What got you into birds?

[glutes]

Wow glutes, sounds like you're one of those people who are just a "natural" with birds/animals!

Lol that's what they tell me!


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[Scott]

Had little interest in birds until my parents began adopting them in 1985. First one was Gonzo, a BFA for Mothers Day. Lots more followed!

As we know, birds often choose YOU. I got close to many and began to acquire my own!

I cannot imagine life without parrots!

 

[snowflake311]

Always had the small guys around as a child. With three Sons, my poor mother saw them as a small beam of sanity in the ongoing dust storm around her.

After Service to Our Country, College, and starting steady work, I was visiting a local Pet Store and came across a nearly bare LCA. An Amazon that had suffer all the worst of the long and brutal Import Trade process, several Pet Stores and finally this store. The owner had given-up ever selling this Amazon, since anyone who came near that cage was exposed this screaming body of skin and a few splashes of feathers here or there. Not a pretty site. He had elected to simply put her out of her misery. So, for the cost of a used stand, a couple bags of seed and a used cage too small for a Teil, AND A PROMISE TO NEVER BRING THAT BIRD BACK, I was an Amazon owner for little more than Twenty dollars (in Old Days Money).

I did everything wrong, everything and suffered bits on bits. Six months into that 'Blood Bath,' I was sitting in front of the cage rubbing my most recent finger bits, when this body of skin came out of the cage, walked the short distance to me and rubbed her head on my finger. I would like to say, all these years later, that I can bring to some level of understand why that happened. The best I have is that she likely felt sorry for me and took me on as her own Human. From than on what I learned about Amazons came for her and our relationship.

Because of her, I never give-up on Amazons, never! And, why I am an Amazon Snob to this day!

This made my cry. Its so sweet. I had a similar yet VERY different experience with a pitbull. Long story....it did not end well but I still love pits.

 

[MagicalMerlin]

I'll bring back a sort of old thread!

I never had an interest in birds! My childhood best friend had parakeets who would fly directly at your face when let out of the cage, so my whole teenage and young adult life I always said "I'll never have birds!"
Coming from an animal rescue background, having a handful of rescue dogs and cats, I always told my husband "these are the two animals I'll never want or ask for: a bird or a pig".

Then you pass by a B&G macaw living in a horrendous pet shop with mice in the cage. My mind and my husband's mind instantly changed. We went from "birds are so much better in the wild" to "well...we have plenty of room and YOU have plenty of time for a macaw"
I went from a slight fear of birds flying straight at my face to a slight fear of a massive beak coming at my hands or feet!

For whatever reason we came to becoming macaw owners, we've never been happier or more in love with a pet (and trust me, there are a lot).

How do you even say no, to that beautiful face? Especially when it needs your help?!

How can you not love that giant blue bird? He may lunge at feet sometimes and pull up parts of the carpet, but every night we say "night night merlin, we love you".

He's one of the best decisions ever made.

 

[wrench13]

