Bird Owners?

[Dodie]

Just wondering if anyone here keeps any parrots?

I've been thinking for awhile of getting one for a pet, but Im stumped at which. Been reading alot about them from this thing called the internet, but alot of the information I seek is contradictory..

African grey is the one I want most, but I should probably get a good feel with a less demanding bird first.

Quackers, King parrots, Eclectus & Superb parrots all seem good to me, but the birst musnt be too noisy, esp in the morning (I know good luck with parrots!).. Thats where all the info on them is crap..

I may even change my mind and get a totally different bird altogether. I would like one that is : Around medium size, 15-35cm, intelligent, can speak, isnt too noisy and isn't normally known to have behavioural problems.. and of course Beautiful

Thanks..

[XipeTotec]

get a budgie!!

[Dodie]

Lol, Dont really like budgies, would like something that is a little more rare too ;)

[ENtiTY]

I've got 2 parrots.

An Indian ring neck and a Goldern Mantle aka Eastern Rosella.

The rosella's a male and has quite a personality, loves company but is territorial and gets nippy if you push his limits. You can teach them to whistle tunes (we taught ours the adams family theme ) and supposedly talk. There a very beautiful bird, very smart and need to be entertained mentally other wise they go nutz. Took ours to the vet to have his nails clipped and the vet said he was one of the best specimens he's seen, a lot end up on prozac for depression .

The Indian Ring neck is a girly and shes is very quiet as we haven't had her long. These birds can mimic very well, do a search on Utube and you will find a few funny vids of ring necks there. She was an avery bird so she is very timid still but is trusting us more all the time. Has a loud screaching call but dosen't voice her opinion very often

Parrots in general are very smart birds and need to have lots of toys and stuff to entertain them other wise they get destructive on any thing they can get in their beaks. They can tell a human male from a female and when they reach sexual maturity and will act agressivly toward you or your partner depending upon its sex. They will try to steal you from your partner lol I know! I always have to have one eye on the rosella or he'll sneak up and nip me hehe.

African grey's have the clearest mimicry I've heard and can mimic almost anything, theres a good vid on utube of a grey as well.

You will have to be a devoted owner for one of these. Must be trained well from the get go. The bigger the beak the bigger the bite. A grey could easily take off a finger so be mind full.

There great companions and become more friends than pets once you get to know them

Edited March 22, 2007 by Harry

[Conan Troutman]

Lol, Dont really like budgies, would like something that is a little more rare too ;)

As far as i know parrots require ALOT of attention and a rather possessive of there owner, often attaacking other 'rivals' for the persons attention, and you dont wanna get bitten by one of those fuckers...also they can live to be 50yo+

A really big commitment that most will eventually tire of..

on another note

I have been interested in domesticating a Raven for some time, apparently the 'smartest' bird you always see trained raven in movies taking hats of people heads and wat not.. (the are illegal to keep i believe)

lol hope that helps man

[naja naja]

I've found rainbow lorrikeets very good for a beginner, awesome personalities. However, if I could get an African grey here in W.A. I would immediately! I've wanted one for over 10years. They have the intelligence of a 5yo and are great talkers. Lorri's don't talk well, nor do many of the smaller parrots. However a weero can speak alright, but can sing a tune perfectly. I know they are common, but if u want rare version weero's u can look around for a lacewing lutino or whiteface and pay over a G if ya want. Or just get a HR lutino or grey for $10

Build em a nice outdoor aviary say 10X10X10, 20ft if u want an african grey. And a nice indoor cage for inside. A blackout cover made of material will prevent him waking before u do. Just remove the cover when u wake to simulate morning.

