Curious Concerning Multiple Parrot Homes

[Pugtato]

Tonight, the fiance and I happened to be watching a show on Animal Planet (yea yea, I know) called Confessions: Animal Hoarding. One of the women in the show, happened to be hoarding birds and objects due to emotional and personal reasons. My fiance, was of course, giving me a bad time about the multiple birds since I have been mulling over buying another small parrot in 6 or so years down the line once we have a house of our own. However, It got me thinking about how people deal with multiple large parrots in their homes in non-harmful situations. This woman had 29 birds, including Macaws, Cockatoos, Amazons, finches, and a plethora of smaller parrots. She was, of course, in a very negative situation and the condition of the bird reflected that. Many of her parrots appeared to be plucking and quite a few seemed to be emotionally compromised and slightly aggressive. But it was the first time either my fiance or myself had seen so many birds in one home, and we were both dumbfounded.

However, I also noticed that members of many online parrot forums seem to have quite a large amount of parrots within their homes as well. That is not to say that it is a bad or negative thing, however, I am just curious. There seems to be a divide between the members with 1-2 birds and then a gradual jump up in number. I can't possibly imagine having one large parrot in my home, let alone 20 something! Gosh the noise alone would leave me a stressed, divorced, sleep deprived woman :09:! So my question is simply a passive one, to those of you who have a large number of parrots living in your homes, how do you cope with noise, mess, and attitude? How has day-to-day life changed to accommodate the birds? How much of your days are spent with your parrots? How do people brought into your home react to the birds, and your feathered family?

And to those with only a few parrots, large or small, what keeps you from expanding your flock?

 

[wwendy104]

Lol yes referred multiple parrot disorder, they become addictive! Well for me it wasn't on purpose. I had a parrot when I lived in California but when we moved in cold weather I couldn't take her on the trip cross country so I rehomed her. My son never forgave me. He saved up all his money and purchased the exact same bird which is how we ended up with Sally the conure. Shortly after a friend called and asked me to take her Congo AG and recently I saw an ad for a rehome/rescue posted by the foster family for a B&G macaw which we took since we were close. I also have 4 cats.

The birds are all flighted and free all day and my cats could care less that they exist. My house is never quite between the birds, cats, and three kids and I love it! Never a dull moment to be had in my house!

 

[MarciaLove]

I have trouble not expanding my flock! i love love them! and the only things that keep me from getting more is money$ and my mother doesn't like the noise! I have 6 birds that are mine but i have two breeding pairs included in those six so i have babies sometimes and that temporarily adds to the amount of birds I have!

 

[tjwolf1]

I currently have a Macaw and a cockatiel and am getting an African Grey in the near future. My husband is what keeps me from expanding further lol. That, and the amount of available funds, plus the time required to properly care for them. If I could I would probably own a refuge for all animals. Unfortunately, I am probably one of those that has potential to be an animal hoarder

 

[94lt1]

My flock consists of a scarlet macaw, yellow napped amazon, 2 budgie parakeets, and a sun conure.. the sun is our latest edition...

We got the zon and macaw from their previous owners.. talk about a challenge... especially the macaw.. yes the birds get aggressive once they are separated from the people they bonded with..the go through the same emotional gambit you would..

But with love and time, they get through it.

Now as far as the day to day around the house... my wife wanted a bird, life gave us 2, then we got 3 more.. the birds run our house... yes there is a mess that you MUST stay on top of..PERIOD. it gets noisy, you can't sleep in because they start up at 8 in the winter, and 7 in the summer...lol.

Vet bills aren't cheap, but its like a doctors visit.. they have to have them.

There's sibling rivalries too!!

You don't get sick days. Its just like family to us.. we have a 10 year old son, and 5 birds.. that's our family..

They are family.. and should be treated as such...

 

[Blue]

Space is what is keeping our number at 3. We converted our attached garage into the living room, since it is the farthest from the bedroom and my husband sleeps days, so the baby didn't wake him up, so thats where the birds are too. We could fit one more cage in here. The birds are out almost all day, except maybe 2 days a week when I go somewhere and we spend a lot of time in there with them

 

[OOwl]

We have six birds in our flock now. It means we never, ever go on vacations, but it also means not feeling bad about that, or deprived of it. I don't. I sincerely would rather all my extra income go to caring for my pets. Thank God I have a husband that feels the same way. Happiness, to us, looks like an evening hanging out in the living room with parrots on us, on play stands, and hanging from boings from the ceiling. It's a lifestyle choice. I can't imagine having more than my six, though, because of the one-on-one time needed for each one of them. I don't know how people with more than that do it, but I have friends that DO have more and somehow manage and their parrots are clean, happy, healthy, and often better cared for than the casual bird owner with one tiny budgie, chosen to match her decor. I guess being successful at multiple bird ownership has to do with your level of sustained dedication to it.

