Jardine parrot or blue headed pionus? help

[sweetie&meli]

OK heres the situation ive been reading up on my two choices and so far the jardine sounds like a great pet but so dose the blue headed pionus ..i dont know what to do about this ?

Also theres the fact that i can buy a jardine from my store which we are hand feeding now ..but the blue headed pionus is in ottawa and still hasent been created not mating season ..i spoke to the breeder there and she said it will be born in feb.march and i must wait 7 months for it to wean ..now dose it actually take that long for it to wean ...also theres the fact that i cant go see the blue head because its 9 hours away my fear is that it wont bond with me because it will be almost 8 months old ..and as for the jardine i will be there at work every day until its ready to go ? is it really important for me to have contact and interaction with the bird for it to bond to me ?

I feel so lost i cant decid , i know that jardines dont go through the terrible 2's as bad as other parrots and are know to be calm and playful and pretty much have a steady character to them :)

I need advice help me please any thing to help me would be great :)

[Joel]

Hello Sweetie,

I would chose a Jardine simply because I think they are prettier IMO. I have never kept Pionus but hear they are quiet like Jardines for the most part and for me that is an important characteristic considering the number of birds I currently keep. I currently have 3 Jardines, all adults and mine did go thru stages (tempermental ones).

[sweetie&meli]

What exactly dose that temperment consit of?

[Lynjupiter]

If i tell you about my pionus you won't want one anymore LOL The one I have is a mean one. He can be sweet and loving but then in a blink of an eye he is hanging from a body part crunching away.

I have done everything, read every book, he does not seem to have a trigger. He is also the worst screamer in the house. Loud does not describe the bray he does. From talking to others I have found this is typical behavior of a very hormonal male. If I ever got another pionus it would be a DNA tested female!

He is a rescue though and was hated by his previous owner but only because of the maulings they received.
Lynda

[Cindy Q]

I've only met a few Jardines so can't really comment on them, they were all nice and friendly but you can't really know them until you've lived with them, you know what I mean...

I don't have a blue headed pionus either but i've met a few of them and actually do have a friend that had one. The operative word in that sentence is HAD. He was a very sweet bird but he was too loud for the apartment that she was in and her neighbors were complaining about the noise. He was fine when she was home but when she left for work each day he would start screaming and wouldn't stop until she got back. For a while she took him to work with her and again he was a perfect angel even allowing any and everyone to hold him but when she had to leave him home again he continued his screaming...so she ended up having to rehome him. You will probably never see anywhere that pionus (any kind really) will be loud but the problem with stereotypes is that they are just too general and don't describe all birds of that species, they can't possibly figure individual personalities into their descriptions, so they paint them all with one broad brush stroke. She never dreamed her pionus would have that problem thats why she chose him for her apartment. I also have a pionus that I did a lot of research about before setting out on a search to find him. When finally I found him, I was so excited because everything i'd read and heard led me to believe that he was perfect for my family and while I love him he is certainly not the bird I anticipated bringing home. In the first week he pierced my sons lip and bit me several times. That was fine, it was our fault should've been more careful he was nervous and new blah blah blah now I realize that its just his personality and while I haven't been bitten in over a year its not for lack of trying its just now I can easily read his body language and avoid bloodshed. He is the most hormonal guy i've got and when he's going through one of his times we all stand clear. Now this isn't all pionus's but its certainly a possibility AND I learned after I joined a pionus group that its common and not as isolated as I thought. Apparently they are close cousins to amazons and share a lot of the same hormonal displays, personality traits and issues. Now my pionus is not always evil, he has long stretches of times when he's as sweet as pie but when he's bad he's very very bad and when he's good he's very very good. His is the worst bite i've ever received so i've learned to respect him, we all have.

I recommend that rather then taking everything you've read as gospel or fact to get out there and try to meet some of these birds on your own (older as well as young because all babies are sweet its the adult they grow into that you want to know about) and to talk to other owners about their experiences with both. Possibly join species specific lists so you can get a wide varied opinion about experiences of actual owners with those specific types of birds, it'll give you a better idea then just a handful of opinions on here. And last but not least good luck in your choice, i'm sure it'll be the right one for you.

I'd like to add that my pionus is VERY quiet and i've never heard him ever be loud, he's very vocal but everything that comes out of his mouth is quiet and sweet sounding, he's also a very good talker and mimics sounds well. Just goes to show you how very different from one another they can be.

[The Outlaw]

I would suggest that you do this: start checking out shelters and see how many of each they currently house. If you start to see a pattern, then you'll get an idea of which is more likely to be a problem. Conures, especially Nandays and Suns are abundant in shelters due to noise problems. Its my understanding the Jardines are supposed to be fairly quiet. However, I have no conures nor do I plan on taking any in. I agree with Joel, however, that a Jardines in the sunlight is just beautiful. In house light, however, something gets lost in the translation.

THE OUTLAW

[sweetie&meli]

Well ive checked out shelters here and found none , i also have one baby at work whos great in every way ..we sols one 2 years ago and the lady comes in for her regular grooming and her jardine is just great she will bite if scared but not to hurt u ...shes not loud at all her owner said her cockatiel was ten times louder then her jardine ....so im still checking around:) how r jardines with plucking?

[Joel]

IME, female CAGs, female Jardines, female Meyers & female Senegals really love me the most, males IME usually have an attitude problem but they do have their loving moments too. Now, I really am not positive if that is because I am a male human or whether that makes any difference or not? I have heard stories that says that is true????

Now on the other hand, IME, male IRNS, male Eclectus and male cockatiels seem to be more loving towards me than females. I'm sure there are other species that tend to run like that but again that is JMO from what I have personally dealt with. Would be interesting to hear other's opinions on here. Of course my experiences with the different sexes does not mean that is true in ALL cases.

I have one male Jardine who keeps his chest SHAVED. The other two do not pluck at all. He was perfect when he had a mate but she passed on yrs. ago (I think it was egg binding that I did not catch in time but not positive :( ). Soon after she passed on, he started pucking. I have been looking for a mature female for him now for a long time with no success so if anyone on here knows of one, I would appreciate it if ya can get the owner to contact me in a pm or post the for sale info. in our classified section.

This single male has fallen in love, so to speak, with a little Grey cheeked Brotogeris and it is so funny to see them come out of the nest box in the morning (like Mutt & Jeff) LOL. First the Jardine looks out of the nestbox after climbing up from the deep bottom and then the little Grey cheek pokes his head out next to him, soooooo cute, I gotta take a pic for ya'll to see soon.............. Still planning to get a digital camera asap. If there is anyone on here who is an EXPERT in digital cameras and can suggest the best one to get with birds in mind as the main focus (I guess I want one with a movie mode) please save me doing all the research into them. I'd like to hear from someone who really knows there stuff about cameras though and not just regular opinions on why someone likes their particular model, I think ya understand what I mean if I wasn't diplomatic enough.

[The Outlaw]

Male Ekkies are usually friendlier to ANYONE, sex not making any difference.

THE OUTLAW

[Joel]

Yeah, I have read that myself Nancy, thanks for clarifying that.