Happy Holidays, All.
My fiancee and I are getting married in May, finalizing the search for a new home in the next month or two (will either be large end-unit townhome or a standalone single family). Let me provide some animal-related background on each of us.
I'm 33, going on 34. Between the ages of 18 and 26, I worked extensively with animals. This included hand raising baby parrots of a wide variety of baby parrots. My focus, however, was on marine life. I spent a year as a dolphin trainer working in Hawaii, and have raised and trained dogs, a couple of parrots, etc. When I was in my early 20's, I purchased and successfully raised a Blue Crown Conure that ended up going to the "ex" in the girlfriend-boyfriend "divorce." I should not have had a parrot in my early 20s!
So, it's been about 11 years since I've worked directly with parrots, though I've got experience training animals ranging from dogs to dolphins, and have worked with large, ill-tempered Macaws and Amazons a couple of times. I'm not overly concerned about my own ability to socialize, train, and manage the husbandry of a parrot of almost any species, but I'm not the only part of this equation.
My fiancee is a dog lover who - without my pushing - developed a serious interest along with me in a parrot being our first pet. We will, eventually, have a dog, and kids. While I might get back into the aquarium hobby later in life, the only non-humans in the home will be a future dog and the TBD parrot.
While she's been around family dogs her entire life, they've a) mostly been golden retrievers and black labs, and b) she's never really had to be the trainer. She's smart, a teacher in her day job, and fully on-board with the consistency and learning she'll have to go through to properly apply the rigors of daily animal training to the future parrot. Nevertheless, since we won't be getting any OTHER birds in the future, and since she's never worked with them, things like Macaws and Amazons and Cockatoos are out of the question.
About us as a couple - we are highly social beings! Both of us are extroverts (me a little more so than her), chatty, and consummate hosts. A great deal of professional animal training background at least on my part will go into socializing whichever bird we end up with, but it will be a social home; this is not a situation where the bird in question will be spending the majority of his/her time alone, and/or just with one or two people. Or, better said, there will be routine weekly events involving new people.
This brings up the actual question. My firsthand experience with parrots is a little over a decade old, was primarily focused on the hand raising process prior to sale when I Worked in pet shops in my 18-21 range, and the personal long-term care level includes a couple of years raising a Blue Crown Conure, and having a cockatiel growing up. While the concepts of animal training you apply to a dolphin or a dog are broadly-speaking identical to any animal (you use the same techniques on starfish, which don't even have brains), every individual species has its nuances, and nothing is more true than in the case of birds (and, of course, every individual within a species is different).
So I'm looking for heavy opinion on the couple of species I've "narrowed down to" in the looking process. I'm a firm believer in the right bird being the one you choose, but also the one that chooses you, so I tend to feel (correct me if I'm wrong) you should have a couple of species in mind ... picking just one to the exclusion of all others can be the right way to forcing the wrong bird into your home if you aren't able to come across dozens of just that one species. I want to know the red flags and general thoughts on the species I'm looking at with regard to the presented criteria and situation.
#1 on the list right now - Male SI Eclectus. Research indicates, broadly, that they are not quite as needy as Cockatoos, while also not as reserved as Amazons or Greys. Proclivity for training and learning contextual language, but of course that's variable ... nothing guarantees an Eclectus will talk, but they are known as decent mimics, and that's a plus if it works out. Trainability is a big deal for me, and I've read a lot of anecdotal evidence pointing to Eclectus being target and click trainable / bridge trainable, which - presuming this is generally true, or that it's true it's easier with them than some species - opens up a lot of potential for detail training and application of techniques used in dolphin training (which warms my heart and memories). Overall, Eclectus also seem to be just a bit more forgiving (Without being truly forgiving, we're still talking parrots) than Cockatoos and a couple others, which bodes well for a hiccup or two on the fiancee's part in the bird training / consistency / learning process. Hormonal and Terrible 2 phases aside, also am understanding Males are a little less nippy and "emo" than females, which is a plus. Also understand that their ease of learning "human" language and trainability can help lead to teaching them to use "indoor voices" instead of screeches during regular joyous screaming moments (i.e., dawn/dusk).
#2 - Caiques - Personality-wise, love the caiques. Do not love their smaller size. Is too bad they aren't known for their articulate talking nature. But those two things are OK in light of their personality perks. I'm also of the understanding they are - broadly speaking - less hooked up on a single person and more prone to being easily socialized to a wide ranging group of people.
