Hardest part of owning a parrot?

[summerperez14]

I'm curious as to what the hardest part of owning a parrot for everyone is. For me, it's cleaning the dang cage!! haha

 

[bonitabird59]

the attention. i love spending time w my fids, dont get me wrong- but i dont get alone time anymore. i also dont go out as much anymore! noise has never been a factor for me, however alarm calling from my budgies/conure just gives me anxiety bc idk what theyre scared of!

 

[foxgloveparrot]

Not having any time for yourself.

 

[LeeC]

My parrots have a lot of liberty. They fly to me unexpectedly at times, while I am moving about the house getting things done. I am their Lee tree. Then, I see them turn their head back and tuck their beak into their feathers, while perched on my shoulder. So, the hardest part of owning parrot is holding really still for them while they take a nap on me, wherever I happened to be standing. Tips appreciated

 

[Ronnie27]

Breeding season with a birdzilla! 😂
Esmeralda is a 15 year old female Amazon, she is cute, playful and affectionate most of the time. However, during spring she gets shy and isolates herself in her favorite spot or moody and prone to bite anything or anyone nearby.

 

[HeatherG]

I always feel I could be doing more for my parrots. And I hear they have a very good life but there’s always more you could make, buy, do…

 

[Cottonoid]

Similar to HeatherG - wondering if I'm doing everything I can at the right time for my little man.

 

[𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖞𝕻𝖎𝖈𝖆]

When that day comes where you don’t have a bird anymore. It breaks your heart, and a house without a bird is not a home.

 

[LeeC]

When that day comes where you don’t have a bird anymore. It breaks your heart, and a house without a bird is not a home.

I cannot image this big birdhouse without a bird.

 

[HeatherG]

A home without a bird is too quiet. All the little rustling, peeps, half asleep squawks at night are gone. Not to mention the daytime yells, chirps, and muttered or screamed phrases/ orders. Even if your bird is sleeping, it’s still “there.” You can feel a bird’s presence in your home even when they are sound asleep.

I wonder if anyone else read Phillip Pullman’s Amber Spyglass novels and found the idea of your soul being embodied in an animal alter-ego, a slightly separate part of you that can’t go too far away or it’s very painful?

When Lucy Quaker passed on after being with me for 23 yrs I guess I thought maybe something would happen to ME when she died. Like a heart attack or something. I woke up one morning and my apartment was quiet. I went to her cage and she was still. And gone.

 

[WingDing]

What's the hardest part of owning a bird?
For me it is a tie between prepping food, making toys and cleaning. I spend an hour a day doing those things. There is never a day off.

I resent it every morning. "Darned bird" I say as I go upstairs to make him breakfast. I get there and he says "Hey you! Peekaboo!" then "Breakfast! Yummy!". I smile and put a little extra seasoning on his chop. "Sweet bird" I say. He eats his breakfast and I drink my coffee. In that moment, I am thankful that I get to care for this bold little creature.

 

[Cindylynn]

The amount of attention required. It can be difficult to get things done. It's like having a toddler that likes to eat your furniture when he doesn't get his way. But dang I love the little guy!

 

[bonitabird59]

The amount of attention required. It can be difficult to get things done. It's like having a toddler that likes to eat your furniture when he doesn't get his way. But dang I love the little guy!

its like having a toddler except the toddler has bolt cutters for a mouth!!

 

[Chenetaqwa]

The hardest part for me is keeping the number of birds in my flock down to a reasonable amount... presently it's 5

 

[JulietRose]

I'm curious as to what the hardest part of owning a parrot for everyone is. For me, it's cleaning the dang cage!! haha

For me it’s the mess, I have two parakeets in my room (they can fly around in my room whenever) and their cage is like 4 feet away from my bed but I still have to brush pellets and other things they chew on off my bed all the time. And everything I own is theirs to, they aren’t very tame but that doesn’t stop them from hanging out with me and pooping on EVERYTHING. Cleaning became so much harder when I moved them to my room lol.

 

[LeeC]

For me it’s the mess, I have two parakeets in my room (they can fly around in my room whenever) and their cage is like 4 feet away from my bed but I still have to brush pellets and other things they chew on off my bed all the time. And everything I own is theirs to, they aren’t very tame but that doesn’t stop them from hanging out with me and pooping on EVERYTHING. Cleaning became so much harder when I moved them to my room lol.

I love to hear of parrots getting liberty! You are doing a wonderful thing for them. Having two of them, so they have each other is fantastic, too. I know what you mean about the expanded mess area. I try to provide food and destructible toys (mess-making material) in an area where I prefer them to make a mess, but they can carry small things, especially food, to wherever they want.

I am curious, where did you move them from? Did they have liberty in their previous location?

 

[zERo]

The hardest part for me is trying to supply enough mental stimulation. Especially for my Quaker, my other birds are more easily entertained while he is not impressed by simple things. A piece of walnut in a paper cupcake liner? Psh! He already did that! A foraging bowl, perhaps, but only if there's lots of crinkle paper.
I always worry that there's not more I could do as far as their diets but I literally can't think of anything else I'd feel comfortable adding.
It was very stressful for me when my GCC Tom started barbering while we were moving, he stopped and has molted almost all of those messed up feathers out but it still worries me.

