Getting First Parrot...

[HumanWings]

What experience did you guys have before getting your first parrot? I've looked into the care of parrots for several years now but really started to buckle down on my research 18 months ago. Since then I've come to learn A LOT. I feel confident in most areas of care. The part that still worries me is that I'm not familiar with parrot body language.

I'm getting a macaw. I know I know. Some people don't feel it's a good idea for your first bird but I have 0 desire to have a small parrot and it's a blue throat which I've read are great first time birds (not so demanding).

I'm just getting worried a bit now because I had this plan to volunteer at a rescue and get this experience that I feel I needed BEFORE I get my bird but things fell through. I had planned to get over 100 hours before my bird comes home (oh gosh sorry I'm rambling) but there were several issues with the rescue and I decided not to go back. I know it was a good decision but it still leaves me without much experience in parrot body language. Does anyone have any tips for me?

 

[noblemacaw]

I know this may sound kind of simple but watch some youtube videos. Maybe if you watch enough of them you can see and learn more about parrot body language. I personally was using youtube video's for different species noise levels. I understand that is not a fool proof way of getting accurate noise and screaming levels but it does give me an idea the frequency range and if my hearing can take the frequency range of a certain species.

Back before youtube I belonged to a parrot club. People use to bring in their parrots and I use to talk to the owners of parrots I was interested in learning about and tried to get experience that way. Everyone has to start somewhere and it was a good way for me to learn what kind of parrot person I was. (I am a Macaw person) I really enjoy mini-macaws because of the size. Valentino my RFM is the biggest parrot I ever had as he is bigger than my Eclectus was and is now heavier than when he first came home.

Valentino's breeder breeds the blue throat macaw and I am so tempted. What is stopping me is Valentino is quite a handful at 6 months and I cannot see myself able to raise properly TWO extremely intelligent and demanding baby macaws. LOL The breeder has a male BTM available that a client backed out of. He should be weaned by now. Lord give me strength. I have decided that for the second parrot I am working with an out of state rescue and have found 4 parrots that could be a good fit. This way when we go visit the rescue this spring this will give us wiggle room of having the parrot choose us. I sure would not mind that rejected BTM that is probably weaned by now.

Are you getting a fresh weaned baby BTM? I am curious where you are getting your BTM from. Yea, a bit jealous too but in a good way. With all the planing and waiting for a year and half for Valentino I understand your excitement, concerns, and wanting to be as ready as you can for your new family member.

 

[HumanWings]

I know this may sound kind of simple but watch some youtube videos. Maybe if you watch enough of them you can see and learn more about parrot body language. I personally was using youtube video's for different species noise levels. I understand that is not a fool proof way of getting accurate noise and screaming levels but it does give me an idea the frequency range and if my hearing can take the frequency range of a certain species.

Back before youtube I belonged to a parrot club. People use to bring in their parrots and I use to talk to the owners of parrots I was interested in learning about and tried to get experience that way. Everyone has to start somewhere and it was a good way for me to learn what kind of parrot person I was. (I am a Macaw person) I really enjoy mini-macaws because of the size. Valentino my RFM is the biggest parrot I ever had as he is bigger than my Eclectus was and is now heavier than when he first came home.

Valentino's breeder breeds the blue throat macaw and I am so tempted. What is stopping me is Valentino is quite a handful at 6 months and I cannot see myself able to raise properly TWO extremely intelligent and demanding baby macaws. LOL The breeder has a male BTM available that a client backed out of. He should be weaned by now. Lord give me strength. I have decided that for the second parrot I am working with an out of state rescue and have found 4 parrots that could be a good fit. This way when we go visit the rescue this spring this will give us wiggle room of having the parrot choose us. I sure would not mind that rejected BTM that is probably weaned by now.

Are you getting a fresh weaned baby BTM? I am curious where you are getting your BTM from. Yea, a bit jealous too but in a good way. With all the planing and waiting for a year and half for Valentino I understand your excitement, concerns, and wanting to be as ready as you can for your new family member.

Thank you for all of it but especially the underlined above. I was a little worried people might misconstrue me for not being a good parront (even though my BTM isn't here yet). I just want everything to go right.

