Wanting to get my first parrot and seeking advice

[KimberlyAnn]

That facebook picture makes me shiver! I have two pets, a corn snake and my GCC. I love both and spend time with both. Thankfully, the snake (Lumi) wakes up when the bird (Emmi) goes to bed. And also thankfully no one wants to spend time with the snake except me. My worst fear is them being out at the same time! I could see Emmi being curious and coming over to check out Lumi and then Lumi doing what a snake does...eat!

Thankfully, Lumi has never broken out of his tank. We put an extra lock on his tank and double screened it anyway because I'm so fearful of something happening. When Emmi starts flying, we will get a cabinet to put Lumi in so she can't land on the screen. Hopefully she won't be interested in the tank at all because I don't want her to stress Lumi out either. I also am very careful and don't put Lumi down anywhere. This is mostly for Lumi's safety, but also for Emmi. Emmi can run around anywhere in our home and I don't want her to get sick because of Lumi. Plus Lumi does not want down...he just wants to steal my body heat! Lol

Had I had another animal that can run free, I personally don't think I would have gotten Emmi. That's not to say that it can't be done if you are very very careful. I know it's done successfully. I would just be too worried about Emmi picking up another animals hair (silvia from other animals can be deadly and every animal uses saliva to clean itself) and Emmi takes so much of my time anyway! Any time away from her and Lumi means time for me and my family! Lol But it's all a personal decision. I know I just would not be able to handle it without getting stressed out and putting down rules that would be unfair to the bird or the other animal...plus with working full time, Emmi needs me at all times when I'm home. They really are like children. To take that time away from her means she spends more time in her cage, like a goldfish. That's sad to me, she's such a huge part of my day and I'm the center of her world besides blueberries. Lol

Like Nir, I think you sound really responsible. Yes, it's great to think ahead about other animals you might want to bring into your life someday. But I think that if you do get a bird, you might find that you won't miss not having a dog. At least that's how it us for us. I wanted another cat so badly, but my husband is allergic. My husband wanted a dog, but I didn't want to clean up after a dog. We got a bird after three years of discussion. That bird is a dog and a cat and a bird wrapped into one package! Lol I for sure don't mind the mess! I don't miss not having a cat, my husband says Emmi is better then a dog hands down! We are a complete package now.

But at least now, you know a little bit more about what you are getting into. Now the decision is all yours. I'm glad you came here and asked the right questions! My only other advice is be prepared to spend a lot of money. We have already put in 2k into Emmi. She costs well over $100 a month to keep healthy and happy. Actually, I bet it's A LOT more right now. I don't want to even look at the numbers! Lol I figure by the end of her life, I could have bought a few nice cars and gone on lots of vacations. But she's worth it.

[janetafloat]

Ain't that the truth, KimberleyAnn....I don't even want to think about what I spend on one little parrot, he must be worth his weight in gold!

ps what facebook picture? Do you mean Alfie's Exorcist impersonation?

[KimberlyAnn]

No, the picture Michael posted showing the cat and the bird in a picture together, then the bird alone, dead because of the cat. He posted it as a link on the first page of this post. Just so horrifying! I loved my cat to the moon and back, but if he was still around, no way would I have Emmi. That would have been a ticking time bomb even if I made sure they were never in the same room. Cats are smart and mine could open doors. I've watched him pull balls out of cat toys through holes that were too small. Getting a bird through the cage wires would be a piece of cake!

And the money...I think I spent $100 in the last week on Emmi! LOL Most of the stuff is in bulk and for making toys...then for her food and a few more things. Not something that I will be doing weekly! Lol

[Raque]

Everything you've described sounds fine except, personally, I think that sounds like a lot of alone time. After all, birds are flock animals, so want and need a lot of interaction. Also time to fly around, as however many toys they have a cage is a very limited environment. Senegal's can get bitey if they're not happy. The tricky thing about 'out of cage' time that I hadn't counted in before I got my Senegal is that parrots need a lot of sleep - he usually wakes up between 9-9:30 and somewhere around 8-8:30 in the evening he's beak scratching and ready for bed. This means that if you're at work all day it's tricky to fit in enough 'out of cage' and one to one time.