[XipeTotec]

As far as i know parrots require ALOT of attention and a rather possessive of there owner, often attaacking other 'rivals' for the persons attention, and you dont wanna get bitten by one of those fuckers...also they can live to be 50yo+

A really big commitment that most will eventually tire of..

on another note

I have been interested in domesticating a Raven for some time, apparently the 'smartest' bird you always see trained raven in movies taking hats of people heads and wat not.. (the are illegal to keep i believe)

lol hope that helps man

dont know about the legalities... I once found one in my yard with an injured leg. I caught him and put him under a milk crate while i decided what to do... when I went back into my yard, all his raven buddies were hanging around crowing. A bit spooky, I walked up the back where he was, and they followed me from tree to tree... these things are spooky fuckers to have harassing you... I let the raven go, but tried to recapture him as his leg was injured... he escaped, and I got to keep my eyes balls. Off topic, but i thought you may appreciate the story.

Edited March 22, 2007 by shroomytoonos

[Dodie]

I was actually told to look into ringnecks today by a work mate, some of the ladies I work with have some and also know a breeder, though there is a waiting list I believe, but they are cheaper than usual .. Ill go have a search...

Nice birds! I might just get one...

[XipeTotec]

double post, please delete

Edited March 22, 2007 by shroomytoonos

[teonanacatl]

i have a ringneck, was nice and tame as a youngan but got really savage when he matured so he became a cage bird Have a cockateil now with my gf and he is never in a cage, ball of life and fun. I personally would like somthing a little larger like a galah or corrella or maybe even a cockatoo. Greys and macaws ofcourse were interesting but somthing smaller and local sounds good to me. Hell id rather just have it fly outside with the flocks during the day then come home at night.

[gerbil]

do you like the palm cockatoo teo? amazing animal, pure brilliance hehe to me, they seem to have a dominance over the rainforest, and so intelligent too.

Gang gang would be the one i've got the most connection with, really playful and lovely birds.

How about owls or frogmouths? Don't know the requirements as personally i'd try and replicate natural environment to a large extent so it might be quite indepth work, but it'd be interesting.

Frogmouth over and owl for sure suppose it'd be best as a rural thing, or kind of semi rural suburbs at the least.

[incognito]

i dunno, but in my opinion things with wings shoildnt be kept in cages.

My gran used to keep canaries in these little cages and my sense of empathy used to reduce me to tears until i once let out her prized whistler, which has been a family mystery ever since, i am still not game enought to own up to it.

If u get one, get a captive born one and train it so that u can take it out of its cage indoors and flutter around. Another of my grans birds was a cocky that was kept in a little cage, it eventually went mad and pulled all its feathers out and starved itself to death.

Sad sight it is for me to see a bird in a cage.

[Torsten]

I've learnt my parrot lessons the hard way.

1st got a cockatiel. Had no experience and ended up bein sold one that was too old to bond properly. It ended up being a cage bird for a year and then was given to a wildlife park [who wanted him].

2nd got a Nanday Conure. He was sweet for a while, but turned real nasty. Real evil little fucker in the end. Put him in the huge chook pen [17x4m] where he could fly and make as much noise as he wanted.

3rd Daniel got 2 Alexandria parrots. Both tame and really sweet. These are our own fault that they turned. They kept chewing through various bits of the cage and got out. Too spooked to return even after hours of coaxing I grabbed one from behind. That was the end of that friendship (and my finger). years later they ended up chewing through the chook pen wire and took off.

4th got an eclectus. Did everything right and he is still really well bonded to daniel, but not so much to me [it's his bird anyway]. All went well until the lights went out one day. Took the electrician a while to find that he had chewed off the insultation on the light cable in the loungeroom. Lucky he didn't get fried. We have just decided to build him a special aviary as he is never going to be much of a house bird due to his ferocious chewing.

Main things to keep in mind:

* be ready to build a thick gauge weldmesh aviary now or later when problems arise

* don't have exposed wires on your downlights

* the smaller the bird the less it hurts you and your furniture [eclectus can ruin the top of a door in 10 minutes].

* no noise? yeah right.

* always handraise/spoonfeed them yourself

Jono, do you eat eggs? chicken?

