Parrotlet Mutations, Adopting Older Parrotlets, Parrotlet Behavior

Hi Sandee, I suffered a terrible blow today. I was told I would be looking at a hand fed 'halfway socialized' 8 to 9 week old parrotlet, we drove 226 miles round trip for nothing. I called a mile away from the place ( I told her that we were leaving at 930 or 10, and she answered the phone when I was a mile away like I was her best friend, and said 'oh, I'm sorry, I got the age wrong, we got to talking last night and realized he's 4 months old' I said this is a shock but we're a mile away, I'll come see him...he was beautiful, maybe they all are, but skittish, he was flying into cabinet doors to try to get away, although he did like to hide in my long hair, and let me pet him there, he was more than bitey, bitey on a continuous basis, I freed him from the net the breeder's helper used, cause his claws were caught, and he bit me at least a dozen times just for that, the breeder was named Trish, she was an IPS member, said she had 20 years experience, but he was from two blues, which my friend Colette said is not acceptable. I don't know if you know her, she's great, she owns the www.commandobirdies.com. He was bonded with the other young parrotlets, calling to them. I was tempted, after that long drive, but I declined him. I am now thinking of shipping... Please advise which breeders you recommend, and I will contact them...I want a hand fed socialized baby, just one, as long as it's a male... THANK YOU! Wendi Dear Wendy: Although the age of the bird was older than first indicated, it seems to me that the bird was ‘halfway socialized’ or more accurately was a hand-fed baby that had not been handled in several months and probably would have come around and made a good pet with some work and some patience. The best bonded parrotlet I ever knew was a female who I had hand-fed then put in with other parrotlets until she was 8 months old at which time I gave her to my husband’s friend. Yes, she bit at first but after a couple of weeks, she settled in to her new surroundings and bonded so strongly with her owner that when I took the bird in for a year while he had his house remodeled, she immediately responded to him when she heard his voice. The behavior as you describe is completely normal for a parrotlet that had not been handled in a long time. Also, 4-6 months is when most parrotlets go through their first molt. This poor bird is scooped out of its cage, away from other parrotlets, has at least 4 people in the room with it, two of whom are complete strangers and, of course, its scared and tries to get away only to get caught in a net, which, to a bird, feels like it is going to die. I’d bite too. Also, not sure if the bird’s wings were clipped but if it were flying away, probably not and even the sweetest parrotlet can turn nippy when it is fully-flighted. This bird probably thought the end was near and was doing everything in its power to save itself. After all, these are animals guided by Nature’s instinct to survive. They are not domesticated animals like a dog or cat that has been raised for thousands of years to live with humans. The bird was acting like a completely normal, healthy parrotlet and I’m sure it was stressed and frightened as it could be. That’s why it bit you, not because its mean or hateful. It’s a baby and it was scared for its life. As for the genetics of breeding a blue to a blue, that has nothing to do with its personality nor is it an indicator of any future possible health problems. Even if it did, unfortunately, people like me who actually outcrossed to wild-types (or even have wild-types) were very, very, rare. You are lucky if you can find ANY parrotlets that don’t have some mutation in the background and most have several. So the days of being able to pick from what would be considered ‘healthier stock’ from outcrossed mutations are over for parrotlets. Just like having any other species available. While species such as Mexican and Blue Wing parrotlets were always uncommon, they are now considered genetically extinct in the US. Even once common species such as Spectacles and Green Rumps are very, very rare and all of them are related. Breeding related birds, inbreeding, will bring about the extinction of a species faster than anything. That is why humans can’t marry their relatives. Mutations contributed to this destruction of the availability of parrotlets in the US because people were greedy (after all, they cost $1000 each when first bred), they are in or linebred in order to establish them, most parrotlet breeders did not outcross to wild—types and they dumped all of their other species in order to either make more money or inflate their egos by producing new pretty colors. It’s a pretty sad state for someone like me who devoted almost 4 decades of my life to establishing self-sustaining captive populations of all species of parrotlets in the US. This is what also led to the demise of the International Parrotlet Society. People only working with mutations, thinking they can get all of their information for free online and not giving anything back to the parrotlet community. Very sad. I am working on a presentation for several organizations on the demise of bird clubs and how it will ultimately lead to the demise of aviculture. Best of luck and be sure and let them know I gave you the referral. Sincerely yours, Sandee L. Molenda, C.A.S. The Parrotlet Ranch, Owner, www.parrotletranch.com A Chattering Bird Builds No Nest. Camaroonian Phrase ________________________________________

Parrotlet Lifespans, Spectacle Parrotlet Availability

Hi!
I am a parrotlet owner and have been doing some digging for research on parrot foraging, nutrition and lifespan but due to the lack of research on parrots and general and especially parrotlets, I havent been able to find real conclusive facts about parrotlet lifespans. I am sure this is due to the fact that they werent widely bred until recently so we may not even know for sure what is normal. My question for you is what is the longest you have known them to live?