I don't know if I can post the breeders name but she is out of California. She's great with socialization and we have the same values on parrot raising which I feel is good to have in a breeder. I'm on the wait list so I have a few more months to go but certainly not that long. Yeesh I feel like I'm preparing for a baby to come home. lol. Thanks for the tip, I'll look into the youtube videos.

If you can maybe you should go see the BTM. If it's right it'll happen.

 

[aliray]

Noblemacaw. I also think you should go see that blue throated macaw, You could always say no. Sorry the parrot devil made me say that:09:. I don't want to be the only willpower challenged parrot owner out there

 

[noblemacaw]

I would LOVE to have the BTM. Valentino my RFM lives in my largest cage. I do have a second cage but it would be too small for the BTM or Valentino. It housed my Noble macaw just fine but I feel a medium size parrot should live in it only.

Valentino's breeder is Wendy Craig of Wendy's Parrots. She is the best breeder I have ever worked with. Wendy breeds the BTM, RFM and Congo african grey. She use to breed a lot more different species but now only works with the three species. I went with her because she has been working with the RFM for over 20 years, keeps up to date by attending conferences and such and was impressed that my Avian vet even knew who she was. Valentino came to me very healthy, socialized, trained, he was fledged and at my request did not give him the RFM baby clip. We talked at great length with diet, flight and exercise (feel very strongly flying and exercise is most important with health along with proper diet. I lost my mini macaws to heart disease.) Because of what I went though with my mini macaws we even talked about losing our beloved parrots (yea, we cried together). She helped me feel more secure about having to ship Valentino (she is in Texas I am in Minnesota) because I never had a parrot shipped to me before. When I got my Illiger's macaw Diego from California I flew out there to "go get him."

I know if I told Wendy I wanted that male BTM she would send him to me. How much easier it would be to take another parrot from the same breeder. No need for for the full quarantine and Valentino probably grew up with him. I would have the flock I need to keep both parrots mentally healthy too. Oh the temptation and I do think about that baby BTM a lot. Unfortunately BTM are expensive and I would be looking at between 5 to 6 grand to set up the BTM properly (with cost of parrot, new SS cage and equipment AND 4 hundred well bird check up). Guess who would be doing all the training, socialization, caring and raising. Me. That's right. Lupe can barely handle Valentino so I know a BTM would be too much parrot for her. Both parrots would fall pretty much on me and not that I would not mind but I think both the parrots would compete for my attention and that in the end would cause problems with they mature. Valentino is already very bonded to me and I need to work hard this spring to widen his world with more socialization sessions.

I would like the second parrot to be one of more where Lupe can handle it and I would prefer to take in a parrot in need of a home. I found a wonderful rescue unfortunately one state over from me and is about 5 hour drive but they have 4 different birds I am interested in looking at. The will give us wiggle room for one of those four to pick us instead of going in and having a heart set on one parrot and that parrot not liking us. I have the room to quarentine and that will keep both birds separate so I can work with the newcomer without Valentino.

 

[mrgoogls]

Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine - Understanding Your Pet Bird's Body Language. Birds Birds Birds

Bird Body Language: How to Understand What Your Parrot or Your Other Bird is Trying to Say

Parrot body language

those are a few decent things for body language. the first two i used before i got cooper and are good. the last one is a bit more joking like standing on your feet after they fall. lol. but it might still help. none of these things like these links or youtube or anything online are as good as experince though. so will learn more about our specific bird once he/she arrives. good luck!

 

[Thingamagigs]

Well, let's see....

