Bird + toddler sounds like a great recipe for intense jealousy.
I had cockatiels. Never fucking again. I am firmly in the “birds are not pets” camp.
I strongly advise against this. They’re terribly delicate, highly variable in temperament, and known as “tumor factories.” Parrotlet would be a far superior choice.
You can also loo around to see if there are any bird specific stores in your area. I know there was one in the East Bay when I lived there, and there are probably a bunch in So Ca.
We had a cockatiel when I was in high school, he was pretty cool. He used to pull on the tufts of fur on my long haired cats feet when the cat would sit on the cage, and he used to ride around on the dog.
I had a gold-capped conure. Cool, but required lots of attention. Very loud when he didn’t get the attention he wanted. Not recommended for someone with young children.
Had? Don’t they live to be 75?
He inherited him from his grandpappy when the parrot was 74.
Uh. What? No. This is nonsense.
The only parrots that are very long lived are the larger parrots: Macaws, Cockatoos, African Greys and Amazons. And even then you’re looking at a span of 50-80 or more. The smaller parrots (such as conures) have a much shorter lifespan, 20 years or so. I have a blue crowned conure that is 18, and the vet has said that they’re always happy to see a conure make it to 20, so it seems that 20 for conures is the upper range. My peach faced lovebird, who is also 18, is downright elderly at that age… lovebirds typically live 12-15 years. The vet and all the techs are always amazed at how healthy Rufus is and are constantly saying “Is he really 18 years old???”
On topic, despite what others might say, a parakeet or a cockatiel is an excellent bird to get to “test the waters” so to speak, to see if a life of parrot ownership is for you. I started with parakeets when I was 9 years old, and my current flock consists of the aforementioned Blue Crowned Conure and Peach Faced Lovebird, as well as a Congo African Grey. (Their pictures are all in the “post your pet” thread.)
Despite the convenience of being able to lock them in a cage and go out for the day without worrying, parrots are a lot of work. They require attention, or they get lonely and depressed and pull their feathers out or develop other emotional problems (which can lead to health problems). They are very messy… if you have a cat and really hate cleaning the litter box, cleaning up after birds is 10 times the hassle. Some birds can be extremely loud.
Also, people who are used to dogs and cats are not accustomed to the temperament and personalities of parrots, which are quite different. You cannot discipline a parrot the same way you discipline a dog… it will have the complete opposite effect. As an example, say you have a parrot shrieking and making the worst noise you can imagine. If it were a dog, you might go and yell at him, and with many breeds of dogs, this works, because dogs want to please their masters, the pack leaders. However, yelling at a parrot? Well, this is just fine entertainment! Parrots have no interest in pleasing you, however, you running in and waving your arms around and shouting is good fun, so they’ll yell some more whenever you’re out of the room. And of course swatting a parrot is the quickest way to make a parrot mistrust you, and good luck ever being able to pick him up again.
I love my parrots dearly, and while my Grey can be very moody (which is very common with the breed) my Conure and my Lovebird are very affectionate; in fact, my conure considers me his mate, and hates to share my attention with anyone, especially my husband. By the way, it is a myth that lovebirds must be kept in pairs or they are unhappy. My single lovebird has lived a long, playful, happy life… it is just important that you socialize with them regularly.
I could go on forever about my babies, and people are probably drifting off to sleep now, so I’ll stop rambling… but if you have any specific questions, I’d be happy to help!
No, it isn’t. Parakeets/budgerigars are terribly overbred and very frail. I’ve seen several go south personally, and have read the literature. Little bastards can go from healthy to dead in the space of a day. I’m not saying that you can’t get lucky and have one for a good long time, but they’re about the worst bet amongst the various parrot species. They’re the cocker spaniel of birds.
H.
Heh. I gave him away to a woman who was a bird person. She had like a half dozen of the things. She had a whole guest room dedicated to the birds.
My parents own a female eclectus parrot. I’ll no doubt inherit her when my parents die, without a doubt she will outlive them. Evidently, owners of larger parents are considered human slaves because they do require a lot of work.
