Help me stop!!

Please give me some advice on this!! I just finished rereading the article in Bird Talk Dec.2008 " Define your tipping point" and my brain understands the message but my heart keeps saying " one more ". I currently have a wonderful flock of 3. They are all girls and all medium sized and they all mostly get along. My 2 conures share a cage and are not jealous but my Alexandrine gets jealous and will bite me if she feels I am paying attention to the other 2 when she is with me. It was be very likely that if I got any other birds she would only get worse. Knowing this I am fighting the urge to add to my flock. Does anyone know why birds are so additive!? I am constantly having to deal with this urge. I need a bird version of "Weight Watchers" but it would be "Bird Watchers" and it would make me count the number of cages I clean , the amount of food I chop, the amount I spend on Avian Vet bills and toys toys toys! If I count all the hours a day spent cleaning,planning, and playing I usually find I can cool my jets. I love all my birds but I keep thinking the next one will be the perfect one - smart, fun, cuddles , sorta independent , beautiful, not to noisy and most importantly loves me but likes other people too. I would love a bird I could share.( I was under the impression the my Alexandrine wasn't a ONE person bird but she has turned out to be exactly a ONE person bird.) So any thought on the " condition " and any ways that I can deal with it

Thanks, Lynne

i have 30 birds, its a full time job! if you have the time and energy (and money) to care for a new fid go for it, but if it would take away the attention from the other 3 its probably best to stop. i know birds are addictive, i rescue them and if they're in need i can't turn them away.

Hi Lynn, I'm afraid I would just be hypocritical if I advised you to stop as I just adopted another bird myself, I said I had room for one more bird and wanted it to be a rescue bird, an african grey was what I had in mind, well then along came Joe, a yellow crowned amazon that I felt really needed me, as it turned out I think it was me that needed him in my life, anyway we're still a work in progress....lol, I still wanted a grey so I said, ok, one more last bird, thursday I adopted an 17+ year old CAG named Ashley, its a long sad story that I will post about when I get a chance.......its just a suggestion, my macaw is a re-home, my cockatoo's were purchased at 5 weeks and were handfed by me, and Joe and Ashley have been adopted from a rescue, I love all my fids, but the feeling of gratification I got from adoption can't be put in words, something you might look into, it worked for me, what made me think about it even more was this statistic : 85% of all pet birds are either sold or given away in the first two years ...to many rescues today are filled to capacity and them some because so many people had no clue what they were getting into when they purchased a bird on impulse or didn't do their research beforehand

Sometimes it helps to take your time, sit down with pen and paper and write down the pro's and con's, talking to all those in the household that would be effected by bringing a new fid into the home, and proceeding from there.......I wish you good luck in whatever decision you make

post some pics of joey and ashley when you get a chance! x

I would love to have another bird share my life. There are so many I have seen in a Foster home for the Baily foundation. I know my limits on space and have very little. We can all be bitten by the "bird addiction bug" because they are such wonderful pets but they do have specific needs, require lots of your time and money to keep up their nutritional needs and health. That being said and with advice from my avain vet I will not get another bird. My hat is off to you and other forum members who can manage multiple birds and keep up with their complex needs.

Joey - Yellow Crowned Amazon 7 years old (Rescue)



Ashley - Congo African Grey 17+ years old (Rescue)



Poor Ashley is badly plucked at the moment, she still has the folicals intact and new feathers are just now starting to grow back, she apparently went through this once before in her life and totally recovered, so theres hope.

they're so sweet, its probably been so stressful for them being in the re-homing centre, they'll think all their christmases have come at once now they have you.

She is a little darlin for sure. With the enrichment you will provide her feathers will be beautiful.

You have 3 great classes of birds - Macaw, Amazon, Too. Of these types which do you find the most pleasure from???

I can't give you any help here either: I only just got my first bird less than a month ago and already this week the Dude is going to be getting one of his own, and I'm looking for another of my own. They really are fascinating creatures - and much more addicting that dogs or cats can ever be. I wonder why that is...

My Christmas wish list goes something like this....
Large bird cage
Nest Boxes
Egg and biscuit mix
Hand rearing formula
Crop needle
Bird toys
and more birds.

Great home Ashley and Joe have found!
We technically can't tell you to stop or get more....... Or we could, but you could ignore us....

I think you have your answer lol
It really is what's best for you and the other birds involved

Please remember it's not just the cost of a new bird that you have to consider also

Vets , cage , food,toys , time , attention
and all the other things I can't think of at 10pm lol

Hope you can be happy whichever your final desision

Ratzy said:

My Christmas wish list goes something like this....
Large bird cage
Nest Boxes
Egg and biscuit mix
Hand rearing formula
Crop needle
Bird toys
and more birds.

Click to expand...

This sounds just like me too!

I wish I could offer some sort of advice on desensitizing the urge to home more birds. I have the VERY same urges, It was extremely difficult for me to actually DOWN size my flock, once I started feeding Maui, at 5 weeks old. My other birds were not tame and never were, they were what we like to call "breeder birds". I didn't purchase them to breed, I purchased them because I wanted to try to tame them. However, once Maui came home with me, I realized how demanding he is for my time and how very important it is for me to GIVE him that time. I downsized, however, I STILL sometimes get the bug to get another. So far, I keep telling myself it's not in MAUI's best interest, at least not for a while. What ever you decide, Good Luck!

If I had the money and I wasn't in college I would probably get another bird. I had to leave my Nicky and Gracie at home in Connecticut and I always play with birds in pet stores to get my "bird fix" I had just recently acquired two cockatiels from my boyfriend's mom who lives in Florida (which is the state my college is in). She had adopted them from someone who couldn't take care of them anymore. The plan is that I am going to try and tame them while I'm away at school and then return them to her when I go back home but my mom swears that I will end up them. teehee. I have already claimed them as "my girls" even though I know that I will have to give them back eventually. Why is it that I fall in love with every bird I see?!?