Are Jolly Balls Safe?

[Jan M]

Hey guys. I just bought a 10” Jolly Ball on a stainless steel tri chain from Blu’s Birds going out of business sale. It’s for my future Pionus bird. The Jolly Ball has five three inch huge holes in it where a bird can easily climb inside. Attached are a few photos of what it looks like. Is this safe for a Pionus? Could it make a bird hormonal because of its nest-like quality? Should I put toys or treats inside the ball?

 

[Shezbug]

If you bought it from @Jan (blue bird toys) it will be perfectly fine. She is a vendor here and many of us have bought great toys from her store. I do not have a jolly ball nor have I seen one in person but I think some of the other members here have them

 

[Mizzely]

I have one; I've had Quakers, a green cheek, and a Jardine's who have loved it! I do take it down when my Jardine's is getting a bit too frisky, as it definitely becomes a spot he protects. So it will just really depend on your bird

 

[Jan]

Most any thing can make a parrot nesty if the bird is feeling the urge. I use to raise lots of Pionus babies and they all loved going in and out of it and playing inside of it. You can put treats in there or little foot toys or small toy part items to play with. The 10" ball size you purchased from me is the size I have sold for years for Pionus and alike size birds. Did you make and hang toys on it yet?

 

[Jan M]

Yea! Thank all of you for responding. I have not put it up yet but plan to put it on my Java wood tree. I am slowly but surely getting ready for my Pionus, but he has not yet been born. Jan, from where did you get your Pionus birds? I am waiting for Omar’s Exotic Birds in LA, but none of their birds is pregnant so I might have to wait until spring to buy one. Can you recommend another breeder? The one in Florida, Patty’s, is quite expensive, but I think he has the most experience breeding them.

 

[T. gillii]

I am slowly but surely getting ready for my Pionus, but he has not yet been born. Jan, from where did you get your Pionus birds? I am waiting for Omar’s Exotic Birds in LA, but none of their birds is pregnant so I might have to wait until spring to buy one.

Here is a video of mine walking through one of Omar's stores if you are interested Unfortunately though, I believe the baby will be clipped unless you can work it out with them personally.

 

[Jan]

I am so out of touch with who breeds Pionus. I could not begin to tell you. I have no clue on what stores would have them. I was at an Omar's years ago, I think maybe in the east part of Pasadena maybe near the 210 freeway. Don't put money down on a baby until there is one hatched and do not put money down on an fertile egg that has not been hatched. Did you ever inquire at Magnolia Bird Farm? They have two locations, one in Riverside and one in Anaheim, I delt with the store in Riverside. I use to sell some of my Pionus and Amazons to the Riverside location. My sister would sell like 30 some Maximilian Piionus every spring/summer. She too no longer breeds birds.

I bred Pionus, started with them along in 1993 and I ended up with 6 species in which one of the species was the Coral Billed Pionus, started with 1 pair and then got unrelated ones that I was able to pair up with my off springs I produced that I traded with Bob Queen of Queen's Pride Aviary in 2006 then he retired and he passed away a couple of years later due to health reason and then his wife sold sold all the breeder pairs because she moved out of their state.

Then due to my health (breathing) I had to sell all my breeders by 2008. Just prior to having to give up breeding, I had been able to create 5 unrelated pairs of Coral Bills. The gal I sold the 5 pairs to had split them all up. I think there were a couple of other Coral Bill breeders but I think as of this time, they must of fallen off the face of the earth. I had 2-3 pairs of each of the other 5 species of Pionus. I also bred 2 species of Amazon being the Blue Fronted and the Orange Wing.

 

[Jan M]

Oh wow, Jan. You‘ve been one busy bird lover. I really appreciate your taking the time to chat with me. I will follow your advice regarding Omar’s. I will also call Magnolia Bird Farm asap. Meanwhile, if you know of anyone breeding Pionus birds, please give them my number. 757-575-6360. I am in Las Vegas.

 

[T. gillii]

I am so out of touch with who breeds Pionus. I could not begin to tell you. I have no clue on what stores would have them. I was at an Omar's years ago, I think maybe in the east part of Pasadena maybe near the 210 freeway. Don't put money down on a baby until there is one hatched and do not put money down on an fertile egg that has not been hatched. Did you ever inquire at Magnolia Bird Farm? They have two locations, one in Riverside and one in Anaheim, I delt with the store in Riverside. I use to sell some of my Pionus and Amazons to the Riverside location. My sister would sell like 30 some Maximilian Piionus every spring/summer. She too no longer breeds birds.

Honestlyyy I do not like Magnolia Bird Farm. No disease testing, dirty facilities (atleast the one in anaheim). Prices for toys and cages are good, but have you seen their diets?

 

[Jan M]

H’m. I just called Magnolias and they are expecting to have Pionus birds this fall, with reasonable prices. I asked about diseases —whether they test for polyoma virus, bornavirus. They claim they do test for these… I will call them again to inquire more about diseases and diets. Thanks so much.

 

[T. gillii]

H’m. I just called Magnolias and they are expecting to have Pionus birds this fall, with reasonable prices. I asked about diseases —whether they test for polyoma virus, bornavirus. They claim they do test for these… I will call them again to inquire more about diseases and diets. Thanks so much.