I also have another question regarding purchasing a spectacled parrotlet as a pet. I am not looking for one immediatly but am researching and preparing and was wondering if you breed them for pet homes and if so, how much are they?

Thank you in advance for your time

Sincerely,
M. J. Roach

Dear Mary:

Thank you for your email. Let me provide you with a brief history.

Parrotlets have been in the United States since the late 1800's. The first pairs were bred in zoos starting in the mid-1920's. They have been kept as pets since the 1950s so they certainly are not recent additions to Amercan aviculture. Indeed, I have kept them for almost 30 years and the 1970's and 80's there were tens thousands of parrotlets that were imported including Yellow Face and Sclater's. In 1992, the United States cut off importation of almost all species of parrots except under extremely limited circumstances. The International Parrotlet Society was formed in 1992 and worked tirelessly to add color mutation parrotlets to the Approved List of Captive-Bred Birds and have been imported, again by the thousands, since 1995. They are one of the very few species of parrots that are allowed to be imported into the United States.

The reason there is little known about their lifespans isn't because of lack of research per se. The reason is, very few people other than myself have kept them long enough to make that determination. Most of the people who breed parrotlets these days have kept them less than 10 years - a mere blip on the radar screen of bird keeping. Indeed, there is no 'research' that can be done other than the actually keeping individual birds from birth to death and these days, that is extremely rare. I only know of maybe 6 people in the US that actually have that type of experience. Everyone else, particularly those on the Internet, have no personal experience and only repeat what they have been told or read. Unfortunately, on the internet, anyone can be an expert - all they need is a keyboard and an opinion.

When I stared with parrotlets in the early 1980's, I had wild-caught birds as did everyone else. Ironically, most people these days that have parrotlets have never seen a wild-caught bird let alone work with them. I did for more than a dozen years. Those birds easily lived more than 20 years although we were not sure how old they actually were. The reason we know they lived to be more than 20 years old is because we actually kept individual birds that long. Of course, these were adults when they were imported so we really don't know how old they were. We only know they easily lived 20 years or more. These days, they can live to be that age but it is extremely rare. Most parrotlets meet their demise from accidents, usually preventable, but even if they are protected, it seems 10-15 years is much more the norm. This could be for a variety of reasons including diet (I am a firm believer in fresh, whole natural foods for parrotlets not pellets or other 'fortified' diets). It could also be the natural progression of animals that are kept in captivity. Seems the more humans are involved with breeding animals, the more their lifetimes are shortened. This is true with pretty much all domesticated animals. It could be people are taking too many 'short cuts' with breeding - not waiting for the birds to be mature or it could be due to inbreeding. Color mutations may also have had an effect because they are genetically abnormal and in the wild, they would never have lived long enough to breed and pass on their defective genes. These days its almost impossible to find a normal Pacific parrotlet that has no color mutations in its background at all. But, since color mutations have only been around 15 years or less, no one can definitely answer that question. Perhaps we will have that answer in another 15 to 20 years.

I do breed Spectacles and was one of the first to breed them in the US when they were imported in 1992. I always have a waiting list for all of my birds and my list for Spectacles is months long. Unfortunately, my prediction made back in 1994 before any mutations were imported, has come true. That all the other species would disappear once people started breeding mutations. I charge $300 each.

As I said, I have bred parrotlets for almost 30 years. I have kept every species except Sclater's (only one pair was known to produce and they died, along with their offspring, in a house fire in the 1980's) and was one of the first to actually breed parrotlets. I also have awards for working with rare and difficult species such as Mexicans and have a first breeding award for producing the first of a particular subspecies of Blue Wings. I cofounded the International Parrotlet Society and have written 3 books on parrotlets including the most recent addition of Barron's Parrotlet Handbook. I also write for Bird Talk magazine and am a panel expert on parrotlets with Bird Channel.com I give seminars and speak at national and international conventions on parrotlets as well as other issues involving parrots.

So, I hope this answers your questions. Thank you again for your email.

Sincerely yours,

Sandee L. Molenda, C.A.S.
The Parrotlet Ranch, Owner, www.parrotletranch.com

Join the International Parrotlet Society, – the World’s Largest and Oldest Parrotlet Organization www.internationalparrotletsociety.org

A Chattering Bird Builds No Nest.
Camaroonian Phrase