Hello from Not a Parrot Owner...

Hi! My name is Rae and I'm going to be browsing your site for a bit.

We currently own a one year old Great Dane, a 4yr old Ragdoll named Meeko, two horses, and a Holland Lop bunny. I've never owned a parrot. I have had one budgie, and my mother had finches.

You can say my love for parrots began when I was 15. I was working at a pet store when a young African Grey bonded himself to me. I learned then that the birds choose you and not the other way around. We grew very attached to each other but I was just a 15 year old with a min. wage job. Sadly, he was out of my reach and as his attachment grew, he would begin to pluck his feathers whenever I would leave for more than a day. They eventually had to move him to a new location.

I had never considered owning one for myself but recently, my husband has been growing a great interest in them (specifically Indian Ringnecks), and to the point where he's begun researching everything there is to know about the bird. Now, when my husband begins to research something... I know he's serious. He didn't even look that much into our dog or bunny (that was all me).

So now we've begun thinking that adding a bird to our family isn't too far off. I told him it's something we could take much more seriously in another year or so, and in the meantime, we could figure out which bird is best suited for our family and lifestyle, health concerns, personalities, behavioral and training issues, lifespan, and so on.

So hello. I am not a parrot owner but one day may be.

Welcome. You sound like you're off to a good start.

Welcome to our flock.

welcome to the forum

welcome aboard

Welcome to the forum! You are doing the right thing by doing the research ahead of time

This is a wonderful forum to meet people and birds from all over the world. You are one of the rare people that think and plan first and then get the bird. If one were to do research I bet they would find out that most re-homed birds and the product of an impulse purchase.

Welcome from a fellow new commer. Yes doing your homework is a great thing to do. I was looking into sun counrse as my boyfriend seem to fell in love with one. I have looked and looked all over the internet about the bird. Then I came accross the Green Cheeck page. I was so impressed with the personality they seem to have for such small parrots. Well after more resurch I decided that a Green Cheek was a better choice, Yes the Suns are such beautiful birds but being this was my first conure I figured the ones with a bigger and a little quiter personality was better for us. So a few calls later I was off to buy one baby green to add to my home. Well as I was looking for a baby, there was an older one and I was drawn to this bird. She was so cute and just danced back and forth as to say hey Im here to. Well I asked the pet shop owner who I know well why this bird was here, and she said her past owners had to give her up due to a divorce. Well I knew this was the bird for me and home we went. I can tell you that when you deicde to get a bird, not only make sure it is the right bird for you, but you are the right one for the bird. Good luck.

PS sorry this is so long

Welcome! And thank you for researching first! I'd love an Indian Ringneck. Their voices are so cute. I haven't spent time with any in person though.

I did a ton of research, only to find that I still missed stuff. I somehow was unaware of caique mood swings until after I got Puck. OOPS! Lol! I still love him, although it's from a distance when he decides he wants blood. XD

Sure, Remy, but if you read about conures you hear all about how they are great beginner parrots, and good for children, lol! I think they are amazons in tiny bodies! I picked a conure thinking it was the right step up from a budgie, and boy was I ever surprised. Next thing I knew I was reading all these parrot behavior books, and most of the advice didn't seem to apply to her. Well, she really taught me everything I know I think!

roxynoodle said:

Sure, Remy, but if you read about conures you hear all about how they are great beginner parrots, and good for children, lol! I think they are amazons in tiny bodies! I picked a conure thinking it was the right step up from a budgie, and boy was I ever surprised. Next thing I knew I was reading all these parrot behavior books, and most of the advice didn't seem to apply to her. Well, she really taught me everything I know I think!

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The thing with Conures and all pets are they are all Different. I dont care what the books say, You can get a pleasent quite Nanady or Sun, and a loud screeming Green. I think its all up to the bird.

Thank you guys. Our addition wouldn't be until another year or two. We really both want to be ready and educated before we do this. With neither of us having really owned a bird, we don't want to make a screw up.

I'll basically be poking around, reading various threads, and asking questions when one springs to mind. Obviously I have the basic ones now regarding if it's the right bird for us.