Comlpete novice

[boxa]

Hi

I am looking at delving into this this hobby you all seem to love so much. I am particularly interested in parrots. I am wanting to get myself either a king or eclectus parrot. I don't know too much about either and I'm in the process of researching at the moment, I'm sure price will be a big factor on which way I go also. I'd like a pet bird but I'm also interested in breeding, is it true that you start to 'lose' a bird once you introduce another to it? If this is the case I think I will stick with a single bird and maybe look breeding at a later stage. Any opinions?

Can you guys recommend any good resources as I'm having a hard time finding info, also any good links to give me an indication of the price of birds. I live in a fairly remote part of QLD so I'll be doing most of this on my own as the nearest pet shop is about 400km away!

I hope to join in the discussions here and will keep you all posted as I progress....too many decisions, can't we just keep them all LOL

Cheers

-=boxa=-

[Jane]

Hi Boxa, Welcome I'm sure you'll have fun here and learn heaps!
I'll answer the bits I can and sure enough everyone else will be along to help out too.
I think that if you want a companion bird who will love you, talk and do tricks you will lose this effect by using the bird for breeding, breeding birds will get posessive about their partner and cage and nestbox. So if it was me I'd have the companion bird then a breeding pair seperate. Great excuse for more birds There is no reason that your breeding birds can't be friendly but you won't get that close bond with them and also you won't be able to take them out of the aviary for obvious reasons. For information there is a search on this forum and feel free to ask as many questions as you'd like.
For pricing information check out Petlink classifieds (be careful of scammers as with any internet sale) and also avitrade on the Parrot Society of Australia website.
Good Luck!

[boxa]

Hi Jane,

Thanks for the help, I think you're right, I'll get the 'companion' bird and get into breeding later. I've checked out Pelink, what a mess, man it's hard to browse through all of that. They need a search option I reckon! It did however give me the price guides I was looking for (thanks)

As I've been reading I've come up with a few other queries. What's the go with this licensing? Only certain birds need it? How are they attainable? Also been looking at cages etc. ebay seems to have some good ones. Does anybody know of any good online 'drystockists'?

Thanks again

-=boxa=-

[zooyouthben]

if you want to serach on petlink press ctrl + f and then a find box will come up and type what you want in that

[Jane]

Oh cool Ben I must read petlink a thousand times a day and I didn't know that.

Boxa, in Qld for certain birds you will need a Recreational Wildlife Licence, the King Parrot is one. I don't know enough about eclectus parrots sorry to know which type are licensed I know the australian sub species eclectus roratus macgillivrayi is on the restricted list but I don't know if thats one commonly kept. Tracey (vankarhi) will know she has the most beautiful girl RSE, I'm sure she'll be on later.
To get a licence you'll need to contact Ecoaccess, part of the Environmental Protection Agency, 1300 368 326 it cost maybe $55 for 5 years I think.

[zooyouthben]

yes, in Sa our licences are so much easier theres Basic and Specialist, Basic is commonly kept birds, and Mammals and Reptiles Specialist is Everything else, you just send away with the animal you want on it, Right now i could Get a Wedgetailed Eagle permit its just getting the eagle that could be hard

[vankarhi]

Well hello and welcome Boxa. I live in Calliope and if I am correct in my Geography ....... Tieri is in the mining area.............maybe around the Middlemount sort of area?? Am I close?? I have a brother who works in one of the mines there as a water truck driver (I think).

Yes you will need a licence for an ekkie............I have one and I applied for it through the National Parks and Wildlife office in Gladstone. It was not very expensive..........about $70 for 5 years I think. I could not bring skye home until I had the licence which took about 1 week.

Ekkies range in price from about $600 - $800............I paid $800 for my girl from a very good breeder in Boyne Island (not far from me). Not sure about the kings but i think they are around the $250 - $300 mark and yes I think you need a licence for them too, but I think the licence for them is different than the one I needed for skye because she is not a native of Australia (even though she was hatched here, her subspecies is native to PNG area).

Ekkies make lovely pets and are extremely intelligent........she is by far the best talker I have ever heard and I am being totally honest here. As a baby she was the best pet I ever owned too, but then she hit "puberty" and she was the most aggressive bird I have ever seen. i perserved and she is back to her normal self again, but cannot be trusted not to bite just because she gets the shits with you. I have nick named her "her royal highness" now...........she thinks she is the queen. I guess I am lucky I am not a novice to birds and have owned big birds in the past...........i personally prefer the bigger birds..........but each person is different (but I do love to look at the little birds too they are just sooo cute).

if you were more experience with birds i would totally recommend an ekkie ............. male or female wouldn't matter. Males can get a bit antsy too at times but it is in the nature of the females to become aggressive during breeding season. I am waiting to see if my girl does this again about April next year...........this time i wont be so shocked.

