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[Jakodi]

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[caprifolia]

Thank you all for your responses. I have already talked to the nearest parrot rescue but I guess they are buisy and haven't responded yet. I've been keeping an eye on Craigslist and the local thrift shops for cages. I actually have a evel critter nation for my ferrets that I think would make a great birdcage if I took the shelves out. It's taller than I am and really wide i know that what some birds prefer is wide cages but the bars are spaced for animals as small as mice I have seen a few on Craig's list. I'm in no hurry I'm just keeping my options open right now.

If you are able to drive, you could also try looking at different Craigslist locations... I found my bird & his cage not in listings for my own city, but in those of a city one hour away.

[Pajarita]

Michael is outspoken and direct. That's the way he is and whoever comes here needs to understand that. Could he be a bit more tactful? Yes, he could but the truth of the matter is that there are no parrots that would fulfill all the requirements regardless of price or whether it's adopted or bought as a baby or even how much work you are willing to put into the relationship. It's like saying I want to adopt a kid but he/she needs to be beautiful, smart, well-behaved, cheap, healthy and happy... You don't adopt a kid only if the kid means no work, no worries, no expense and entertaining as well as reflecting great on you the same way that you don't get a parrot expecting it to be a good talker, affectionate, cheap, healthy and have no behavioral issues. The whole premise is not only wrong but also impossibly unrealistic.

[Michael]

The problem is when people already have their mind made up, don't want to hear or learn about anything, but only to have their own convictions reaffirmed.

You cannot get involved in keeping a parrot because it looks fun, easy, cheap, entertaining, or relaxing. Those elements may be present to some degree or at some times. But the frustrations and challenges are far more prevalent. Unless the difficulties and challenges are something you seek, a parrot really is a terrible pet to get. Overfilled rescues are living proof of that.

[InTheAir]

This thread did not start with outspoken and direct replies from Michael. He was just plain rude.

I enjoy reading bits of your blog, Micheal, you have some great advice on it. Pity you can't treat people like the op with compassion here.

If you really can't see what I'm getting at there isn't much point in me wearing out my keyboard.
I'm sure you'll figure it a balance some day.

[Eric&Rebecca]

I'd rather someone was slightly rude or very rude and made someone really think about their decision to get a parrot than gently tried to tiptoe around the subject. In fact if more people applied a more vigrous attitude towards keeping parrots then perhaps there wouldn't be so many in rescues.

To the OP, I tend to be accused of being rude because I'm very direct but I mean well. Firstly, getting a parrot shouldn't be based on what you want to parrot's personality or nature to be like because there's no guarantees even with training and money and patience. If you want that guarantee then don't get a parrot because its not right for you. If you want a parrot for the joy of bringing it up and for adoration of the species, birds, or a strong interest in their nature and relish the opportunity of challenges and a long term/ possibly lifelong commitment with a large majority of money being poured into it then fine, this is the pet for you.

The reasons you have outined are nice qualities to have in a bird but not valid reasons for thinking of owning a parrot. You have to understand this is an animal, not a child, they may love you, tey may not. There is absolutely no way whatsoever you can influence this or make this happen. If the basis of your decision is what you will get out the parrot then again, this is not the right pet for you. The relationship has to be reciprocal.

I would think long and hard about the real reasons you want a parrot, then make another post, perhaps visit some rescue centres orread accoutns of what owning a new bird is like. Particular attention should be paid to how long it takes to train, how much they cost, how much patience you must have, how much of a commitment and restriction it can be on your life.

Birds aren't performing circus animals which you can put in a cage with some seed and itll be fine- it doesn't work like that. A bird is as much of a commitment if not more as having a child whether it be a cockatiel, budgie or cockatoo!

[InTheAir]

I think my point may not have been clear enough.
It is nothing to do with expressing veiws strongly. That was not what I was responding to.
Effective communication is more likely to win people over to your way of thinking.
If you insult and belittle someone they will generally not be so interested in listening to you.