Before that, my parents owned a cockatiel - she died from acute blood loss sadly. One day she got spooked while in her cage, managed to give herself a few cuts and that was it. She died a day later. Those sorts of birds can be fairly tempremental. My mate owned one which was happy with hands while ours would avoid hands, and was happy to just stay in its cage.
As far as parakeets/budgies go, well comments about tumour factories can be somewhat true. Like with any animal taken from shoddy breeders, there is always an increased chance of cancer formation due to inbreeding. The best thing is to find a good reputable breeder than has hand tamed the young. I’ve heard of these birds easily live 10 to 20 years of age. The nice thing is they are fairly low maintenance also, and not too noisy generally, but being birds, well, cages do need to be cleaned and temperament can be hard to judge early in their life.
As far as keeping them in cages go, one of the best pieces of advice is to ensure the branches are taken from trees, don’t use the simple dowel branches that come with a cage.
Also, we had a male budgie that was a little screwy in the head. It would simultaneously attack its mirror in the cage as well as rub its… sexual organ on the perch quite ferociously. Damn, that bird had an unquenchable libido.
“I want my bird.”
ARISE THREAD!!
I am a parrot owner, with a 2 year old Derbyan Parrot and a 2 year old Rose Breasted Cockatoo (featured in my avatar pic). They are demanding pets but can be great pets if they are a good match for your preferences. Be advised of three things, though:
1)All members of the order of parrots (including parakeets, cockatiels etc.) need lots of attention. Failing to pay attention to a pet parrot is animal cruelty, full stop.
2)All members of the order of parrots will bite you. Could be minor, could be OH GOD MY FINGER!! It is going to happen. Even tiny cowardly budgies can lay a major pinch on you if they are so inclined. Learning how to deal with beak-fu is a key part of having a parrot pet.
3)All members of the order of parrots can be loud and/or noisy. There is no such thing as a truly quiet parrot.
If you can deal with those 3 points, they are excellent pets: highly intelligent, highly interactive and sociable. Pretty much all of them can learn things, from associating a beeping noise with the microwave to various tricks and sometimes human speech (depending on type.)
I’m reviving this thread to get some input as to adding another bird. I want a smaller bird, in the cockatiel/small parrot size range. I’m very familiar with cockatiels and would consider one, but also interested in feedback on a couple of other species.
The local bird shop has a nice young Jenday Conure that was very friendly to me when I visited, as well as a couple of others: a Sun Conure, and a Green-cheek Conure. I know that relative to cockatiels, conures are louder and have a more vicious bite, but I’m curious as to their playfulness and friendliness.
The other types I would consider would be one of the small parrot species, maybe one of the Poicephalus parrots like a Meyers, Senegal or Red-Belly parrot.
Anyone here have feedback/experience with conures and/or smaller parrots?
The wife and I are looking at a Green Cheeked Conure right now. It’s a real sweetie. From what we’ve researched GCCs are relatively quiet and very cuddly.
You might also consider a Quaker, except that they are pretty loud for their size.
My credentials: I’ve owned parrots since I was nine years old. I’ve owned budgies, a blue crowned conure, a red masked conure (that was a wild caught bird, back when importing wild birds was still legal - it took me a long time to train him to trust me, but to this day, he remains the most affectionate bird I ever owned… once he learned to trust me), a peach faced lovebird and an African Grey. The lovebird lived to the very ripe old age of 20 (a lovebird’s average lifespan is generally 10-15 years. Rufus was in excellent health, and in fact the vet was astonished that he lived so long, and in such good health.). The conure lived to the fairly old age of 22. My African Grey is still with me, and turned 21 this year. He will probably live to 50-60. I’m currently 46, so there’s a chance my Grey will outlive me. ;)
So yeah, I am a former Blue Crowned Conure owner. My ex brother in law had a Jenday Conure. My brother used to have a Sun Conure and a Senegal parrot (both of which they had to find a new home for, as they no longer were able to give them the daily attention parrots require.
