Sweetpea

[birdsnreps]

here are some new pics of my sweetpea :)

checking out the newly washed clothes...

[oONightFireOo]

Great pictures! I was just wondering if you could tell me what type of personality sweetpea had and how it compared to your other babies...? I was just curious when I saw your other post, and figured that I would go ahead and ask :)

~Kevin

[birdsnreps]

hornbills can be just as tame and funny and sweet as a parrot. however, they have very special diets, they need large cages, and since most hornbills are parent reared, you have to work wtih them to tame them down. sweetpea is pretty tame with me, but we still have a long way to go. if i take her into the bathroom wtih me, she will perch on my hand, and i can pet her back and scritch her head. we arent bonded enough yet to do that in our other room yet, but it will happen eventually :) the only reason i felt like i could take proper care of her is cause i work wtih hornbills at the zoo, and i learned about their dietary needs and such from the zoo keepers, and the breeder i got sweetpea from is excellent, he also helps me out, more than the zoo keepers actually, hes more knowledgeable :)

[Amie]

She's gorgeous! I adore the flying picture!!

[oONightFireOo]

Well that sounds really really cool. I think that sweetpea is a very very pretty baby! I hadn't ever really heard information on hornbills before (as sad as that is), but it is really neat knowing that they can have such great personalities...

I don't mean to ask too many personal questions - but I was jealous when I saw that you worked at a zoo... Do you have any type of vet/vet tech. license? I am curious to find out more about the types of requirements to work in zoos... even if I could just volunteer for the NC State Zoo... the aviary is a real sight to behold! I'd be one happy guy!!

Just curious... sorry to keep asking so many questions!
~Kevin

[Courtzrocks]

I would love to work in a zoo too!! Your sweetpea is so beautiful!

[birdsnreps]

right now its just volunteer work, i work wtih zoo keepers, in the exhibits behind the scenes, lol, i dont do the public relations crap like most volunteers do :) you CAN get hired without a degree, but its very likely that they will choose someone with a degree over a person who doesnt have a degree, even if you have more experience :( thats what happened to me this past december :( im thinking about moving to wichita in a few months...they have a college up there that has a zoo sciences program, which would qualify me to get a job at any zoo, and with all my bird experience, im more than qualified to work in the bird departments. that degree would also qualify me for a curator position, after you get the zoo keeper experience, if i should try for a curator job later on down the line. so....i really wanna go up there to go through that course the zoo in wichita is also one of the top 5 in the nation, and i have some very good friends up there, so i think it would work nicely for us i like dallas cause there are alot of opportunities here, but right now, its not working all that well for us. if i can get accepted in this college and go through the classes, i could have a much more fullfilling career working with the zoo birds at a top-notch zoo, it sure does sound better than what we are doing now, LOL.

[Courtzrocks]

Oh i wish i could work at a zoo...my dream job with the eagles and owls and macaws. I would need to do a course though and I'm not the smartest person and some of the stuff is like injections and such....yuck

[birdsnreps]

thats what i work with!! normally, i work with great hornbills, rhino hornbills, red crowned cranes, bald eagles, batelateur eages, a harpy eagle, king vultures, some owls, turkey vultures, a black vulture, andean condors, double wattled cassowaries, a victorian crowned pigeon, and a blue and gold macaw named chester :) shes a little ham and really loves me this summer, we got to raise baby roseate spoonbills!! we incubated their eggs and raised them from day 1, it was fun and they were so cute!! they weaned, and now they live in a diff part of the zoo :( sometimes i work in a diff part of the zoo with a ton of other different birds, but usually i work with the ones listed above.

haha, honestly, injections are easy!! once you learn, you can do it correctly and very quickly

[Courtzrocks]

I know but I'm a fainter...lol. Im sure after i do it alot i would get used to it but honestly i would probably kill the birds the first time i do it cos once it would be in the skin i would be out cold. I love animals and birds so much though and am not scared of any bird (except maybe emu's when they have babies) and have been around, taming birds and feeding and releasing native birds since I can remember. I love it soo so much!