Advice to adopt an 8 year old Meyers

[memrrigirl]

Does anyone have any advice about adopting an 8 yr old male Meyers? My last bird was a baby so I could train her. Questions to ask, etc.? I plan on making a visit and spend time with the bird first. Thank you!

[JulieF]

I actually just came home with a 4 year old Meyer's a few hours ago! He seems to be very balanced, traits of the species or his raising or both, I can't really tell. I asked questions like: his age, personality, likes, dislikes, if he was raised with pets, how he is with different ages/sexes of people, if he was fledged, if he was clipped, etc. Upon my arrival to meet him, he had no qualms about stepping up on my hand, or my bf's. He was quite happy when I offered to give him scratches on his neck. Obviously I was in love! I really saw no reason to take him home right then, so I did! Right now he's grinding him beak, preparing for bed time. At his new home now with dogs and a cat wanting to meet (eat???) him, he is a little too stressed to step up, but will let me scratch him and will eat food that I offer him. I think this will be a great addition to my house! Hopefully this little anecdote helps you! Let us know how it turns out!

[Izzy]

I would definitely go see him in his environment, so you can see how they really care for him and handle him.

I just brought home an 11-year-old female meyers last week, but I've known her for three years (she boarded where I worked, and was one of our regular customers). So I already knew her personality and history. She had been screaming in her home, but that has not yet been a problem here. I don't know if it'll become a problem, or if she just likes it better here (they were covering her 20 hours a day and had two new babies).

Watch how they interact with the bird-if they seem scared of it, perhaps he bites? Also see what type of diet he's on, what toys he has, cage size, etc.

Good luck! I am already in love with my little girl!

[superflyinmonkey]

I have a 2 year old Meyer's and he's really moody.

He'll welcome you home with a series of squaks and whistles until you go to see him and sometimes will whistle really loudly on my shoulder. He will preen on your shoulder or knee for an hour or so until he's decided he wants a head rub and then he'll nudge you with his head until he's had his fill. Once he's tired of a head scratch, he'll let you know by nipping and doesn't usually do it hard, but it's alarming. He even bit me twice last week when he really didn't want to go back in his cage. I consider my bird very unpredictable. He will eat ANYTHING though. Actually, he won't... allow me to re-phrase. He'll eat anything you're eating, but if you give him his own to eat on his perch and put him over there, he'll come back to see what you're eating.

I let my bird fly around now. He was always trying to fly even when his wings are clipped and it lets him be more independent and will go from your shoulder to cage and vise-versa depending on what he feels like. I don't attribute that to the nipping, but he definitely thinks he owns the house. He'll go up stairs on his own to get to the kitchen if he smells food being cooked too. I find mine likes almonds, peas, bell peppers, grapes and pretty much any meat we'll give him. Especially the fatty bits of steak and jerky, which I bet he wishes he got more of, but I don't want to give too much, even though he's still so skinny.

I love my little bird and is well behaved for the most part, but other family members have more problems than I do, maybe because I do punish a bit when he's being bad. As for quiet, I would have to disagree very much. Unless this bird is with you constantly when you're home and is always around familiar people, expect some squaking. I would never be able to live in a basement suite because the house mates would want to strangle him. There's never any noise at night though.

With patience, training is pretty easy though. Tiki will pretty well poop on command if you put him on his perch. This is a necessity if you wake him up and want him to ride on your shoulder for reasons I shouldn't have to explain. Have fun.

[cazzam]

Last year, we 'inherited' a now 12 year old male Meyers called Olli; he had previously belonged to my boyfriend's brother and his family, but unfortunately they had neglected him for several years, chosing to segregate him on a shelf in a spare room . . . we had had contact with him as a youngster, and then looked after him while they were on holiday, but had not really seen him for a few years before he came to us.

For some reason, the first time I encountered him he really took to me, and never seemed to forget me, even after a break of about 5 years (family problems led to us not visiting the house). Consequently, it seemed like the natural decision to take him in when he was being moved on - a decision, I must say, I have not regretted.

Olli is a very lively, amusing, acrobatic, loving and inquisitive bird - a typical Meyers by all accounts! Unfortunately, he seems to resent my boyfriend, 'eyeing him up' when they are both in the room and Olli is out of the cage, and will fly onto him just to bite him . . . something we have been working on, but as my partner seems to be quite nervous of him, it needs work on both sides. Nevertheless, Olli is usually very affectionate towards me - too much so on occassion, as he has taken to displaying to me and (unfortunately) masterbating on the body part he is perched on at that time:(
When this happens I give him a 'time out' on top of his cage so that he can cool off; he also chews the paper on the bottom of his cage and 'digs' in the corners (related behaviour??). My boyfriend says he finds all this quite disturbing, even though in all other aspects Olli is happy and contented - looked after much better than he was before. He has a seed and biscuit mix, millet sprays, fresh fruit, monkey nuts and other edibles hung in his cage, and I've bought him a number of mineral etc. blocks, but he never seems to bother with them. His plumage is healthy, and he's a cheeky, chirpy chap, calling out 'Solomon!! Give us a kiss!!!' to the dog, among other assorted noises and calls.

As Olli came to us as a teenager, and he is my first bird, I'm open to any advice on his behaviour, and happy to share stories etc. with other owners. I've got some great pics of my little clown I'm hoping to upload soon, and look forward to meeting other owners here!

[Barb E]

It sounds like Olli has chosen you as his mate!!!

The "digging" action in the cage is his way of telling you he wants out.

Our Meyers also likes to fly and attack people (including me sometimes). When he gets too aggressive we have his wings clipped to change his attitude a bit.

If you want him to warm up a bit with your boyfriend (and your boyfriend wants this) you could have him feed Olli his favourite treat. Our Meyers loves cashews and red pepper seeds (the core of the bell pepper).

I find the Meyers can be little tyrants but are very affectionate with their favourite person. My Meyers has my Macaws running for cover when I don't clip him soon enough.

There is a very active Yahoo Group for Meyers that you may want to check out.