I have asked employees in person at the Anaheim location about disease testing and they said nope (because there are “too many birds” and it isn’t profitable). They do boarding for $10/day with untested birds as well as a bunch of birds coming in and out of the stores completely untested. They have a filthy aviary as well. Here are some photos I’ve taken of the food dishes, etc…
I also don’t know of ANY shops that test for bornavirus because it is so common. I would bet they are lying

These are not the worst photos but some that I had on my phone… Please avoid this place!

 

[expressmailtome]

I am so out of touch with who breeds Pionus. I could not begin to tell you. I have no clue on what stores would have them. I was at an Omar's years ago, I think maybe in the east part of Pasadena maybe near the 210 freeway. Don't put money down on a baby until there is one hatched and do not put money down on an fertile egg that has not been hatched. Did you ever inquire at Magnolia Bird Farm? They have two locations, one in Riverside and one in Anaheim, I delt with the store in Riverside. I use to sell some of my Pionus and Amazons to the Riverside location. My sister would sell like 30 some Maximilian Piionus every spring/summer. She too no longer breeds birds.

I bred Pionus, started with them along in 1993 and I ended up with 6 species in which one of the species was the Coral Billed Pionus, started with 1 pair and then got unrelated ones that I was able to pair up with my off springs I produced that I traded with Bob Queen of Queen's Pride Aviary in 2006 then he retired and he passed away a couple of years later due to health reason and then his wife sold sold all the breeder pairs because she moved out of their state.

Then due to my health (breathing) I had to sell all my breeders by 2008. Just prior to having to give up breeding, I had been able to create 5 unrelated pairs of Coral Bills. The gal I sold the 5 pairs to had split them all up. I think there were a couple of other Coral Bill breeders but I think as of this time, they must of fallen off the face of the earth. I had 2-3 pairs of each of the other 5 species of Pionus. I also bred 2 species of Amazon being the Blue Fronted and the Orange Wing.

This is the sad truth about aviculture today. So many of the breeders who devoted their lives to certain species have either passed or retired, and many of the newer breeders are only interested in the "popular" or "colorful" species. I do know of many breeders who maintain the older values so to speak, but we have lost many species unfortunately.

 

[Jan M]

What do y’all think of Omar’s? I am taking seriously Jan’s advice about not putting money down at Omar’s before the bird is hatched. But are Omar’s birds themselves healthy? What about Parrot Stars in Arlington Heights, Illinois? My phone contact with them suggests that they take breeding health birds seriously. What do you guys think?

 

[Jan M]

Btw T. Gillis, thanks for the revealing photos of Magnolia’s. Gee whiz, what a sight.

 

[T. gillii]

What do y’all think of Omar’s? I am taking seriously Jan’s advice about not putting money down at Omar’s before the bird is hatched. But are Omar’s birds themselves healthy? What about Parrot Stars in Arlington Heights, Illinois? My phone contact with them suggests that they take breeding health birds seriously. What do you guys think?

Omar's is the most trustworthy store in my area (other than his ex wife's store, Exotic Birds by Fran, but they mostly breed small birds and rehome older parrots). All birds I have seen there have been healthy and happy.

 

[Jan]

Jan M ... I don't know if you've ran across my Pionus Online site, its one of my older areas but it has some pages you can look over. My main site of pionusparrot.com has many areas deep within where links lead to pages not found due to me removing pages back when. Possibly by the next renewal hosting fees become due I may take down the whole entire site. Lets see, I've been paying for hosting for the site since I stopped breeding in 2009 and it serves me no purpose ... although some people might get a little info from it. I was going to renovate the whole thing but never did go deep into completing it. So much of the site was dedicated to my breeding and raising the babies with tons of images as the baby birds aged.

 

[Jan]

Oh yah another thing ... some breeders or even some stores have a "Waiting List" if get on their list you'll be in line for a baby bird when one becomes available. You should not have to put money down on a bird at that point in time. Once a bird becomes available and if you want it then you would be required to make a deposit. Although if there are lots of people on the list you may not get one. Believe it or not, when I had baby birds people would get on the list but more often than not, when it came time to contact the person they were no longer interested in the getting the bird. Maybe perhaps they found a bird by then or something in their life changed.

 

[Macawnutz]

Parrot Stars in Arlington Heights is a beautiful facility! You can't walk in the door without stepping in sanitizer.

 

[Nostromo]

Yea! Thank all of you for responding. I have not put it up yet but plan to put it on my Java wood tree. I am slowly but surely getting ready for my Pionus, but he has not yet been born. Jan, from where did you get your Pionus birds? I am waiting for Omar’s Exotic Birds in LA, but none of their birds is pregnant so I might have to wait until spring to buy one. Can you recommend another breeder? The one in Florida, Patty’s, is quite expensive, but I think he has the most experience breeding them.

Check out the Perfect Parrot in North Hollywood if you're in the LA area. It's a pet store rather than a breeder, so prices may be higher, but that's where we got our Pionus. The woman who owns the store has a Blue Head of her own that she's had for years, and when I was in there a month ago she had a Blue Head baby for sale.