What is your Red-Bellied like?

Elysianblight

New member
Mar 8, 2020
47
10
Missouri
Parrots
Cypress (teal) and Citrine (green) - male american budgies, 7 months.
I am really curious about what these guys are like, but mostly finding "pet" sites when I look into it. According to those, they are they best birds in the entire world - as is every other species :09:

I know these are not powder-down birds, but I've seen some threads about other African species mentioning a lot of dander/dust. Are these guys particularly dusty?

Also I know this would mostly be anecdotal to your own birds but .. what are they really like as a pet?
Does yours talk? Is it more aloof or more social? Clear body language? Jealousy or cage aggression? More or less noisy than other birds you know? More or less skittish/nervous? Etc..

I guess all of the species group are prone to being panicky.. does anyone have an opinion of their skittishness compared to say, a grey?
 
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SolKale

New member
Dec 3, 2018
18
0
California
Parrots
Red-bellied parrot (Koda)
Collared Dove (James)
Cockatiel (Sol, since passed)
Green Cheek Conure (Kale, since passed)
Hey there! So I have a red bellied, have for two years in December.

Koda is not a terribly dusty bird but when he shakes out his feathers there is a little bit of fallout. I have a HEPA filter in my room though so any dust he makes is negligible.

Koda does talk! Some of it is clear, some of it is not. Funny thing is he talks in two different voices. He was a rescue so he has one voice that he uses for things he learned from his first owner, and then a voice for things he's learned from me. He also "mumbles" a lot, so not clear speech but sounds like words more than bird sound. He also makes kissy noises and clicks.

Koda is a one-person bird. It took me a good bit of time to form a relationship with him, and he is tolerant of other people but does not want them to touch him. He likes to put his head down like he wants to be scratched and then try to bite them, cus he's rude. He'll puff up and get big as a posturing display but if I'm actually gonna get bit he gets very, very still. He gets nervous around new people and if I offer him to them on my hand he'll step over but wants to come back to me very quickly.

He is cage aggressive, unfortunately. He doesn't like when I put my hands in his cage and will bite me if I try to get him out bare handed. I just use a stick if I need him out quickly, but he typically comes out on his own to hang out when I open the cage so I rarely need to.

Koda is... loud. Much louder than my late conure or cockatiel. He's not loud all the time, typically first thing in the morning, when I leave the room and he can hear things but can't see them, or when he just wants attention. He's been confused for the smoke detector by my friends-- Not AS loud, but at his loudest it's close. If I ignore it he usually stops, thankfully. He was incredibly quiet when I first brought him home so I did not hear the extent of his volume until much later on.

Overall, I'm really happy with him. He's not a bad bird or a mean bird at all, he's just very vocal when he thinks he's not getting attention and makes his feelings known. He's got such a wonderful personality. All of this is anecdotal as you said, but this has been my experience with a red belly.
 

florisvb

New member
Nov 19, 2020
8
0
Parrots
Wasabi - red-bellied parrot - bday: March 2019
We have a 1.5 year old red belly, Wasabi, and he has been fantastic. We got him as a baby. He's playful, loves exploring his jungle gyms, enjoys scratches, smart, not too loud (except the occasional screeching bout), generally quite sweet but occasionally does nip (usually for good reasons, and usually my wife since I spend much of the day at home with him these Covid days). His beak is quite sharp..

Like SolKale's, no clear speech, though we think we hear him say "hello" and "pretty birdie", but mostly just cute mumbles. After he hasn't seen us for a few hours (or days when boarding) he is so excited to see us, fluffs up and makes adorable kissy sounds and whistles.

He's quieter than the green cheek conure I had growing up.

He can be frightful.. cats seen through the window are terrifying to him, in particular. Lately he's terrified of his sleeping cage.

Overall a really wonderful bird!
 

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