Well today, my friend Jenn and I went and picked up the Linnies (Lineolated Parakeets)! We drove close to 2 hours and got there at about 2:30, spent a good hour and a half there playing with Leanne's dogs (she has an American Bull Dog and an Irish Wolfhound (talk about a HUGE dog!), gawking over her racing/homing pigeons (who were flying freely and putting on a show), and oohing and ahhing over the Lady Gouldian Finches and Canaries.

The Linnies were playing shy and didn't want to come out of their cages, which was okay. Leanne explained that she is usually the only one to go into the aviary, so the Linnies weren't used to new people. They both warmed up to me after about 15 minutes of talking to them.

I took them both out of their cage (had to catch Comolie, but Nellie stepped up wonderfully) and put them into their travel carrier and off we went home (with a goodie bag FULL of seeds, pellets and toys from Leanne).

We get home and I take the lid off the carrier and Nellie hops right onto my finger and climbs up onto my shoulder into my hair and just snuggled. Once again, I had to scoop up Comolie (he doesn't like hands), but then he too ran up and snuggled right into my neck. So I sat with them both there for a few minutes, then put them onto their cage, took some pics and then put them into the cage for the night.

Nellie is an Olive Green, and she is 2 years old. Comolie is a Cobalt Blue and he is a year old. So here are a couple of pics...







They are so tiny!!! LOL A bit smaller than a budgie, and sooooo adorable. I am totally in love already

Oooh they look so cute! That last picture with Nellie and her head slightly cocked... so cute!

Linnies are awesome. I love the noise they make.

Now Carrie-Annie you didn't warn us that you were gonna be a mommy again. Shame on you.... But I will say you have some beautiful babies there.....

Now what do they eat and are you thinking in the future to breed?...Had you been thinking for awhile to get Linnes?...If so and you mentioned it, I must have missed your post somehow....Anyway, wishing you much happiness and success with your new babies.....

Oh Julie, you were one of the first people to tell me to get them!! Original Thread Granted, it was almost 4 weeks ago...lol I imagine most every one has forgotten and I've kept pretty quiet (although I almost posted this morning in all my excitement)

I would like to breed them, but it will depend on them (as with all birds). But before I breed them, I want to tame them down some more, especially Comolie. As for eating, they are currently on an excellent grain/seed mix, but I'll be converting them over to pellets. And they love fresh foods too (fruit is especially a hit with them). So not much different than what I feed right now.

I just can't believe how friendly they are!! I go into my room (they are in quarantine) and they immediately chirp at me and run over to the side of the cage to see me. Besides transferring them from the carrier to the cage, I haven't had them out. I want to give them a night to settle in before I start to let them out.

OMG I LOVE LINNIES - I'm so jealous lol!!! congrats they are ultra-CUTE!!!!

D

Oh Geesh, words on paper don't lie....I guess this old memory bank of mine is failing for sure....Yep, now I remember and I said "Go Get 'Them...



Anyway, have fun with the Linnies....And let us know how they are doing....

And thanks for the reminder.....

lol...no worries, Julie. I have a hard enough time keeping track of my life to expect others to as well

They are soooo cute. Can't wait to see more pictures, and hear about their antics.

Congratulations!!!!!

Carrie theyre just beautiful!

Beautiful Linnies! Thanks for sharing the photos! Please keep us posted on their progress!

Congratulations! They are beautiful!

Yea Carrie~Anne! They are so pretty!

Oh! Carrie Anne, congratulations. They are so adorable.

So... are you thinking pets or breeders? It sounds like they are pretty tame and have taken quite the liking to you. They must have heard how spoiled they are going to be!

Linnies, like Cockatiels, can be both. So that is what I am aiming for. One of the goals in my breeding program was to have Linnies, so this is a perfect opportunity. They are already a bonded pair and are at a great age to start breeding. I'll work with them over the summer to get them used to me more and more and then I'll set them up with a nesting box in the early fall and see what happens.

Aww they're adorable! I love parrotlets

Oh are they cute or what! What sweet looking darlings. Are they actually smaller than a budgie? OMG - how adorable. There was a pretty big article in bird magazine about Linnie's.