• If you are ok with preparing a couple of meals a day that are not for yourself... and you won't suffer an aneurysm from watching them subsequently throw half of it on the floor and all over your walls...
• If you are happy to sweep up seed husks, pellet crumbs, bits of flung fruit and vege, pieces of branches and toys... probably twice a day...
• If you don't mind watching a toy you paid $30 for being destroyed in a matter of minutes...
• If you would rush your beloved fid to a specialist avian vet after you suspect they swallowed a piece of metal from your expensive furniture (which they just destroyed)...
• If you like a bit of "wear and tear" on your furniture... clothes... carpet... curtains........ walls.................. that brand new big screen TV...
• If you don't mind scrubbing your fid's 'beautiful berry based artworks' off your walls... and floors............... and ceiling...
• If looking at poops to determine your fids health doesn't make your stomach turn...
• If you are creative and love coming up with new ways to keep your fid entertained...
• If you have a high tolerance for pain... or at least the ability to grin and bear it long enough to walk into the next room and have a break down...
• If you never liked leaving the house and being social anyway ...
• If the thought of spending an hour chopping fruits, vege and grains and sprouting seeds doesn't make you want to scream... Oh and on the topic of screaming...
• If you can tolerate the sound of your chosen species, aaaaaallllllll day long... on the occasions they choose to be uncharacteristically loud or when the invisible boogey man has upset them... while remaining calm...

Then you are well on your way to being a perfect parront

Youtube is fabulous I have used it for every species I have researched, though there is no corella volume videos on youtube... I plan to remedy that soon! lol
But I too use it to assist in gauging captive parrots vocalisations and whether or not I could tolerate them. There are heaps of cute videos on there, but there are some really good realistic ones as well.

There is one galah volume video which I am rather unhappy about. She has clearly turned down her voice volume (or is speaking very softly on purpose) to enhance the birds sounds because galahs are not, under any circumstances THAT loud.
You can't even hear her voice if you turn it to the appropriate level for a galah. On top of that she left the birds mate in the other room so they are constantly calling to each other, which is deceptive as well because galahs use their contact call sparingly, for when you initially leave the room for example. They normally only call at full volume when they are distressed.
I understand her wanting to scare off potential owners who aren't patient enough to own a galah... but it also gives landlords, family members, neighbours and other potentially relevant associates the wrong idea about the noise level of galahs. With rentals becoming harder to come by, this is an actual serious issue. This kind of misinformation also encourages councils to change local laws to reflect their perception of galahs as being "noisy cockatoos". Most councils now have the most ridiculous law of not being able to keep "a galah or cockatoo" on a block size smaller than 600sqm. Thats most blocks these days! So I have a house, but can't own a bird species larger than a cockatiel? Thats just nutty!
Yet an indoor galah is not going to be noticed by the neighbours (mine dont have a clue!). With councils continuously decreasing the numbers of other pet species and outlawing some completely... our society is dangerously close to losing touch with animals altogether. I think all kids should grow up with a pet so they can learn to tolerate, appreciate and understand animals. Some suburbs you are unable to own a dog or cat. Others you are limited to one guinea pig. One! lol Its a guinea pig for crying out loud LOL
Sorry for going a bit off topic with my rant!

Back on topic... you are definitely a fabulous parront because you are worried Its that kind of genuine concern for our beloved parrots that keeps us researching new and improved ways of parrot keeping or new veterinary methods that may be relevant to our fids. In the end, there will always be things you didn't expect from your new pet that no website or prior experience could have taught you. But the fact that you are trying hard to learn all you can gives you a big step up.

I also completely understand your desire to go for the big one right off the bat... thats probably not something you will hear often but I have been thinking about it recently.
With such long lived species, the idea of having a "starter" bird first may be a well meaning but misplaced concept. There is probably little appropriate knowledge to be gained from the species often recommend as starter birds... especially when you are looking at eventually getting a macaw. Due to their lifespan, any delay you make in purchasing a macaw could have an impact in the life of that bird. I am definitely not saying older people should never know the joy of owning a macaw Just that if you are certain about adding a macaw to the family, the sooner you do it the less chance there is of your long lived fid needing to readjust to a new family.
If you are 25 when you buy your starter parrot and really have no desire to have two parrots at once... you could be 45 or perhaps even 55 before your "starter bird" passes away.

I think in the end research is the key... because the budgies, conures and cockatiels I owned before getting a galah could not have prepared me for a galah. They are all very different and have unique requirements. Getting hands on interaction with the species of your choice is probably ideal and preferable to a "starter bird". If you plan to have more than one bird, then getting a bird that is generally thought of as easier first certainly couldn't hurt.

