Have you ever found yourself discouraging parrot ownership?

[LordTriggs]

I agree with Chris, it comes across very strange and hostile towards those without children.

It does feel like being judged for having a parrot when you haven't had a child despite the numerous cases of people having been wonderful with their birds having never had children and even disliking children

 

[Kiwibird]

I tell people if you dont have grown children, you need to really think the idea through.

Wait I’m confused. Are you saying only people with adult children can take good care of parrots?

There it is again! I saw this statement before in another thread and am still perplexed by it:33: While they don't say ONLY, they strongly infer having raised children somehow makes you a more suitable bird owner. It comes across as rather demeaning to those of us with parrots and no kids.

 

[Karlys]

I ultimately interpreted his statement to mean that people with small children shouldn't be parrot owners and not that only people that have raised children can be good ones. Although I'm not sure I agree with that either, it is a less problematic statement.

 

[Cardinal]

As someone who has read all the don't get a parrot info, and got a parrot anyway, I can say that some of the time, your discouragement will fall on deaf ears.

However, I have also joined the ranks. Everyone asks me how it's like owning a bird, and I tell them it sucks, and that they should adopt a dog or cat. Whether or not it works is unclear but the more wary people are the better in my opinion.

I would never recommend a Cat and in most cases, I wouldn't recommend a Dog either. Both these pets have a very high ecological footprint.

My favourite pet to recommend, a highly underrated and also often abused one is the Betta fish. They make lovely pets and with a maximum potential lifespan of about 5 years and average lifespan of perhaps about 1.5 years; they are ideal for most people.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUXP5I3jitM"]Why You NEED A Betta Fish NOW! - YouTube[/ame]

cheers

Avin

 

[Cardinal]

I agree with Chris, it comes across very strange and hostile towards those without children.

It does feel like being judged for having a parrot when you haven't had a child despite the numerous cases of people having been wonderful with their birds having never had children and even disliking children

I agree with you. In fact in many instances (not all) childless people are more likely to make more committed Parronts.

Here in India, people buy Parrots -mostly budgies, cockatiels or the rose ringed parakeet (it is illegal ) for their small children and when the children grow slightly old and have to focus on studies, the parents decide to abandon the birds- sometimes gruelling letting them fly free .

So having a child is not a bonus point for qualification; not that not having a kid, alone serves as a qualification point either.

cheers

Avin

 

[CalistosMom]

As someone who now lives with a McCaw, I will say that I understand all that you are saying and yes since I have brought Calisto intoy life, I have compared him to once being told Never to adopt a bloodhound because the consume your life and a bird is much worse than that but for me I am addicted to my winged friend. I did however tell a guy just the other day not to do it because he thought it would be fun! And Easy to own a bird. Some people have nooo concept.

 

[DiscoDuck]

One of the easiest things to do on a forum is to evoke a response. its the minority that becomes vocal.

To take one comment, I have written without knowing or reading all my posts, is to single out something you don't like that I have written.

I get that, Let me make it clear. I'll ask a question...

Remember I have met and talked to thousands of people in the last 18 months..

For someone who wants a parrot, who would make the best owner?

Someone who has raised kids or someone who hasn't?



It really is quite simple, those of you who have posted, my post is not about you and your ability to take on the commitment of a life time endeavor. Obviously, you post here. That's says a lot about exceptions to a rule. The correlation I make with people I speak with is between the raising of children and the care of a Parrot. Its similar yet far easier to do for a parrot. I know one thing for sure, my macaw is a heck of a lot smarter than my kids were at 3 years old and yet I don't think Rudy can graduate cum laude..

 

[DiscoDuck]

I agree with Chris, it comes across very strange and hostile towards those without children.

I agree with me, that I am normal and very educated, yet quite the pacifist when it comes to people who think differently than I!

 

[ChristaNL]

This really is one of my favorite threads here.


I always encounter the same: "Oh, but you have parrots, they must be great pets ... ?" reasoning.


