My Quaker Parrot Kiki and Extra Information

I own one Quaker parrot named Kiki who is about five or six months old now. We bought her May 2nd, 2009 unweaned which means she couldn't eat solid food yet. So I practically raised her since she was a baby. Most people consider baby birds ugly and they are pretty ugly when they are featherless but I think their lovely nonetheless.

It's not the best idea to purchase an unweaned parrot but I knew from previous encounters how to properly wean a parrot. Feeding the baby parrot isn't the most difficult part but must be administered carefully and properly. Probably the most difficult part of the weaning process is switching over to solid food. For me and Kiki switching to solid food wasn't difficult but I have heard terrible stories about people buying unweaned chicks that end up dying so unless you have experience DON'T BUY UNWEANED PARROTS (sounds hypocritical doesn't it).

Besides my whole weaning comment Kiki has been a joy to raise and she started talking before she was fully weaned which made me feel like a proud parent. Kiki likes to eat corn, broccoli, zucchini, white grapes, bananas, honeydews, apples, guavas, pears, cucumbers, brown rice, whole grain pasta, whole grain bread, sometimes a little low fat mozzarella cheese, and rarely we give her peanut butter on a toothpick in addition to her pelleted diet. She actually eats all this except not at once but if you own a parrot you probably know how picky parrots are when it comes to food. Instead of a seed diet she eats a pelleted one which allows her to receive proper nutrition however we don't deprive her of seeds because that is the whole point of a bird's beak. I think she prefers pellets over seeds though, because I put some seeds on top of her cage but she went inside to eat the pellets.

The first thing most people ask me when I tell them I have a parrot is "Does it talk?" I tell them yes and that Kiki can say her name, peek-a-boo, hello, hmmm, and she can make sound effects like farting, rolling her tongue, giving kisses, whisper, scream like my sister, etc. Some of the things she knows are when its time to eat, sleep, when someone is using the microwave, exiting her cage unaided, taking the remote's battery cover off and many other things. If I had more time I could probably train her to do tricks on command but she mostly chooses when she wants to do things. She practically likes every stranger unless they hurt her except she doesn't like my father too much. Like most other parrots she takes her own baths, trims her beak and nails by herself, and screams for attention when needed. I think she also knows stealing is bad because she usually runs away from me when she takes something. Posted below is a slideshow of her and a video of something she stole.

Do parrots make good pets?

Unlike dogs who are domesticated, parrots even when kept as pets still retain many of their attributes found in the wild. They make good pets but one should seriously take into consideration the consequences of obtaining animals that are not truly domesticated like a dog. In other words parrots aren't for everyone and if you are looking towards purchasing a companion parrot it is imperative that you do some basic research which makes it easier to determine the type of parrot you might be interested in. There are over three hundred species and of which many are endangered so there is a wide variety to choose from. Parrots can be very vocal, vary in sizes from the small American Budgerigar to the large Hyacinth Macaw of Brazil, they can cost from $9.00 to $12,000, are messy, somewhat low maintenance, they can fly, and defecate frequently. Parrots do have their ups and downs and some people choose to have their parrot's primary flight feathers trimmed which is a harmless procedure and others choose to let them fly. So one should seriously consider keeping an animal that practically has to be crippled in order to keep as a pet. However wing clipping keeps them safe from household hazards and increases their dependency on you. If you choose to keep their flight feathers intact you just have to be more aware for your parrots safety I prefer keeping the wings intact except maybe when they are new to your home because they might have a higher tendency to escape. Practically all parrots can be trained and tamed like parakeets, conures, lories, macaws, etc. I've posted a video about trained parakeets and about some parrot problems below.


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Not all parrots live to eighty by the way it depends on the species such as the larger parrots of the macaw family.

Fun with Budgies - The best home videos are here

Purpose

This is my first blog ever and it's about parrots hence the title. I am going to try and compile information, stories, and as many parrot related things as I possibly can onto this blog. I'm not a parrot expert and most of what I know is from research, personal experience, and observation. I own one Quaker Parrot named Kiki and she has been with us since May 2, 2009. Obviously I might not be correct on my blog information all the time and I'll try and post as many of my own pictures and videos as I can as well as media I find on the Internet.

I'm also not trying to convince anyone to buy a parrot because even though they might not be as high maintenance they are quite difficult to handle at times, can be quite messy, have a high price range, and have additional discrepancies one should take in to consideration before purchasing a parrot or any pet for that matter. Many people prefer dogs, cats, or they choose not to have a pet at all which isn't a bad thing. I have owned a dog before and I know people who believe in not keeping pets because they feel bad about housing an animal they believe should be free.