What is Best for Me, Need Your Advice!

[Gigit]

I have decided that when we move to our new home this Summer (it's being built) and when I have finished painting it and unpacking, that I will bring a new addition to the family, and I'm thinking bird.

I had a budgie as a child, little charmer named Blueberry, he was a good little bird.

My uncle had a small green parrot of some kind, I think a conure but it has been many years and my memory is hazy. He would hang out on the kitchen counter with me and talk, and he would take showers with my uncle. He would talk a little bit, too which is adesirable quality.

The other day I was in a petstore (I will be going through a breeder, not going to the petstore for my bird) I was interacting and dancing with doing things with a bird there, and I just realized that a bird would be just perfect for me.

I'm looking for something that will hang out on the counter while I cook, or clean, a bird that won't bite me when I put my finger for him to join me outside of his cage, or rest on my shoulder while I clean house, or maybe even watch a movie perched on my knees. I want to get a nice tree stand with lots of limbs, and food toys. And a pretty big sized cage to go in the living room or the dining room. Talking would be a huge plus, as would liking to take showers. I have a 15 year old and a 7 year old, so giant birds with big beaks are out in case of bites. I knew a Macaw once and she was a biter, so I'm afraid of the big birds. Cuddle type of bird would also be a huge perk, I'm a very cuddly person. Not extremely loud, or my husband wouldn't like it, of course we expect some noise and welcome it!

We have 2 guinea pigs, no other pets to introduce to the bird.

I live in Hamilton, Ontario, which is near Toronto for the case you want to advise a breeder.

I have my eyes on Parrotlets, Conures, Love Birds, and African Gray, but I am open to other birds as well.

I work a 40 hour work week, I could have my daughter put it on a tree perch at 3pm to get it out of it's cage, but the best kind of interaction time I can give is 6pm until bedtime and weekends.

[pennyandrocky]

not all birds choose to talk so i hope you're ok with that. i don't know much about lovebirds or parrotlets but i have a greencheek conure he's super cuddly but these are a huge bird in a small package. they are very high energy, bullies, velcro birds they always want to be perched somewhere on your body, smart they learn pretty quick, and they do go through a nippy stage but if handled correctly goes away. greys are like cockatoos they need alot of mental stimulation to avoid behavoir problems like plucking, screaming, or biting. try visiting a rescue where they will let you handle many different birds and figure out which would fit in with your lifestyle. oh and there's really no difference between breeder or petstore both add to the problem of too many birds ending up in rescues. but if you have to go with a breeder try getting parent raised instead of hand which is not only cruel imo but unhealthy. there's a thread on here about the dangers in handfeeding "why you should never buy an unweaned parrot".

[marie83]

Hey welcome to the forums, we are a friendly bunch and will try to help you decide if you do really want a bird and if so help you with species etc. I know you say you want a bird but alot has changed regarding what is known about them. Back when I first started keeping birds there was nobody to tell me air freshners, teflon etc were toxic to birds, nobody to tell me that an all seed diet with a bit of F&V wasn't good enough etc. My first bird wasn't hard work at all really because I was barely meeting its basic needs.

Your probably going to hate what 'm going to say because it is rather negative but you seem to have a very idealistic approach to what living with a parrot could be like (based on what you have written) but it is all designed to help you see the potential pitfalls and work out ways around things if they were to be not as you would like. Its the risk you take when you get a parrot.

All birds may bite, in fact its almost guarenteed tbh that at some point you will get bitten. some birds have softer bites than others but I can tell you even the littlest of conures can break the skin and I had more of those kind of bites in the beginning than I care to remember but with alot of hard work he rarely ever bites now.

As for cooking and cleaning with the bird out forget it nice idea, but it just isn't safe for the bird, clipped birds fall, flighted birds can land anywhere as they dont stop to check if somethings hot or not, particuarly if it looks tasty, not to mention alot of cleaning stuff is toxic to the birds.

Some of the species you listed are pretty noisy, my peach fronted conure made a right din morning and night and random times in between, there were no lie ins lol.
My green cheeked conure is pretty quiet overall but has his moments, my bf currently wants to kill him as he has been screaming for the past 30 minutes lol.

I believe the greys are quite low in volume most of the time but can be repetative and on the go alot of the day from what I've read and seen of/about them but when they do get going they too can be very loud. I have no idea about the parrotlets.

The greys can be one person birds if not very very well socialised whilst young and if they take a dislike to someone you will have a hard time changing its mind, whilst they can talk they might not and aren't good cuddler birds (but you shouldn't cuddle any species much anyway to prevent sexual behaviours and behavioural problems from overbonding).

The conures tend to be more cuddley, playful etc but as mentioned they can be very loud, have a tendancy to be very nippy birds, yet more social. They respond well to training but will try to train you. They can get aggressive if they form a strong bond with one person and aren't handled much by others.

Well done for doing your research, hang fire and do plenty more before deciding, research general care, training, potential problems etc. Michael has an excellent blog on this and links can be found at the top and bottom of each forum page.

Keep us updared with things and if you have any questions just ask away

[Gigit]

What can you tell me about cockatiels?

