RealAndy219
New member
Hi everyone, I’m new to this forum, for some reason I never thought about there being a forum for parrot caretakers. I’ve lurked around a while and decided to finally pull the trigger here as this seems to be one of the more “friendly” forums.
I’ve been a admirer and caretaker, I’m not a big fan of the word owner, since I was 7 years old. I’ve had two parakeets, my first was named sugar and my second was named Jonny. At 16, I was birdless, until my cousin went to boot camp and he let me take care of his Quacker Parrot. I ended up caring for Samson for about a year and a half before my cousin was able to get Sampson back. Sampson was a handful, he was as ornery as they come. The first three months I was bit almost constantly, lol. After 3 months of almost constant work and attention Sampson made an almost complete change.
The rest of the 14 or 15 months, Sampson would send almost all of his free time out of the cage and on my shoulder or head lol. He danced every morning when I went towards his cage. It was amazing, and he would talk your ears off. After my cousin took him back, I was birdless once again for over a year.
A neighbor had a cockatiel who was about 7 years old and decided they didn’t want her anymore. They were just going to let her free. I took her and found they had her in a cage that looked like it was made for a canary. That same day I ran to the local pet shop, and found a nice stand alone cage that was probably more suited for a few cockatiels. She was a handful, and with work it took the better part of six months to get her tame enough to handle and play without worry, especially with small kids around. She passed away when I was 29, and 1 year later I found another Cockatiel that I named Chip.
Chip is something special. She took to me immediately. She spends most of her day flying around the house, on my shoulder, on my lap, teasing my Great Dane, etc. she doesn’t try to talk or imitate sounds and whistles. But her favorite game is scaring new people. If they get close to her, she’ll open her beak. Stand still for a few seconds, then runs towards their hand. As her beak hits/touches their hand, she makes a growling/hissing sound. Then backs away and looks at the person. If the person doesn’t react, she just goes about her business. If they do react, be it yank their hand away, jump, make a noise; chip will stretch her wings, stand tall, and her crest goes up then she dances and yells a little victory sound.
Anyway, sorry this post is so long. I’m on a mission to learn all I can about the bigger parrots and cockatoos, as I’ve always wanted one. Not sure when, but someday. I’ve read so much, I’ve heard so much, and I’ve seen so many, I’m just not sure what I think would fit with me better. I keep switching between a cockatoo and McCaw. Both have their own pros and cons. Plus I have to take into consideration Chip, and how she’ll feel about a newcomer.
If you read all that, thanks for being a trooper. I’ll try to make future posts a bit shorter.
I’ve been a admirer and caretaker, I’m not a big fan of the word owner, since I was 7 years old. I’ve had two parakeets, my first was named sugar and my second was named Jonny. At 16, I was birdless, until my cousin went to boot camp and he let me take care of his Quacker Parrot. I ended up caring for Samson for about a year and a half before my cousin was able to get Sampson back. Sampson was a handful, he was as ornery as they come. The first three months I was bit almost constantly, lol. After 3 months of almost constant work and attention Sampson made an almost complete change.
The rest of the 14 or 15 months, Sampson would send almost all of his free time out of the cage and on my shoulder or head lol. He danced every morning when I went towards his cage. It was amazing, and he would talk your ears off. After my cousin took him back, I was birdless once again for over a year.
A neighbor had a cockatiel who was about 7 years old and decided they didn’t want her anymore. They were just going to let her free. I took her and found they had her in a cage that looked like it was made for a canary. That same day I ran to the local pet shop, and found a nice stand alone cage that was probably more suited for a few cockatiels. She was a handful, and with work it took the better part of six months to get her tame enough to handle and play without worry, especially with small kids around. She passed away when I was 29, and 1 year later I found another Cockatiel that I named Chip.
Chip is something special. She took to me immediately. She spends most of her day flying around the house, on my shoulder, on my lap, teasing my Great Dane, etc. she doesn’t try to talk or imitate sounds and whistles. But her favorite game is scaring new people. If they get close to her, she’ll open her beak. Stand still for a few seconds, then runs towards their hand. As her beak hits/touches their hand, she makes a growling/hissing sound. Then backs away and looks at the person. If the person doesn’t react, she just goes about her business. If they do react, be it yank their hand away, jump, make a noise; chip will stretch her wings, stand tall, and her crest goes up then she dances and yells a little victory sound.
Anyway, sorry this post is so long. I’m on a mission to learn all I can about the bigger parrots and cockatoos, as I’ve always wanted one. Not sure when, but someday. I’ve read so much, I’ve heard so much, and I’ve seen so many, I’m just not sure what I think would fit with me better. I keep switching between a cockatoo and McCaw. Both have their own pros and cons. Plus I have to take into consideration Chip, and how she’ll feel about a newcomer.
If you read all that, thanks for being a trooper. I’ll try to make future posts a bit shorter.