How many of you are Single Bird owners

[Bradari]

Can I please see how many of us have a single bird and hear your experiences as a single bird owner?

 

[SilverSage]

I would be interested to know how many people here have only one bird, as well. I obviously do not fit into that category though.

 

[Bradari]

Silversage. I swear I would have as many birds as u if I was allowed.
My Husband will allow My one baby and one baby only. im so worried about him being lonely etc. when im at work so I want to know what single bird owners do to keep their Birds occupied.

At the moment I leave the tv on for him but he is only 6 weeks old and has the company of the teil even though he hardly pays attention to it. but the teil goes to its new home soon.

 

[antoinette]

I have only one bird Mishka (African Grey) almost 7 years old.

I would never consider another bird, Mishka is happy being on his own. I would never take the risk in case Mishka's personality changed.

We do have a cat Ringo, (8 months old) the two get along fantastic.
During the day Ringo often sleeps on Mishka's cage, Mishka then preens his tail. Mishka calls Ringo every 5 minutes then they meow and chat together.
They interact together at night and play together.
ALWAYS UNDER STRICT SUPERVISION.

For Mishka not to get bored I make voice recording of sounds and saying I would like him to learn. There are about 100 different ones on each cd,
(20 cd's) you name it I have recordered it.

My son Steven works shifts, so when coming home he changes the cd's.

Each night we sit together for an hour, going over the sounds and saying.

 

[SilverSage]

It can be done, I know people do it, it just takes a lot of work. One thing I suggest is getting the Bird Sitter DVD from parrot University - think of it as sesame street for your parrot. It helps them by allowing them to see and hear other parrots in social situation, basically it helps them understand being a bird, something that a lot of companion parrots ESPECIALLY hand raised ones struggle with. Leaving some sort of noise on helps because in the wild silence = danger. Also, it is just going to be a huge responsibility to give him enough attention when you are home, but that doesn't ever change no matter how many birds you have Don't despair! In an ideal world I believe every bird would have a bird buddy, but they would also have a perfect diet, unlimited toy budget, and be able to fly 20 miles a day like they do in the wild.

One thing I suggest is that while your baby is still young, harness train him. being able to safely take you bird outside opens up a HUGE door to mental stimulation for him, and he needs that. I won't get into the wing clipping debate (other than to say, research both sides! I strongly recommend writings by Dr. Steve Hartman of Parrot University in Ohio) but even a clipped bird can fly away! Don't believe me? I have had it happen and it was devastating. When a bird is startled they can fly away, even if they are clipped. Also, a clipped bird is less likely to understand the very tricky skill of flying DOWN, and will likely get stuck in a tree. I say this because no matter if you clip or not, you need to have a plan for keeping your bird safe if you take him outside, and I believe the best way is with a harness (preferably the Aviator Harness, which is by far the safest option!).

I know this isnt about having only one bird, but it is about giving a single bird the fullest life it can have. Most of us wouldnt consider keeping a dog inside his whole life, and a GCC can live 30 years!

Best of luck! I know your little guy is loved

 

[Bradari]

Right u guys have made me feel better now.
believe me this lil guy gets all of my attention when im home. mys kids and my hubby attention to.

I do plan on harness training just need to find the right harness and don't plan on clipping unless absolutely needed. he also already has bouts of outside time with me and loves it.

I will def look into the cd's mentiond.at the moment I put the tv on Disney Junior for him lol

 

[SilverSage]

The aviator harness is absolutely the safest option out there.

 

[Mango121913]

Mango is single, only 8 months. Seems very happy. X2 on the aviator harness. Interacts with us daily.

 

[drj130]

I currently only have one as well. Might extend that when my wife gets here. She is wanting to get a bird as well. I work nights, but I leave the TV on for Pat while I sleep during the day. I do spend time with him before I head for bed, and on and off during the day when I wake from time to time. I'm going to have to look into the flight harness.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

I am also a fan of the aviator harness and I do have the Bird Sitter dvd too. That harness gives Gil so much freedom to go out and see the world with me (as well as fly of course). I think you may be happy if you look into them too. I regret not having had my last bird harness trained.

 

[LeaKP]

My Peep is a cinnamon gcc and is the only fid I have at the moment. He does well and as long as he is out with me when I'm home, he is ok. I think it depends on the bird and the breed. When I had grays they did better alone as long as I was taking time with them.

 

[Kiwibird]

We are a single bird home and we knew when we adopted Kiwi he would be happiest in a single bird home. In a split second impulsive kind of way, I'd love to have more birds, but when I really think about Kiwi's feelings, the commitment, time, space needs and cost of more birds, I'm just appreciative to have found the perfect parrot already and am happy to just see other birds when they belong to someone else

Kiwi has been clipped since he was a baby and has no concept of flight (not our choice, we adopted him as an older bird). Because of that, he gets to come outside unharnessed and comes out on errands with me all the time He really doesn't care about videos and would much rather play with his toys or explore. Before I worked from home, my hubby and I were both gone all day. We did leave on the radio, but his main joy was lots of forging activities and knots to untie (Kiwi loves untying knots lol) Unless it's his sleep-time at night, Kiwi's cage is open and he's out interacting any time we're home.

 

[kq_fan]

I have one bird only! She is very spoiled because she is an only "child" so she gets all my attention!

