keeping parrots (merged)

Fran

There's a sad story about an African Grey and feather plucking on the Parrot Sanctuary Forum. (Not sure if you need to register to read it or not, apologies if you do.)

Jellicat

I am considering adding a small parrot to my animally househound. Possibly a pair of cockatiels or smaller parrots like pionus, senegal or caiques. I am aware of how expensive they are to buy and how much cages and toys cost, and I plan to insure the bird to keep the vets bills down, but on a day to day basis, how much to parrots cost to keep would you say...just taking into account food and so on and so forth? I am aware they are very "time demanding" animals.

tealady

Hi. I would look at the Birdline website (its a site for rescued birds of the parrot family). It appears to have loads of useful advice and contacts, perhaps someone there could help.

Jellicat

Thankees will get them a try.

orlao

A friend of mine used to keep Amazons, so bigger than the types you mentioned and they were always fed fruit, veg, peanuts, walnuts and custard creams!!!! They were aviary birds and she reckoned that to keep them well (and as breeding pairs which I assume doesn't apply to you?) that they needed a very varied diet of fresh fruit, veg and nuts.

On the odd occasions that I looked after them while she was away, they got their walnuts and biscuits just before nightfall and in the morning each flight got about 1 apple chopped, handful of grapes, 1/2 banana, broccoli, sweetcorn and a big handful of unshelled monkey nuts. They may have had other things that I can't remember 5 years down the line! They also used to beg for oranges....we used that to catch any that we needed to get out of the aviary for any reason

While she was quite eccentric:rotfl: in the way she kept her animals I have to admit that her parrots were very healthy and bred and reared their chicks more successfully than any other aviary I've heard of so IMO she got the diet right.

The other thing to take into account is how noisy they can be....I used to live next door to an African Gray.....and I have to admit that it got quite wearing:D especially after they taught him the theme tune to Titanic. So maybe warn your neighbours first:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Jellicat

They should be OK costwise in terms of food I think...I eat loads of fruit, nuts and seeds myself lol so they can happily share all my goodies. I think proper parrot food can be quite pricey though, instead of just seed mix. The breeds I'm leaning towards arent really particularly noisy, although all parrots really can shriek if they feel like it lol.

Christ...it should be illegal to teach parrots Celine Dion songs! That would drive me insane! I'd rather have them swearing their heads of lol.

orlao

Scarily this parrot had a repetoire.....Irish Eyes are smiling, Danny Boy, various Monty Python skits including The Parrot is Deceased one which always cracked me up:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

He was great but so high maintenance in terms of time required mainly that it put me off indoor birds for life :eek:

But, best of luck to you and with a pair it should be easier to keep them amused!

mirrorimage0

i know this rspca site has a parrot up for rehoming but dont know how much they are to keep etc sorry

http://rspcawarringtonac.org.uk/index.asp?m=21&sm=148&a=8

feather_2

Hi Jellicat, here are a couple of sites you may find useful: http://www.parrots.org/index.php/referencelibrary/beginnerguidetoparrots/ (World Parrot Trust site has loads of useful links and info on the site generally, and you can access it without being a member) and www.24parrot.com/ (Northern Parrots online shop will give you an idea of cost involved for food (apart from fresh, of course), cages, perches, toys, treats etc.) I'm not sure what other animals you have but you need to be really careful about keeping birds apart from cats and dogs. Not just cos they might eat each other, but I have read that their saliva can contain a bacteria deadly to parrots. Maybe check with your vet? Btw, most of the pet insurers don't insure birds, but there are a couple of specialists. hth.

kr15snw

Hey Jellicat, cockatiels are a great addition to any family (can you tell my baby is one )

Id recommend you have a look at http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/community/ as its a forum for bird owners, but has ALOT of cockatiel owners.

To be honest Ollie doesnt cost too much to feed, but this is a rough estimate for a month:

Pack of pellets £7.00
Bag of seed £3.00
Millet sprays £1.00
Fruit sticks £3.00

Every morning he gets a mix of pellets (would recomend harissons) and seed. Once a week he gets a fruit stick which he normally shreds in 2 - 3 days. And every now and then (normally on a saturday when we go football, we feel guilty) we give him a millet spray.

MOST days he gets some kind of fresh food. This may be somthing weve had for tea (pasta, rice, chicken, potato, carrots, brocolli, cauliflower etc etc) but every week we buy a pack of monge tui or green beans to give him every day if we havent got anything else to give him (these are his favourite!).

He gets half an hour out of his cage in the morning and about 2 hours every night.

As we both work full time he has the radio on all day and likes radio one the best (gets moody otherwise). In the evening he likes to watch TV with us

Please note that you can get away with a 1 night stay without the bird, but you cant really go any longer. Youll be surprised that they are depedant as a dog! If we have to go away for more than one night our next door neighbour will come and play with him and feed him etc. Anymore than 2 nights and he goes into my neighbours to stay (they have a grey and they like to talk to each other).

Oh and heres a pretty pic of him for you