Looking for Apartments Accepting of Conures

[BoomBoom]

Hi everyone. I find myself needing to move to a new apartment. My main issue is finding one that would not only accept pets but an occasionally noisy bird.

I lucked out on my current apartment as I have been a tenant for 4 years before I took Boomer home. We also got the landlord's permission. The neighbors are all ok as well. I am worried I will not find one where people would be as understanding.

Boomer has his loud moments. What I find tolerable, the management may not. Ido not know how to go about looking for a bird-friendly place. Is there a secret resource out there? Bird people like yourselves would understand and (I am hoping) have some sort of experience and advice to give on this matter.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Conuregirl]

Hi,

I had to respond with my experience! I looked for a pet-friendly apartment. Usually if they allow dogs, almost everything is ok. I own a nanday and the rescue called my building manager for approval.

The only thing that sucks is there are not many pet friendly apartments. You got to sacrifice some stuff (garage, space, laundry facilities) or it will cost more with a deposit. My nanday makes noise during the morning for 5 mins and some minor squawks at day. He will get really loud and happy when I come home but simmers down after a cuddle.

Carpet, drapes, and other furnishings can really dampen the sound. My apartment has wood floors and sometimes his squawk can echo or even ring a bit! If my dog barks at a stranger in the hall, it gets all my birds stirred up. We have had no complaints. I can only guess since everyone that lives here has a barking dog! My guys don't make noise all day and are quiet when I am gone. For my next apartment or condo, I want a corner unit and I'll put my birds against the wall that isn't shared with a neighbor.

Best of luck to you and Boomer!

 

[Aquila]

Not all apartments have anything mentioned for birds, so if you check places out, see how quiet the apartments really are. I'm lucky that my apartment is pretty quiet, and mostly full of older, Russian people, who don't bother anyone.

I did have a noisy neighbor when I first moved in here, who played loud music nonstop from 10pm to 5am, but that got taken care of pretty quickly. My neighbor now does watch some loud TV, but nothing too bad, and no one's complained about my birds. You might hear some noise out in the hallways of my apartment, but when you're inside your own you don't hear much of anything.

I've brought my Amazon outside to sit on the bench in front of the building, and discovered a few other people in the building have birds too. So really, you can get away with it at your own discretion, given the acoustics of the building, and as long as it doesn't say anything about birds (mine specifies no dogs or cats, though people in another building do have dogs.) you can always plead ignorance, but be careful.

 

[JamesC]

I've been choosing apartments with varying numbers of birds a few times the past 10 years (too many times, really). Speak with the management beforehand and ask them about how well the units are sound insulated and let them know your concerns about being a good neighbor. Most of the time with me they have been appreciative about the discussion and your concern about heading off a noise problem before it actually becomes a problem. They might be able to place you in a unit that does not share as many walls with other units. Having an outside door instead of one sharing a common hallway seems to work best. A place I had near Madison, WI was one with a common hallway and I could hear Tootsie calling for me as soon as I got out of the elevator. But nobody complained, fortunately.

A lot depends upon what type of construction the building is. Concrete construction like what is common in hurricane prone areas (like I just recently moved from in south Florida) is really good for insulating sound. Wood framed buildings like what I currently live in here in Minnesota are not quite as good. I just moved in here and have not yet met my common wall neighbor but they have a toddler and a dog so hopefully they are used to noise and the birds won't bother them if they are audible in their place.

Tootsie and Rosco are a lot noisier here than they were in Florida which is concerning me. I'm getting things up on the walls to deaden their sound some but they can still overload my ears occasionally. The move was upsetting but we have been here for a week and they are still stirred up. I think it is because I have a southern exposure here and a lot more natural sunlight in my place during the day than I did at my old place. They sure love sitting next to the window on their play stand preening in the sunshine. If only they would do it quietly!

 

[Conuregirl]

My birdies in the apartment sound just like JamesC! My birds love being on their playgym, looking out the window, and squawking at the wild birds. I can hear my guys down the hall, waiting for the elevator. It's kinda funny but I hear other people, too. Kids singing, playing flutes, or really annoying Korean karaoke! (My town has quite a mix of ethnic people from Korean, Japanese, Jews, and Italian.)

I think what matters most is if you can hear your neighbors inside your home or vice versa. However, my nanday went through a hormonal period and that was really trying for me! My birds hardly make noise at night and I think that is what matters the most. I know my building management does not like barking/noise throughout the entire night. At least with birds, that will not be a problem.

 

[Lee11]

My neighnors generally make so much noise I am not so worried about the bird but them! Rico is generally a quiet bird so I have had no issues as yet.
I am supposed to live in a no pet building but I see dogs around so I am not overly concerned.
However, I totally understand you as when I am moving I will have to take Rico under consideration....

 

[Dharmawaits]

Look for an older building. Anything that says concrete construction. In Phoenix most buildings where made with concrete construction up through the early seventies. We never hear our neighbors and they never hear us. Concrete is your friend!

 

[osnyder]

I recently moved into an apartment with my conure and I'd say about 80% of the buildings I inquired into said "no problem" when I said I had a bird, whether they were pet friendly or not. The apartment I took officially takes cats but not dogs.

I was terrified of people complaining but not a peep so far.