Doing my research, a few questions.

[wrench13]

I think this is it:
Parrot Confidential - YouTube
Correct me if I'm wrong Al.

Yup thats it.

 

[EllenD]

Yes I absolutely am putting my needs and wants first. Is the bird going to pay ME to take care of it? If this is something I’m committing to, spending money on, etc. These are all valid questions since I will NOT get one if they do not meet MY expectations for ownership. I want to do it right or not at all. I appreciate all’s input but do not completely agree with bonding since all the searches I’m looking at fight for each side pretty equally. Be it socializing from a baby or their husband was chosen type stories. I’m going to TC Feathers tomorrow in northern Virginia to pick their brains on my situation.


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At the risk of me not being the kindest person in responding to your reply, I'm just going to say that we will agree to disagree.



All I will say is this: No, a bird is not going "to pay you to take care of it", lol...But that certainly is not the point at all, and you should know this. The bird is also not asking for you to bring it into the type of environment you are attempting to put it into either. The difference here, which I'm sure you understand as an intelligent, human adult, is that THE BIRDS HAVE NO CHOICE, THEY ARE AT YOUR MERCY. So when I said that you are putting your needs and wants before the bird's needs and wants, you missed my point, though you also made it for me...



I personally don't think it matters at all what you read on the internet, as myself and most other members of this forum have decades of parrot ownership experience, and we know very well of which we speak, regardless of the species of parrot. Those of us that are long-time Conure owners, again, regardless of the species of Conure, all seem to agree on their personalities, so I'd heed our warnings, if not simply put more weight on our suggestions than those that you simply find on the web somewhere. We are real people speaking from real, long-time experience, and we are only tryint to save you and whatever bird you bring home from heartache and a difficult re-homing situation...If you've even attempted to peruse your local Craigslist pages, or any Craigslist pets pages across the United States, then you should have a very good understanding as to why we are saying what we are saying..



I don't think that there are many members on this forum that would disagree with me on the fact that regardless of what species of parrot you bring home, keeping them locked inside a cage all day long and only bringing them out of the cage when you get home at 6:30 each night for an hour or two is not a healthy situation for a parrot to be in. And when you add the fact that you have at least one family member who is home all day long, but that you apparently yourself are requesting have nothing at all (or very little) to do with the bird, simply because you are admittedly attempting to "Force the bird to only bond with you" is not at all a healthy approach to parrot ownership and rearing. Again, parrots/birds are not dogs, they are not cats, they are not ferrets or rabbits. They literally have the intelligence level that human toddlers between the ages of 3-5 years old do, and as such you can do serious psychological and emotional damage to them by trying to "force" them to bond to only certain people. That should make sense to you, I would think...



As already mentioned by another member above, what you are attempting to do and the method by which you are trying to achieve it has no more guarantee of working with a parrot than doing this the healthy way will, the "healthy way" being you and your fiance BOTH being an active, 50-50 participant in your bird's life and care, and making the bird a part of your family, rather than trying to make yourself a bird's "master"...This will not work my friend, it's not how bird's work.



You're an extremely lucky person, in that you own your own home, you have a stable income/financial situation, and you have a spouse who not only lives with you but is home all day, and who would be able to provide a bird in your home a wonderful day full of enrichment, fun activities, and most of all love and care...but you would rather totally throw that asset away and keep a bird locked in a cage all day long and only give it an hour or two a day out, because you only want your bird to like you...Again, this is not going to end well, that's just my opinion based on my own 30+ years of having several birds be a part of my family.



I hope that you realize that I myself, as well as any other member who gave you similar advice or have made similar statements, are only doing so to try to help you, save you a future ton of frustration, anger, and heartache, and most of all, most of us here absolutely do PUT OUR BIRDS WANTS AND NEEDS FIRST, ALWAYS. Your particular take on this situation is completely different than how most of us here feel, as Gail said we come from a "Bird-Centric" point-of-view, we always try to imagine how the bird is going to feel FIRST, not how we are going to benefit first. And this is because we know, from tons of personal, first-hand experience, that birds are unlike any other "pet" you may have the luck to have be a part of your family, they are extremely intelligent, and they require a very selfless nature to be able to understand them and where they are coming from. Again, this is why there are quite literally tens of thousands of parrots on Craigslist who are being "re-homed" as we speak, all across the United States.

