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10 steps to help your PARROT stop BITING!
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Red-bellied ParrotFamily: Psittacidae
Besides being extremely acrobatic and awesome looking, Red-Bellied Parrots are excellent talkers!Many Red-Bellied Parrots try to imitate human voices before they're even weaned. They are capable of a few words or maybe a phrase by the time they're three months old. They love to imitate whistles and can learn to whistle a certain tune based on a verbal cue. They are very easy to train. With a little patience and tons of repetition they can learn to do many things on cue such as; whistle, talk, and even flap their wings! Red-Bellied Parrots are extremely enjoyable birds. They are fascinating to watch even years after you've brought them home. To learn more about Parrot Care visit:
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Description:
Red-Bellied Parrots are beautiful birds, with a visible difference
between the males and females. The females are gray with a deep forest
green belly. The males are gray on the back with olive in their wings,
a brilliant red belly, neck, and forehead, and lime green stockings on
their legs. The irises of their eyes are red and can be changed in width
at will, depending on how interested the bird is in what he's looking
at.
These birds can reach up to 8 1/2" (22 cm).
Distribution:
Red-Bellied Parrots originate in the savannahs of Eastern
Africa.
They live in the brush and feed off of the acacia fruit.
This particular fruit hangs upside-down in a bell fashion, so that the
only way for the red belly to get to the yummy fruit inside is, you guessed
it, to hang upside down and crane his head around to get the fruit. No
wonder they spend so much of their out of the cage time upside down!
Housing:
The question of housing is always difficult to answer, as
a clipped bird will need less space than a flighted bird. The minimum
cage requirement for a clipped bird is a 20 x 20 cage, with horizontal
bars on at least two sides for easy climbing. Of course the larger the
cage the better as your bird will have a wonderful time with the extra
space and toys.
Place the cage in a part of the house where you and other
humans in your life spend a great deal of time. These birds are very social,
living in colonies in the wild, and will often whistle or call your name
through the house to find out where you are if you are not in sight. The
Red-Bellied Parrot prefers to be near the center of the household and
where they can be closest to you.
Care and feeding:
Red Bellied parrots enjoy a varied diet, including a seed
mix with safflower, and many fresh fruits and vegetables. Formulated diets
should only be fed as a supplement, not as the only food, but they can
be fun when they come in a variety of different flavors. Red-Bellied Parrots
enjoy many fruits and vegetables, including corn, peas, spinach, parsley,
fresh peppers, green beans, carrots, apples, oranges, bananas, and more.
Feed all vegetables fresh or frozen, but never canned. Some may also enjoy
dried red hot chili peppers. Be aware of avocados, however, feeding these
to your birds are toxic and can very well kill them.
Social Behaviors:
These birds are extremely social and will often show off
for company, letting everyone know what new words, whistles, and phrases
they have added to their vocabulary; sometimes without you having ever
heard them before. If you Red-Bellied Parrot gets regular time out of
the cage, it will be more willing to try relationships with more people,
and, indeed, other animals.
As with any bird, if your Red-Bellied Parrot's wings are
clipped, they are much easier to train. This also increases its dependence
upon you, relying on your hand to be the 'elevator' to where it wants
to go.
Handling/Training:
These birds are very easily trained. Your laughter is the
strongest training tool imaginable for your bird. He will learn that a
particular behavior pleases you, and if you say a particular phrase every
time he does that behavior, he will quickly learn to associate the phrase
with the behavior. One day he will surprise you doing the behavior when
you say the phrase; or, if he does it on his own, saying the phrase while
he does it. They are eager to please and live to make you happy.
Activities:
Red-Bellied Parrots are very interested in anything
they can do with their humans. They enjoy toys with bells, and will ring
them to get your attention. They will show off by dangling upside down
off of the roof of their cage, often by only one toe! Many birds love
to look out the window and perches can be bought that are designed with
suction cups to attach to the window. Any moving object outside will interest
your bird greatly, and he will have his beak pressed to the window for
as long as you permit him.
Breeding/Reproduction:
Red-Bellied Parrots are sexually mature at two years of age,
though many pairs won't start reproducing until they are four years of
age.They are dimorphic with the females being gray with a deep forest
green belly while the males have a bright red belly.
The average clutch size is three to four eggs. The clutch
takes an average of 26 days in incubation and the eggs hatch a day or
two apart. Suggested band size for the red belly is from a 9 to a 10.
Availability:
The Red-Bellied Parrot belly is becoming more and more steadily
available, though can still be a bit tricky to find. They range in price
from $400 to $600 and can be found in some pet stores and through breeders.
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Comments from people who have kept this pet:
Thank you for the info on red bellied parrots! They are definately one of my favourites! We are getting a female in September. Although it seems like a long time I know it's worth the wait!
Java adopted us a year ago and keeps things very interesting in our house. I hear a lot of people say the red bellied parrot thinks it is much bigger than reality. Java is larger than life and I believe she thinks she is an 800 pound gorilla. She takes toys from the dog and will carry off an empty 20 ounce water bottle the dog was using as a toy. She is mischievous and will try to pull the cat's whiskers or bite her tail when the cat sleeps curled up on my lap. We have to watch her every minute like a naughty toddler, but she is such a jokester that we forgive her easily. When she saw snow out the window for the first time and heard us get excited about snow in Atlanta, she exclaimed "boy oh boy".
Would Like to have male. I have female that is laying eggs but no male to fertilize eggs. I was told it was a male when I bought it 6yrs ago. So my JO-JO, is a Joette. Thanks.
Skully is our two foot Macaw, living in an African Red Bellied Parrot body!! He is wonderful, playful and very intelligent. He has his entire household "trained" to be at his beck and call. This includes the newest addition to our family, Hershey, an 80 pound chocolate lab puppy. Our family considers Hershey to be Skully's dog. Skully feeds him his leftovers, plays with him, calls him by name and disciplines him when necessary. His favorite phrase is "Hi Baby" which is something that I said to him for only a week before he picked it up. He whistles and sometimes talks continuosly at one minute intervals combining rambling with distinct understandable words and phrases such as "Good Morning, Hello, Good-Bye, Good Night, Trouble." Before I met Skully, I didn't realize that sharing my life with a bird could be so enjoyable!! I look forward to each day that I have with him and am grateful that my life has been graced with his presence!
We've had Skyler, our Red Bellied Parrot for 7 months. He was 3 months old when we got him. He's a joy to have! He's learned the "Andy Griffith" tune, says "kitty, kitty, kitty" & he says & even associates "meow" with the word kitty! Amazing!! Our sweetest & largest cat (who is also male) looooves Skyler so much. The other cats don't really pay him much attention. This is my first bird & I hope to have him for many many years.
I have a Blue Quaker Parrot named Kiwi, a Senegal named Uma, a Green Cheek Conure named Frindle, and I recently got a baby male Red-Bellied that I have named Sooty. Of all the birds I have, he is the cuddliest and sweetest. Even though I am still handfeeding him he has learned to say 'hello' in a cute voice. He thrives on his daily fruits, veggies, grains, etc. and loves his pellets. He is such a handsome bird. I look forward to many happy years with him.
Author: Monica L. Rearick
Edited by Animal-World
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