new to owning "exotic" birds

[Presley]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to introduce myself. I've owned birds before and suffered the loss of my cockatiel this past May. (It was due to old age). She was my sweetheart, but recently found out it was best to avoid "powdery" birds due to flare up of allergies and respiratory issues. So I'm looking into other species such as an Eclectus. I'm also looking into Hahn's macaws, as I found out Macaws are not considered "powdery" birds, either. So you'll be probably see more of me in the Electus or Macaw forums. As I gain experience I can answer questions, but for now I'll mainly be asking. This forum has been an excellent and friendly source of info so I'm glad to be a part of it!

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums, glad you joined. My deepest condolences for the loss of your cockatiel. May her memories give comfort and assist your search for a future companion.

The eclectus and macaw forums are active as many members enjoy the charms of these two very different species!

 

[clark_conure]

To be honest this is a repost of something I posted a few days ago to the same situation....


"It eventually comes down to availability and level of care.

Take you local petco or petsmart, they will have parakeets budgies, cockatiels and conures. Conures being the top of the list. An independent seller will have what I consider exotics which is anything a mass chain store doesn't sell.

Consider the logistics, the chain store sell birds that are hardy, easy to feed, they are fine with pellets or seeds, and generally good natured. Some exotic birds require specialized diets, so only independent stores or breeders sell them.

The reason I bring this up is you need to consider the resources in your area and what you can provide. ANY PARROT from a parakeet to a rainbow mackaw has the potential to be smart beautiful brave and a lifelong companion. It's more about what you can provide for the parrot....can you handle whatever type of diet, or whatever type of time, do you have an avian vet in the area, does the avian vet do walk ins or on call service.

I Know I can't deal with an exotic bird, my conure and I get along fine but if I had anything more specialized it would be a challenging. So many birds end up being put up for adoption because the owner wasn't ready, I just want you to make good choices."

...end of post

So in short I recommend you find the bird that chooses you, and you can support medically, financially, nutritionally, and have the time for. The smarter the bird, the more attention it needs in general. A good step up from a cockatiel is a conure....I grew up with cockatiels now that I'm older I own a conure and I don't think I will go back or go further....hopefully my conure will outlive me. I don't ever plan on giving him up.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

Don't buy a bird from Petco or Petsmart!! You know they get them from mills!! I wouldn't say conures are more demanding than cockatiels, in fact my cockatiel is even more demanding. Or maybe I just have a needy cockatiel lol.

 

[clark_conure]

If there is a parrot rescue of course choose that, I ended up at a petco because I couldn't get into any parrot rescues at the time wasn't available. My bird is fine an hardy, and it's not the birds fault. I reached out to a few but so far nothing compatible has come up and in the meantime I think clark likes it to be just us, so I didn't pursue it.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

You could also get one from a breeder or independent pet store. Much better than Petco or Petsmart.

 

[clark_conure]

I explained, I consider this rude. Anyways.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

Sorry I won't say that anymore. I think it's fine that you got a bird from Petco, you already have the bird and you love him so there's nothing more you can do, but I wouldn't encourage anyone else to shop for a bird there.

 

[clark_conure]

I accept your apology. And I disagree, I know all about puppy mills but that doesn't mean all pet stores use bird mills. I did some google digging but a lot of the stuff was unsubstantiated. Also when I got my bird they actually had a daily chart of his weight and weighed him in front of me before they would allow me to buy him. The fact that I first saw him sitting on a guys head as he was feeding fish because they wanted to get them personalized more...he as hand raised, maybe that was why I was such luck bonding with him. I don't think mass pet stores are inherently bad. I realize pet overpopulation is a problem, but like I said in a previous post a pet chain store is not going to sell sickly animals. A chain store has an image to protect and would be much less able to get away with it than a single breeder out to make a buck...The employees themselves would be the whistle blowers if not the customers. People do love animals. I looked up petco on the BBB Better buisness bureau just now and not a single complaint against a bird. SO I can only complain about my bird, and how he likes to watch me pee.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

My local Petco is terrible. Thank goodness they do not have birds at this particular store. The poor guinea pigs are forced to live in a cage so narrow that they have to climb over their hides house to get to their water. There are always dead fish floating in the tanks. This is why I do not support Petco.

 

[clark_conure]

Well my bird came form a well managed petco with very much rigor on animal safety, that is why I support green lives matter.


Cause he's mostly green you know...

 

[Presley]

Don't buy a bird from Petco or Petsmart!! You know they get them from mills!! I wouldn't say conures are more demanding than cockatiels, in fact my cockatiel is even more demanding. Or maybe I just have a needy cockatiel lol.

Lol, it must be an individual thing! My tiel was a fairly easy bird to take care of. In fact at times, I used to wish she was more needy! I love the sweet sounding chirps of a tiel. They always seem to be good natured and smiling. Even when my tiel wanted her space I could never fault her for that because she was so darn loveable!


Regarding rescue birds, I actually did and still do look into getting a bird from a rescue. But the species I am interested in are never available. Plus, I think not having experience with exotic birds would screen me out, but I’m willing to still apply if the right bird was available.

 

[Presley]

Welcome to the forums, glad you joined. My deepest condolences for the loss of your cockatiel. May her memories give comfort and assist your search for a future companion.

The eclectus and macaw forums are active as many members enjoy the charms of these two very different species!

Thank you for for the kind words, Scott. I knew only fellow bird owners could understand my loss.

