Advice

Ok so iam a college student looking to get a bird. I know i need to devote a few hours a day to the bird i have a vet already a car the financial means to care for the bird etc.

I live in a house with my mother. I will be needing to keep the bird in my bedroom which i spend majority of my time. Plus i will be moving out possibly as early as january into my own place.

Im an experienced pet owner i have had dogs cats and have had at one point 11 reptiles i my room including pythons and geckos s i dont mind some mess. I wanted to know what some good species were to research and any other advice is helpful.

Feel free to list pros and cons of the birds im interested in or any other species that are a good fit.

I dont want a bird that is to big. I dont want a bird that will hate everyone else like my girlfriend. i want a bird that is on the easier side to tame and socialize because it is my first bird. Im very easy going and want a bird to be the same. i dont mind noise but i would prefer to keep the frequency of the bird screaming to the lower side. I may be moving into a apartment complex so a few screaming sessions throughout the day is ok just cant be all day. I would prefer to have a bird with a lower bite force i have seen some people who have had fingers broken or lip torn off. Im not afraid to get bit and bloody i had pythons but i also dont want to need plastic surgery. obviously keeping the bird away from the face is best.

The birds i ave found interesting are the white fronted amazon, the senegal parrot, the ringnecks, he double yellow headed amazon and yellow nape amazon.

Is the amazon sexual aggression that bad should i look a getting a female?


Do i get a baby bird? how old should it be?

if i live alone will that affect the birds behaviour? does it need to have alot of people interaction to stay happy? I will interact with it as much as possible and my girlfriend too but i only live with my mother at the moment and i cant have it flying around the house because i have dogs. they are nice but its just a precaution for the next year. I have a fairly large room with windows and air flow and ac. And i have a lock on the door dogs are never even in that part of the house the dogs even have their own room they get locked up at night. They are even trained not to go in my room unless invited because like i said i had all the reptiles in their at one point.

I know teflon is toxic at a certain temp. I will change my pans out. But how potent is it if im in a complex do i need to worry about what neighbors use above me bellow me or even next door??

Also i know sprays like perfume and cologne are bad as well. does this mean i cant use cologne or i cant spray it in the room with my bird? Any other advice would be helpful.

Please no lectures on how much care they need i am aware and can handle the time commitment.

I'm curious what happened to all of the reptiles? Reptiles are quite long-lived, so for all of them to now be gone, you perhaps decided you didn't want to care for them anymore?
While reptiles will not suffer emotionally from being re-homed, a parrot will. And, a parrot is much longer lived than a reptile.
So, I'd suggest thinking about what caused you to get rid of the reptiles and how it would affect your decades long commitment to a parrot.

I'm not trying to be harsh, just realistic. It is good that you are doing research before getting a parrot because it is an enormous commitment that could last for most of the rest of your life.

You realize that 2 out of3 of the species you picked have the most attitude of all of them...

advice

Hello and welcome I think a birdy friend would be good for you, so I own a Senegal and he is defiantly a one person bird. He only likes men and hates women. I am just is room mate who he tolerates. So if you want a bird who won't hurt your girlfriend, they may not be best. Most of the birds you listed are one person birds. But doesn't mean that you won't love them but the one you get may like your girlfriend better. Maybe go together and pick one out and see how it is around both of you. For the spraying cologne, its best if you don't have it on around your bird. As for loudness, all birds are loud. :/ the birds you listed are loud birds. My sennie is ear piercing, I just have ear plugs on whenever im around him. He will scream so loud. Birds are great pets but are not easy. I personally have no regrets with any of my birds I have gotten. Some are harder than others but I love my fids so much, they are worth the small moments of stress. I love making them fruits salads and just caring for them! So good luck and I hope you find the best one for you!

The reptiles were a business I breed and sold them I still love them but having 11 of them was too much and I wanted a more interactive pet. Most people don't take well to pythons and there have been a lot of government laws passed restricting a lot of the business cutting it down slowly but surely. And in realized that the chances of me growing it into a career grew smaller and smaller so I sold them off. But with that being aside I wanted some extra companionship to fill tht hole and not to get into it to much my father passed away three months ago and I wanted some more structure and companionship in my life as it has been hard.

