dont understand

[kimbo]

i have been looking into getting a rehome parrot and cannot understand why people have birds as babies and do not try to tame them. surely it would be better to tame them than have them as a show parrot to look at and not touch. the times i have read adverts saying not tame. its sad cause they are missing out on so much. both the bird and the owners. why are rehomes not tame, as expensive as babies. i wanted a rehome as it would be older and i am not getting any younger, you have to think of what would happen to your bird if you were not there.

[Michael]

The answer is in your question. The people rehome parrots are often the people who did not make an investment of time and patience to build a companionship with their bird. That is why they are getting rid of it. Remember, money is not enough to have a parrot. It also takes a lot of time, patience, and effort. If people don't find that taming/training effort worthwhile, they shouldn't have a bird. That's most of the fun anyway. If they don't find spending time with their parrot worth it, then what do they need it for?

[pchela]

Just remember that if you are a patient person, a rehomed parrot, tame or not, can be a great companion. You have to earn it's trust over time but most of these birds were hand fed and then probably just left in their cages until they became unhandleable. Some of them may only be aggressive towards their owners but be fine with somebody else, especially if their owner was abusive or yelled at them. The sense of accomplishment in knowing that you tamed a scared parrot and saved it from a life of loneliness or abuse is just a great feeling that can't be duplicated. It took about 4 months but my rehomed Red Belly who bit when we got him and would not step up, is now the sweetest bird in the house... even sweeter than my hand fed baby Senegal. Just know that retaming a parrot is not for the faint of heart and it does require work and dedication.

Anyway, to answer your question, people buy parrots then don't have time for them and never take them out of their cages. Or the parrot bites them a few times and they decide it is mean and lock it in its cage. Some people are simply uneducated about the time and effort required to keep a parrot healthy and happy. Some people are just mean and consider animals as something they can take their aggression out on. Others buy a parrot for their child (which you should never do) and then the child of course has other interests and stops playing with the parrot. There are lots of reasons but none of them are good excuses IMO.

[kimbo]

it is sad though that people buy these birds and dont realise their true potential. im still going to get one and il post the progress report on here. chico was nippy to start with and can still be but thats my fault i dont distract him quick enough when he sees something he wants that he cant have. but he has come a long way, he ignored us when we got him, he used to turn his back. now he comes to us both although he likes chewing hubbys head, hes bald (by choice) and easy target lol. getting there, still trying retrieve but he wont give up whatever hes got unless its for a sugar snap pea, hed do anything for them.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Very many people acquire pets or other animals without fully understanding what they are taking on. For many folks, animals are just another commodity or toy and they don't think about the consequences for the animal if they wind up not liking their new "belonging". I'd guess it is deceptively easy with birds since they may think of them as an empty-headed decoration rather than a relatively intelligent and very active companion animal. There are rescues for cats, dogs and horses and no doubt ferrets and iguanas as well. It is sad that all these creatures have been adopted and then abandoned, but it isn't usually the best choice for a person looking for a pet, especially if they are new to owning that particular kind of animal. I'd never suggest a rescue horse to a novice horse owner, for example. Rescue critters are lucky there are experienced people like you, kimbo, who are willing to deal with additional training, behavior problems, health problems etc.