 

[MeganMango]

I just have one, but I havent had him for long. Money and time keep me from adding more birds. Mango is with us all the time, he is never in his cage if we are home unless he goes there for a nap or to eat some pellets. He is such a joy, and he loves us dearly. We have agreed to foster for a while to see whether we can handle another bird. I worry about making Mango jealous or not giving him the attention he is use to. In time when I have more money and our positions are more stable I would like to add a macaw or grey to our family. I want to make sure we have time to do it right though, it bothers me enough that Mango spends 5-9 hours a day in his cage while we are at work. I know there are people here on the forum who work from home and are with their birds all day. I think in that case it would be easy to collect several birds and manage it without issue. Ive personally seen a couple of hoarding cases, and both times the people responsible believed they were saving the animals. Its a strange thing, but they often rescue them from bad situations, and then place them in situations that arent really any better. They usually have good intentions, but are often emotionally unwell. They cant even take care of themselves much less another being. All aspects of their lives seem to suffer.

 

[Thingamagigs]

Whats currently keeping me from expanding is money and the fact Mana is currently rather needy. Having another bird would help that, but we don't have the cash to get what we want at this point. If an appropriate bird came into rescue we would jump at the chance to have another but rescues in Australia rarely get in anything other than aviary birds.

 

[WharfRat]

We have 5 total, 2 are very large, I doubt we'll add another mainly due to space in the designated bird area but we do have room elsewhere. The only way I'll add any is if my breeder calls me and really needs me to take more on for some reason.

 

[weco]

Something I never considered, but do now, is the ability to move & care for a large number of birds in an emergency.

Several years ago I had 19 conures of different species & I decided to paint the house. I had moved my flock out so everything inside could be painted & some repairs done.....well, about 3 days into the project, a short & fire developed where the power line entered the house Old wiring that squirrels had chewed on & it being windy that day, the motion caused enough sparks that the house caught. As it was caught quite fast, not a lot of damage was done, but a lot of smoke was generated.

Fast forward to April two years ago & Mother Nature decided my house & a lot of other houses were in her way, so she had one of her tornadoes move them & in my case remove it completely. Though this was not the same house that had caught fire, we were again painting & the birds were again out of the house, but I had reduced my flock by 13 birds.

I'm single so rebuilding/recovering has not been all that traumatic for me, but it has made me downsize to what I knew I could safely get out of the house.....provided of course I was still moving.

I always have had enough small cages handy & because I've either had a van where the seats folded flat or a pickup truck sitting in the driveway, I've had the mobility, but after the tornado & all the trees thrown around like so many toothpicks, I'd have never been able to move 20 feet, so it's not just the funding, the space or the desire.

Think it can't happen to you.....take a look at the world's weather patterns over the past 10 years, then re-think that again.

So you don't get the wrong impression, I was not hoarding, rather it seems that word was out that I would take in birds that needed another home. I was on a project in NYC one time, was called about 4 sibling suns that were headed for an animal shelter unless they found a new home, so I called the owners, arranged to pick them up when I was finished with the current project, then drove almost to Boston, picked up the suns...they were siblings from two successive clutches, 18 & 24 months old and had never been handled. We picked them up after dark, with the lights turned off & I only got bit twice.

 

[Shade]

I have 7 and most are small/medium.
Right now, and ever since I added my Cape, I have had no inclination to add any other birds. As well, last year was rather challenging on other levels, but I most defintively would have been more stretched had I had more birds. 7 is just about what I can take on time wise and I do have an SO who helps a lot.

Another thing that convinces me not to get any more is while one of my Meyer's was injured last year and required to have his own time out of cage (generally the lovebird and smaller Pois come out together and the Cape comes out on her own) - while it was ok to do this for a short period of time, I don't think I could deal with it long term and adding another flock member who might possibly not get along with anyone else and require that is just not something I'm willing to risk.

 

[Grenage]

I have only one GCC, and I would never consider getting a second pet. He's a companion bird, so not only would I not have enough time to spend with several, but I'd rather just spend a lot of time with one animal than less with more.

