Help with selecting and keeping a bird

ferry

My wife is allergic to cats so We're looking at keeping a bird for the family as we have two kids...
Have no real experience but looking around the African grey parrot looks to be a real favourite,but a bit pricey to buy.

So wondering of you guys can recommend a good specie of bird that fits the bill (no pun intended) :
Cheap to buy,keep and I'd like to think that I could let it fly around my home without perishing the furniture - if it exists!

thanks as usual
f x

Pechow

Generally parrots are a terrible idea, and I have three. Cheap to buy and keep? Isn't going to happen-getting a good bird from a reputable place (and pet shops are NOT good places) is going to cost you, especially for something like a Grey. You'll need an appropriate sized cage, toys and perches, proper food (not seed), proper veterinarian care (most vets are not qualified for birds; you really need a qualified avian vet or minimum an exotics vet), cost of replacing the things it will destroy, cost of any boarding...

Even if somehow you manage to do all the above on the cheap, there are many other things to consider:

-Noise. Birds are noisy and you cannot train them out of this, only minimise it or change the sounds at best. Even little finches can sense when you're trying to watch something on TV and beep their loudest to ruin the impact
-Lifespan. If you get a baby bird, and raise it well, it may outlive you and live well into your kid's lifetime. Greys can live to be 70+ years old, even cockatiels can live to be 20!
-Damage. Even a little cockatiel can bite hard and draw blood, a larger bird can definitely do more damage. Something to really think about with children.
-Personality. Baby birds, especially hand raised ones, are sweet and adorable and cuddly and will make you want to take it home there and then. Then when puberty hits, everything will change and you will have no idea how the adult bird will turn out, no matter how well you treat it. A lot of the time, the favoured person as a young bird will be ignored or even hated as an adult-behaviour similar to rejecting a parent for potential mates. You might end up with a sweet, loving bird. You might end up with something that hates you and everything you stand for. You have no idea-and until then, there's puberty to go through, which sucks Greys tend to not be cuddly birds, and often attach themselves to one person-of course there are exceptions, but with kids it's not a great idea to risk it.
-Dust. Some birds, and Greys are one of the worst offenders, produce a lot of powder down/dust. Since you mentioned allergies, a Grey probably wouldn't be good for that reason. Cockatoos/cockatiels are similar.
-Mess. Are you houseproud? Prepare for food flung everywhere, poop, chewed furniture and cables...
-Bird proofing your home. Screens for windows ideally, teaching everyone to check where the bird is before opening doors, putting away valuables and cables, etc. Teflon fumes are lethal to birds. As is avocado, fruit stones, chocolate/caffeine/alcohol/etc...

-Attention. A big one-birds, parrots especially, need a lot of attention even with the necessary big cage full of toys and things to play with. Hours a day. A bird that doesn't get it will be loud, destructive, and bad tempered, which can manifest in a number of ways... such as feather plucking, a behaviour not too uncommon in Greys.

If the above hasn't put you off at all (and I'd still recommend something else for a family pet), then grab: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Parrots-For-Dummies-Nikki-Moustaki/dp/0764583530/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399767778&sr=8-1&keywords=parrots+for+dummies (really, it's a good book, written in easy and accessible language), start researching online. Go to a pet shop or a zoo (day out with the kids) to get an idea of the sounds and noise level they make. See if there are any parrot rescues nearby (they exist!) that could have a bird that would fit your lifestyle, or birds to meet. Adult birds are great-you know what their personalities are like, and can see how you get along with them.

OTT? Probably not, considering how many birds are neglected or not cared for properly due to not knowing how, and then die early or are rehomed because they suddenly became bitey (puberty), scream too much (bored/neglected), are too noisy (didn't research beforehand), etc... they are a lot of work and can be very rewarding, but they do require certain circumstances and people willing to provide them. You really need to know what you're getting into

http://www.mytoos.com/checklist.shtml

Are other pets acceptable, such as a small dog (example, a poodle-doesn't shed)? Perhaps get some tests done to find out what your wife, and maybe kids, are allergic to. Since as mentioned birds can trigger allergies with their feathers and dust too.

~Chameleon~

Taking on a bird such as a parrot is possibly more demanding and expensive than having a child!!

Excellent advice in post above^^ :T

ferry

Hi
As a result of the usual excellent advice on here we have settled for somehing a little more easier to keep and should provide just as much joy. So we've opted for a cockatiel.

Just a thought but can anyone advise how I could find either a local breeder or even if there are any local rescue centres we could try?