"No: I have parrots because I am an evil human being who loves to surround herself with beautifull, intelligent and sensitive creatures who have absolutely no choice in the matter.
(and I hope I am the lesser evil for them)

The only reason anyone should ever even toy with the idea of owning aparrot it must be because you loooove cleaning and repairing stuff and your house does not get dirty, broken and messed up fast enough!
Oh, and it helps if you are partially deaf - otherwise you will be soon anyway!
Also: you must love throwing buckets of money away- because thats what it feels like to buy toys -demolished in seconds-, expensive food - plastered on the walls or just trown out- and pay vetbills etc."


or the short version: "I also have huge spiders, poison dartfrogs and tropical fish" if you want an easy to care for pet: go with the spiders!
Feed once a week (of 4x a year depending on the species), check water etc. dialy and ignore...
(spiders are just as bad/ or good/ as parrots, some will probably live 40-45 years or longer; nobody knows.)

 

[noodles123]

YES---and mainly because I am a detail-oriented/home-body type person and bird-ownership is hard for me (despite my background in behavior etc)!
I brought my cockatoo to visit my classroom a few times (and streamed her live as our digital class pet almost daily lol). On visit days, I spent half of the time explaining to the kids (middle school) that if they couldn't do their homework on-time and if they didn't want a 2-year-old kid who costs a lot of money,has behavior problems and can bite, then a bird is not a good choice. I swear, my students knew so much about my bird and bird issues lol. We did work too haha (but they were fascinated).
They LOVED Noodles, but I do believe they finally started to understand that she is a giant pain in the butt...nothing like a dog or a cat and CERTAINLY more expensive (in many cases). I will say that in supervised/day-long situations (spread out), these kids responded SO well to her....we are talking about kids with serious mental/emotional problems (SERIOUS...) and I have never seen them so well-behaved..
Granted, I said that if they messed with my bird, they would feel a wrath beyond recognition --I might have actually told them that my head would spin around. They knew I meant it, because she is my baby and I made that VERY clear...like...don't mess with mamma bear clear....
Either way, it was interesting to see their behavior around her, as they were so very interested and child-like in those moments! It was like they didn't even see the world around them and when she talked, they were IN LOVE. Now, long-term, novelty likely would have worn off...
One student (who had a longer rap-sheet than any other in the school) asked to eat lunch with her. I said that was fine (if certain rules were followed). The kid accidentally dropped his/her lunch into the recycling bin when trying to use my microwave, and where he/she normally would have dropped 30 "f-bombs", he/she looked at his/her lunch, then at the bird and back at his/her lunch (now destroyed and covering recycled bottles) and said in the calmest angry tone I have ever heard him/her use, "OH darn, I dropped my lunch. I am so disappointed. I am so so disappointed. I was really looking forward to eating that". LOL ---I bought the kid lunch out of amazement and pity!
Pretty AMAZING...
If you have a child with special needs, I wouldn't get a parrot, but I do see how they could be used for therapy in SMALL DOSES
People should anticipate the worst when getting parrots, because I don't think many people can adequately discipline/control/nurture/enrich their own kids....let alone a different (And more stubborn) species that is way more high maintenance (and smarter) than they ever imagined....

In the long-run, all of my students knew that bird-ownership was a bad and expensive idea. It was cute to hear them say, "Man, I want a bird, but actually, I don't, because you have to be obsessed with them to keep them alive and they have all sorts of problems..."



LOL

 

[BluenGold_Congo]

I adore parrots, and take parrot ownership EXTREMELY seriously. Sometimes I read or hear of people who've never had a parrot of any sort casually say they're going to get one. I'm not really opposed to anyone who really loves birds from getting parrots, but often I find they seem so casual about it. They seem so ignorant about parrots. Maybe they'll have a number of dogs and cats, and I wonder if they get the bird just to be an occasionally enjoyed "performing monkey" or decoration for the house. I think some people underestimate the effort, money, and attention they deserve.

When they become enamored with the sight of this big majestic creature I simply start going into the amount of time, work it takes for food prep, cleaning bonding LOUDNESS every day, they tend to snap back to reality.