Have you thought about Cockatiels? It sounds like a species that fits your criteria . They're cute too!

I have but I did have my heart set on a medium sized bird my family had parakeets when I was a child and they are cool but I always had a think for the bigger birds. My love started actually at a reptile store a juvinile cockatoo out of his cage jumped off his perch onto my shoulder as I passed an was nibbling on my ear checking me out.

Are cockatoos any good for beginners I know they are larger but I've been told they need the most attention of any parrot and can be loud is this correct? And are they extremely friendly.

Goose said:

Are cockatoos any good for beginners I know they are larger but I've been told they need the most attention of any parrot and can be loud is this correct? And are they extremely friendly.

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It takes certain people to own Toos. When you bring home a Cockatoo, you're practically bringing home a child for the next 50+ years.

Goose said:

I dont want a bird that is to big. I dont want a bird that will hate everyone else like my girlfriend. i want a bird that is on the easier side to tame and socialize because it is my first bird. Im very easy going and want a bird to be the same. i dont mind noise but i would prefer to keep the frequency of the bird screaming to the lower side. I may be moving into a apartment complex so a few screaming sessions throughout the day is ok just cant be all day. I would prefer to have a bird with a lower bite force i have seen some people who have had fingers broken or lip torn off. Im not afraid to get bit and bloody i had pythons but i also dont want to need plastic surgery. obviously keeping the bird away from the face is best.

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I honestly wouldn't recommend getting a Cockatoo based on what you want. I know in one of your other postings, you said you are allergic to dust. Cockatoos produce some of the most dust in the parrot family, it can be tamed down by air purifiers but will not go away entirely.
As far as being easy going, it depend on themselves. A lot of times, they can be completely wild and unpredictable. Which is another thing, they are extremely vocal and unless you find a way to keep the screaming to a minimum, you'll practically be wearing headphones lol.
And you described that you don't want your flesh taken off. Toos could be a great candidate in doing so.

I'd reccomend going with a new world species if you have your heart and mind 100% set on a parrot.
Try look at RavenGryfs post about them http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/54124-new-world-species-allergic-old-world-species-dust.html

As said before, all birds can be loud and can have attitude but you'll want to go out (with the girlfriend if possible) and meet some birds, you'll gauge on what noise and volume you can handle. Bigger birds find it easier to be very loud but some will be laid back, while smaller bird can hold their own too. All birds can bite, the larger the bird the larger the potential damage but a small bird can still draw blood.
Big bird syndrome! Some smaller species can truly believe they are bigger. I know you said you were thinking about medium size bird but perhaps consider the smaller ones too, especially when you go out to see some birds. Small conures have buckets of personality, in my experience easy to socialise, small beak means small damage when and if they bite (typically).
I have no experience with the birds on your list but I've heard good things about ringnecks.

If you get a yougn bird, age will depend on the species but typically you want one after it's been weened onto solid food.

Hey thank you and yea I don't know if I'm allergic to the dust I'm mildley allergic to some types of dogs and allergic to cats. We had parakeets when I was a small child an never noticed any issues I just figured if I could keep dust to a minimum in the first place it wouldn't hurt.

I love my GCC and he is a great smaller bird but has great BIG bird personality. He also knows how to be on his own when I'm at work. He's awesome and I highly recommend green cheek conures to those wanting a bird with tons of personality but also need to work and such.

I have a grey - he is a rescue and not neurotic but definitely requires time and patience.

Both of my birds are out very early in the morning for 2-3 hours and then from 4- bedtime. So they are out a good 6-8 hours every day and longer on the weekends.

All birds require toys and enjoy learning how to do tricks. Mine love "high fives" and kisses and other similar games.

Also, I do travel on occasion so I have to either have family watch them or board them which costs money. I don't board at the cheapest place either - I want them to be well cared for if I have to travel which I do from time to time to Africa.

Hope this helps.