new to me

I'm getting a parrot from a pet store.
what questions should I ask?

which food is better TOPs or Harrison or you tell me what's good .

thank you

I feed both Tops and Harrison's High Potency. Tops has no added sugar, salt, or artificial additives. Harrison's has sugar, and salt.

I think Roudybush is also good since they changed from artificial vitamin K to alfalfa. However they also add salt, and sugar.

As far as pet store birds.

Health guarantee?
Hatch certificate?
How long do you have to get it checked by your vet?
I'm sure others will chime in with more suggestions.

Could I perchance ask you to consider a rescue bird or a rehome aka used bird. There are a lot of great birds out there who need a good home
That's why I really don't know what to ask a pet store as it has been 45 years + since I purchased a bird from a pet shop.

So what species are you interested in and where on this planet are you located?

Great advice given above by TiredOldMan...I agree, buying a bird from a "pet store" can actually be a scary thing, so you need to find out the bird's entire history first...Who is the bird's breeder or do they breed them themselves? Or do they get their birds from a "Vendor", as both Petco and Petsmart do? What is their "Health Guarantee"?

Buying a bird from a pet store can be fine health-wise, or it may not be, it all depends on the pet store and where their birds come from. And the very first thing you need to do, in fact you need to do it right now BEFORE you bring the bird home, is find yourself either a Certified Avian Vet or an Avian Specialist Vet (no "Exotics" Vets) and get an appointment for a "Wellness Exam" for the same day you pick up the baby, or the next day, as their Health-Guarantee is probably only 72 hours at most...The Wellness-Exam needs to include a Fecal Culture/Gram-Stain to rule-out bacterial/fungal infections, as well as parasites, AND it needs to include a blood test for Parrot Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD), which is a fatal disease that is usually contracted by baby birds in the nest...

TiredOldMan said:

I feed both Tops and Harrison's High Potency. Tops has no added sugar, salt, or artificial additives. Harrison's has sugar, and salt.

I think Roudybush is also good since they changed from artificial vitamin K to alfalfa. However they also add salt, and sugar.

As far as pet store birds.

Health guarantee?
Hatch certificate?
How long do you have to get it checked by your vet?
I'm sure others will chime in with more suggestions.

Could I perchance ask you to consider a rescue bird or a rehome aka used bird. There are a lot of great birds out there who need a good home
That's why I really don't know what to ask a pet store as it has been 45 years + since I purchased a bird from a pet shop.

So what species are you interested in and where on this planet are you located?

Click to expand...

HI, I'VE volunteered at a bird rescue and I whole heartedly understand they need adoption also.. i'm not a skilled bird person to be able to handle the previous owners bad habits.

I do not have an avian vet as I don't have a bird yet.

I am interested in the Nandy Conure or the Rosella. Thats what i can find and about the size I think will work for me. I don't a Chihuahua type parrot.. Meaning small and obnoxious.. I know not to get something i'm not totally smitten by also.

I did that with my Timneh grey. I really wanted and African Grey and I settled. My heart was not there and that's why I can't remember what happened to him.

I am located in Massachusetts.

"I did that with my Timneh grey. I really wanted and African Grey and I settled. My heart was not there and that's why I can't remember what happened to him."

What???? I hope you were trying to be funny by saying that, because if you were being serious then you shouldn't ever get another bird again.

And I said that you need to get an Avian Vet BEFORE you buy a bird, because in order for the pet shop's Health Guarantee to be valid, which is usually only 72 hours max, you have to take the bird to an Avian Vet within that time-frame, otherwise if you take him afterwards and let's say he has a fatal disease like PBFD, the pet shop won't do a thing for you...You always need to take a new bird for a Wellness-exam within the first couple of weeks of bringing them home, however when you're buying one from a pet shop or a breeder with a health-guarantee, if you don't take them within their timeframe you're screwed if the bird is sick or fatally sick...

And there is no such thing as a "little obnoxious bird", you apparently have never known a Green Cheek Conure, a Cockatiel, or a Budgie. However, you listed your interested in either a "Nanday Conure" or a "Rosella", and you couldn't have chosen two more different species of birds. All Conures are very loving, needy, and called "Velcro Birds" for a reason, while a Rosella is extremely hard to tame, even when hand-raised, and has a totally different personality from any Conure. Rosella's are very challenging birds to own, especially if you want an "hands-on" bird.

***The best advice I can give you from what you wrote is that "The size of a parrot has absolutely nothing to do with their personality at all...They aren't dogs, nor are they like dogs at all"...

EllenD said:

"I did that with my Timneh grey. I really wanted and African Grey and I settled. My heart was not there and that's why I can't remember what happened to him."

What???? I hope you were trying to be funny by saying that, because if you were being serious then you shouldn't ever get another bird again.

..