All of those birds were very friendly and full of personality, however, like all parrots, if they are not well socialized, they can be biters. And a bite from any parrot is painful, but should be a clue that something else is wrong in their environment.
The Jenday that my brother in law had was loud. Super loud. Like omg I’ve never heard such shrieking in my life. He decided he’d add a cockatiel to his household, in the hopes that his Jenday would have company and quiet down. What happened instead was that the Jenday taught the cockatiel to shriek too. ;)
I do believe that Jendays, Nandays and Sun conures tend to be a bit more shriekier than the other breeds of conure. Mickey generallly only shrieked at the vacuum cleaner. Which usually led to my African Grey, Beaker, saying “Mickey! Pipe down!” ;) But again, I imagine the degree of daily interaction and socialization matters here. If you are unable to give them loads of attention each day, you might be better off with a different conure.
I’ve never owned a Green Cheek, but I have seen many and read lots of lovely things about them. They are extremely popular as pet parrots, and I think it’s due to both their very friendly demeanor and playfulness. I’ve never heard that they are typically loud.
So a Jenday will most likely be friendly and playful, but may be really loud (and may teach your other birds to be really loud). A Green Cheek seems like a good bet, based on everything I’ve ever read about them, but of course every bird is different. If your current birds are well adjusted, a Green Cheek is probably a safe bet.
Hmm, this site has a list of parrots by noise level and they seem to agree with Hansey on the Jenday versus Green-cheek conure.
On that scale, I would say my Rose-Breasted Cockatoo is a 3 and my Derbyan Parrot is a 2. Despite being medium sized parrots they are not that loud IMO.
Based on noise, it sounds like I should look for a Green-cheek conure instead of a Jenday. Hmm, that Jenday in the store yesterday was sooooo friendly and was not at all loud (but that was a brief exposure and not indicative of long term trends.) However, although noise does matter, it’s not a determining factor for me.
I may also seriously consider a smaller Poicephalus parrot like a Senegal or Meyers. Based on that list, they are not too noisy. I’ve been told they can be quite friendly and playful, but require a lot of socialization. Anyone with experience with Senegals or Meyers or Red-Belly Parrots?
Well, as I said above, my brother had a Senegal in addition to his Sun conure. And I cannot say enough lovely things about that bird. When I heard that they had to find new homes for their parrots, I would have taken that Senegal in a stone cold minute… if I didn’t already have three birds at the time, and didn’t really have room for another. But he was super friendly and really chill. That bird was awesome. I don’t recall them every complaining about the Senegal being noisy. (The Sun conure though was another story, ha.)
The thing about parrots in general is that they are not loud in the store. :) Because they are young. They get their voice in a home. Parrots are sold young. Usually less than a year old. The reason for that is that as they get older, the price goes down. If they spend too much time in a pet shop they get attached to the store owner. This is not a good thing for the store people. They might love a bird but they have to stay at a distance. The bird has to get attached to the eventual owner.
That’s what happened with me and Beaker. We would go to the store and spend time with him. Eventually the store owner dropped his price by $500 just to get us to buy him. From $1700 to $1200.
We should get your Beaker together with my Beaker. I don’t know if your Beaker talks, but mine does, and he says his own name a lot. With lots of varying inflections and accents. (I am American. My husband is English. Beaker speaks in both accents.)
Your Beaker will get to be greeted by his own name. ;)
That point about parrots being quiet in the store is well taken. However, noise is not the only consideration to me.
My experience with birds is that if the bird is friendly and unafraid of me in the store, there’s a decent chance, but not 100% that the bird will be friendly long term at home. However, if the bird is afraid or unfriendly in the store, there’s very little chance of changing that once you buy the bird.
I’ve heard that some folks have other experiences and have successfully befriended unfriendly birds, but that has not been my experience. Birds form opinions of people and if they don’t like you, they don’t like you.