I had no experience with parrots at all, until I hit my early 30's, when a red spectacled amazon ( Skylar) picked me at local pet shop. Oh did he pick me. Luckily my soon to be first wife also loved him. He would sit on her hip and watch TV for hours, go with me on my shoulder to stores. laundrymats, even a tavern or 2. He was quiet, friendly , small and a gentleman, and I forget that clipped wings grow back, and sadly he got spooked one day and in the middle of residential NYC, flew away, never to be seen again. And that was enough to get me into parrots for basically for the rest of my life. I have never had more then one at a time, there have been several, and I was not always the best parront I might have been ( mostly thru ignorance - pre internet). THere followed a YNA, who I loved and he loved me, but hated wife and small children, and the hate and dislike was returned,so sadly I re-homed Winston. We tried again years later with a Quaker parrot named Brody, who soon took a dislike to EVERYONE ( again still pre-internet, so teritorial behaviour of Quakers was unknown to us, and his cage/playstand were the only places we had him) and my neighbor has just lost her parrot. We re-homed him there, and to this say he is a sweet little parrot, who loves his new Mom.
Scroll forward , to a new wife and grown kids, and I again was picked and picked well by a tiny Brotogeris ( BeeBee) parrot. Max. Ahh Maxie. Like a tiny distilled down Amazon. Loud, opinionated, prone to temper tantrums, but loyal and fun to be with, he sadly passed away one night, no warning signs, just a miniature Amazon death scream, and he was gone. I couldnt even look at pictures of parrots for months with our getting depressed. But I have had a parrot most times, and my second wife encouraged me to do some invetigation on possible getting another. I read up about different types. and the Yellow SHoulder AMazon seemed just about perfect. But hard to find for sure. I was lucky again in being able to actually find a brother and sister at a shop that specializes in parrots. And while not exaclty 'picked' by Salty, he did let me cuddle and play with him for hours at the store. ANd since then, Salty has been closest to my original parrot, Skylar, but Salty talks way more then his species is supposed to, and sooo smart, but like Skylar he is mostly a gentleman. He has a forever home with me and then with my oldest son.

 

[BeatriceC]

I was never a bird person until I met MrC. My experience with them previously had not been very good. I had some basic handling experience, but most of the birds I knew were poorly socialized and not very nice at all. The first time I ever went to his house in the early days of our dating relationship, he showed off Goofy and it was all I could do to stay polite. I was not interested in the birds at all.

Well, then MrC and I got serious, and I started spending a lot more time over here, and Goofy eventually won me over. In the years since moving in I've worked hard to worm my way into Goofy's heart. Cookie has always been pretty chill, so he was easy to learn to handle, but Goofy was a tough nut to crack. As I started interacting with him more and more, I began to fall in love with the little green terror. So I got an even littler green terror. In training Leo, I began to see just how wonderful birds are. And now I have gone full scale crazy bird lady.

 

[psychocircus91]

Thanks for sharing everyone!

 

[Saravp]

When i was a baby, we always listened to pirate story audiobooks in the car, then when i was seven, my brother sat me down and ran me through a list of every pet i could get, from cockroaches to bearded dragons. the moment he said parrot, i was like: Yep, thats it. I have researched them ever since, and three weeks ago, we found a baby rainbow lorikeet being attacked by crows, we brought him home and named him mango.
This is him:

 

[Inti's woman]

As a 3 year old (?) I already had a photo book with fascinating macaws. Pippi Longstocking's dad (called so in English?) and the Adventure series (Enid Blython) with the hilarious cockatoo. And I had to nag my parents for a budgerigar for many years. After a few weeks of granny "sitting" she helped to have a bird and be able to afford it. I have no idea how old I was, I think 12 years old. After that, never again without parakeets and parrots for decades. Once they steal your heart....🥰

 

[texsize]

The woman I married in 1983 was from South America and had lots or relatives in Colombia.
She would go down every year to visit.
Her mother had several Amazon parrots
we bought one of those big VHS camcorders and my wife would record the birds crazy behavior.
So in a way we had YouTube videos long before they were invented.

So we figured “how hard can it be, taking care of a bird?”
Just cuz we lived in an apartment that was no pets that didon’t mean birds.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to be a part of this bird-loving community and I hope you can offer some guidance on a rather delicate matter regarding my feathered friend's health.

Recently, I noticed ants on my bird, and a friend kindly suggested using Ant Killer to address this issue. However, before taking any action, I was wondering if someone would be willing to share their experience with this product, especially in similar situations.

The safety and well-being of my bird are my utmost priorities, and I would greatly appreciate any insights and advice you may have. If you have other suggestions or alternatives for dealing with ants on our feathered companions, I would be grateful to hear them.

Thank you so much for your time and expertise.
Tom

You don't have ants on the bird itself, do you? What kind of ants? Little blackish ones or big carpenter ants?

