When buying a wavy parrot at a pet store, pay special attention to its age. At first glance it is difficult for an inexperienced person to determine whether a young bird is in front of him or an old parrot is not too different in appearance. But knowing some of the features, which we will now talk about, you will be able to buy a young chick wavy parrot.
Why is it so important? The fact is that if you keep the store indoors for a long time, parrots get very little fresh air, and often feed them the cheapest food. As a result, you risk acquiring a bird with hidden health problems that will manifest itself in the near future.
And now let's talk about the criteria for determining the age of a wavy parrot.
How to know the age of a parrot?
- The very first thing that should be paid attention to when inspecting a bird is a wavy "cap" on the head. In young parrots, these characteristic waves start from the beak and cover the whole head (exceptions are only rocks of albinos or Lutinos, which do not have such a wavy pattern on their heads at all). Such babies will be up to 3-4 months, until the first, juvenile molt has passed.
- Next, appreciate the eyes of the parrot - does it have an iris. As a rule, if the bird's eyes are completely black, without the iris, this is a sign that its age does not exceed 5-6 months. However, the appearance of the iris - the process is quite individual, and in some individuals the eyes are lightened only to 10 months. A wide bright rim around the pupil is a sure sign that a parrot is older than 1 year old. But at the same time, the parrots of mutational rocks (the so-called "monsters") eyes remain black (or red, as in the case of Lutinos) their entire life.
- Another criterion for how to determine the age of a wavy parrot is the color of the wax - a patch of skin above the beak, where the nostrils are located. As a rule, the wax of young wavy parrots has a light pink, beige or bluish color. It changes to darker after the onset of puberty, which occurs in 5-6 months. At the same time, consider that such changes are more characteristic of women. Males of parrots usually have a pinkish-violet color of the wax which does not change over time. However, as an exception, the male's vestige can be blue, and even with blue fragmentary spots. It is not necessary to draw conclusions about the age of the bird only on the basis of the color of the wax - it is necessary to take into account all the signs in the complex.
- The throat patches of the parrot have their characteristic shape, at the same time, the older your pet becomes, the more their contours become. In young individuals, throat spots represent numerous sectors and semicircles of irregular shape.
- Paws of undulating parrots are another way to determine age. If you see that the scales on the paws fit very tightly and give the impression of a very smooth surface, then you are clearly a young specimen. With age, individual scales become noticeable,
and the older the bird, the more loose the cover tissues of its paws become. - And, finally, tail feathers can also say a lot. Usually, tail feathers in birds younger than 2 months are noticeably shorter. But keep in mind: it may be a more adult bird that has lost the longest tail feathers for some other reason.
The total life expectancy of a wavy parrot is about 10, maximum 15 years. If we compare a bird to a man, then by the human standards the age of the year-old parrot is equal to the age of a 10-year-old child. However, this comparison, as you understand, is very arbitrary.