 

[WharfRat]

Something I never considered, but do now, is the ability to move & care for a large number of birds in an emergency.

Having lived on the coast that's always in the back of your mind. When Ike hit our breeder had to evac all 200 of her flock, which she was able to do because she was prepared. Good thing too since her house/land ended up with a 12' flood/surge. Last season what she did was rent a large climate controlled storage shed a lot closer to home so she wouldn't have to fight traffic like she did in Ike. Luckily she didn't need it.

I have travel cages for all but the GW's, but I have a full size van and can simply carry them to it. They like riding on the headrests.

 

[aliray]

I have four birds one canary and three small parrots. Two of which I fell in love with their pictures on CL. My red bellied and my yellow sided gcc. Each of the four birds has a cage in front of my sliding glass doors over looking the back lani and the back yard. There are four panels in the two sliding door and each bird has their own slider and I am now out of sliders so now my flock is now complete. I also have a 16 yr old minpin. and a 2 yr old chiweene who weighs in at 5 lbs. Hubby and I are retired and home all day so time is not a problem. Now I just browse CL but no more critters

 

[MaraWentz]

My Mommom had 7 parrots at once (but 2 were rehomed down the road). But she had the 7 fro at least 10 years or so. he consisted of 3 amazons (one bf and 2 yn), moluccan cocaktoo, Congo african grey, conure, and red front macaw. I was often down int he summer to care for them as child and it was easy. We had a room dedicated to the birds. It was simply a room wit avian lighting and their cages lined up along the border. In our living room there were stands set up, around the border for the birds to be on during the day. Routine made it easy. We'd get up, open the birds door, turn on light, make them breakfast for their stands in living room, and while it cooled we'd eat our own breakfast (took 30 mins total). Then we'd take them to thier stand (took 2 mins). WHile they ate breakfast I'd change the water and food bowls and cage lners, then vaccuum thier stand s and fill up thier treat holders. That took maybe an hour to do all 7. Then we'd break out snack fo the birds to munch on while we relaxed to watch to tv or go out somwhere (a eating bird is a quiet bird). and then we'd make them lunch (more quietness), they'd play around, few hollers here and there, the RFM, ELvis, was the screamer, so once he got to hollering it was time for another snack, and then theyd play quietly or dooze off for a bit. Then we'd make dinner, let them least and when they were done we'd take them back to the bird room where they'd play for an hour, munch on bird food or treats, etc while w cleaned their stands and vaccumed hen we'd say good night and shut of the light.

Pretty much routine and food kpt the noise and chaos down and made the mess seem much, much less. If they went on vacation they'd have a nieghbor come feed them every day and jsut let them know which were agressive (the conure, ELvis the RFM,and grey) and how to get around them.

I don't have neighbors or close friends, so if it's just 2-3 days we leave out out extra water bowls and hie treats in everything and all Erin's food gets farther away from her stand so she has to work for it even more rather than eating and getting bored. But if its more than 3 days we jsut sneak her with us since she's quiet. We've done that with up to birds at once, but never more than that.

 

[Karigan]

For me, it's space and time as well as personality. We got our first one as a starter bird, and she is great. She helped me to understand bird personality and instinct and what I want ideally out of a bird. We decided that when we got a bigger house we'd add to the flock (our current on is 1100 square feet), but lo and behold, a surprise gift of two african greys! My husband wanted one because he liked their noble demeanor and that suited his personality. Now we have three birds, two unplanned but loved none the less. I call them my unplanned pregnancy with twins.

Then the plan was to wait until we get not our next house, but our dream property where we will build our dream home. This home will have an aviary that's at least 20x20 and will serve as a kind of sun room, and then I will get MY dream bird, either a harliquin or hyacinth macaw. (I want a cuddle bug!). This will probably be at least 10 years from now.

But now... I see my sennie alone and sad now that she sees the other birds always together so I'm thinking again... I think the final number will be five one day. Two greys, a sennie, a macaw, and something else about 8-11 inches that gets along will with a sennie (maybe a lesser jardines or a caque).

I see this as planning and not hording, since I'm wanting to wait till life allows for these birds to have all the attention they need.