Ant baits are okay as long as they are placed where your birds can't find them because they contain poison. Put the baits in a closed cupboards or under some pieces of furniture that you bird can't get under. If you have any other pets make sure they can't get at the ant baits.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to be a part of this bird-loving community and I hope you can offer some guidance on a rather delicate matter regarding my feathered friend's health.

Recently, I noticed ants on my bird, and a friend kindly suggested using Ant Killer to address this issue. However, before taking any action, I was wondering if someone would be willing to share their experience with this product, especially in similar situations.

The safety and well-being of my bird are my utmost priorities, and I would greatly appreciate any insights and advice you may have. If you have other suggestions or alternatives for dealing with ants on our feathered companions, I would be grateful to hear them.

Thank you so much for your time and expertise.
Tom

It takes a while for ant baits to work. If you want to get the ants to stay out of the cage quickly, put the cage stand in a shallow (one inch deep) pan of water. It acts like a moat and the ants can't cross it. If your cage on a table top, set the cage in the moat propped up on small blocks (or other objects) out of the water. Whether this is feasible depends on how big your cage is.

 

[20brio19]

Some of my earliest memories are of my father and older brothers bringing home parakeets. Later on budgies, cockatiels etc.
After some time when they passed we were no longer allowed to keep pets at home. I had to wait for over a decade untill I moved out and could buy my first parrot.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I think the more I age, my answers differ as I realize things and figure out who I am, and can answer the questions I’ve always had about myself. (not me acting like I’m in my 50s when I’m far from it 🤭) but something I’ve always had and have acknowledged since the day I gained sentience, was my deep connection to the natural world and the animals within it.

Fascinated by all living things, from the smallest of arthropods, to the largest of elephants. From the most simple looking birch trees, to the most confusing fungi. I have just always loved and respected animals and nature.

I’ve had my hyperfixations on many different animals throughout my life. Many species and families. The ones that have remained the same are birds and reptiles. So it’d be a no brainer why I’d be so interested in keeping birds!

I was relatively uneducated about parrots until I discovered the budgie side of YouTube when I was 9? And just like that, it started my intense fascination with parrots of all species. And now I am addicted to parrots 🫠


So, if you think about it, I just got into parrots because I’m autistic 🤠

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Nice thread.

I was at a private school back in high school. Sometimes my teacher would bring in her cockatiel, along with a few others who brought in theirs. So it was like a little school zoo. There were also budgies and ringneck parakeets. I was around the 'tiel more and it was the most friendly and sociable. That's when I decided to get one. It was between budgies or tiels, I researched both and Baby was the one who actually chose me - waddling up to me where the 'tiels were kept and looking up with his little beetle eyes. He still does that, 14 years later.

I was looking up Rainbow Lorikeets and read (and saw photos) that babies have blackish beaks. Are you sure your Mango is a baby? Maybe he's an escaped pet and that's why he's so tame and explains why he was alone and being attacked by crows.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I think the more I age, my answers differ as I realize things and figure out who I am, and can answer the questions I’ve always had about myself. (not me acting like I’m in my 50s when I’m far from it 🤭) but something I’ve always had and have acknowledged since the day I gained sentience, was my deep connection to the natural world and the animals within it.

Fascinated by all living things, from the smallest of arthropods, to the largest of elephants. From the most simple looking birch trees, to the most confusing fungi. I have just always loved and respected animals and nature.

I’ve had my hyperfixations on many different animals throughout my life. Many species and families. The ones that have remained the same are birds and reptiles. So it’d be a no brainer why I’d be so interested in keeping birds!

