Help me!!!!!! Comment please

[sophiacs123]

I have been thinking about getting a bird to love and take care of. I am no bird expert so i am posting this to see what everyone recomends i should get. To begin , im thinking of getting a bird who isnt that hard to take care of. I am familiar that all birds are hard to take care of, but when i mean this im trying to say that i dont want it to be as hard as taking care of a mcaw. I am thinking of getting one that is loving and cuddly. If possible i would want to have a bird that is the size or smaller than my sisters Conure. It would be great if the bird could be able to do tricks or maybe even talk!It doesnt have to though. I would like a bird that is super friendly and loves to be handled. Also in my opinion i want a bird who isnt that emotional if im gone for a little bit because i travel. So in a bird this is what i want.

- Loving and cuddly
-small ( a little smaller than a Jenday conure)
-Not a extremely hard to take care of
-if possible a bird who can learn to do tricks or maybe talk.
-loves to be handled and is friendly
-Not that emotional if i am gone for awhile

(Do you think that a budgie would be a good bird)


Thank you so much for your suggestions,
Sophia

[Michael]

Cockatiel

[sophiacs123]

Micheal thankyou so much on the suggestion! Im sure to check out cockatiels!

[GlassOnion]

A male cockatiel

[sophiacs123]

Thankyou GlassOnion! Everyone says either cockatiel or budgie so ill have to decide! If i do get a cockatiel it will be a male thanks for the advice

[Andromeda]

Cockatiels and budgies are great choices.

Look into Quaker Parrots, too. Growing up my family had a Quaker and he was sweet and cuddly. He talked and sang songs and did a few tricks as well.

That being said, all birds have different personalities and even though some birds as a species are considered "cuddly" it all comes down to the individual bird. Some birds have a personality where they don't care much for being handled. Just be aware that even if that is what you want in a bird there is not a 100% guarantee that is what you will get.

If you frequently work on tameness with your bird (several times a week or even daily in 5 - 10 minute sessions) it probably will enjoy being handled, though.

[sophiacs123]

Thanks Andromeda! I will consider a quaker parrot. Thankyou for all the tips. I am aware that every bird has a different personality, i am just trying to see which type of bird would be closest to what i want my birds qaulities to have. Thankso much again for all your help!

[marie83]

I would recommend a cockatiel too. From experience it really doesn't matter if its male or female although females may obviously egg lay, in which case leave them in until she gets bored of sitting on them or replace with dummy eggs and make sure her diets good to prevent deficiency problems or egg binding (any bird should be on a good diet anyway so not too much of an issue) if shes a repeated layer, you can manipulate light etc to prevent laying too. I actually thought one of mine was a male until one day she was cowering on her cage floor. I panicked thinking she was sick but then she moved and I saw the egg, such a relief, she went on to lay 5 and sit them for two weeks before getting bored. She hasn't laid any more since. I did change the spelling of her name as it looks more feminine lol, she's Harlie now instead of Harley.

[sophiacs123]

Thanks so much everybody

[marie83]

I've never heard a cockatiel be described as mean before, they are usually very sweet and placid, although can be nervous at the same time if not well socialized to people and experiences/new objects. All mine have been rescued and have mainly been absolutely terrified of people when I first got them and although they may hiss and threaten to bite when scared I've only actually been bitten once and that was only because I had to grab him to get him in a carrier for a vets appointment.

One I did have from a few weeks old I finished handrearing because her parents abandoned her, she used to hiss and hiss or nibble at the ends of my fingers until I scratched her head. It was adorable and again wasn't her being mean, just her way of showing her feelings and it could never be classed as a bite.

My budgie on the other hand definitely had her moody moments and she was prone to random biting. She was the only budgie I had though (and also my first bird) so I can't say if her behaviours are typical or if I taught her to bite through my own ignorance, although I never created a drama when she bit me.

Obviously all birds are different, there are exceptions to the rules and also how people react to them influence their behaviours, cockatiel cottage (google them) has quite a few good articles on handling, body language, food, toxic materials etc. There are several good books on them too. For training purposes read michaels articles and other general parrot training articles/books as the cockatiel books don't tend to go into much detail.

Anyway research more than one species, they all have pro's and cons but for what you've said you want I think a 'tiel would meet your requirements nicely.