before trying to breed two Single Factor sun conures.

Red Factor Sun Conure Eggs

2009-06-03T13:38:00.009-04:00

Sunkiss and Pyro are up to 3 eggs!

The 1st egg was laid May 28, 2nd egg May 31, and the 3rd egg June 3rd.

Sunkiss eating like she's starving

SUN CONURE BREEDING

2009-05-29T17:55:00.008-04:00

Single Factor (red factor) Sun Conures expecting parents (Sunkiss behind Pyro in pict)

Proud soon to be parents :) Sunkiss and Pyro have their 1st egg as of yesterday morning! Thursday May 28 :) whoohoo

Sunkiss' bottom is still bulging so we are expecting another egg real soon. First egg should hatch June 22-24

The day before she laid her egg

As both parents being Single Factor sun conures they have the ability to produce a Double Factor sun conure which has red covering about all of its body. One out of four babies should display this color mutation (25%).

Currently feeding my breeding pair: leafy greens, steamed vegetables- corn, peas, grean beans, carrots, roudybush pellets, grapes, blue berries, apples, bananas, boiled eggs mashed, beans, rainbow pasta, and quiko egg food(in separate treat dish- don't seem to be eating it)

>plenty of fresh water, vitamin block, two cuttle bones, added calcium vitamin to their water

My pair are using a stainless steal boot box, with aspen pine shavings as bedding in their nest box.

Potty Training Parrots

2009-03-16T20:10:00.004-04:00

Sunkiss' good potty training example,

Ask if you have any specific questions :)

Few Training Tips

1. Start in the morning, before your parrot has done its 'big' potty

2. Take your parrot to the desired location you want in to go potty

3. Tell your parrot to 'go potty' or 'tinkle' or whatever command you want your bird to go potty to, I use the made up word 'brons'

4. It shouldn't take your bird very long to go potty so keep your bird there until it goes

5. Praise your bird tons, make it feel like he/she has done the best thing in the world!

6. Repeat this every morning, and when you have it out of the cage try to take it to the potty location every 15 minutes or so... or just watch for it to do its potty dance and take it to the desired location. If you pay close attention you will soon be able to recognize when your parrot is ready to go, and if you notice fast enough you can hold your birds tail down and take it to the potty location before it goes and repeat steps 2-5

have fun, your bird should get some grasp on this within 72 hours or less, and become a pro in a couple weeks.

My girl flies to her potty location when she has to go potty, so now I don't have to even take her there.

Turn Around and The Wave

2009-03-12T21:21:00.005-04:00

How to teach your parrot some easy tricks with positive reinforcement. My girl learned the 'Wave' in about 2 minutes, though it took her a couple weeks to become confident in doing the trick every time. About the same for the 'Turn Around'. Its important to have a vocal cue and a physical cue when teaching your bird tricks.

* Make sure you have plenty of treats and praise with you to give to your parrot

1. 'The Wave' - Bring your hand up to your bird like you are going to have her step up on your finger(Use the Vocal Command- WAVE, and With your other hand wave your index finger), but be quick and don't allow your bird to step onto your finger- just lift up its foot. When it lifts its foot to step up, give her a treat and praise her 'Good Girl'.

2. 'Turn Around' - Have your bird follow a treat in your hand around its body a little above its head. Your parrot should follow your hand in a circle, use the 'verbal command TURN AROUND. The physical command is your hand going around the birds body with the treat. After a few tries you can take out the physical command and just ask your bird to turn around like in the video. Don't forget to give a treat each time your bird turns around when asked or waves on command, this will really enhance your birds willingness to learn.

Training time should be something your parrot looks forward to, time to play with its human mom or dad. Birds do have short attention spans so short lessons 2-10 minutes a couple times a day should work better than several hours in a row.

Next lessons to come:

-Potty training your parrot

-Bobbing on command

-Coming when called

Red factor Sun Conures

2009-03-11T15:28:00.016-04:00

Red Factor Sun Conures

Red Sun conures, Pyro and Sunkiss, in the car... (above)
Red Sun INFO:
Red Factor Sun Conures, also known as 'Single Factor Sun Conures', originated in Hawaii (though sun conures are native to South America).
Sun Conures get 12-15 inches in length and weigh 100-120 grams.
They eat insects, fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, etc.
It is usually good to feed a pellet based diet. A diet of only seeds can easily make a sun conure over weight and malnutritioned -this can make them more susceptible to disease, sickness, shortened life-span, and poor feather development.

Flighted Parrots

Video #1 without a harness

Video #2 with a harness

(*Note: you could fly your parrots inside a gym area if outside seems too risky)

It is much healthier for a bird/parrot to have their flight feathers. Clipping their wings is like handicapping your beloved pet because of fears and ignorance. "Flighted parrots get more exercise in 5 minutes than parrots with clipped wings get all day"- Dr. Hartman.
Parrots like sun conures, are very intelligent birds, so if you do have parrot that is flighted educate them.
-Take them to all windows and let them see that they cannot go through them
-Where ever you might have a fear of your parrot getting hurt take them there
A plus to having flighted parrots is that they can fly to their cage or perch to go potty and fly back to you. (I'll post an informative video how to potty train)

Babies, like the ones below, are mostly red-orange and green in color. The yellow color usually appears on their bodies as they grow older and after their first molt. A true 'Red Factor' sun conure should have reddish coloring on the top of its head.

Normal Sun Conure and Normal sun conure Chicks below, see the difference?

2009-03-10T23:07:00.005-04:00

My Red factor sun conures

Single Factor suns

Babies available hopefully soon :) no prices yet