[teonanacatl]

I agree jono, birds in cages is a sad site, hence our bird is always out. Hecant fly though as the guy i got him off cut his wing when he was to young and it still hasnt grown back so he doesnt know how to fly, apparently the vet said he is past the age of learning aswell. Worse though is because he didnt learn to fly he cant land so we had an incident where he had a bleeding chest from repeated crash landings. He actually does back flips when he tries to fly.

My only advice spud is get a bird of the opposite sex to you, then they will thing you their mate.

[XipeTotec]

My only advice spud is get a bird of the opposite sex to you, then they will thing you their mate.

the problem is, we are mostly males here, and female parrots are often the less attractive of the sexes.

Edited March 22, 2007 by shroomytoonos

[Dodie]

Clipping their wings is something that I constantly think about, Id rather them have the privledge of being able to fly but I would like to be able to take the bird outside without it flying away. A nice big aviary will suffice I think..

Would also like a bird of the opposite sex so they form a better bond as Teo said, have heard they sometimes masturbate on you when you they reach sexual maturity..

I know you can't get a parrot that doesn't make noise, but I would like one that is known to be quieter or hasn't got a very loud voice.

[ENtiTY]

Shroomy the females might not be as colourfull but their personalities are just as fantastic, in the end thats what really matters.

[incognito]

yep im a big fan of chicken and eggs.

though i will only buy free range eggs.

im sure i consume cage grown chicken though unknowingly, i would bypass that product if i knew they were cage bound.

I just think this is a natural empathetic feeling i have felt since i was young and im stickin to it.

Freedom deprived of such a naturally free animal, something thats intended to fly , for the sake of owning a beautiful creature, is pretty wack to me.But man thats just me,just an opinion.

I think like owning a dog, the animal deserves to be exercised.

[XipeTotec]

yep im a big fan of chicken and eggs.

though i will only buy free range eggs.

im sure i consume cage grown chicken though unknowingly, i would bypass that product if i knew they were cage bound.

I just think this is a natural empathetic feeling i have felt since i was young and im stickin to it.

Freedom deprived of such a naturally free animal, something thats intended to fly , for the sake of owning a beautiful creature, is pretty wack to me.But man thats just me,just an opinion.

I think like owning a dog, the animal deserves to be exercised.

and then eaten?

Edited March 23, 2007 by shroomytoonos

[naja naja]

I agree jono, birds in cages is a sad site, hence our bird is always out. Hecant fly though as the guy i got him off cut his wing when he was to young and it still hasnt grown back so he doesnt know how to fly, apparently the vet said he is past the age of learning aswell. Worse though is because he didnt learn to fly he cant land so we had an incident where he had a bleeding chest from repeated crash landings. He actually does back flips when he tries to fly.

My only advice spud is get a bird of the opposite sex to you, then they will thing you their mate.

He will learn to fly fine. I just taught a bird to fly that hadn't flown in over eight years and could flutter at best when he arrived. he's now flying in at high speeds and hitting the lure well. He gets tired quick, but that will dissappear as his muscle mass builds up.

[Torsten]

If you consider eclectus then don't even think about getting a girl. They are utter bitches.

We got ours because we saw how his parents were kept. Flying freee most of the day and just getting locked up at night to keep them safe. Sadly things did not quite work like that with Sasha. When we let him go he gets so exhausted he flies onto a nearby tree from where he can see us and will rest there for hours before maybe flying onto the next tree etc. One day he got into an argument with two magpies and next thing he was over a 800m away and it took him 2 days [ie sleepless nights for us] to find his way home.

His outings became so stressful for us because we had to make sure someone was around 24 hours a day for the next two days in case he wanted to come home. The biggest worry are our dogs though. Little terriers just love birds. So for Sasha to come home he has to come into dog territory.

The new solution is to build the aviary well away from the dog area and to let him have his own access so he can come home anytime. The aviary itself will be big enough for him to fly a fair bit so he will be much fitter and hopefully return sooner.

So yeah, we have given up with inside birds. These were not problems we considered when we got him, as the breeder painted a rather different picture.