#3 - Slightly smaller and medium sized cocktaoos. This is a bit of a concern area for me. I've interacted with and enjoyed the personalities of some of the slightly smaller cockatoos, inclusive of Galah, Citron, Goffins. I've read some places where folks say they are a bit less prone to phobias and plucking and other issues. I've also read plenty of places where folks basically say a Too is a Too is a Too. Input is welcome here. I'm, again, not really concerned about husbandry, training, and management - fairly professional animal trainer here as far as concepts and practical experience with very demanding creatures. That said, I can't reiterate enough that the fiancee's intelligence and capability is only useful once lessons are learned, and I'm flatly terrified of screwing up a cockatoo with one too many hard lessons on her part. Guidance and input welcome here!
So that's the already short list .... and I'm open to other suggestions. I'll admit the caique's size is something I'm a little leery of. We're on board with the notion of a demanding companion that could be with us for 30-50+ years in the case of some of the above species. This means a bit more robust size is a good thing - I've heard too many bad luck horror stories happen to incredibly careful owners of smaller birds; while parrots in general are not exactly durable animals from a physical standpoint, size still matters. That said, as mentioned, I'm not a big fan of the hair trigger moodiness of Amazons and Greys. Large cockatoos and Macaws are right out; spent time in that above yearspan as a vet tech at an exotics vet as well, and too many close calls with hyper aggressive macaw beaks and owners who were outright scared of their own birds. So, hate the male Eclectus? Why? Hate some of the smaller cocktaoos? Why? Love caiques beyond their small size? Why? None of the above? What other birds should I be looking at that I'm simply overlooking (indian ringnecks come to mind)?
Thanks all! Have read a lot of posts here during my research, so thought I would post myself and ask directly. Lovely community.
Last, a question about the ever-controversial subject of wing clipping. I'll admit that when I was working in the animal field, I tended to - anecdotally/experientially - note more behavioral problems in birds who were fully flighted than birds who were clipped. There are strong, professional, experienced opinions out there in both directions stating the exact same thing. I'm always open for hearing more!
My fiancee and I are getting married in May, finalizing the search for a new home in the next month or two (will either be large end-unit townhome or a standalone single family). Let me provide some animal-related background on each of us.
I'm 33, going on 34. Between the ages of 18 and 26, I worked extensively with animals. This included hand raising baby parrots of a wide variety of baby parrots. My focus, however, was on marine life. I spent a year as a dolphin trainer working in Hawaii, and have raised and trained dogs, a couple of parrots, etc. When I was in my early 20's, I purchased and successfully raised a Blue Crown Conure that ended up going to the "ex" in the girlfriend-boyfriend "divorce." I should not have had a parrot in my early 20s!
So, it's been about 11 years since I've worked directly with parrots, though I've got experience training animals ranging from dogs to dolphins, and have worked with large, ill-tempered Macaws and Amazons a couple of times. I'm not overly concerned about my own ability to socialize, train, and manage the husbandry of a parrot of almost any species, but I'm not the only part of this equation.
My fiancee is a dog lover who - without my pushing - developed a serious interest along with me in a parrot being our first pet. We will, eventually, have a dog, and kids. While I might get back into the aquarium hobby later in life, the only non-humans in the home will be a future dog and the TBD parrot.
While she's been around family dogs her entire life, they've a) mostly been golden retrievers and black labs, and b) she's never really had to be the trainer. She's smart, a teacher in her day job, and fully on-board with the consistency and learning she'll have to go through to properly apply the rigors of daily animal training to the future parrot. Nevertheless, since we won't be getting any OTHER birds in the future, and since she's never worked with them, things like Macaws and Amazons and Cockatoos are out of the question.
About us as a couple - we are highly social beings! Both of us are extroverts (me a little more so than her), chatty, and consummate hosts. A great deal of professional animal training background at least on my part will go into socializing whichever bird we end up with, but it will be a social home; this is not a situation where the bird in question will be spending the majority of his/her time alone, and/or just with one or two people. Or, better said, there will be routine weekly events involving new people.