And there is no such thing as a "little obnoxious bird", you apparently have never known a Green Cheek Conure, a Cockatiel, or a Budgie. However, you listed your interested in either a "Nanday Conure" or a "Rosella", and you couldn't have chosen two more different species of birds. All Conures are very loving, needy, and called "Velcro Birds" for a reason, while a Rosella is extremely hard to tame, even when hand-raised, and has a totally different personality from any Conure. Rosella's are very challenging birds to own, especially if you want an "hands-on" bird.

***The best advice I can give you from what you wrote is that "The size of a parrot has absolutely nothing to do with their personality at all...They aren't dogs, nor are they like dogs at all"...

Click to expand...

you know. Everyone starts with birds somewhere. Did you just come in to birds when you were born? I think not.

I am doing as much investigating as I can DAILY.

I don't want a screaming baby bird all day long. I do appreciate my quiet time.
I know ALL birds speak at some point in the day, all you have to do is figure out what has alarmed them.

I'm not kidding about anything.. Have a wonderful day with your babies.

tytbody said:

EllenD said:

"I did that with my Timneh grey. I really wanted and African Grey and I settled. My heart was not there and that's why I can't remember what happened to him."

What???? I hope you were trying to be funny by saying that, because if you were being serious then you shouldn't ever get another bird again.

..

And there is no such thing as a "little obnoxious bird", you apparently have never known a Green Cheek Conure, a Cockatiel, or a Budgie. However, you listed your interested in either a "Nanday Conure" or a "Rosella", and you couldn't have chosen two more different species of birds. All Conures are very loving, needy, and called "Velcro Birds" for a reason, while a Rosella is extremely hard to tame, even when hand-raised, and has a totally different personality from any Conure. Rosella's are very challenging birds to own, especially if you want an "hands-on" bird.

***The best advice I can give you from what you wrote is that "The size of a parrot has absolutely nothing to do with their personality at all...They aren't dogs, nor are they like dogs at all"...

Click to expand...

you know. Everyone starts with birds somewhere. Did you just come in to birds when you were born? I think not.

I am doing as much investigating as I can DAILY.

I don't want a screaming baby bird all day long. I do appreciate my quiet time.
I know ALL birds speak at some point in the day, all you have to do is figure out what has alarmed them.

I'm not kidding about anything.. Have a wonderful day with your babies.

Click to expand...

I didn't mean to be rude, but when you actually say that "you don't remember what happened to your prior parrot" that gets my feather ruffled...I think you can understand that, can't you?

And the rest of what I said is 100% true and was meant to help you...A Nanday Conure, or any Conure, is not anything like a Rosella...Nor should you ever choose a species of parrot by "size", because size does not have anything to do with their personalities. Not at all...And a Rosella is a very challenging bird species and is not very "hands-on"...

All I was trying to get at was that the species of bird you're looking at should be based on what you want in a bird...Which we don't know yet, but if you tell us what personality you'd prefer, we can help you with that...

Conures are very needy, clingy birds that need lots of love and affection, most all of the Conure species. And some are extremely loud, such as the Suns. And like you said, all parrots are noisy. Period.

I'll apologize if my writing came across the wrong way, however I won't apologize for being taken-back by you saying what you said about your Timneh African Grey, who you just confirmed you didn't care enough about to even remember "what happened to her"...that's a pretty awful thing to say if you meant it, I honestly thought you were joking...

Guess not

"I'VE volunteered at a bird rescue and I whole heartedly understand they need adoption also.. i'm not a skilled bird person to be able to handle the previous owners bad habits.

I do not have an avian vet as I don't have a bird yet.

I am interested in the Nandy Conure or the Rosella. Thats what i can find and about the size I think will work for me. I don't a Chihuahua type parrot.. Meaning small and obnoxious.. I know not to get something i'm not totally smitten by also.

I did that with my Timneh grey. I really wanted and African Grey and I settled. My heart was not there and that's why I can't remember what happened to him.

I am located in Massachusetts. "
Those statements raise red flags for me...What was so different or what are you expecting from owning a Tag verse a Cag? How on Earth could you not care enough to rember what happened to this bird??? Also birds aren't just vocal to alarm , they are vocal as part of their normal happy daily routine, most in the morning and evening are vocal. Nanday conures are known to be loud...if you like quiet I'm not thinking any parrot would work for you. All Parrots are like babies needing a lot of attention, interaction, care, and to express themselves with flock calls, alarm calls, happy noise, sometimes some screaming too....and thirty plus years of commitment, life style changes in what you use to clean and cook with, cleaning up after their mess, making healthy fresh foods for them. Be honest with yourself, if your temperament is compatibile with this....

my temperament has changed over the years.. I've had cancer, i've had 3 operations this year, I've been married 3 x, divorced 3x, had my son in jail.

basically, I've had a lot of unplanned things happen to me..

so red flags can go up all you want.. I've had a lot to go through and was not mature enough for birds..


