Parrots

Do they make good pets?

Yes, but they are loud and will creep you out.

Creep me out because of the noise?

You’re just playing with Google adsense now aren’t you?

Huh???

Don’t get a large bird unless you are able to spend a lot of time with it. They are social animals and if they don’t have another bird to bond with, they bond with you. If you aren’t willing to get multiple birds, or spend at least eight hours a day in the same room with it, a large bird is not for you.

I found one in the woods once, out behind my grandmother’s house. No joke. We took it home and put an ad in the paper, but no one claimed it. Creatively, I named him “Pete”. It really didn’t do anything for me. After a day or two the novelty wore off and it was just a bird in a cage. It’s not like a dog, where you can do stuff with it. They’re just kind of there. After a while he/she/it started yanking all the feathers off of his chest. The vet told my dad it might be depressed or something. Whatever.

That’s all the info I’ve got for you on parrots.

8 hours a day?

Just make sure you get a telepathic one.

It’s the only way to be sure.

Yes, they will feather pluck when they are depressed. Which they will if left alone. The medium and big sized parrots are far smarter than a dog and suffer even worse than a dog from neglect.

Yeah, you CANNOT neglect a big bird or just toss it into a cage. You gotta play with it all the time.

They are also a long term commitment. Anywhere from 20 up to 80 years depending on the type.

Can they be potty trained or will they just poop on you?

I’ve heard some funny stories about wild parrots in Aus, including them protecting some baby bird that had fallen out of a tree from some hungry crows or something, there was a flock swooping on anything that came close to those non-parrot babies until the mother could come sort out the problem.

Saw something recently which suggested they’re even smarter than we’ve usually thought to. They sound like fun, but yeah, need attention.

Yeah, parrots are some of the smartest animals around from what I read (smarter than most mammals, apparently, not to mention most administration officials), and they can apparently exhibit many human-like emotions including jealousy and rage if an owner doesn’t spend enough time with them. I think a vindictive parrot would not be a very desirable roommate all things considered, so it probably is something of a commitment. Possibly some of the smaller breeds are more conventionally bird-like and less needy of care of attention.

Last I heard, by the way, Churchill’s parrot was still alive, and still cursing the Nazis. But that was a few years ago, I wonder how it’s doing.

Edit: Whoops, looks like the Churchill story is in dispute… but the case isn’t closed: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3414323.stm

I had a gold-cap conure, once. As other have said, they do require lots of attention.

Get a cat.

Do they make good pets?

That’s cool. One time when my girlfriend and I were golfing there was a parrot sitting in a maple tree happily eating seeds. Hopefully it found a home before winter, although I think our summers are warm enough that it probably would’ve been fine for several months. It was far too high for us to catch, though.

I’ve also seen budgies and canaries in the wild on occasion, but they presumably die within days.

“This parrot wouldn’t zoom if you put 10,000 volts through it.”

I think they are still taking parrots from the wild. There’s a pretty big black market trade for exotic birds. If you really need to have a pet like that please make sure it’s bred in captivity. That’s the end of my peta rant.

-liberal treehugger

Do they make good pets?[/QUOTE]Seriously, DO THEY MAKE GOOD PETS?!?