 

[Presley]

I accept your apology. And I disagree, I know all about puppy mills but that doesn't mean all pet stores use bird mills. I did some google digging but a lot of the stuff was unsubstantiated. Also when I got my bird they actually had a daily chart of his weight and weighed him in front of me before they would allow me to buy him. The fact that I first saw him sitting on a guys head as he was feeding fish because they wanted to get them personalized more...he as hand raised, maybe that was why I was such luck bonding with him. I don't think mass pet stores are inherently bad. I realize pet overpopulation is a problem, but like I said in a previous post a pet chain store is not going to sell sickly animals. A chain store has an image to protect and would be much less able to get away with it than a single breeder out to make a buck...The employees themselves would be the whistle blowers if not the customers. People do love animals. I looked up petco on the BBB Better buisness bureau just now and not a single complaint against a bird. SO I can only complain about my bird, and how he likes to watch me pee.

Hey Clark,
You bring up some really good points about mass chain stores that I had not thought of before. Due to their negative reputations from animal rights groups, my intent was to stay away from them as well, if I were to go with a non-exotic bird. But you pointed out a lot of positives that let me know I shouldn’t automatically cross it off my list without doing the research about a particular store. So thanks for that!

 

[Presley]

To be honest this is a repost of something I posted a few days ago to the same situation....


"It eventually comes down to availability and level of care.

Take you local petco or petsmart, they will have parakeets budgies, cockatiels and conures. Conures being the top of the list. An independent seller will have what I consider exotics which is anything a mass chain store doesn't sell.

Consider the logistics, the chain store sell birds that are hardy, easy to feed, they are fine with pellets or seeds, and generally good natured. Some exotic birds require specialized diets, so only independent stores or breeders sell them.

The reason I bring this up is you need to consider the resources in your area and what you can provide. ANY PARROT from a parakeet to a rainbow mackaw has the potential to be smart beautiful brave and a lifelong companion. It's more about what you can provide for the parrot....can you handle whatever type of diet, or whatever type of time, do you have an avian vet in the area, does the avian vet do walk ins or on call service.

I Know I can't deal with an exotic bird, my conure and I get along fine but if I had anything more specialized it would be a challenging. So many birds end up being put up for adoption because the owner wasn't ready, I just want you to make good choices."

...end of post

So in short I recommend you find the bird that chooses you, and you can support medically, financially, nutritionally, and have the time for. The smarter the bird, the more attention it needs in general. A good step up from a cockatiel is a conure....I grew up with cockatiels now that I'm older I own a conure and I don't think I will go back or go further....hopefully my conure will outlive me. I don't ever plan on giving him up.

The main reason (not the only reason, there are several) that I'm leaning towards an eckie is because they’re the most hypoallergenic of the birds and their feathers don’t produce a powdery dander, like the cockatoos, tiels, and greys do. (Hence, why I can’t get another tiel). I read that most macaw species have oil glands as well, so they will not produce a powdery dander, either. But, you did bring up some very valid points about pet store birds that I overlooked, so I need to keep those in mind.

It’s funny that you mention conures to me, because I was recently thinking that a GCC is similar in size, coloring, and temperament to a Hahn’s macaw (they both have a reputation for being nippy). I know that conures wouldn’t produce as much dust as the three I mentioned, but I guess I just want to be cautious about not causing any repiratory flare-ups. I'm open to hearing your take on the dander issue with conures if you wanted to share it.

thanks!

 

[Katu]

You might consider getting a very good bird safe air purifier if you're prone to allergies/asthma. Molting birds of all kinds can give off dander/dust. It benefits both you and the bird as well.

 

[Presley]

I'm looking into that as well. But then I also saw a newsclip where consumer reports (I think?) said that the air purifiers were mostly hype and not needed. They basically said keeping pets out of your bedroom should help with most of it.

But then I read so many reviews where people insist their allergy issues cleared up the next day, so I don't know if it's a placebo effect or if it really works.

If I were to get one, should it stay in the room with the bird's cage where the bird would sleep or where the bird would be during the day (living room area)?


thanks

 

[GaleriaGila]

Very interesting thread. I learned some stuff!
Glad you found us, and thanks for sharing.

 

[PipnMe]

Hi Welcome! I am an asthma and allergy sufferer myself so I understand what you are going through as far as searching for the right bird. I have to highly recommend getting a GCC. My little guy is so sweet and whats even better is that I am not allergic to him like I am other birds including cockatiels which I have had in the past. They have no dust and from the research that I have done, they don't really have much dander to speak of.

As far as buying a bird from Petco or private breeders, either one can also be a potential issue with the whole mass breeding thing. If you go to a shelter and rescue a bird you don't know where it came from either. I say as long as you do your research and you bond with the bird right away, learn what you can about health and nutrition and you'll have a happy, healthy, cuddly friend for a long time. Happy birdie hunting!

 

[Flboy]

Definitely a hijacked thread! But I must say, concerning Petco or any pet shop, they are as good as the local management! Same thing for any private breeder! Our local PetCo had a few issues with their birds, and I called the manager out over it and made a little bit of a scene! To his credit, they changed their policy in that store and things are quite a bit better now! All of their birds are health certified and vaccinated. They do not use 'mills'!
My JoJo is indirectly from there, and so is Bongo, both incredible companions! Remember, the bird picks you!
I find their prices to be a bit high though!