I'm going to ask a very stupid question since I don't know anything about breeding birds. Why is it that breeders can't be tame or pets. Has anybody every had a tame pair of parrots that ended up breeding or is that just someting that doesn't happen with tame parrots. If so, why not? Sorry this is dumb, but I was always wondering about that. Second dumb question is: Why does one have to take the baby chicks out and away from the parrents and hand feed in order for the chicks to end up tame? Can't one just let the parrents feed the chicks, and once they get to be a couple of weeks old or so start interacting with them and training/taming them?

Like I said, dumb questions, but I was always wondering about that.

Yep, they are slightly smaller than a Budgie.



No stupid questions Asking questions is how we all learn!

With certain species of parrots you can have breeders that make good pets. I have 3 pairs of breeding Cockatiels. ALL but one of the birds are pet quality. I can handle them just as if they were my pets (and I consider them to be my pets too). They all get handled daily and are quite content to be with us (with the exception of the one bird).

Now, the thing is, is that most breeders will become aggressive when giving a nesting box and even more so if they lay eggs and babies. I can peak in on my breeders when they are sitting on eggs/babies, but I certainly can't put my hand in the box! They are just protecting their babies. Besides, you don't want to mess with them too much when they are in the box in case they harm the chicks or abandon them. Away from the nest, they are just like pets again

Now, this usually only applies to the smaller birds. The larger birds like Greys and Macaws (and a lot of medium size birds) will not make good pets if they are breeders. They are one or the other.



Again, with some species of birds you can do this. Cockatiels, Budgies and Linnies can make excellent pets, even if they have been parrentfed. BUT, they require a LOT of socializing. Meaning you have to handle them several times throughout the day so they are used to human contact. If they aren't handled, then they are just used to birds, not humans.

Now with a lot of other species of birds, they won't allow human contact. In fact, a lot of parents will kill, or abandon, their chicks if there is too much human interference...hence the reason to pull and handfeed.

And you most definitely should not mix both. You should never allow the parents to feed while you are handfeeding. That can be a recipe for disaster.

I know lots of people that allow the parents to feed Cockatiel/linnie chicks and start handling them at about 10 days (I pull mine for handfeeding at about 3 weeks, but handle them daily at 10 days) and those babies grow up to be great pets!!

Hope that helps

They are soo pretty. The pet smart near me has a blue one that has been there for months, its really very sad. She was not doing well a whlie ago but recently when I was there she was better but her nails were soo long. THe droped her price to 350.00 so that the can try and sell her faster. Sorry to rant.

Thanks for the expanations. I appreciate that. I really had no idea and was always wondering about that.



Enjoy your Linnie's

Very cute carrie. They're just a little bit bigger than Parrotlets, right?

So if they breed, and you have one olive and one cobalt, what possible colourations could you get?

Thanks Yep, they are slightly larger than a Parrotlet. I think P'lets are between 4.5 and 5.5 inches long, and weigh around 30 to 40 grams. Linnies are about 6 inches and are around 45 to 55 grams. I haven't weighed these two yet, so I'm not sure where they stand in that.



That's the fun part!!! There are several combinations. I could get normal greens, blues, slates, and possibly olives (like Nellie). So that is cool!!

I plan on contacting their breeder in the next week or so and let her know that I have them now (they are banded, so if they are ever lost they will be traced back to her, then to me), plus pick her brain on some breeding questions. Although, I've talked to other breeders and they are pretty much the same as tiels.

They are adorable and it's neat that you can have so many color variations if the have babies! That would be exciting!

Those birds are precious. I hope they fit in well.

Angela

Ahhh .. they are adorable Carrie~Anne ..

Last time I was on here you (and all of us) were convincing you to get them! HA! Glad to see you did, they are adorable!

Congrats! They are beautiful!!! I'm so excited for you!!!

Way too cute....Congrats!!!

WOW~!!! Carrie~Anne,
They are Gorgeous~!!!!! YOur so lucky~! Congrats.

So cute I was considering one of those when in search of a bird

awww they are so cute! what is their average size?

Carrie Anne they're adorable!!! Congrats!!!

They are a bit bigger than a P'let and slightly smaller than a Budgie.

And guess what?!? I walked into my bedroom yesterday and clear as day, Comolie said 'Hi Baby!' Coooooooooool!!!! I knew the males could learn to talk, but the lady I got them from never said that Comolie could talk Perhaps she didn't know?

Anyways, they are great birds!! I would recommend one in a heartbeat. And you should see them walk!!! I'll have to get a video of it because I can't really describe it. It is like one foot over the other...nothing like my other birds do.

Ohh! Yes, a video would be wonderful!