Birdie Pets

Parrolets/Fig Parrots

Question:

Parrotlets make great pets, but I would not want to have one as my first bird.  They can be a little difficult but they are also a lot of fun. There are no books on parrotlets, but there was an article in Bird Talk a couple of years ago and there is an International Parrotlet Society that has a lot of information.  They have a web page and you can either write to them or e-mail them.  They are located in California.

Response:

> Parrotlets make great pets, but I would not want to have one as my first > bird.  They can be a little difficult but they are also a lot of fun. > There are no books on parrotlets, but there was an article in Bird Talk a > couple of years ago and there is an International Parrotlet Society that > has a lot of information.  They have a web page and you can either write > to them or e-mail them.  They are located in California.

The International Parrotlet Society sells a handbook on Parrotlets. I believe it is produced by them. Also, the latest issue of Bird Breeder magazine features Parrotlets. One of the people from The International Parrotlet Society wrote it.

Response:

Hi, we have several pairs of figparrots, and have bread some youngs. It is very difficult to breed figparrots. We have never tried to raise chicks by hend, and I don’t know if it is neccesary to do so. Because all the youngs that we have are quit tame, eventough the parents are still wild. Figparrots are birds that doesn’t make a lot of noise, but they make a lot of mess with there food. Figparrots want to eat the seeds out of the figs first, so they throw the figflesh around the cage. Furthermore the droppings of figparrots must be removed from the bottom of the cage as soon as possible, because of there fruit containing food it has a unpleasant smell. As far as I know there are no specific books on figparrots. But you can always visit us at our homepage. There we have an article published about the Salvador’s figparrot. URL:http://WEB.inter.NL.net/users/P.Niessen. Best regards Pascal and Huub Niessen Stein, Holland – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Looking for information on parrolets and or fig parrots – can they be > hand-fed and do they make good pet birds?  Also looking for reliable > breeder who will ship to Western US (not to the coast) Any books available > on them?

Response:

Looking for information on parrolets and or fig parrots – can they be hand-fed and do they make good pet birds?  Also looking for reliable breeder who will ship to Western US (not to the coast) Any books available on them?

Response:

Fig parrots are rather problematic. Every fig parrot breeder I have spoken with says that they have lost a lot of babies, and often grown birds too. It is very difficult to get babies to survive more than about 10 days. The only book I can think of that has much about fig parrots is "Parrots: Their Care and Breeding" by Rosemary Low, for about $80. One breeder told me that they can not be tamed so you can handle them; they must be kept in cages like finches. A fig parrot died by flying into the wall of an aviary, so Low suggests keeping them in a cage with their wings clipped, rather than an aviary. As for finding fig parrots for sale, if I find any, I will buy them for myself. Many types of parrotlets are being bred commercially on a large scale. Certain types may be difficult to breed, but at least most of them are fairly simple. The latest issue of Bird Breeder has an article about parrotlet breeding, claiming that they are prolific.    Ian Kerfoot    http://what.csl.uiuc.edu/~kerfoot/ficus/

Response:

Filed under: Pet Bird Cage