i Need Beginner Parrot care tips/recommended bird?

[Strawfrawg]

Nate...I don't like being a downer, but I do want to say one thing about the dogs you live with. If they are large and pretty smart, having your door shut may not be enough to protect your bird.

I've never said on these forums how I lost my cockatiel, Weebo...it was a dog attack. I was dogsitting a friend's Labarodor Retriever while he went out of town overnight for a family emergency. Weebo was usually free to roam the house but was kept caged in my room with the door shut during the dog's stay. The Lab never actually saw Weebo before the attack, but Weebo's vocalizations were all it took. While I was in the basement looking for something, the dog opened the fully closed door (regular knob), apparently with her feet, and knocked Weebo's cage from its stand. She bashed her way into the cage and in the minute or so that it took for me to get up the stairs in response to the sound of the falling cage, she had broken in and crushed my bird in her jaws. It isn't something I like to talk about, EVER, but I wanted to let you know since this will be your first bird. I would hate to have this happen to anyone else. I never thought it could happen at all or I would never have taken the dog in.

This dog was usually very gentle and had never opened a door before as far as her owner knew, but she was very motivated by the prey animal behind it. It was a rare event, I'm sure, but just please don't be too confident that a door and a cage will be enough. Unless the dogs are too small to reach a doorknob, put the cage up higher than the dogs can possibly reach and/or block the door with something heavy when nobody is around.

Congratulations on your decision to become a bird owner. Cockatiels are wonderful little birds and believe me, incredibly smart and entertaining despite their small size...nothing "starter" about them!

[Eric&Rebecca]

oh how awful! Poor weebo. My parents have a mini schnuazer but she is kept well away from the birds when they come to stay and there's no way she could knock over their Montana cage. Besides she runs away from them and probably wouldn't attack them the chances are never taken.

I would plan on getting a very sturdy cage in that case and the dog should be completely and utterly separate at ALL times.

[Strawfrawg]

A sturdy cage is definitely key no matter the size of the bird. It seems for smaller birds, so many of the readily available models are pretty flimsy. That's been a beef of mine for ages. I have had wires separate at the weld-points and start to rust more than once. Weebo's cage was pretty large but the wires weren't as tough as they needed to be because I couldn't find heavier wire with small enough spacing for a cockatiel. Marvin's cage is like an armored truck, and I keep the little doors for the food and water dishes tied shut. The main cage door is more than he or any animal could figure out, but even still I've reinforced it. I just make sure I can open it quickly in case of fire or other emergency in the house. I always advise new bird owners to keep their travel cage close by in case they ever need to evacuate on very short notice. But as my history proves, you can't always think of everything and you absolutely live and learn.

[Eric&Rebecca]

Montana is the only brand with suitable bar spacing and within a reasonable price I found that's sturdy enough (it weighs nearly 50kg! That's heavier than me!). My parents never allow the birds out until the dog is locked in her playroom/personal garden (lap of luxury dog!). The dog isn't even allowed in the room when the birds are caged, not that she could ever get near them or push the cage over anyway on the few instances she has wandered in.

So when they come to stay with my parents i'm as confident as I can be this is ok. I'm not happy with anyone else caring for them because my parents are the only people I know with extensive bird experience- although they haven't owned for many years now the knowledge remains. The dog has been adapted around so if there's the provision for this kind of separation and the extreme vigilence on implementing this it isn't ahuge problem... at least on a 2-3 week basis but permenantly... I'd have to think.

I agree though there should be a wider range of sturdier cages for smaller birds! especially given the weight of the natural branches I like to use, I need a sturdy cage! The vast majority of larger cages lack the correct parakeet or smaller bird 1-2 bar spacings or have all one way bars which for my cockatiels is no use as they a climbing birds. The Montana and the King's brands are the only UK available cages that fulfill my personal criteria.

And yes travel cages set up on stand by are a must! Thank god during our leak and ceiling collapse we'd done this!