summerperez14
New member
- Oct 13, 2022
- 1
- 2
- Parrots
- 2 Conuers, 1 Macaw, 1 cockatiel and 1 cockatoo
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
I cannot image this big birdhouse without a bird.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.
its like having a toddler except the toddler has bolt cutters for a mouth!!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!
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'm curious as to what the hardest part of owning a parrot for everyone is. For me, it's cleaning the dang cage!! haha
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.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.
@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.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.
I'm planning on an indoor and possibly outdoor aviary in the future but the future is 2+ years away 😞@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.