by Zanizaila » Tue Sep 27, 2011 4:01 pm
Even if you're very responsible and knowledgeable for a teen, it is still worth rethinking.
I should know, I got myself a cockatoo (Eleonora or medium sulphur-crested) when I was fifteen. Parrots are my life too, my passion (I'm twenty years old now and I've had them since I was eleven), but still, I don't have my cockatoo anymore.
Life happens, in short. So even if you are smarter, more responsible and know much more about parrots than almost any other teen out there, you are still so young that - well, before the age of 18-20, our brains are not fully developed and before that, we are simply not fully capable of making wise, mature decisions.
I didn't think I was an average teen either (and maybe, I wasn't), but in that aspect, I was no different. And now I'm just going to copy an old post I wrote somewhere else, when a teen wanted a large macaw.
"My issue with teenagers getting large parrots is not that you wouldn't be able to care for it - heck, I know a guy who got an Umbrella Cockatoo when he was only nine years old and had her until she died eight years later. And when he was ten, he took in a severely abused U2 who was scared of literally *everything*. One year later, that bird was a surprisingly well-adjusted cockatoo, considering the one who brought him back to living was a ten year old boy who only had one year experience with his other U2, a young chick.
But then he was an extremely special child/teenager, not many adults even with some bird experience would be able to do that. The problem when young people, especially teenagers get large parrots, are mainly that - life will change.
Of course life will always change unpredictably, no matter if you're fifteen or fifty. But when you're very young, not only will you go to school for several years, you may want to date, sooner or later get married, perhaps have kids, go through jobs, apartment-living, and all of that while you have a (or two, since they are flock animals and should be two - I'm looking for partners for my birds as we speak, yes) huge, flying feathered toddler with a megaphone and can opener attached to its face. And just think of all the space the cage (or rather - aviary) will take up in your home, not to mention any climbing trees or bird gyms.
The most common reasons people get rid of their birds, as far as I know, are (in no specific order) #1 new job, "I don't have time", #2 new child "I don't have time and the baby can't sleep because the bird is screaming for attention", #3 allergy (a future child could very well get allergic), #4 screaming (I've already brought that up), and #5 biting. Macaws have huge, dangerous beaks and a jealous bird with pliers attached to its head is no fun thing for a little child.
So the bird will have to move, no matter how much the owner loves the bird.
And the other reason teenagers shouldn't get large parrots, is that in that age, no matter how much more mature you are than your friends or classmates, you are not as mature as you will be in a few years time. Our brains are not fully developed until we are about twenty years old, and before that, your "decision making-skills" are seldom very good. I should know, I got a cockatoo when I was fifteen (with four years of bird experience), and when I read about the screaming, the biting, the unpredictable temper, everything that cockatoos are - I thought "Well, I can do it." Could I? Hell no!
Looking back now, I don't know what I was thinking. When I was fifteen, I truly thought I would be able to handle a screaming, biting hormonal male cockatoo. Do I think so today, several years later? No.
Now, as for smaller parrots, such as mini macaws. They still make noise, they still bite, they still need a huge cage, they still needs lots of attention, but, and this is a big but...
#1 Their voices are not as loud as those of large macaws.
#2 Their beaks, and thus their pressure powers, are not nearly as huge as those of large macaws.
#3 They are not as big as the large macaws (naturally ) and thus don't need a cage that takes up half the living room.
#4 They are much easier to keep in pairs and thus, you can have two in the same cage that entertain each other and don't need to cling to you all the time. (They still need attention from you, but they don't need you 24/7.)
And this does make them easier to live with, especially while young with lots of lifestyle changes.
My Meyers parrot is not a mini macaw, but she is a smaller parrot. I've had her since I was twelve years old, with no problems. The decision to get a large parrot (in my case an Eleonora cockatoo) as a teenager though, was a disaster."
Proud slave of Saga and Cirino, and missing Yondo and Egon.
...and there is a world difference between supporting aviculture and supporting birds. - Greg Glendell
) and I think I'm going to get a Lilac Crown Amazon. They're not a "hot 3", they're a bit saller, a bit more docile (for an Amazon) from what I've heard. Is this true? Also, obviously I wouldn't go in to this without knowing what I'm talking about, bu there's no teacher like experience, so if any owners out there have any "gee whiz" experiences or stories to share, any big no-nos most books/websites dont tell you, stuff like that. Also any cage, playstand, and travel carrier brand suggestions would be appreciated. This goes for all Amazon owners or anyone whose worked with these birds, too. Thanks in advance!
Rambo and 
Myrtle are a real hand full.