Because my past does not determine my future. you guys are blessed to have had birds for a long time and now you feel my forgetting about what happened and what I had to do to survive.. ???????

you're not the judge of me. Now if you want to help me, please do. the kind of talk you and the other lady think is helpful.. IS NNOT

Mmmm
I have a brain tumor, a medical disability due to sever Myasthenia Gravis, sometimes I can't breath, or swallow, or speak or walk. Last year I spent 3 months in the hospital, became septic suffered liver damage, had to have a nurse stay with me for three additional months. We all or many have difficult things happen to us in life, what matters is the attitude with which you face them....you can't remember hey that happens, but your dissatisfaction that you expressed about tag vs cag ......abd other things you have said,

tytbody said:

TiredOldMan said:

I feed both Tops and Harrison's High Potency. Tops has no added sugar, salt, or artificial additives. Harrison's has sugar, and salt.

I think Roudybush is also good since they changed from artificial vitamin K to alfalfa. However they also add salt, and sugar.

As far as pet store birds.

Health guarantee?
Hatch certificate?
How long do you have to get it checked by your vet?
I'm sure others will chime in with more suggestions.

Could I perchance ask you to consider a rescue bird or a rehome aka used bird. There are a lot of great birds out there who need a good home
That's why I really don't know what to ask a pet store as it has been 45 years + since I purchased a bird from a pet shop.

So what species are you interested in and where on this planet are you located?

Click to expand...

HI, I'VE volunteered at a bird rescue and I whole heartedly understand they need adoption also.. i'm not a skilled bird person to be able to handle the previous owners bad habits.

I do not have an avian vet as I don't have a bird yet.

I am interested in the Nandy Conure or the Rosella. Thats what i can find and about the size I think will work for me. I don't a Chihuahua type parrot.. Meaning small and obnoxious.. I know not to get something i'm not totally smitten by also.

I did that with my Timneh grey. I really wanted and African Grey and I settled. My heart was not there and that's why I can't remember what happened to him.

I am located in Massachusetts.

Click to expand...

You have clearly read all the heartfelt comments in the “RIP Cheddar” thread so you should be able to understand why some people find some of your statements a little “surprising”. Any bird improperly cared for can become a “problem” but the problem is not with the bird. They are nothing like a dog or cat and cannot he treated as such. Think more along the lines of “toddlers with wings” and you’re closer to the mark!

Folks here speak from the heart with the best interests of the birds at front of mind and you would do much better to listen to them than to throw obscenities around.

Good Luck!

Let me throw something in as well



How about adopting one?


There is nothing wrong with getting a 'second-hand-bird' (since the ones is the pettrade are bought from the breeders and sold to costumers, they are sold twice already when you get them, and sometimes even more often).

Since a parrot can live a long, long time, most of them will have multple owners anyway. Why not take one in that is already mature (so you do not have to go through the terrible two's and puberty before (s)he settles) and you know for sure what the disposition will be.
Mature birds are just as much fun as the babies, and (can I say it out loud? - getting on in years myself- ) you are also not really a spring-chicken anymore...

Shelters can help you in getting you the bird that suits you.
(and vice versa, which is just as important imho)

I'm sorry buddy, but I don't think that this "lady" wants to provide you the kind of help that you want....You really "can't remember what happened" to a parrot that you bought, owned, and were responsible for? And you want to blame it on trouble in your life? And you don't understand why we question that?

I went through cervical cancer, had 3 open abdominal surgeries within the same year, and am a recovering opiate addict. And those are the happier things that have happened in my life! And I guarantee I know "what happened" to all of my pets throughout all of those periods.

And you're attitude isn't helpful at all either sir. I was trying to help you, sincerely, because you said that you "don't have a vet because I don't have a bird yet", so I explained that you'll need to take any new bird to an Avian Vet within the health-guarantee window, which is usually 72 hours, so you'll need to find an Avian Vet prior to getting the bird, and you snapped at me. I told you that a Nanday Conure and a Rosella have nothing in common and neither fits what you seem to be looking for, and you snapped at me. (By the way, a Timneh is an African Grey, only smaller than a Congo, but it's still larger than a Nanday or a Rosella, so if you want a larger bird you're going the wrong direction)...A Rosella is quite a small bird, and a Nanday isn't much larger. See, I was trying to help you, and you just cocked an attitude and snapped. And you really don't understand why saying that you had a pet but seemingly lost it or killed it or it died somewhere, you just don't remember, you really think that's okay. Not here it's not. You came to the wrong forum if you think that that kind of abuse/neglect towards a pet is okay, regardless of your problems.

I'm very sorry, but if you want my honest opinion, you need to really take a step back and think about this decision long and hard before you make another mistake, because as a life-long bird owner I can honestly tell you that you do not sound like any species of parrot is right for you...you have a dog, and that sounds more up your alley. Sorry if I offended or "didn't help you", but just because you didn't agree with or like what I said to you doesn't mean that I was wrong or didn't actually "help".