A to be Alex owner with some questions?

[courtzrocks]

Hi I am getting an alexandrine (my first bought bird by me, have had ducks, cockatiels and release birds) and am going to see it on the 27th of December.

The breeder/hand rearer says its going well and putting on weight. Its still got its downy fluff but by the time i see it it should have some feathers and start resembling a bird.

I bought a big cage (at least i think its big, its a cat cage) incase i want to get another in the future. The cage is 92cm across, 60cm wide and 130 cm tall..in inches thats 36x23x51 i think? Just wondering if that would be big enough if i someday wanted to add another? if not i will have to buy a seperate one if that day comes.

Also Are they really hard to train/tame? I used to tame cockatiels (four at a time at the least) but am not sure how different they are taming one alex compared to four tiels? The alex is being hand weaned then given to me and the tiels came straight from the parents.

Is there one main thing that you should not let them do?

Also im torn whether to find out the sex or not. I really want to know but at the same time would like the surprise. I'm not bothered the sex of it but are there any significant behaviour problems with each sex? I am calling it matches so it doesnt matter whether it is a boy or girl, would just like to know what people would do?

Also how tolerant are they of heat because i live in queensland Australia and it can get pretty hot here, do they like bathing or showering?

Sorry about all the questions and long post but I'm so excited and want to find out as much as i can from people that actually own them instead of all the different info on the net.

Thanks heaps

Courtney

[vankarhi]

Well Pauline lives in Brisbane and she breeds alex's (that is where I got Takoda from) and I live in Calliope in Central Qld and it gets stinking hot up here ...... like right now. My birds tolerate the heat but I do try to keep them cool with showers or fans on them or on the verandahs with shade cloth. My aviary is being built at the moment .......... as we speak so hopefully my ekkie and alex girls will be in there soon and then I will find husbands for them.

I don't think there is much difference between training birds of any species. Each bird has it's own likes and dislikes any way. If you have trained 'tiels before then the same techniques should work on an alex. Alex's are extremely intelligent too.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[courtzrocks]

Awesome thanks, I'm getting mine from murwillimbah but i live in brisbane. I get to see it on the 27th but wont get it for a while. Not sure whether to find out the sex or not..im not going to breed but yeah.

[nurse01]

Birds really should be misted on a regular basis (every 2-3 days or so). But my girl loves getting soaked and that should help your birdie cope with the heat. We live in Brissie and she is fine with it.

[vankarhi]

yes my birds loved to have a bath or shower under the hose

[Jane]

So Courtney how was the visit?

[courtzrocks]

Awesome, ill post some photo's in a new thread.