Did anyone here actually change your veiws to embrace what a school bully wanted you to think?

Perhaps they will find a forum where people are nice and welcoming and explain to them that clipping wings is the right thing to do. They then clip their birds wings and get told they need to dominate it by the friendly members of wingclippersrus forum. They listen to the nice people on wingclippersrus, not the wankers who insulted them here.
By explaining to the op politely why a pet parrot has drawbacks that they may not have considered there is a better chance that the information will be taken in and given some weight. Then, if they get a parrot anyway, you can provide guidance that actually benefits the bird, if that is what you really want to achieve here.
Am I wrong about that being part of the goals of this forum?

We are obviously not altruistic enough for this forum. I bought my boyfriend a parrot because he wanted a little buddy who was intelligent, loves him and is likely to learn to talk. Ironically enough, the bird actually does all those things plus is an absolute genius at learning tricks!

[Pajarita]

No, you are not wrong about the site goals. And you are right that you get more flies with honey than with vinegar but this was not a question about clipping wings or whether to feed pellets or mash. Besides, Michael was just been facetious. The OP asked: which parrot is affectionate, smart, a talker, not a screamer, cheap, can entertain himself, etc and Michael posted an ad for a plastic budgie which fulfilled to a T all the requirements... I thought it was funny actually. He did go into a detailed explanation of how unrealistic the goal was on his second answer after the OP complained about his rudeness but, in truth, do you really believe that a person that starts with such an unattainable and completely unrealistic goals as well as been obviously fully ignorant of what a parrot really is would actually change his mind and decide not to get a parrot if you gave him an explanation? I don't think so. He will get a cheap parrot, keep it for a while and when he realizes that it's not what he expected, he will sell it on Craig's list or give it to somebody. People see pictures of beautiful parrots and all those videos showing them doing cutesy things and tricks and think that they are a hoot and that they behave like that all the time but the greatest majority of them don't. And, sometimes, they do when they are young but when they get to a certain age, they get tired of waiting for a more normal life and start acting up - and that's when they either get rid of it or keep it in a cage for the rest of the poor animal's life. Parrots are hard enough to keep happy and healthy even when you go into it with your eyes wide open, knowledge, time and money - somebody with such impossible expectations couldn't possibly give a parrot a good forever home regardless of how you explain things.

[InTheAir]

Well, they sure as hell won't learn any better from being pigeonholed into the 'too dumb to learn' catagory! Because their expectation of a parrot is like a video someone, for example Micheal, might post on YouTube? Questions like that are the penance you pay for posting cool videos publicly.

My boyfriend had a pretty similar idea in mind when he wanted a parrot in the first place, and he has still managed to prioritise his parrots care, exercise and entertainment over his own.
He learnt about quite a lot about foraging and stuff like that from reading forums, that people are polite on. If he had been shot down for asking what may be dumb questions on those forums he wouldn't have hung around to learn more.

I had really never considered a pet parrot in my whole life, so he is a better example than me.
Not everyone was born with perfect knowledge of the ins and outs of bird keeping, most of us actually have to learn it.

Do you think it really helps any birds if you shoot down anyone who doesn't immediately meet your high, possibly judgemental, standards?

Perfect polly is dead funny, but it was not kindly shared and the subsequent remarks from micheal weren't much better. Not professional at all, Micheal.

[Pajarita]

I don't think that anybody is too dumb to learn and I don't mind any type of question when it comes to husbandry, regardless of how elemental it might be, but I do think that if you want a certain type of pet, you need to do research about it on your own and this person had obviously not taken 5 measly minutes to glance through a single birdsite - because, if he had, he would have realized there is no such parrot. That does not bode well for a difficult-to-care-for, longevous, delicate animal that will require research for the rest of its life.

But I do agree with you that videos like the ones Michael posts often do pet birds more harm than good. It raises expectations that won't be fulfilled 95% of the time. Maybe he knows this on a certain level and tries to dissuade (in his own some-what rude way) the people that are so obviously terribly clueless.