Introduction + General questions

[patdbunny]

I wish I could do this in two columns! Anyhoo. Other than being playful and snuggly, I don't think there's much similarity. Playful and snuggly can also be a cockatoo and a too's nothing like living with either a conure or a senegal.

Sun/Jenday Conure:
1. feisty/spicy personality

2. more bark than bite, backs down from true confrontation. For instance - Ducky wanted to be aggressive towards my IRN. Less than 5 minutes of working with the two of them, Ducky no longer aggressive towards IRN and I have no worries putting them on the same playstand. My prior jenday switched alliances to my husband. We didn’t allow her to attack me. She was pretty consistent with not attacking me even though I was no longer her favorite person.

3. bonding to person can easily become co-dependence

4. Outgoing. If well socialized, they’re pretty unflappable, “bombproof”. Ducky will roll over in a stranger’s hand within a few minutes and start playing with his feet. Last week he was on my daughter’s shoulder and got accidentally whacked by a balloon. He just kinda braced himself. My prior jenday didn’t exactly roll over for strangers, but she’d start playing with them within a few minutes and let herself get rolled onto her back for belly scritches. She seemed to enjoy roller blading with me.

Senegal (This is just my experience taking care of and being around friends' 3 senegals in 3 different households. I'd be curious what others here's experiences have been.):

1. calm, contemplative

2. generally not confrontational - but when aggressive/confrontational they seem more tenacious and determined about it. Could be due to senegals are also prone to mate annihilation? For instance - My friend’s senegal’s favorite person was the son. It was pretty much a given that the senegal would try to attack other people even though everyone was consistent with not allowing the aggressive behavior. Couldn’t really be trusted not to attack other household pets.

3. Known for being independent.

4. Seemed more put off/cautious by change/different things. Could be the way they were raised? Or that they’re known for being independent? One friend’s household was very similar to my own in that she had 5 dogs, a lot of other household parrots, a lot of activity; but her bird still seemed suspicious of anything new/change. Friends’ senegals were friendly towards stranger (would step up on people), but did not behave with familiarity like my conures. Did not allow strangers to scritch their heads. While I wouldn’t consider my friends’ senegals “skitterish” (not at all), I wouldn’t have taken them roller blading. I don’t think they would have enjoyed the fast activity.

[Ta2Matt]

That's fine GlassOnion, i'd like to know aswell!!

[greymatter]

Welcome Matt!

I've lived in an apartment with my: White Faced cockatiel, African Grey, and Caique.

I got Merlin (Grey) when I was 20 - I just fell in love when I met one of my co-worker's greys (I had just purchased a cockatiel baby), and a year later Merlin came home to me from the breeders.

I never got noise complaints, and honestly my neighbours were so nosy they would of called the superintendent if there were issues.

They do have their vocal dawn & dusk times, and screaming issues were kicked very promptly in the butt while they were training me to react to them

I do find the conure scream very ear curling compared to our trio's, but everyone has their own tolerance.

The Poicephalous and Pionus are two very understated parrots - from my experience with them, they tend to have "quieter" voices and vocalizations than some other species, and very sweet personalities. They tend to be overlooked due to their "duller" colours and quieter nature.

With three people in your home as well, your little one will definitely get plenty of socialization!

There are so many aspects of each species that may or may not mesh with your overall personality. For example, I am not an Amazon - they're very outgoing, vocal, and generally not shy. The Grey was my forte, as they're generally cautious, shyer, and very observant prior to jumping into a situation. He fit into my lifestyle and persona so much - he really is a Mini Me

[Ta2Matt]

Thanks for the feedback Graymatter
I never heard a story about an african gray as second bird!
It's quite inspiring!!! A parrot of that ''caliber'' is still a little to much for me at the moment but it's deffinately very inspiring to hear you've had one in an appartment!
I've been looking at the poi's more and more these last couple of days and the blue head pionus is still very charming, though at the moment I still think the Green Cheek may be the right choice for me. And probably more so in my price range i'm guessing.
(I'll more then likely need to drive a few hours to get to a reputable breeder but that's fine.)

As for the socialization, of coarse my pet will get to see quite a few different faces but not necessarely throughout the afternoon since sadly we all work away from home, hence my reason for not getting a larger parrot such as an african gray.

They do have their vocal dawn & dusk times, and screaming issues were kicked very promptly in the butt while they were training me to react to them

What do you mean by this? you were able to train them not to scream for attention?

And do you have any suggestions regarding finding a species that mesh into my personality more?
Because i'm guessing visisting various pet stores (wont buy from)/breeders and handling the young birds it won't be such an overall experience as say visiting people with various breeds as their own pets.

[patdbunny]

Definitely still consider a green cheek. I'm contemplating getting them again now that I have a lot of time to dedicate to the babies. Before when I was breeding them I was working full time so I didn't have the time needed to keep them properly socialized and tame.

I think you can get a pretty accurate spectrum of behaviors if you play with various individuals at varying times of day at your local pet stores. Hopefully you'll see the good, the bad, the ugly. You'll get a very well rounded picture of what the experience might be.

[Ta2Matt]

I visited a few local pet stores with my girlfriend today... only 2 of wich held anything other than budgies/tiels.
We saw a very social Senegal who was quite cute but at another store wich had quite a bit more variety we fell inlove with a black caped caique they had...
He was soooo affectionate and adorable... all he wanted was cuddles. It was nice to get to handle him aswell.
Sadly caiques are quite a bit more expensive though but I've heard very nice stories abou them.
Heck, my girlfriend even wants a bird of her own now.
There was also a very nice sun conure, and as expected he has a quite loud call. If I lived in a house I would have considered them too :3

Could I maybe have some more feedback on caiques?

Matt

[Michael]

I'm not going to get too involved in this topic right now but just wanted to mention the Articles Index topic has links to many articles and discussions based on many different Senegal Parrot owners. Definitely read through all of those including the one about managing Senegal Aggression and Aggression toward other people. You will definitely get a more complete impression of Senegals that way rather than just hearing/watching success stories. Good luck.

[Ta2Matt]

Thanks Michael! I'll deffinately look that up if i lean more towards a senegal
For now I'm still trying to research caiques further along with trying to find additional GCC info since they are still on top of my list

[patdbunny]

BH caiques are hyper. Wayyyyyy more hyper than conures.

Other than your lifestyle, what's your personality?
Okay - what's your ideal DOG?

[Ta2Matt]

I realize they are and maybe that may or may not be a good thing for me. im not sure yet
personality.. wow that's kind of something I never described before so it may be a little chalenging..
hmm.
I'm a relatively calm mature person.
Highly artistic
open minded
pretty calm
easy going in general (I do loose patience with people but I'm not so expressive about it)
after all...i work with clients all the time so I can't be a jerk

I've always wanted a dog but don't believe in leaving them in an appartment all day while i work.
And to be honest may not be a dedicated owner to walk him on rainy days or bring him to the park all the time since i have no yard of my own.
I get along with most big dogs best.
I'm a sucker for short haired dogs such as boxers (wich are VERY hyper dogs)

I realize parrots in general need more attention in genmeral but I really believe they fit my lifestyle better.

Once again, thank you so much to all of you for all this help! I havn't been part of a forum community in so long and this has been by far the most positive I've been a part of!

Matt