Two parrotlets love me. Which shall I purchase?

[Deja Q]

One is very curious and interested in me, but has a real biting problem.

The other is shy, made shy by the other parrot, but is freaked out over humans in general. The shy one, who is the prettier of the two, is caught between being terrified of strangers and wanting affection. I know the feeling well, actually. :D

One ought to be rescued...

[XemaSab]

1. Get the shy one

:D

[boston bean]

3. that was my gut feeling too. needs you more, maybe, but if the other one is biting

maybe no one will adopt it and maybe the biting one needs you more, cause the shy one, everyone's gonna love, so i'm split.

[Kat45]

8. Oh, someone will adopt the biter. A lot of parrotlets bite.

They can learn not to bite. My Grace sometimes bites, but sometimes she'll just nibble--she knows the difference between biting hard and not. We play "beak-jousting" all the time but she's generally not trying to bite me. When she's trying, you know it!

[leeroysphitz]

2. Is this some sort of metaphor?

It actually sounds like a question you might see on a psych eval.

"You are in a pet store to purchase a parrot. You only have two to choose from. You notice that one of the parrots seems to be inquisitive and outgoing but somewhat aggressive while the other tends to be more introverted and submissive. Which parrot do you choose to purchase? Why?"

[Maddy McCall]

4. Get the shy one.

That's what I'd do. Then the biter won't have anyone else to bite. :D

I wanna see photos. :hi:

[Roon]

5. Yeah, get the shy one

Kisses for both birdies however!!!

[Kat45]

6. You cant go wrong getting a parrotlet. But I'm biased, of course.

I'd go with the shy one. Particularly since it sounds like you can relate to him and understand him. Just take it slowly and gently with him and he'll come around and learn not to be afraid of you. Biting problems aren't necessarily forever but I have a feeling you and the nonbiter might be made for each other. Let us know what you do. :-)

[Deja Q]

7. Is your Grace a parrotlet?

[Kat45]

9. Yes, she is. She's a pacific parrotlet.

Are the birds you saw male or female? Parrotlets are one of the species in which one can visually see what sex the bird is.

[Deja Q]

10. Dimorphic, excellent. The shy one had much bolder blues, and

deeper blue around the eyes. The bitey one had a similar color scheme, and more of a gray around the eyes.

[Kat45]

11. Sounds like you've got a shy guy there.

If they are pacific parrotlets, which is the most common species that people have, the males have a blue rump and blue near the eyes. The females don't have the blue, except in the lucida subspecies (pacific lucida parrotlet) in which the females do have the blue, though I don't think it's as pronounced as on the males. Grace is a pacific lucida parrotlet.

[Deja Q]

12. Thx!

I'll go back tomorrow. I may see if I can coax him to me, without feeling bad.

(I also own a senegal parrot; so if I were to get the little fella I'd have to keep the newbie in a different room...)

I also have to consider other priorities, but I am tempted. I've always loved birds... 'specially quiet, apartment-friendly ones and those parrotlets were riotously funny.

[Kat45]

13. Yes, parrotlets have such personality packed into those tiny bodies

And they are great for apartments. Even when they're hollering at you, the sound is relatively quiet. And unlike a senegal (which I also have), their yelling sounds cute; the senegal's screaming hurts my ears, so I'm glad he lives with my ex. :-)