I have read that Kings are lovely quiet birds and can talk and be taught tricks too. Actually I don't think there are too many birds who cannot be taught tricks if enough patience is applied. I have also heard the Kings make lovely pets and are pretty quiet too. I have a family of kings who visit occassionally and I am amazed at how quiet they are considering they are wild.

If you google King Parrots you should get heaps of info on them and the same with the eclectus...........the most common ones here in Australia are the Red Sided like my girl. The Australian ones are much bigger and much much more expensive.............I was told over $10000 a bird.......... by a breeder in NSW.

Good luck and keep asking the questions...............we were all beginners once and we all had to ask questions...............geez we all still do too.

Welcome too

[vankarhi]

oh and the question of breeding..........i agree with everything Jane said..........but I am going to try to find "husbands" for my female ekkie and my female alexandrine (my baby boy alexandrine Takoda is not a future husband for shrekie). They will be housed separately because the ekkies can be so aggressive and I don't want Skye giving the alex's a hard time while they are hopefully trying to breed. I realise this will possibley lose my "pet"...........but I am positive i will still be able to handle both girls (especially Shrekie as she is so bonded to me i am not even sure she will bond with a male alex). I would hope to be able to go into the aviaries and still talk and interact with my girls and hopefully their husbands too.........but I need to find adult boys for them, and they might not be as tame as my girls.

Just thought I would share that with you. Oh and also get one bird and have it as a pet for a while hopefully allowing it to bond with you before getting a friend. I have had other birds housed together (not as breeders) and I have not ever lost that original bird as a my pet........they still want to come out and be with me whenever i ask them to step up.

[AcaciaWattle]

You can keep two restricted birds on a recreational license, which has gone up to about $59 for 5 years and they make you buy a record book for about $6.50 too. Kings and most rosella's require a license as well.
I'm pretty sure all sub species of Eckies are on restricted licenses, but you can keep almost everything on a restricted license. If you're only planning on keeping one eckie you may be able to get away with a recreational license but definately ask EPA about that.

[vankarhi]

I will have to look for mine............but recreational is what i think i have. I also had to pay some other small amount because I have never owned a licence and yes I had to buy the book too. I can't remember the exact price but knew it was not expensive..

[boxa]

Vankarhi you are spot on, we are the next town from Middlemount. I have found a breeder in Clermont which is about 100k's away but other than that I will have to travel to Rocky or Mackay, Emerald has ver little.

As for the licensing tho, I think I will have to go through Emerald, just wander down to the council I guess. Unless maybe I can download a form off the net???

Well, looks like I have bought a cage! So let the fun begin! My only concern.....I'm getting married at easter and I'll be away for 4 weeks. Maybe I should start with a couple of breeders?? I'm just worried that if I leave the companion bird with someone else in these early stages he may forget me? ;D I guess I'd only have him 4 months and then we'd be away. What do you guys think?

Thanks again!

-=boxa=-

[vankarhi]

As long as the people are trustworthy to look after the bird............not a problem. The bird will not forget you just after a couple of weeks. You will just have to suck up to the bird when you and your wife get back............. sort of like a woman lol (works for me anyway) lol

4 months is quite some time to start a bond happening. A friend left her male ekkie with me and she had only had him for a couple of months as he was only 8 months old when I looked after him for 2 and half weeks while she was in NZ..............she said it was the best thing for him actually as he is now a very active little boy and very vocal now too...............he learned from the BEST lol (Skye is very loud) Jacki told me that her bird Neo now screams "ummma" (my staffy's name is Summa and skye my ekkie yells that and mysta all the time) and he rings like a phone thanks to my girl ;D and is now saying other things and plays with his toys now instead of sitting .............. she was worried about him before he came to me .............. but isn'lt anymore. lol ;D

[boxa]

Thanks Tracy, that is reassuring. I have decided on the King Parrot. Found a couple on PetLink which seem to be good, around $300ea. which seems fair, only thing is I'll have to get it freighted. Has anyone else bought birds without actually seeing them? I've asked for a heap of pics.

-=boxa=-

[Jane]

Have you been able to speak to the people by phone? I wouldn't do internet only transactions but have bought birds from petlink that had to come from Bundeburg so I hadn't seen them, I spoke to the lady on the phone a few times so I knew it was a real phone number etc. Good luck!

[vankarhi]

good advise Jane. Good luck Boxa

[silvercloud]

Hi Boxa, welcome to the wonderful world of birds, just be careful because you won't be able to stop at just one. Apart from the rescued birds I had when I joined of which I only have one cos she can't be released, I now have 12, 6 of which live in my lounge room LOL Good luck finding your feathered friends and don't hesitate to ask anything you need to know, even if you think it's a dumb question. ;D