Which parrot...?

YorkiePud_3

wilykit, I am SO sorry if we made it seem as though we were telling you what to do or, in any way at all made it seem as though we thought your care plans were inadequate.

I hold my hands up in that, reading through, I took you to mean that birdy would be shut away in your room all the time ... obviously, the penny's dropped and I see you didn't mean that at all, so I apologise for getting hold of the wrong end of the stick .. !

As you know, us parrot people are such enthusiasts and care so deeply about our birds ... well, everyone's birds, come to that ... ! We are such lunatics and head over heels so when a thread like this comes up we all wade in to say what experiences we've had and I can see how it may have seemed as though we were all ganging up on you somewhat, but I do promise that wasn't the case at all ... !

Being a parrot lover, it's easy to go off rambling for hours about our birds, what we give them, what we do with them etc ... and I am guilty as anyone for doing that ... LOL ... but we do it 'cos we care ... we care about the birds, we care about new owners having the best experience with their birds because we know how much love and companionship parrots can give and we tend to shout it from the rooftops a bit ... so yup, we do go OTT and ply people with so much information that yes, I can see it would seem as though we were finger-wagging and saying no this isn't good enough, you should do this etc etc ...

So here we are ...

---

... drawing a line under all that ... we've certainly not wanted to make you feel as though you weren't a competent birder. Not one bit ... every owner has their own thoughts and ideas and as soon as you find another parrot lover, it's hard to not wade in and say, "well, this is what I do" ... but that was all it was, I promise you ...

Reading through your last post I can see I misunderstood a number of things ... I am really pleased your parents are fine with you having a parrot .. I had taken it that they weren't too happy to have one around the place and that was why the new one would live upstairs, you see ... !! Mea culpa!

I wish you all the best with your new bird, be it fluffy baby, teen or second-homer ... :O)

pinkcandyflossprincess

I think after reading through this thread that my honest advice would be is to take a step back and consider getting a cockatiel instead of a larger more demanding parrot.
cockatiels are great talkers and just as adept at learning tricks etc and can make brilliant pets.

we keep lovebirds, a cockatiel and a rosella, all have different personalitys etc and some are more outgoing than others but all have had a great deal of attention daily, it is hard work looking after birds, keeping them stimulated etc. I have rescued a few of our current familiy and I am knowledgble enough on their needs but i really dont think at this time i am ready to take on the needs of an african grey for example. dont get me wrong..i would love one and i am sure i would learn BUT it is a huge decision to take onboard , the birds we have can live for many many years and need constant attention..larger species need so much more and you have to be prepared for life basically , thats a lot of attention! comparable with a child who grows up and leaves home, your parrot is going to be with you a lot longer, you do need to be at a stage in life where you can think yes i am ready to take on this huge responsibility.
parrots are amazing without a doubt but do think this over carefully please xx

Pechow

I say this as neutrally as possible wilykat (because you responded positively to the idea of making food for it, etc, which is a good sign imo), but will you get angry in the same way when the parrot rescue people ask you the same questions and say the same things as people have here?

People can't know about your situation and your parents, etc unless they're told, so they're going on what is already written-it's not personal, it's more of a "have you thought about this" or "are you aware of this" kind of comments from people with experience. I don't think anyone means it otherwise.

michbright

pinkcandyflossprincess wrote: »

I think after reading through this thread that my honest advice would be is to take a step back and consider getting a cockatiel instead of a larger more demanding parrot.
cockatiels are great talkers and just as adept at learning tricks etc and can make brilliant pets.

we keep lovebirds, a cockatiel and a rosella, all have different personalitys etc and some are more outgoing than others but all have had a great deal of attention daily, it is hard work looking after birds, keeping them stimulated etc. I have rescued a few of our current familiy and I am knowledgble enough on their needs but i really dont think at this time i am ready to take on the needs of an african grey for example. dont get me wrong..i would love one and i am sure i would learn BUT it is a huge decision to take onboard , the birds we have can live for many many years and need constant attention..larger species need so much more and you have to be prepared for life basically , thats a lot of attention! comparable with a child who grows up and leaves home, your parrot is going to be with you a lot longer, you do need to be at a stage in life where you can think yes i am ready to take on this huge responsibility.
parrots are amazing without a doubt but do think this over carefully please xx

I LOVE lovebirds, they are my favourite birds but sadly I don't have the time at the moment to have them. My dad had lovebirds and parrots and all manner of animals all his life, including a sulfur crested cockatoo named George who was his baby. All my life my dad gave my tame, hand reared lovebirds and they were the most wonderful companions.

I even had a beautiful pair of lovebirds when my DD1 was born but sadly they didn't like her and would screech any time she was in the room. They were unhappy and I was unhappy because of this, so we rehomed them with a lovely couple who had the time to give them the attention they needed.

Maybe one day when the children are older and I have more time, I'll have another lovebird. They can be alone and if they are, they can be the most wonderful companions. I had one years ago who I used to take to work with me and he'd sit on my desk quietly while I worked .

pinkcandyflossprincess

michbright wrote: »

I LOVE lovebirds, they are my favourite birds but sadly I don't have the time at the moment to have them. My dad had lovebirds and parrots and all manner of animals all his life, including a sulfur crested cockatoo named George who was his baby. All my life my dad gave my tame, hand reared lovebirds and they were the most wonderful companions.