Time is definitely a concern of mine due to work. I was happy with Michael's "out of cage time is measure in QUALITY not quantity" as that is something I can manage.

I had not really considered the amount of sleep time. Your Senegal wants 13 hours every night? I just assumed my normal 7-8 hours of sleep I get and being able to nap most of the day when I was not home would be sufficient. If the parrot is needing to go to bed at dusk, especially in the winter when we get down to about 10 hours of sunlight each day, then that really cuts down time to interact.

[Eric&Rebecca]

Yep!- birds need this they are smaller creatures. You only need 7-8 hours because your human birds need 10-14 hours depending on the season. Its up to you to fit around their schedule not the bird's to fit around yours. Birds are not low maintenance, in fact I would argue there's more work there than with most animals.

It's not a case of wanting its a case of needing! Making them have less sleep is cruel. Its up to you to make that time to interact. I even come home from work at lunch in the winter to do so

[Nir]

my sennie sleeps from like 12am to 1pm. and my budgie sleeps from like 1am - 2pm (i sleep from like 5am - 2pm). from everything i read, it doesnt matter what times they sleep and wake up. what matters is the consistency (sleeping and waking up same times) and the amount of hours they sleep. mine gets roughly 12-13 hours of sleep and that allows them to feel fresh. If you dont allow them their idle sleep then they might wake up grouchy and the day might not go as good as they should. imagine you getting 4-5 hours of sleep. the day would not go as great as getting your normal 8 hours. its the same for birds. just remember that if its a continuous thing that they arent getting enough sleep then that might affect their health as well as mood. I think if you can somehow get them 10 hours of sleep, it might work out but giving them 7 hours probably will cause bigger problems later on.

also i want to add that its not just "quality but also quantity." i think people who say "quality" probably just have work so they cant let the birds out as much as they should. but 1 hour of quality out of cage is just not good enough in my opinion. So even though quality is important(as in you spending time with the bird and the bird getting exercise and sun), i also think that the bird should also get couple of hours at the very least to be independent out of cage and just do their own thing.

[Pajarita]

I don't see any problem in having a parrot and a dog. I have seven dogs, seven cats and about 50 birds. It's true that all but three of my birds live in their own rooms but the three that share (one senegal, two GCCs) are fine with them. The dogs have been trained not to react to them because, usually, it's one of the GCCs (the male) that goes after them and not the other way around.

But I do think that a lone parrot all day long on his lonesome is not the right thing. As the previous poster stated, parrots are HIGHLY social birds, they need to have company to feel safe and a parrot on its own is a stressed out bird. People will tell you that you can get the bird used to it but what they actually mean is that some birds will resign themselves to it, not that they actually adjust. A social animal cannot 'adjust' to been by himself all his life like a territorial animal cannot 'adjust' to share its territory. Most of them cope with whatever life deals them but it's not what nature meant for them and that always has consequences. And some simply do not cope and they do not resign themselves to it and become screamers, biters, pluckers, etc.

Another thing is that sennies can scream real loud. They have a high pitched whistle type of call that can burst your eardrum when they are on your shoulder and some of them do scream all the time. One of mine came to me because the owner was afraid she was going to get evicted due to her sennie's constant screaming.

Why don't you consider a pair of cockatiels? They are lovely, lovely birds. Beautiful, smart, sweet-tempered and easy to care for, especially if you have a bonded pair that can keep each other company during the day.

[Eric&Rebecca]

I agree with Parajita. Cockatiels, especially a pair are amazing and very underrated birds! A lot of other parrots have the uncommon and exotic appeal but cockatiels are wonderful personalities

[janetafloat]

No, the picture Michael posted showing the cat and the bird in a picture together, then the bird alone, dead because of the cat. He posted it as a link on the first page of this post. Just so horrifying! I loved my cat to the moon and back, but if he was still around, no way would I have Emmi.

Ohhhh, yuck, I missed that

[Michael]

I was just informed of a parrot being seen by a vet that had its beak bitten off by a dog.