Parent Raised Princess Parrots

[zena]

Hello everyone,
I have read that parent raised princess parrots aren't very tamable, but my male one seems pretty tame, especially since he's been parent raised and lives in an outside aviary, he'll eat seeds from my hand and sits near me, I actually had no intention of hand taming him but he's turned out pretty tame. Also how long should the spatula feather be on a year/ year and hlf old princess parrot? And another question, the female one seems to sleep a lot of the time, i was wondering if this is normal (as she's in breeding season and may possibly have eggs not been layed yet) or should i take her to my vet or closest aviarian vet?

Thanks in advance

[avinet]

Princesses are very trusting birds usually. Even aviary raised birds will often become quite tame, in fact the biggest danger with them is that you walk out of the aviary not realizing there is a bird on your back

Great birds

The spatula feathers appear after the 12 month moult in most cases. Initially they will be fairly short but can become bigger with succeeding moults and can reach 15 mm or more in length. For those not familiar with spatula feathers it is a short protrusion of the third flight feather that looks like a little extra feather is stuck on the end - I'll include a photo at the end of this.

The sleepy behaviour of your hen isn't unusual during the day in hot weather they are desert birds that are mainly active in early morning ans late afternoon.

It is a bit late for breeding season - mine all had finished by the start of January, but Queensland may be a bit ahead of southern states. If she is egg bound then she will be in obvious distress - if she is just sleepy during the day but is eating OK and when awake early and late looks alert and active then I doubt there is a problem. If she was in breeding cycle and had an egg developed I would expect her to be in and out of a nest box all the time.

cheers,

Mike

The spatula featheron the end of the third flight feather on the left wing of my male, Frodo


Penny and Frodo, 17 years old, Frodo on the left with the spatula feather just visible.

[zena]

Thank you,
No need to worry then ;D