Biggest Challenge

[Michael]

What do you consider the biggest challenge of parrot ownership? What have you been doing to overcome it?

[terri]

If you have a bird that starts plucking and progresses to mutilating.I believe that once they start it becomes a habit[and this is of course after you have ruled out something medical and diet] I think If your able to have them in free flight, something outside it might help.I think all we can do is be aware and do everything you can to prevent it.Very sad Every other problem seems workable compared to this.

[pennyandrocky]

isolation from other people is the biggest challange for me. i hate to leave my birds and people don't feel comfortable in my house with 2 birds flying around. i've been asked to put them in their cage but i tell them cages are only for sleeping.unless they have their own birds they don't understand what i get from mine.

[marie83]

isolation from other people is the biggest challange for me. i hate to leave my birds and people don't feel comfortable in my house with 2 birds flying around. i've been asked to put them in their cage but i tell them cages are only for sleeping.unless they have their own birds they don't understand what i get from mine.

Agree with this, people who don't keep birds generally dont understand why I do- even the cat and dog lovers seem to have the "but its a bird" attitude.

Other than that I think the biggest challenge for me is when they are sick and you have no clue what is wrong. They are my children to me but cannot point to or say what hurts like a child can, they cant say how long for, if its been getting worse or what sort of pain it is

Harlie is another biggest challenge, I'm pretty experienced with taming birds but I can safely say she is most difficult finiky bird I have ever met, she is not nasty in any way whatsoever but one day she wont come near you and the next she will happily fly over and sit with you. Some days she will allow you to lure her with treats, other days she is terrified and wont come near no matter how hungry she is. It doesnt seem to matter how consistant I am, my clothes, haircut, voice, actions remain the same, I will get a different reaction every time. When we first got her it was definitely a case of 1 step forward and 10 back, 5/6 years on she is a bit better, progress is still very very slow, if I try to push her too hard she will back right off again but its more a case of a few steps forwards and 1 or 2 back now. I sometimes think she is playing me but sometimes you can just see fear and suspicion in her eyes, I'm convinced she remembers everything that happened in her past

[Eurycerus]

I have a big issue with the fact that Nika will probably never be able to physically interact with another human without biting them. It's really upsetting and also very inconvenient.

In addition, people have a difficult time accepting that I know what's best for my parrot (and them) and that they can not pet her or have her step up. It is really annoying when people think they know so much about parrots (when they don't own one themselves and are not experienced) and pester me to touch Nika. All I know is last time she had an issue and bit someone she was a terror for two and a half weeks.

[Michael]

Listen, don't give up. A few years ago Kili was becoming a monster and biting everyone but me (and even me on the rarest occasion). She has become a social butterfly and can step on anyone's hand and I don't even remember the last time she bit anyone. It is possible. It just takes time, patience, a training minded approach, food/motivation management, and perhaps a little wizardry. I started out knowing no more and quite likely less than other owners here. So if I could do it with kind of parrot, I'm sure you can. Take advantage of these resources and be patient and looking back a few years from now you'll be amazed at the progress you've made.

[GreenWing]

I will get back to you on this question when Tiki hits sexual maturity.

[AlbertaAviary]

Although being a bird owner has wonderful advantages, there are a lot of challenges. I have two budgies and I know that larger parrots are harder to care for. They biggest challenge would probably be when I had to tame them. Now that they're tamed and trained, the challenge would have to be the cage cleaning

[Pricey_boy]

The worst part is when they go through phase like kids do like biting
and not wanting to be with you or come near you but luckily these phases don't usually last longer than a week

or sometimes my corella will go through screaming phases when he scream more than usual for a few days

[charlieandkiwi]

The hardest thing is my boyfriend's reluctance to follow my advice about ignoring screaming. He doesn't have the patience that I do. When I am by myself, my birds only vocalize when I start calling with them and very rarely scream loudly. When he's home, my will even scream when his cage cover is on him at night (a recent event that my boyfriend has unknowingly reinforced by screaming back at him, regardless of what I've said about this). He's convinced that intimidation via noise will work and instead, it's made the birds more nervous and much more vocal when he's around.

I don't know what to do about this issue. I've tried pointing out that what he's doing clearly isn't working and that what I used to do (only giving attention when they're quiet) worked well, even though it generally takes a couple days for the birds to settle down.