 

[henpecked]

I only have 6 zons in the house right now. LOL and a tiel but he doesn't count. The mess isn't too bad but you have to stay on top of it everyday. The noise is not an issue 90% of the time, but if one gets going,they all get going. I do have lots of breeder zons outside and at times have babies in the house , which can be chaos . 4or 5 fledgling zons flapping around is insane. But our birds are now our life since the kids have grown and i'm semi-retired. Just can't imagine things being any different. The limiting factor is how well (money and time) could you care for more birds ? We know our limits and have learned to live with it. It does cause hardships , like this Christmas when i went and did the family thing out of state and my wife stayed home with the fids. Guess they're like children , what limits how many kids you have?

I built evac cages for ALL of the birds. Evac cages hold 2 birds with a double wall in the middle. They aren't very big ,each side is only about 11" square. They're built to hold a pair ,male in one side female in the other. I've had the birds in them for 30 hrs before and they worked great. Here in Fla you must have a evac plan on file with the state if you breed/sell exotics.

 

[Peeko]

Even though I'm home all day every day, I know that I wouldn't be able to give two parrots the attention they would need. We have many other pets that my attention must be divided between. Peeko also doesn't seem to react well to other birds, and it wouldn't be fair to him to all of a sudden have to share me with a bird he doesn't like. I have enough jealousy between Peeko and my dogs, haha. I admire those who can take such wonderful care of multiple parrots, but it isn't something I would be able to do.

 

[noblemacaw]

The happiest I was is when I had my three boys. Noble macaw, Illiger's macaw and a Solomon Island Eclectus. The two mini macaws were crazy freaks in which I loved their antics and personalities. The Noble was the most gentle for a mini macaw and never bit anyone, was very friendly and was my most well trained parrot (He was my only parrot for 3 or 4 years). Diego my Illiger's macaw had a very fiery personality and was bonded only to me. He was a handful but I loved him very much and it is told to me I favored him. Joaquin my Eclectus brought balance to my flock. Being an Eclectus he was nothing like a mini macaw. He had the gift of helping people feel better and I had him in pet therapy until he got sick.

The three parrots was my limit. I would not of gotten any more parrots had my boys lived out their true lifespans. Joaquin passed first in 2005, then my Diego had a stroke in June 2011. Never I ever thought would I have thought Diego would die at only 9 years old. Mihijo my noble macaw passed in October of 2012. He was almost 18 years old.

After Diego died and there was only Mihijo left is when the plans for getting Valentino the RFM was put in place. I feel that for a creature as intelligent as a parrot there needs to be at least two. They don't have to "get along" or be able to share the same cage but to be able to put the cages side by side so that they could interact on their own terms I noticed kept them more physiologically healthy. After Valentino was paid off, weaned and passed quarantine he and Mihijo were to be my only parrots.

Now Valentino is my only parrot. Down the line I will probably get another parrot. I would like to adopt a new world bird if I can break though our local adoption weirdness here but for now I am not in a hurry to add another bird just yet. Baby Valentino is a lot of work right now and he is coming along very well.

I went from October 7 2012 to December 9 2012 without any parrots in my home. Those two months were the most depressing and sadness filled my days. It was then I realized how much parrots had enriched my life as they were such a part of my life.

I also realize my health is not the best. My asthma is getting worse and the physical needs of cleaning are harder than it use to be for me. Two is my limit because of my health. I might just keep Valentino since I work from my home and am here all day but I also realize that RFM are more emotionally healthy if there is at least another parrot.

Even with the three parrots I was able to travel. Every two years I go to Mexico and I have my sister stay in the house to take care of my pets and the house. I pay her for this service so it is a win win situation for both of us. Unfortunately we have not been to Mexico in over 4 years due to the extreme violence of the area we visit so I have not had to have sister pet sit and take care of my house.

At one time I wanted one of each of these parrots along with what I already had (my three boys)
Rose Breasted cocaktoo
bare eye cockatoo
Red Fronted Macaw
Patagonian conure
Golden conure

On TOP of that I also wanted a Belgian Melinois, Brussels Griffon AND a Scottish fold cat.

No way this would EVER happen. Just no way and I know that all those animals in one house would be insane.

I am very very happy with my rescue Scottish Terrier puppy we named Mercedes who is now 5 years old and yea, I also rescued a Ragdoll cat I named Julianna. So currently my animal family included the dog, cat and the parrot. Each of these animals are individually taken care of by me and Lupe. (Mostly me because I am home all day) They are all happy and have no behavior or emotional issues because I make sure all their needs are met but also they know that they are loved. I also take the time to train my animals using positive reinforcement. I get the best results with positive reinforcement than the more traditional way they use to train dogs with. The training to me is very important.

Wow. I think I wrote a freaking book on this question.