Anyways, all I can think of right now.

 

[LeeC]

The hardest part for me is trying to supply enough mental stimulation. Especially for my Quaker, my other birds are more easily entertained while he is not impressed by simple things.

@zERo, wow you have 4 Budgies, 3 'Tiels, a Conure, and a Quaker?! It seems clear to me that the most enriching "thing" a parrot can have is a same-species companion. They are flock animals after all—and, they pair-bond at a young age, for life, in the wild. Your Budgies and 'Tiels have that covered. :] I know it is easy for me to say, but I bet your Quaker would love the enrichment of another Quaker.

Being a lone-species parrot is just not how they are engineered. I have seen the amazing benefits of growing a tiny flock of Senegals, one by one. It can have challenges, but some additions were a breeze. No reasonable amount of human attention or "toys" compares to a parrot having another parrot as their minds are engineered to enjoy. My first Senegal is an entirely different parrot now that he has flock mates. It warms my heart.

Having a cage big enough for multiple parrots is a challenge, too. I have a large-room aviary for my Conures (The Conure Club), and my Senegals have full liberty in my house, but that got complicated by adding a new Senegal, so two are in my dining-room aviary, which is open to my kitchen, so all the Senegals can see each other and interact through two layers of mesh (to protect toes). Two are in the aviary, two are out of it.

As you say, it can be a real challenge to provide mental stimulation, especially to a lone-species parrot. I have one such parrot, but I'm working on getting him a companion. I'd rather put in the work to accommodate multiple same-species parrots, versus trying to "invent" new "toy" enrichment for a lone-species parrot.

 

[zERo]

@zERo, wow you have 4 Budgies, 3 'Tiels, a Conure, and a Quaker?! It seems clear to me that the most enriching "thing" a parrot can have is a same-species companion. They are flock animals after all—and, they pair-bond at a young age, for life, in the wild. Your Budgies and 'Tiels have that covered. :] I know it is easy for me to say, but I bet your Quaker would love the enrichment of another Quaker.

Being a lone-species parrot is just not how they are engineered. I have seen the amazing benefits of growing a tiny flock of Senegals, one by one. It can have challenges, but some additions were a breeze. No reasonable amount of human attention or "toys" compares to a parrot having another parrot as their minds are engineered to enjoy. My first Senegal is an entirely different parrot now that he has flock mates. It warms my heart.

Having a cage big enough for multiple parrots is a challenge, too. I have a large-room aviary for my Conures (The Conure Club), and my Senegals have full liberty in my house, but that got complicated by adding a new Senegal, so two are in my dining-room aviary, which is open to my kitchen, so all the Senegals can see each other and interact through two layers of mesh (to protect toes). Two are in the aviary, two are out of it.

As you say, it can be a real challenge to provide mental stimulation, especially to a lone-species parrot. I have one such parrot, but I'm working on getting him a companion. I'd rather put in the work to accommodate multiple same-species parrots, versus trying to "invent" new "toy" enrichment for a lone-species parrot.

I'm planning on an indoor and possibly outdoor aviary in the future but the future is 2+ years away 😞
I have considered another Quaker but there's always the problem...and that's Tony. He's a notorious attack bird. I've tried for him and my GCC to at least be able to be out together at the same time but no luck, he actively seeks out a fight, he does the same to the cockatiels.
He is nice to the budgies though, that is now. Grim bears his past attack, she's missing one of her nails but that was due to me not realizing I needed to put something on top of his cage to avoid toes being bitten.
I just worry if I get another Quaker I'll have yet another bird that can't be out with other birds without very close supervision.

 

[HeatherG]

It complicates life to have a young male Meyers parrot who cant be trusted out with another bird in the house. He was more aggressive when he first came here but two + yrs later I still wont let them play with cages open. I am afraid Jasper would go kick Willow's butt.

When i had a greencheek and a somewhat disabled Quaker, the greencheek picked on the Quaker to no end if he got on her cage. He would go inside, take her toys and eat her food and she'd cry until i came to see what the problem was. So mean! But when she got sick due to age and arthritis the greencheek was very upset and started barbering. It surprised me because he had bullied her.

I think that similar species or sized birds can form a flock and get many benefits as they might with a same species bird. IMO.

I had Willow out for cuddles and bird time and Jasper of course kept contact caling. Finally i returned Willow to his cage and now Jasper is perched on my hand, quiet and content. But i need to watch Jasper's body language carefully so he doesn't react to something and bite me. He is a neat bird and he makes some really cool robotic noises, but gets surprised by the smallest things and bites

I MUST watch him most of the time. If my attention is pulled away Jasper doesn't like that. It's too bad because it results in Jasper getting less bird time. I cant have one of them on my shoulder or knee and one on my hand, but only separate OUT times.