Wanting another bird.

[Chantilly]

Tilly would probably hate me if I did but I would love it(cant come up with a good excuse lol)....
I used to always want a bue and gold or CAG, but they have a longlife span, wich in a way can be bad. I am only a teen. Have no idea what I want to do or where i want to be when I am elder but have always loved birds. I dont know why but when I see them or hear them I just become so excited but yet content.
My Mum said that if I got rid of my beardies I could get a (they stink and my Mum does not like the smell so...) but I am now thinking something along the lines of CAG again or Amazon or Eccie.
But It is just a thought and a hope, nothing more. I dont want to get rid of my beardies but they are aggressive towards eachother and I will need to sell atleast one of the two for this reaon. I love them so much though.., Thoughts/Advise?

[marie83]

A pet is for life..... wait until your older then you don't have to swap one for another. You shouldn't even be considering it imo. Your beardies need you and are not disposable.

[liz]

You are bonded to your beardies but are they bonded to you.

When my daughter moved out and I went to check her room she had left her iguana. I knew nothing about that critter but I knew I did not want him confined to a room with a closed door. This guy was about 18 inches long and a dark brown. I was sitting on the floor in my bedroom when I realized I was not alone. Boken was sitting on the floor next to me and had turned bright green. I guess he was telling me he really liked the freedom. Though I had dogs and cats in the house he followed me around like a little puppy. I had a window in my laundry room with a folding table in front of it. He claimed the table and window and the shelves above the table. I don't know how he got there but I put a board against the table and newspaper under it. He potty trained himself. You can see where I am going with this.
My mother had to have surgery in another town so I moved my cats and dogs to my aunt's house for her to take care of. I asked my neighbor (Rambo's human) to take Boken while I was gone. When I went back to get him he was bright gold. I realized that though I was bonded to him he was not bonded to me. I rehomed him to a family with a bunch of kids. Her pantry was similar to my laundry room and though she had him set up in the living room he claimed the it.
I went back the next day to check on him. He was outside with the kids and a bright gold. I had him about 6 months and still miss him these years later. Boken did not bond to me or love me. His turning green only meant he was happy to get out of the room. Turning gold at Rambo's human's house meant he liked the increased activity. He became content with the new family and stayed gold. They loved him and even though he was gold he was not bonded to them. He was just happy how his life had changed. I really bonded with him and loved him enough to even give him up but he didn't even pay attention to me when I went to check on him.

Though you are bonded to and love your beardies they don't feel the same. If I was you, I would rehome them to someone who has more time for them to make them happier even though you are going to miss them. I would then turn that attention to the bird you have.

Birds do bond and I know they feel love. They have taught me this over the years. Hold off on another bird until you are an adult and on your own. You are young and your life is going to go through many changes. I am 65 and my life changed in many different directions since I was your age.

This is not what you wanted to hear but I had to say it. Whatever you decide is up to you but that was my 2 cents worth.

[Chantilly]

Thankyou liz,
I admit that I am slightly dissapointed, but I am grateful for your oppinion, and guess I do agree with it. I understand what you are saying and will hold off on getting another parrot. Even i I ended up just selling the one, I could give the other so much more one on one time and not have to worry about them stressing over sharing a tank. But it is so hard, I fall in love with things so easily, and then it breaks me to have to let it go. I do not think that they dont get alot of time with me, and I clean them regularly, but they would love more attention...
Thanks again Liz,

[Chantilly]

A pet is for life..... wait until your older then you don't have to swap one for another. You shouldn't even be considering it imo. Your beardies need you and are not disposable.

Thankyou marie

[marie83]

The right bird will come a long when the time is right and it will be worth the wait

[Chantilly]

Thankyou, Marie

[Wolf]

Poor Chantilly, we know how you feel. You, like so many others have been stricken wit MBS, that is multiple bird syndrome and I am so sorry to inform you that there is no effective treatment nor a cure for this syndrome at this time. Sometimes you can find temporary relief from this syndrome by being an active participant on a bird forum, or in more sever cases you may have to find a bird rescue or sanctuary that you can volunteer at to help prevent your drive to collect more birds that you can effectively care for. Since there is no cure for MBS, all that I can recommend is that you try to have fun with your birds.

[Navre]

Interesting story about the iguana, Liz. I have rehomed snaked without hesitation, and am about to rehome a tortoise. It always seemed to me that reptiles didn't bond with people, and even more so, didn't care if we existed, or not.

[Pajarita]

I don't think one could say reptiles or amphibians 'bond' with people but they certainly get used to the environment, care and humans they live with so, although they might not suffer the same as, say, a dog or a parrot would, they do, in their own way, get stressed out by rehoming. On another level, one learns one's limitations as one gets older so, sometimes, rehoming them is for their own good BUT it needs to be truly for their own good and the new home needs to be carefully screened!

And, yes, Chantilly, MBS is very common and understandable but the thing is that parrots change a lot as they become sexually mature and as they age so, even when we think that things are going well, that our birds are not giving us any real trouble so it would not really hard to have to care for another one, etc. this is more wishful thinking on our part than reality. I've had birds for ten years, 15 and 18 years and there is always one challenge or another. Aside from that, the species you want are the kind the bond really deeply to their human and, in reality, you don't know, at this point in your life, if your life won't change radically 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now. As a matter of fact, taking into consideration that you are a teenager, I think it's pretty certain that it will definitely change A LOT... going to college, getting a job, a boyfriend, a husband, children, moving from one home to another, traveling, etc - all part of growing up and most of them pretty unavoidable. I'll be honest with you, I don't agree with young people getting parrots. It's not that I don't think they cannot do a good job caring for them because I do! It's that I've taken so many birds from young adults that got their bird when they were younger, from people who got their bird when they were romantically unattached but then got into a relationship, from parents who had promised their kids they would take of the bird when they went to college, etc and they all honestly thought they would be able to do it but they were not. Just look at the rescues and all the birds you see advertised in Craigslist, Kijiji, the classifieds, etc! They all came from homes that had the best of intentions of keeping them forever...

So, concentrate on your bird and, if later on, you still want another one, maybe you can consider adopting a mate for her (has she been DNA'd a female?) so, if you are not there for her, at least she will have somebody to love her.