Introducing Ollie

[laurelle]

Here is my Sun Conure. I have had him 6 weeks and still have occasional questions. I can see that the people on this board are very helpful and really love birds. I have learned a lot and gotten some great ideas. Thanks!

[laurelle]

So here is one thing that has been bothering me...you can flame me gently if you wish...

I bought Ollie at a family owned pet shop. I have used this shop for years and been happy with their service, but they have disappointed me this time. The day I took O home, I was assured that their main parrot caretaker could answer any further questions I had when she returned from vacation in a few days.

The main thing I wanted to know was his hatch date. They haven't been able to tell me. First they tried to say 8 weeks, which is impossible because he is weaned, then they said 4 months, which I don't believe because there is so much yellow on him already. Am I wrong?

He also doesn't have a leg band. Is that a problem? The only paperwork he came with was the pet shop guarantee of health. I feel like an irresponsible bird owner, but I assure you, Ollie has a good, loving home.

I just wish I knew how old he is.

[ObsidianPhoenix]

Don't worry, you are doing fine! The fact that you are really trying to find out the information shows that you are a dedicated parent to your little Sun.

For the leg band... My Pineapple GCC does not have one either. It's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm pretty sure you could get a microchip implanted for ID purposes.

For the age, my guess is that your Ollie is at least 6-8 months old. They get their good coloring around 8-12 months I think. Yes Ollie has WAYYY too much yellow on his wings to be even 4 months I think. Here is a picture of my 3 month old sun:



As you can see, she only has just a bit of yellow on her wings, and she is approaching 4 months.

Phoenix

[hollyhawkz]

OMG! Don't sweat it! I went throught the same thing with the store we bought our bird from.... They are a fantastic family owned pet store in a smaller size city. They have their birds out being loved and handled by staff all the time... etc...etc... They can tell you anything about Conures, but when it came to finding out the hatch date or the breeder that was an other story. They seemed to be clueless.

If your worried about it being a wild caught bird, I am sure it is not. He looks quite at home with his open cage. LOL Ours had a leg band but it was no help at all. I didn't know how to read them or where to trace the info. Anyway, we had it removed for safety/health reasons. Neither of our Parrotletts have them. They are good for ID but personally I don't like them for the bird's sake. Just make sure you keep the wings clipped, and be careful so you never loose him.

It took me a year, but I ended up finding the breeder by asking everyone under the sun who the Black Capped breeder was in the area. I was given a phone number to try and voila, I found her. It was a terrible experience.

I talked to her several times over a two month period being promised to be able to come buy a second Black Capped for a companion, we had a new cage ready and waiting. Every time I had the calender marked "new baby comming home", she would come up with some flaky reason and cancel. She would call and talk for an hour or so, set up a day and time then call back and cancel. This happened four or five times. She didn't even seem interested to see how magnificent Wawa has turned out looking and acting, he is striking, and the love of our life.

After two months of the rise and fall of the excitement and disapointment we gave up on her and started to look for something else. We bought a pair of Parrotlets (too cute). NOW I hear from everyone that knows her, she is difficult, and excentric (to put it nicely). So I don't blame the store for not knowing, they probably couldn't get a straight answer from her either!

It was a lesson in realizing it is not always the middle man that is to blame.

All fids, no matter what breeder they originate from, or what pet store they may end up in, deserve a good home! Ollie has been blessed and found one, and you have been blessed and found him. Congrats!

[xafsmom]

They can easily be weaned at 8 weeks. I start weaning at 10+ weeks - depending on the bird, but I abundance wean. A lot of bird wholesalers don't. Most pet shops don't offer hatch certificates, just acquisition certificates from the point they've received them. My best suggestion is that you take the date you bought him, then add 4 months to it and announce this is Ollie's new birthday lol. As for bands, not every breeder bands their chicks. Sometimes they can miss getting the band on the foot by a couple of days and suddenly the darn foot's too big to fit a band on it.

Ollie looks between 4 and 7 months old. Not to correct another poster, but it's not the yellow so much as how much green covers the body (not wings). I've had Suns pinfeather with extensive yellow and be darn near adult plumed under a year. I have a year old Sun who still has a great amount of green all over his head and chest!

A good example is a youngster I have who is currently 6 months old. He had almost as much yellow as an adult when he grew his feathers in, and after his first molt, he lost the greening on his head and chest. Here's a pic:

[becca623]

Ollie is a beautiful bird. I know it can be frustrating not to know the hatch date especially in a situation where you think that it would be easy to find out but for some reason it doesn't. I've had the same thing happen to me. I just choose either the date I got the bird or if it's a baby a holiday or easy to remember day that fits the time frame. Banding doesn't mean much.
My eclectus was definitely a baby when I got him but he wasn't banded. Some vets automatically remove bands because they feel bands are unsafe. I've thought about removing my amazon's because she picks at it but if she were to get loose and be found by someone who wanted to find her home (I know someone could easily remove it if they wanted), it would make easier since she comes from a large aviary that most pet shops and vets would recognize around here. She's micro chipped but the average person doesn't have a machine to scan for chips. I'm babbling now...sorry.

[ObsidianPhoenix]

Originally Posted by xafsmom

Ollie looks between 4 and 7 months old. Not to correct another poster, but it's not the yellow so much as how much green covers the body (not wings). I've had Suns pinfeather with extensive yellow and be darn near adult plumed under a year. I have a year old Sun who still has a great amount of green all over his head and chest!

A good example is a youngster I have who is currently 6 months old. He had almost as much yellow as an adult when he grew his feathers in, and after his first molt, he lost the greening on his head and chest. Here's a pic:

Ahhh. I did not know to look at the body versus the wings. I'll have to remember that!