Ellen, don’t get your feathers too ruffled. I’m asking questions and receiving answers. My fiancé loves all animals and would absolutely want to engage with the bird but NOT at the expense of needing to lock up the cats and dogs. It’s not a practical situation for her to all of a sudden give this new animal all the attention in the house. I am here and taking a beating from people like you to show me if ownership is something I’m capable of or not. So thank you for putting a taste of what is required to keep them to the birds standards and have the support of others that agree with the same home body lifestyle. It’s not for me, enough said.


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My "feathers" aren't ruffled at all friend. I'm just giving it to you like it is, as I'd want someone to tell me and not pull any punches before I went-out and brought home a new family member that was going to live for at least 30-40 years. It's better for the person and the potential bird. As Wrench stated well, parrots are not to be compared to any other type of "pet", as they are truly like adding a human toddler to your home.

The only thing I can say to you that is 100% true and is often mentioned throughout this forum in threads such as this one (other than wishing you good luck with whatever you decide to do), is that when it comes to bringing a parrot into your home as a pet, it is not at all about the bird meeting your expectations at all, because that isn't going to happen. It's about you having to change your own expectations of what you expect from the bird.

 

[Pampa]

I am a total newbie so take whatever I say for what it is worth. Dependent on the types of dogs you have I don’t see a problem. My dogs and conure are doing fine together. The dogs accept the bird as part of the pack and the bird is not bothered by barking dogs. They all join in together to announce when a dog is walking down the street. However the cat is either crated or put outside when the bird has out of cage time. The cat ignores the bird when he is in his cage but I just wouldn’t trust any cat not to respond if a bird flies over it’s heads. Mine plays independently on a stand while I do things around the house. The bonding part I can’t speak for since I live alone and so far Pampa isn’t friendly to any visitors.

 

[chris-md]

I am a total newbie so take whatever I say for what it is worth. Dependent on the types of dogs you have I don’t see a problem. My dogs and conure are doing fine together. The dogs accept the bird as part of the pack and the bird is not bothered by barking dogs. They all join in together to announce when a dog is walking down the street. However the cat is either crated or put outside when the bird has out of cage time. The cat ignores the bird when he is in his cage but I just wouldn’t trust any cat not to respond if a bird flies over it’s heads. Mine plays independently on a stand while I do things around the house. The bonding part I can’t speak for since I live alone and so far Pampa isn’t friendly to any visitors.

Hello Pampa! The problem here is that dogs can be unpredictable. It takes just one moment of instinct overcoming training. We see it all the time : “I never though my dog would do this!”

On the opposite side of the spectrum where you have nice dogs licking parrots, you have a big problem with gram negative bacteria in the dogs mouth that could quickly kill your bird.

We’ve learned ‘round these parts through countless posts: no dog is to be trusted. Ever.

As a caretaker of these wonderful creatures you always have to err on the side of caution.

 

[eagle18]

I am a total newbie so take whatever I say for what it is worth. Dependent on the types of dogs you have I don’t see a problem. My dogs and conure are doing fine together. The dogs accept the bird as part of the pack and the bird is not bothered by barking dogs. They all join in together to announce when a dog is walking down the street. However the cat is either crated or put outside when the bird has out of cage time. The cat ignores the bird when he is in his cage but I just wouldn’t trust any cat not to respond if a bird flies over it’s heads. Mine plays independently on a stand while I do things around the house. The bonding part I can’t speak for since I live alone and so far Pampa isn’t friendly to any visitors.

Hi Pampa! Just be careful, my friend, when it comes to the doggies. All it takes is one snap and tragedy occurs.