Meet Tango!

Three days ago I purchased an Eclectus parrot. I have wanted a parrot for a while. . . To be honest I wanted an African Grey, but in Australia you're looking at $8000-$10,000 for a well bred bird!!! No that's not a typo... I can't justify that kind of money for a pet of any kind, let alone a bird, who could drop off its perch at any time.... lol So to speak.

So my next choice was the Eclectus. They're similar in many ways, but also quite different (I could list them all, but I'd be here all day). They're both known for their speaking/mimicking abilities and they are both very intelligent critters. African Greys are cuddly birds, where the Eclectus isn't so much, they're happy to be with you, but don't have the need to be constantly touched all of the time, they're a little more independent.... Plus, they don't have that big fat price tag. I think the non-cuddly, more independence and much, much lower price tag are both pluses for me lol

Tango

Anyway, three days ago I drove 2 hours from home to meet and collect my new feathered friend. He's four months old and really inquisitive!! Seriously! Just today before I started this post, he was running all around the kitchen bench. Now our kitchen is in the middle of the house, so you can stand on both sides of the bench. So he decided that he just had to get to the other side where I was... He looked into the sink and saw that he couldn't step down into it, so he decided he would try and jump the sink..... He landed in the cats bowl that was full of manky cat food water LOL!! At the time I was rinsing some things out, so when I helped him out of the cats bowl he was grabbing at the dishcloth and trying to bite the water coming out of the tap. It was very funny! LOL

Tango eating MY breakfast

The second and third morning, I cut up fruit and vegies for his breakfast and put them on a little plate for him. I put the plate on the bench.... Then I get my breakfast - plain old cereal and milk.... and guess what he wants? My breakfast! His was a much healthier choice! I should have eaten his! LOL The above photo was taken yesterday - day 2. This morning he actually had both feet on my bowl and was trying to get the cereal off the spoon when I was trying to put in in my mouth. If you've never owned a parrot, eating breakfast can be difficult lol

Tango checking out Facebook

He has this personality where he isn't interested in anything, until you touch it.... Then he wants it. For example if he's sitting on my arm and I'm just talking to him, he's happy to sit and listen and he makes these little noises where he sounds like he's a chook and other times he kind of coos. But, if he's sitting on my arm and I start to use the computer with the other hand, he wants the computer. When my wife has her ipad on and is playing a game (The Tribez), he has to walk right up and stand on the screen and he tries to catch the little men running around lol

His cage is in a fairly open part of our house, so he can pretty much see us all the time. Every time one of us walks past, he mutters something, I have no idea what he's trying to say, but he does it every time without fail lol Life living with a parrot is certainly going to be a very interesting journey.... The breeder said to me "You don't actually know what you say all the time until you own a parrot"...... After she said that, I've stopped swearing at home LOL!!!!