Working full-time and parrot ownership

Hello all,

I was wondering if you could help.

I am currently considering if I can give a parrot a great life. I am a responsible pet-owner having owned plenty of cats (one of which I hand-reared from 9 days old as a stray) and a dog. I have educated myself thoroughly in parrots and have spoken to experts in the past and hopefully meeting a very experienced macaw breeder to speak about parrots.

Currently, I have been looking at Caiques, Conures and Quakers. I can afford the costs and my mother manages a vets practice a couple hours away. In addition to this, I work full-time designing for Vets practices across England and Europe so I have many professional head-vets at just one call away if needed.

The main question I would like to ask is that do I have the schedule to own a parrot? I work 8:30am-4:30pm, however commuting adds a lot to this. I leave my house at 6:55am and get home at 6:00pm, Monday to Friday. I will have a housemate who also works around 9-5 and she most likely gets home earlier than me and leaves a little later. I've read plenty of articles saying how working full-time can work with parrots as they tend to adapt to your routine. I just would like to hear some more thoughts on the topic and I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Thanks everyone,

Andrew

Hi Andrew and welcome.

It can and does work for many, the choice of parrot is important as some can cope with being left and self entertaining themselves better than others. You say you have access to good vets but it is important that they are Avian/Exotic Vets to treat birds. When you get to the point of realising you need a AV in reality your bird has been poorly some while already and hides it usually pretty well. There is no spare time to mess with 'trying' stuff in the hope it helps.

If your housemate is someone that likes birds, happy to be part of their life, willing to be a caregiver and effectively share him/her and is liked by the one you choose then that can help. The opposite scenario will not help in the slightest.

I hope the Quaker, Caique and Conure owners will chip in for you. I have had a Lesser Patagonian Conure to stay a few times and they seem pretty self reliant but still wanted to cuddle.

12 hours is fine.....but be ready to spend all your time home, except sleeping with your bird with you.

Especially a smart bird like the ones you mentioned. They need socializing. If you get home and can only play with the bird for an hour a night because of other obligations that's not going to work. But if you can spend from 6pm to at least 10 or 11 pm that should be enough, especially if you housemate is also going to spend time with the bird.

What you put into a relationship is what you get out of a relationship, whether it's a girlfreind/boyfreind or bird. If you can't spend the time to socialize and train the bird and really bond with it in an unbreakable bond kind of way, then you will never really get the satisfaction of owning such a smart and amazing animal...

It's up to you how much time and energy and love you can really devote. Just be honest how much time you have before you commit. And if you can, I hope to see pictures soon.

Hello,

Thank you for your reply.

My mother's practice has taken care of parrots previously and some of the vets I design for have the facilities needed for avians/exotics.

I'm also familiar with the fact that parrots will do everything to hide illness to prevent showing weakness so every hour counts when it comes to the birds getting ill.

I think the best thing to do is to find out where my nearest A/EV's is and to contact them and see what they offer.

Thanks,
Andrew

clark_conure,

I'm absolutely fascinated by the parrots intelligence and I certainly agree that you get out what you put in as you said. I'm not getting a parrot for definite, I'd rather weigh my options before committing to ownership. The average parrot gets re-homed 4-5 times in it's lifetime and I'd prefer not to be a part of that stat! They're mostly monogamous after all, they shouldn't have to go through a change of partner, especially more than once.

Thanks,
Andrew

The fact that you are cognizant of what is required, I have no doubt you will make the right decision.

Of course then that new little bird gives you a snuggle and a kiss when you first meet him......Well, good luck, make good decisions

Our amazon, when we both worked full time 9-5 jobs, adapted fine. He'd spend a bit of time with us in the morning before going up for the day. When we'd get home, he'd come out and spend the whole evening with us (he also used to go to bed a bit later). Just be prepared to spend most nights at home with your bird instead of out doing other things. They adapt to our schedules, but still need time every day to spend with us to the tune of several hours, which can impact social activities and social life. Weekends are also prime bonding time for birds who's human works a 9-5, so weekend plans would probably be a bit dampened by the need for time spent with your bird too. Many birds do enjoy going out and about, and once harness trained OR using a backpack carrier, so long as weather and venue permits, they can be included in many weekend plans

I work full-time and I don't have issues with my birds, but they are cockatiels, are a bonded pair, and don't necessarily need attention from me. That's how I think it works so well, lol. With the species you've mentioned they are definitely going to need more attention. Be prepared to come home every day from work and spend time with your bird. It's essentially a 12 hour time-gap where your bird will be alone.

Not sure if you've been planning much for the future, or what your personal life is like, but you also have to take into consideration how long the species you've mentioned live. Many parrots live 20+ years and so you may be comfortable with your life now, but if you begin dating someone (assuming you don't have a significant other) then you must be prepared for what this means -- less time at home and more time getting to know somewhat/going out/dating takes time away from your bird. Also, having a family someday will especially change the amount of attention you can give your bird. This is when most people rehome their birds, when they realize their bird still has 20 years of life but their own personal life has become too hectic to give their bird the attention they need. Just something to think about!

itzjbean said:

Also, having a family someday will especially change the amount of attention you can give your bird. This is when most people rehome their birds, when they realize their bird still has 20 years of life but their own personal life has become too hectic to give their bird the attention they need. Just something to think about!

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Always so perplexing to me having grown up with large parrots in the house who were around way before I was. They were overall great pets to grow up with and save the occasional bite from the cockatoo, seemed to understand I was a small human and to be a bit more gentle with me. The female amazon used to sit on my crib all day from the time I was a newborn and was basically attached to me from the day I was born until I grew up and left home. Couldn't imagine getting rid of a bird rather than including it in the children's lives.