[marie83]

'Tiels are relatively quiet but as with all species can have loud moments, males tend to be noiser than the females and more likely to talk. They are pretty gentle in nature but can be rather flighty. Their bites will break the skin if they catch you right, but they are less likely to bite than a budgie is I think (only had 1 budgie though to compare to). Fairly easy to train but can be very stubborn, particuarly when it comes to trying new foods so get one that has been fed a varied diet if you can if you choose a 'tiel. Whilst they can be cuddley they are more likely to enjoy a good head scratch than cuddle, only 1 out of all mine has been a cuddler but she was also pretty indepentant.

[friend2parrots]

hello, welcome to the forum! the posters above have already given you great advice. I just wanted to add a few comments:

- you may want to enter the name of the various species you are considering into the search box at the top right corner of the page, and read through some of what others have written about individual species as part of your research.

-I wanted to specifically respond to one thing you wrote:

I could have my daughter put it on a tree perch at 3pm to get it out of it's cage, but the best kind of interaction time I can give is 6pm until bedtime and weekends.

the parrot cannot be expected to remain on a tree perch for very long. the only kind of bird that will remain on a tree perch for longer than a few minutes at a time is a bird that's had its wing feathers clipped. however, clipping the birds wings to make it stay in one place would not be fair; furthermore, clipping causes many behavioral and health problems. so as you make plans to bring a bird into your household, make sure you plan out how to birdproof your home for a fully flighted bird that has access to safe areas of the household under supervision. there is a ton of information on michaels blog and on this forum as to how to safely provide a bird the flighted lifestyle it requires, including basic training guidelines. go to the blog's sitemap to get a list of all the articles, to get a sense of a flighted lifestyle for parrots. if your daughter will be letting the bird out after 3 pm, she will have to participate in the training process, so she can handle a flighted bird and supervise it while it is out prior to your arrival home from work.

[Andromeda]

So you have some good advice here already but I will just add my two cents.

If the best kind of interaction you can give is 6 PM until bedtime and on weekends personally I don't think a bird is a good fit. I think unless you or someone else is home a lot (work from home, stay-at-home mom or dad, retired, disabled, etc.) that a bird is a poor choice because it will be spending too much time in its cage. I know some people will disagree with me but that is my opinion.

If you do decide to get a bird an African Grey specifically is absolutely not suited to being caged for such an extended amount of time and would be almost guaranteed to develop serious behavioral issues such as plucking, screaming, or biting due to the psychological impact of being caged so much. Greys are extremely neurotic and difficult to keep and are surrendered very frequently. Rescues are full of plucking or biting Greys.

As others have said you shouldn't have a bird out while you cook or clean due to hot stoves and ovens and fumes and odors as birds have very sensitive respiratory systems. If you get a bird you will have to ditch your commercial cleaners but it's not a huge deal because you can replace them with homemade cleaners such as water and vinegar for surfaces, water and GSE for disinfecting, and baking soda and water for cleaning things like the oven. You will also have to replace all your non-stick cookware (Teflon/PTFE-coated pans) because the fumes are deadly to birds, and you'll never be able to run the self-cleaning feature of your oven again.

You seem to want a bird that's content to just "hang out" but in general that's not really the personality a bird at all. They are highly active and mobile and always messing around and getting into trouble and it's kind of like having a permanent 2-year-old with wings.

Birds are not very cuddly. Most enjoy a head scratch but rarely do they cuddle. Green cheek conures are an exception and as a species are known for their cuddling but that doesn't mean every single individual will be like that. Yes, the cuddling is endearing but the downside is they are "Velcro birds" as someone else mentioned and it can be really difficult to try to work or get things done around the house because a GCC wants to be glued to you all the time. Mine follows me everywhere, all day long. They are also very nippy and can be biters but with training and patience you can work through it. They can talk but if they do they usually only say a handful of things. They have really gravely voices and while the owner can usually understand their speech it's not very clear.

If you don't like noise Aratinga conures (Sun conures, Jenday conures, etc.) are out because they are some of the loudest birds and their calls are difficult for most people to endure. Many, many Aratingas are surrendered due to their noise. Pyrrhura conures (green cheek conure, etc.) are quieter but they do have something I call "the conure scream" which is loud, repetitive, and grating. Mine doesn't do it very often (because I completely ignore it) but if he is unhappy sometimes he will carry on for 5+ minutes at a time.

I had a lovebird as a child but it was so long ago that while I remember her I don't remember all the fine details. She was pretty quiet and she didn't talk; I don't know if lovebirds talk at all. She was a sweet bird.

I also used to have a parrotlet. They may be small but they are nothing like a budgie or lovebird in that they think they are a macaw! They act like a big bird and they have no problem "putting you in your place" if they don't like what you are doing. They are really bossy. They're also really cute but in my opinion they require quite a bit of training to address their "big bird" attitude. They also can talk (mine said a couple of things) but as a rule any bird species that may produce a talker is just as likely to produce a bird that never talks.

[Utoomom]

Yup....this just about sums it up in a nutshell...Gigit, you cannot imagine how I have had to modify & improvise on my life since Elvis has joined me....Granted, It's a joy beyond any words, but regardles..ALOT OF WORK~~~keep researching. Before you think of any species, find out the many things you will have to elimate from your household and see if thats ok with not only yourself, but the others that live there as well...