Pechow

Please check beforehand if your wife (or kids) are allergic to cockatiels-they're dusty birds, especially if you get one that doesn't like to bath often. And remember, cockatiels are parrots too, and a lot of the above will apply but in a lesser form-such as the noise aspect, and mess Again, I recommend getting the book above, it even has sections for species and cockatiels are covered in there. Also, go to a pet store that sells cockatiels, and have a listen (don't get drawn into buying one there though) to their volume. I like the whistling noises but the shrieks do my head in sometimes due to the high pitch.

A local breeder/rescue is a great idea and thank you for considering these first instead of just grabbing a bird from a store or gumtree! If you want to give your area (don't need to be specific, even county could be enough) I could have a look for you. RSPCA centres often take in birds, though they may be untamed ones. Cockatiels aren't that hard to tame down but in a family situation an already tame bird is probably best. Males will sing (or at least, are supposed to... tell that to mine!), and will possibly learn to talk. Females are much quieter, but don't really tend to whistle or speak. They also have the issue of egg laying to deal with.

A cage for one bird is minimum 20 x 20/50cm by 50cm, but this really is the minimum and also assumes the bird gets a lot of time out. Length is better than width, and go as big as your budget can afford-your bird will be happier, and toys can end up taking more room than you think

Cockatiels can do better on a seed based diet than other species, but it shouldn't be the whole. I prefer pellets as a base as then the bird can't pick and choose what to eat, and seeds are fatty, but as long as you feed lots of fresh food and other things, and get good quality seeds, it should be okay. That book provides a really great overview of diet, lists of safe foods, etc.

Mojisola

ferry wrote: »

My wife is allergic to cats so We're looking at keeping a bird for the family as we have two kids...

As your wife has allergies, would it be better to have something like rabbits that would kept in an outdoor run?

~Chameleon~

Mojisola wrote: »

As your wife has allergies, would it be better to have something like rabbits that would kept in an outdoor run?

Fish or reptiles would probably be a safer bet

Pechow

Both recommendations, and giving idea of the cost of things:

Cages. These are all minimum size or above, but not by much-check the measurements.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Savic-Primo-Bird-Cage-Knock/dp/B00DTSGSO2/ref=sr_1_596?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1399816037&sr=1-596#productDetails
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pet-Product-Distribution-Feeders-Perches/dp/B0093IPQ0E/ref=sr_1_391?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1399815630&sr=1-391 <--actually a bit small in one dimension
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Liberta-Gama-Parrot-Cage-Small/dp/B004QN3DME/ref=sr_1_188?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1399815272&sr=1-188
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Liberta-Drake-Parrot-Cage-Small/dp/B004QNMR9O/ref=sr_1_89?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1399815177&sr=1-89

I would most definitely go for one of the last two-they don't need to be on a stand/are off the ground themselves, and they're on wheels, which is useful. But the sturdy metal cages, compared to the plastic ones, are just so much better. They're sturdier-plastic ones are easy to crack when cleaning-and I'd say easier to clean. You just pull out the tray and change the newspaper without having to take the whole cage apart. Then you take out the bottom grate every now and then to wipe that down. The grate also stops the bird waddling around the bottom in poop and mess-cockatiels are ground foragers so it will try to do this a lot and will happily wander around on the floor outside of cage too

Those prices are the best I could find after looking around as well, they're not expensive.Cheaper = too small. On the upside, unless something crazy happened, once you get the cage that's the bird set for life unless you wanted to spoil them/got another bird and upgrade to something larger.

Seed-this brand is good, not mostly sunflower like many and tries to include things that it would eat in it's natural environment:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vitakraft-Australian-Parrot-Food-Pack/dp/B005HP5E22/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1399816309&sr=1-1&keywords=australian

Here's an example of a good brand of pellets: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ZuPreem-FruitBlend-Complete-food-Cockatiels/dp/B002KLCJVU/ref=sr_1_12?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1399816844&sr=1-12&keywords=cockatiel

As said, just to further give an idea of costs. Add another, say, £30 for perches and toys to last a while. Most of the cost is upfront and for vet care, they eat only small amounts so it isn't too expensive to keep feeding them, and you can make toys at home out of things like toilet paper tubes and cardboard-something for the kids to do

PlymouthMaid

I was going to suggest a cockatiel or two but I would be concerned that your wife may also be allergic to the feathers, dust or droppings. I used to have a cockatiel called Dylan - he would sit on my shoulder and learned to say a few words including asking 'what are you doing'. I could never keep another bird now as I hate seeing them in cages.

What about keeping guines pigs, would they cause allergies?

harveybobbles

20 x 50 cm? Thats disgusting size! Thats like us being kept in a small bedroom.

Getting a bird is a bad idea if your wife has an allergy to cats.

Get a hypoallergenic dog. Or even a divorce.

Pechow

20 inches by 20 inches, not 20cm. I converted it to cm after. It's the very smallest recommended, for one bird, if it gets a lot of time out.