This brings up the actual question. My firsthand experience with parrots is a little over a decade old, was primarily focused on the hand raising process prior to sale when I Worked in pet shops in my 18-21 range, and the personal long-term care level includes a couple of years raising a Blue Crown Conure, and having a cockatiel growing up. While the concepts of animal training you apply to a dolphin or a dog are broadly-speaking identical to any animal (you use the same techniques on starfish, which don't even have brains), every individual species has its nuances, and nothing is more true than in the case of birds (and, of course, every individual within a species is different).
So I'm looking for heavy opinion on the couple of species I've "narrowed down to" in the looking process. I'm a firm believer in the right bird being the one you choose, but also the one that chooses you, so I tend to feel (correct me if I'm wrong) you should have a couple of species in mind ... picking just one to the exclusion of all others can be the right way to forcing the wrong bird into your home if you aren't able to come across dozens of just that one species. I want to know the red flags and general thoughts on the species I'm looking at with regard to the presented criteria and situation.
#1 on the list right now - Male SI Eclectus. Research indicates, broadly, that they are not quite as needy as Cockatoos, while also not as reserved as Amazons or Greys. Proclivity for training and learning contextual language, but of course that's variable ... nothing guarantees an Eclectus will talk, but they are known as decent mimics, and that's a plus if it works out. Trainability is a big deal for me, and I've read a lot of anecdotal evidence pointing to Eclectus being target and click trainable / bridge trainable, which - presuming this is generally true, or that it's true it's easier with them than some species - opens up a lot of potential for detail training and application of techniques used in dolphin training (which warms my heart and memories). Overall, Eclectus also seem to be just a bit more forgiving (Without being truly forgiving, we're still talking parrots) than Cockatoos and a couple others, which bodes well for a hiccup or two on the fiancee's part in the bird training / consistency / learning process. Hormonal and Terrible 2 phases aside, also am understanding Males are a little less nippy and "emo" than females, which is a plus. Also understand that their ease of learning "human" language and trainability can help lead to teaching them to use "indoor voices" instead of screeches during regular joyous screaming moments (i.e., dawn/dusk).
#2 - Caiques - Personality-wise, love the caiques. Do not love their smaller size. Is too bad they aren't known for their articulate talking nature. But those two things are OK in light of their personality perks. I'm also of the understanding they are - broadly speaking - less hooked up on a single person and more prone to being easily socialized to a wide ranging group of people.
#3 - Slightly smaller and medium sized cocktaoos. This is a bit of a concern area for me. I've interacted with and enjoyed the personalities of some of the slightly smaller cockatoos, inclusive of Galah, Citron, Goffins. I've read some places where folks say they are a bit less prone to phobias and plucking and other issues. I've also read plenty of places where folks basically say a Too is a Too is a Too. Input is welcome here. I'm, again, not really concerned about husbandry, training, and management - fairly professional animal trainer here as far as concepts and practical experience with very demanding creatures. That said, I can't reiterate enough that the fiancee's intelligence and capability is only useful once lessons are learned, and I'm flatly terrified of screwing up a cockatoo with one too many hard lessons on her part. Guidance and input welcome here!
So that's the already short list .... and I'm open to other suggestions. I'll admit the caique's size is something I'm a little leery of. We're on board with the notion of a demanding companion that could be with us for 30-50+ years in the case of some of the above species. This means a bit more robust size is a good thing - I've heard too many bad luck horror stories happen to incredibly careful owners of smaller birds; while parrots in general are not exactly durable animals from a physical standpoint, size still matters. That said, as mentioned, I'm not a big fan of the hair trigger moodiness of Amazons and Greys. Large cockatoos and Macaws are right out; spent time in that above yearspan as a vet tech at an exotics vet as well, and too many close calls with hyper aggressive macaw beaks and owners who were outright scared of their own birds. So, hate the male Eclectus? Why? Hate some of the smaller cocktaoos? Why? Love caiques beyond their small size? Why? None of the above? What other birds should I be looking at that I'm simply overlooking (indian ringnecks come to mind)?
Thanks all! Have read a lot of posts here during my research, so thought I would post myself and ask directly. Lovely community.
Last, a question about the ever-controversial subject of wing clipping. I'll admit that when I was working in the animal field, I tended to - anecdotally/experientially - note more behavioral problems in birds who were fully flighted than birds who were clipped. There are strong, professional, experienced opinions out there in both directions stating the exact same thing. I'm always open for hearing more!
I should be Poigal?? haha