 

[MonicaMc]

I was 12 years old when my mother bought me a budgie. I didn't actually think that I'd ever get a bird, so I never did the research... as bad as it sounds, I picked out a pretty little light blue/grey/white budgie from a cage in a petstore! I didn't know what *kind* of bird I could get, but my mother "kind of" steered me to the budgies. I already had a cage with those stupid plastic little perches and the plastic dishes and a plastic swing which I had had for a few months already... but I had nothing else.

I went into bird ownership blindly! That said, for two weeks straight after I got him, I was doing as much research as I could get my hands on, via the internet! By the time I was 15, I was telling a pet psychic that her pretty little albino budgie was not a hen! At 16, I was correctly identifying vasa parrots and blue throated macaws (but hadn't quite remembered the name of the major mitchell cockatoos, aka leadbeaters). At 17 (literally, when I turned 17), I was accused of lying about my age because I was embarrassed and told everyone I was younger than I really was.



I think that if you prepare for the worst but hope for the best, and do as much research as you can, then you'll probably do ok, if not great! Get a good avian vet before you bring your bird home and prepare his cage with toys and perches, and have a diet plan worked out... well, you are well ahead of many new parrot owners! (you certainly have started out better than I ever did!)

 

[Featheredsamurai]

For me having a bird was more of a fantasy. I'm a avid bird watcher, I can name nearly all local birds by a glimpse or their call. I could identify most parrots and thought they were amazing. My only personal experiance was with my friends birds. I interacted with my friends birds but still new very little. I'm ashamed to say I personally have given all three their jellybean treats on more then one occasion. When I brought home Rosie I wasn't sure what to think, I loved her but also never wanted a cockatoo, and honestly at he time I thought of Galah's as over rated expensive birds.
I was a little nervous, here I had this bird who didn't do anything but sleep and stare off into space. I had to somehow change her diet and get her to play with her toys.

Now I wasn't completely a idiot, I had done a lot of research but much of the stuff I looked at was out of date and the books I read didn't give me the in depth info I wanted. These books were telling me to fir e birds to do things, if they don't step up make them, all types of training that was wrong. A few months later when I found the bird tricks web site it seemed things were suddenly looking better. They, through answering my questions and their blog post, have allowed me to learn so much. Eventually I got to the point were I started using my own methods. I think of things from Rosie's point of view, I can read her body language perfectly and know what she's telling me, I let her make her own decisions about stepping up and do trick training with her. I think of this as the bird version of natural horsemanship. We are understanding the way our birds communicat to one another and showing them that we wil listen to what they have to say.

When you bring home your first bird everything will be overwhelming and you probably won't be 100% prepared, but you'll become a expert in no time.

 

[ParkersMom]

I fell in love with a friends Yellow naped amazon...who is by the way the meanest grumpyist most frustrating bird ever...loves his owner to death...but I was persistent and after about 4-5 years of knowing the bird i was finally able to get him out and hold him...no petting just holding...when I put him back i got a horrible bite from him and had to just stand there till he decided to let go...I was head over heals in love LOL...i know kinda crazy but...that was when I decided to get my bf amazon Parker...on a side note if anything were to happen to them I will inherit Frido

 

[Grinder]

I planned for over a year on getting a Caique or a Conure. Did all the research I could and suddenly switched to an African Grey. After the CAG we added a DYH Amazon and then a Macaw. I can say the progression from the CAG to the Amazon helped me immensely when we got our Macaw. Not only did we completely understand her body language, but we weren't afraid of her beak. She has grown up never biting hard and when she gets upset she simply mouths quickly letting us know she is not happy. Had we gone for the Macaw first we might have been totally afraid of the quick mouthing thinking we were about to be bitten. Instead as soon as it happens I quietly say 'I am sorry - let's get you back to your playstand". That being said you might be better prepared for the Macaw, it's behavior and needs. I wish you lots of luck and joy with you new Macaw.

 

[Birdlover11]

How long have you been researching ? I think it's all right that you researched a lot and even went to rescues. You sound prepared to me. Just prepare for the MESS . Now that's something . Also,, the screams. And saving up for a cage . Also I reccomend having a emergency birdie bank in case of a emergency for the BIRD, not for you to buy luxuries lol.