 

[veimar]

I was a single bird owner for 3.5 months. LOL I used a lot of bird videos (posted them here too) to educate Parry about other birds.
My bird is definitely happier and more active with the flock he has now. I have different birds from all sorts of backgrounds, and it always amazes me how they learn GOOD things from each other. But all birds are different - some of them would definitely fit into the single parrot situation.
BTW, I'm introducing the Aviator harness to my GCC right now too!

 

[MustLoveAnimals]

I have a very happy, single Cockatiel. She absolutely LOVES the other animals. She will walk around on the floor, trying to catch the dog or cat to nibble on their collars and tags. She also loves to forage for food. I'll scatter some treats around on the table next to her cage, and she loves to search for her favorite pieces. She also enjoys tearing up paper items. So I will leave some things on the floor for her, and attach some to the top of her cage.
Though, she won't be the only bird for 'Too' much longer.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

My girl is an only bird.She loves other birds and I would like to get her a buddy one day but it doesn't fit my life to have more than one right now. She's very happy and well adjusted, socialised and healthy. I don't use DVDs or radio, she just gets plenty of toys to play with. She's a shredder, and she loves noisy rattles and any toys where there is shredded paper stuffed inside something that she can pull out and throw around. I keep her in fresh toys every 5 days or so. She's on her own for up to 8 hours a day, but not regularly as I live with my brother and we usually work opposite shifts, so it's only when our schedules change so we're working at the same time that she's alone. When I'm at home, she's out the whole time (from about 9-10.30am then from 4-11pm, or if I work nights all day from 9am to 5.30pm when I leave for work).

She does get put away if I'm going out for the day, she never seems to mind. She just gets excited when I get home and let her out

 

[noblemacaw]

Right now Valentino is the only animal left in my home. I had a Noble macaw, cat and dog but due to huge transition in my life I had to find homes for my cat and dog and my Ex took Julio back to the rescue.

I refuse to part with Valentino and will only find him a new home if I cannot care for him properly. My fear is not being able to recognize if I had to rehome him for his sake. I am very attached to Valentino and would not consider rehoming him unless I am forced to.

With that said he is now the only animal here. For now until a job offer comes though I am working from home with my writing. I did a 5 week contract job where I left the house at 6am and came home at 4:30pm so that gave me a taste to how Valentino would handle being alone for 10.5 hours a day.

I wish I have better less power using TV or stereo. Both my systems are very old and I simply cannot afford to have either system running all day. Last week my CD player died so now my stereo system only has radio capability making it not very useful for such a powerful energy sucking system. I would love to upgrade the stereo system to a more energy efficient smaller system but not lose the quality of sound my current stereo system. I also need to replace my livingroom TV with a more energy efficient flat screen so I can cut back on the energy used for the converter box and giant analog TV. Someday this will happen. I hope.

I worried constantly what 10.5 hours a day of being alone would affect Valentino. He was not use to being alone for so long. One morning after I told him "goodby, be a good boy." He said to me in a plaintive voice "Don't Go." That darn near broke me and I came very close to calling into work. However as some may know it is not good business to "call in" while on a contract job. I could not do it and HAD to go in to work.

Some changes in Valentino included more louder screaming and a very clingy parrot. I have since the contract ended worked with Valentino getting him back on the schedule I had before I went back to work. I know I will be returning to the workforce very shortly as I continue to interview for jobs while waiting for a job offer. When I finally do return to full time work I do worry about Valentino being a single parrot alone all day.

Between the stereo and TV system energy needs I will probably play the stereo radio for him while I am away. I wonder if is the silence that is a problem but I know being alone all day is not healthy for Valentino. Eventually when I am financially able and can handle the extra cost of another parrot I will get another parrot but for now Valentino is a single parrot living in a home with no other animals.

 

[RavensGryf]

For the couple decades of Robin's life with me, at a couple points in our life, he was my only bird. For years at a time. He's such a good boy. He was and still is very independent when he has to be, and had absolutely no problem being an only bird. In fact, if you could ask him, he would tell you he actually prefers it! At first he had to get used to it, since as a Poi, he was never interested in friendship with other birds. He had to learn to handle his jealousy too, but he did. He had such a good temperament about it.

 

[saka_sandora]

Genesis was a single bird for about 3 months before school and work started interfering with the amount of time I was able to give him. I decided to get another when we hit our break period for school, which for us was a month and a half. I figured I would have plenty of time to work with the new one and give genesis the time he needed. Its worked out so far but Zack is still nervous around me.

 

[Roleck]

I have a Nanday Conure. Have had him (from the wild) for about 3 years now. He obviously did not want to be in the wild, just flew out of a tree one day and we took him in. I was concerned about leaving him alone for many long hours while I was at work but he settled in nicely -- with a couple of cats for company -- and we are a happy family. He does shoulder rides, tells me he loves me in conure talk and screeches enough, just enough, to annoy my husband, then stops and shreds up paper like crazy. That's why I'm writing: he doesn't do it all the time. Just now it is late August and he started up shredding. It is now an obsession almost with him. it will go for a week and then he will forget it. Anyone have any comments on this? is He a She? is there some sort of seasonal thing attached to this? I know they are natural shredders but this is remarkable.