I was relatively uneducated about parrots until I discovered the budgie side of YouTube when I was 9? And just like that, it started my intense fascination with parrots of all species. And now I am addicted to parrots 🫠


So, if you think about it, I just got into parrots because I’m autistic 🤠

I love reading your posts! They make me smile, laugh and think, and I learn something new about you every day. Today you volunteered that you are autistic and perhaps I shouldn't comment on that, but you mentioned it so staying silent seems kinda cowardly. Anyway, I was genuinely surprised to read this and I'm not sure why. Probably because all I really know about the autism spectrum is the extreme- people who appear to be unable to communicate- and you are so articulate, have an amazing, wry sense of humor, and are very sensitive to social cues, hence my surprise.
Anyway I'm glad your autism led you to parrots instead of worms, insects or intestinal parasites!

 

[Saravp]

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to be a part of this bird-loving community and I hope you can offer some guidance on a rather delicate matter regarding my feathered friend's health.

Recently, I noticed ants on my bird, and a friend kindly suggested using Ant Killer to address this issue. However, before taking any action, I was wondering if someone would be willing to share their experience with this product, especially in similar situations.

The safety and well-being of my bird are my utmost priorities, and I would greatly appreciate any insights and advice you may have. If you have other suggestions or alternatives for dealing with ants on our feathered companions, I would be grateful to hear them.

Thank you so much for your time and expertise.
Tom

Maybe make a forum about it

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I love reading your posts! They make me smile, laugh and think, and I learn something new about you every day. Today you volunteered that you are autistic and perhaps I shouldn't comment on that, but you mentioned it so staying silent seems kinda cowardly. Anyway, I was genuinely surprised to read this and I'm not sure why. Probably because all I really know about the autism spectrum is the extreme- people who appear to be unable to communicate- and you are so articulate, have an amazing, wry sense of humor, and are very sensitive to social cues, hence my surprise.
Anyway I'm glad your autism led you to parrots instead of worms, insects or intestinal parasites!

Ahh thank youuu, you’re too kind! You would be quite surprised how many autistic people behave! It’s very different for each individual, but from what I’ve noticed (a lot of my family is autistic and most of my past friends had it or were most likely undiagnosed.), the most common traits are being sensitive to stimulation (noise, light, textures, temperature, smells, etc.), not liking or having poor eye contact, hyperfixations, stimming, can be very artistic, and not being great with social cues. These are far from the only common traits, but these are what I’ve noticed in the people I know. Often times, we will do something called “masking”, which is where we imitate a neurotypical person, and basically try to fit in. Autism is such an interesting disorder!

Well… I wouldn’t say that it hasn’t gotten me into the creepy crawlies. I really like beetles, scorpions, and moths, and I’m coming around to spiders! When I was younger, pre-parrot era, I LOVED keeping and breeding earthworms. Yeah, parasites are too freaky for me lol I’ve seen enough horrific tapeworms and parasitic worms that grow under chameleon skin, to even dare to try and see the beauty of them. No thanks, too nasty for me! Still very fascinating though…

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

My story starts about 1999 when I got my first birds, a pair of bugies named Shray'le and Proto. Unfortunately they didn't live long- they got sick and I was inexperienced enough to miss the symptoms until it was too late. I was 23.

My next birds were five cockatiels and I've been hooked ever since ! Conures, budgies, a pionus, doves, japanese quail, more budgies. so many birds have filled my life over the past 24 years!

 

[Angelica]

Not sure if there's any recent threads like this, but I was curious to see what got other people interested in parrots/birds.

For me, I was nine years old and walking in wal-mart with my dad. We came across a book rack with a cockatiel book on it. Without hesitation, I told my dad I wanted one.
After a couple months of research and browsing, we put a deposit down on a baby cockatiel.

Between then and now we've had aviaries and various bird species.

Here is me and my first bird, Stormy.

What got me interested in birds was a wild baby bird I named Joey and I took care of him and I was not used to caring for birds as he was my first bird sadly he ended up breaking a nail and it bleed very bad and he bled out before I could stop it he died in 2020 I still miss him he was my favorite first bird but i was 16 and inexperienced, now I have 4 lovely budgies and my broody female just laid her first batch of eggs I love them very much and am trying to make her motherhood go very smoothly ♡