I even had a beautiful pair of lovebirds when my DD1 was born but sadly they didn't like her and would screech any time she was in the room. They were unhappy and I was unhappy because of this, so we rehomed them with a lovely couple who had the time to give them the attention they needed.

Maybe one day when the children are older and I have more time, I'll have another lovebird. They can be alone and if they are, they can be the most wonderful companions. I had one years ago who I used to take to work with me and he'd sit on my desk quietly while I worked .

i think people underestimate lovebirds greatly! as a small parrot they are very intelligent and so fun to watch!:o we have one marley who sleeps on his back in the food bowl like a baby:rotfl:he is a big attention seeker and first out of cage! we got one off a man who found one in his garden so he coaxed him in with lovebirds played onto a tape and i went and collected him from their house, hes ever so sweet too!! we have sold babies in the past but sadly our daddy bird escaped one day when daughter opened the cage so now have multiple locks, we miss him greatly as he was the first of two we got and used to do cocky dances etc..a great performer he was, we still look out for him, im hoping he found his way to an aviary but as a result we have been contacted by lots of folks looking to rehome birds so we have mangaged at least to help some other birds along the way. the RSPCA think im the birdwoman and say i can have as many as i want as know so much..i beg to differ loool, I will have a huge aviary built for summer but for now they have supervised flights inside which is fun till its time to get them back in..they are very clever at evading bedtime:p

BitterAndTwisted

I am not an experienced bird-keeper or anyone who has any specialised knowledge but I would have thought that a parrot could be one of the least suitable pets imaginable. Did you notice how many African Greys there were on the re-homing site that was linked to earlier? Where did they all come from and why do they need to be rehomed? Even if you were the most mature, responsible and experienced adult when you acquired a young one they are almost guaranteed to outlive you. Considering how strongly they bond with their human companions, and how very, very intelligent they are imagine the suffering they will experience when that bond is broken. I couldn't do it. Maybe I might feel differently if their maximum life-span was only 20 or 30 years

YorkiePud_3

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I am not an experienced bird-keeper or anyone who has any specialised knowledge but I would have thought that a parrot could be one of the least suitable pets imaginable. Did you notice how many African Greys there were on the re-homing site that was linked to earlier? Where did they all come from and why do they need to be rehomed?

I think that, because they are so intelligent and can learn quickly, they soon pick up less desirable noises and, when a grey has picked up something new, they tend to repeat it over and over ... sort of saying, "look at me ... look what I can do now!" ... which, of course, if it's a loud or annoying noise, can drive people crazy and I think people just don't have the patience to bear it.

This is why I sit with my finger on the volume control for the telly ... any screeching, wails or noises I wouldn't be happy to hear 20+ times a day and I change channels or turn the volume right down ... !!

I don't allow swearing in the house and when it is Bonfire Night, I play music so that Elvis doesn't hear the bangs and screeches of the fireworks.

You are right with what you say ... choosing to have a parrot is as much a responsibility as having a child. I know some people will laugh at that, but it is.
I no longer take holidays or go on days out because he isn't happy with others cleaning him out ... and, believe it or not, I even gave up smoking, hoping to be around as long as he is ... !!

I'm 40 and Elvis is 6 years old now ... but thankfully, I have younger family members who would be only to happy to take him on should anything happen to me ... at the end of the day, people can pass away at any age but I know what you mean about someone of older years not taking on a bird that could possibly live longer.

pinkcandyflossprincess

YorkiePud wrote: »

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I don't allow swearing in the house and when it is Bonfire Night, I play music so that Elvis doesn't hear the bangs and screeches of the fireworks..

I thought my birds were the only ones that went mental at sirens going past...till i went to the pet shop and all the cocatiels went loopy at a fire engine...the girl said they are quiet most of the day but if they hear a siren it takes ages to calm back down!:p

My birds have an un natural addiction to cbeebies channel , when they have loopy dos i put it on and they all shut up!

YorkiePud_3

pinkcandyflossprincess wrote: »

YorkiePud wrote: »

I thought my birds were the only ones that went mental at sirens going past...till i went to the pet shop and all the cocatiels went loopy at a fire engine...the girl said they are quiet most of the day but if they hear a siren it takes ages to calm back down!:p

Do you know, I wonder if cockatiels have more sensitive hearing to other birds .. ? I used to have one (called Merlin 'cos when his headcrest was up we used to say he looked like a wizard ... !!) and when he heard a blackbird, he went berserk ... !! Can you imagine what it was like when the weather was warm enough for windows to be open ... ? OMG, nothing calmed him at all and of course, with the blackbirds starting singing early on a morning I had to be downstairs pronto when they started, ready to whisk him into another room and get the telly on to avoid angering the neighbours ... !

The only thing I could think that caused it was perhaps because I rescued him from a pet shop in an indoor market that often got wild birds trapped inside overnight ... poor beggar was in a cage with umpteen birds that were all bullying him towards the end of one cage, taking bites at him ... (which was when my "I'm not getting another one" plan went right out of the window and I flew in there and said I want THAT bird!) ... I wonder if perhaps he associated the blackbird noise with something happening to him ... who knows ... it was lovely in winter time though when the blackbirds were scarce and all you heard was him talking and whistling ... !!

pinkcandyflossprincess

our lovebirds love being out in the summer in their cages in the garden and we had a robin calling his mating call at them bless him!
ours love wild birds too and we often have them calling back if they hear them. our cockatiel however speaks lovebird as he was brought up with them as a youngster so hes fully fluent:rotfl: