Eclectus - travelling, walks, loneliness and a dog :)

[hlavik]

Hi everyone,
I consider buying an eclectus in the future. And I have a few things I am curious about. They may be stupid. But, well, whatever ) Any answer appreciated

1) My time schedule differs each day - I am away from home for about 8 hours each working day. This is avarage time and I am never away from home for more than 6 hours at once - usually 3-4 hours in the morning, 3-5 in the afternoon /sometimes evening.
Is it too much? I think the parrot should not be lonely, I will spend time with him and let him out the cage when I am at home. But what do you guys think?

2) I was wondering - I live in not so quiet part of a town - not many drunk people or noise from pubs and bars - but there are traffic sounds. Nothing terrible, no honking cars, but the sounds of cars and tram can be heard almost constantly. Nights are okay. Is it okay to keep a parrot in this kind of environment? Otherwise my household is very quiet and calm.

3)How about eclectuses and dogs?

4)Can I travel with a parrot every several weeks? I would like to go to my parent's place for weekends sometimes.

5)Last question is about taking a bird outside. I would like to do so - sometimes. Is it possible to get an eclectus used to being outside? I have a small park in front of my house. As I said before it is not a big city, but there definitely will be people and cars passing by.
I have cca 22celsius at home. Is it bad for a parrot to take him outside when the temperature is lower?

Thank everyone who will make time to answer these questions.

 

[steveandbarb1]

Work - we all need to make a living - bird will be fine
Dog - really depends upon dog, we have 2 cats and 2 dogs - everyone happy - and we never cage our guy
Travel - ours shuttles between 2 houses, some adjustment to new house (our guy is 19 years old and this is recent) after 4 months he is cool - goes right into soft sided cat carrier (easier than cage, hangs on the headrest - he is probably safest of anyone in car
outside - depends where you live, and you don't want outside visitors getting curious spreadhing disease. so depends

get a GOOD avian vet and they can guide you

 

[tashawithanekkie]

Our Duke's old home was on a busy street with semi trucks and ambulances passing often and it didn't seem to bother him. As long as it's quieter at night so your bird can sleep, you should be fine.

Many members of the forum have dogs, myself included, and as long as you're careful it should be okay. Never leave the dogs and the bird alone together while the bird is out of the cage, of course.

You have many options for taking the bird outside. I have a cage to wheel outside. Others here use harnesses or bird carriers. Cold weather probably isn't great for them though.

Good luck to you.

 

[coopedup]

Work: schedule is fine, mines all over the place but they adapt. I make sure he knows im leaving for work so that he now knows to expect me to return and doesnt flock call for me all day. Spend time with him between if you can. Make sure he has interesting and fun toys that HE likes (my boy isnt impressed with most of what i put in his cage and thus ignores them rendering them useless) to keep him from getting bored.

Environment: Also fine. Outside environmental noises arent a huge deal to them if it's consistent. Wrangler goes off (aka Parrot alarm) when he sees someone he doesnt know walk past. We have a quiet household and what seems to upset him most is visitors. More on this in a separate post.

Dog: Individual thing, dependent mostly on the dog. Our shepherd spent the first few months trying to eat the bird (or maybe it was a baby to her, we arent quite sure) but now it's detente and the dog is pretty uncomfortable when the bird is close. Respect the beak! This is more about her being a shepherd and understanding the humans expectations than it is her being complacent. Her desire to please us is stronger than her desire to get the bird. We also knew that she was ok with the cat next door so we had a clue that her prey drive could be managed. As a rule, DONT count on them getting along---dogs/cats are one of the major causes of bird deaths.

Travel: Wrangler LOVES car rides. He's really good at airplanes now too. Just make sure you have suitable quarters for him on the other end. The disruption of his schedule/surroundings is likely to be more of an issue than the actual travel.

Outside: Outside is wonderful! take it slow, allow them to absorb all the new things. Dont be surprised if he's scared at first, it's a whole new world. Wrangler likes to watch the planes overhead...and I tell him what each bird is and convey my approval or disapproval by my voice. IE: nice birdy! That's a crow/robin/finch, etc! Uh oh HAWK! BAD hawk! Because of the hawk/s he has to wear a harness outside--he's not flighted but the harness means that in the event of a snatch and grab by the hawk, I have a tether and get to keep my bird. Might have a few puncture wounds...but I have him and the hawk doesnt.

 

[hlavik]

Thank you all for your answers
I expected most of it, but I wanted to make sure the parrot won't suffer in this kind of environment. So thanks a lot

 

[Donald2Chatara]

Our Duke's old home was on a busy street with semi trucks and ambulances passing often and it didn't seem to bother him. As long as it's quieter at night so your bird can sleep, you should be fine.

Many members of the forum have dogs, myself included, and as long as you're careful it should be okay. Never leave the dogs and the bird alone together while the bird is out of the cage, of course.

You have many options for taking the bird outside. I have a cage to wheel outside. Others here use harnesses or bird carriers. Cold weather probably isn't great for them though.

Good luck to you.

Also a needed info for me. thank you.

 

[picklesandjesse]

I think you will be OK. My bird who is now 17 months old seems to be fine with different situations. I take him 500 miles south in the car and have him on a sailboat for a few days. He's free inside the car and boat to fly around, outside in a cage. Back here he flies outside each afternoon and is able to escape from hawks etc, some days he chooses to fly back to me in 10 minutes, other days he will disappear ...... out of site and be back an hour later. He never ceases to amaze me.
My wife has been away for a few weeks getting medical treatment back in China and he's been sleeping in the bed with me !! Don't tell her. At about 2am he makes a noise and I get up and put him on a perch in the kitchen where he does his business.... then back to bed. He mixes with the local birds around here and is now well known in the bird community. I study this, been keeping birds for more than 40 years. They can adapt if they are loved. I consider him my equal not a pet. If you talk to your bird he/she will listen. Guess I must be a bird person now as some of the wild birds around here land on me in our garden. I feel blessed to live in Australia, home of amazing birds.