Rant

[Pajarita]

Why why why do people think it's OK to keep a bird when they cannot give it a good life? Normal people would not dream of buying a horse if they did not have a corral, a barn and time to groom and ride it (or money to pay for somebody else to do it) but they see nothing wrong with:

1. keeping a bird alone in a cage for 22 hours a day
2. handicapping it so it cannot fly
3. feeding it an inadequate diet
4. making it suffer constant pain every single day from overgrown gonads

Why do we regards birds as second class pets? And how can we excuse giving them a bad life by saying we love them?!

I don't understand people and the older I get the less I understand them!

[Michael]

Because breeders, pet store owners, books, and most experts will tell them that this is just fine in order to sell them something. Heck even rescues are often guilty of pushing birds onto people who can't afford them or aren't suitable just to move a bird.

Stores are some of the strongest proponents of wing clipping for two extemely useful (for the store) reasons. First of all, it would be too hard to keep flying parrots in the store for sale. Second of all, they dupe people into thinking the bird must be groomed on a monthly basis so people would come back and buy more stuff from them. I have nothing against people shopping for more bird stuff, but the bird doesn't need to be mutilated for this to happen.

[Tman007]

That's why you are here Pajarita and you too Michael. To help those of us who are new and to show us the right way. For the ones that are new we need your help. Now granted some people my still not take your advice and just do it their way. but for the rest of us. Please continue to share with us your incite into the unbelievable world of parrots. The more I learn from this forum and from reading and from my parrots as well. I am just so glad that I did decide to get a parrot.

[Wolf]

I have no idea as to why and, I reckon a little jaded as well 'cause I don't even try to figure it out anymore. It get me too frustrated and angry. All I can do is try to make a difference one bird at a time. But I do not understand this even a little.

[Lady]

I believe it is out of ignorance. We, as people just don't look at everything that go's into the things that we "think" we want. That is one of the reasons that there are so many that are given up or not cared for properly. It is something about our society that just isn't right. Sadly it isn't just happening to birds.
I also agree that such a great place like the forum and the training blogs and everything you guys are doing here that YOU ARE making a difference. As each of us learn we can share the information and spread the knowledge so no one has to remain ignorant.

[Pajarita]

Don't misunderstand me, I have no problem with people making mistakes and needing to learn 'as they go along' and I don't mind answering the same question or explaining the same thing 3 million times because I agree 100% with what Michael replied: that, actually, it's not their fault they bought a bird thinking it was an 'easy pet' and 'low maintenance' because Lord knows PIJAC spends millions every year to maintain this fantasy alive. But I have a huge issue with people who finding out how to properly care for them still don't because ______________ (insert any kind of excuse here). That's my beef!

[Wolf]

That was my understanding of your original post and why I replied the way that I did. We are all ignorant to varying degrees when we first begin, but we don't have to remain that way. It seems to me that no matter how long we work with and/ or keep animals that there is always more to learn and improvements to make in ourselves.

[Cuervo's mama]

Forgive me my ignorance but overgrown gonads?

[sidech]

I have to admit my ignorance too...

[Wolf]

Actually she is quite right with her statement as far as she goes with it. I came across it while researching feather plucking and self mutilation in parrots. Pajarita's statement is only incorrect in that she only applied it to the male of the species as it also occurs in the female parrot. But I am sure that she figured that most would make the connection that it occurs with both sexes.
It seems that when parrots enter breeding season that chemical triggers are released notifying their body that it is the season and this increases the supply of blood to the parrots sexual organs and so they enlarge for the breeding season. These organs are on the inside of the parrot, sharing space with the heart , lungs, intestines and all of the other organs. The chemical triggers that are released are called hormones. Then breeding season draws to a close and other hormones are released and the supply of blood is reduces to the sexual organs, which shrink back to their normal size. And so all is well.
Not so fast, grasshopper!
It seems that with the introduction of parrots into the slavery that we humans call domestication we also created a new problem for these birds. We removed the sun and replaced it with artificial lighting, we took away the need to forage for food and changed their diet from what was natural for them, we eliminated the very seasons of the year from their lives. And we added stresses to their lives that they were not meant or biologically prepared to deal with.
Progress, right? Better life, right? Wrong!
All of these changes threw the parrot biologically out of balance and the hormones that trigger the growth of their sexual organs runs rampant in their blood all year long and the hormones that reverse this process don't get released into the bloodstream. The result is enlarged sexual organs all year long. Then along comes the kicker. With the practice of keeping only one parrot as a pet, there is no release of their sexual tension, and with the practice of petting them we stimulate them even further and more hormones triggering growth of these organs are released and so they grow, and grow. This growth after a point becomes quite painful, and since they share the same space with other organs, they press against these other organs and interfere with their functions as well. The pain caused by the unrelenting growth of these organs can and does lead to feather plucking and self mutilation as the bird tries to relieve the pressure and the pain. If this process continues long enough the resultant crowding of all these organs result in a very painful death for our beloved pet bird.
This is the reason for restricting the amount of protein and the reason that a natural solar schedule is so important to the health and well being of these wonderous birds.