anyone else with Parrots

AngelicRaindrop

i dont seem to come across many people with pet birds. just wondering was there anyone round here with them. i love my parrots, at the minute we have a grey, a galah, a budgie and a king parrot. so how many others are out there?!

mollydolly271

oh no i'm scared of birds:eek:

Our man in Havana

In the aviaries we have budgies, ring necks, love birds, blue rosellas, celestial parrotlets, cockateils, amazons & african greys.

Inside we have Misty my grey & Micki our rescued blue & gold macaw.

tallus

Kept a lot of parrots in the past but decided eventually that it was selfish of me as I couldn't give them the proper care they needed. I'd rate them as one of the Most demanding pets out there. Cockatoos being top of the scale.
I'd have to say that the African Grey was my absolute favourite parrot of all. I'd love one but just couldn't provide the proper care.

AngelicRaindrop

i do agree with you, they need alot of attention to remain happy and healthy, ours are part of the family at this stage

tallus

Great to hear Angelic. The are very rewarding pets, but can be little head wreckers too.
I miss keeping them, as I live alone and they were always good company.

I Just have the one african greay who is very demanding for attention. So much so , he has learned that if he says " come over here " people will go to him .

Sigma Force

2 budgies 2 tiels trying to rehome one of the tiels for various reasons non his fault though he's a lovely boy.
Doesn't get on with my other tiel used to tolerate him but he really is a peoples bird origionally got him as a friend for the other tiel.
He needs a home where he will get tons of attention but a home that will also offer him loads of space or an aviary with a female cockatiel (not for breeding) and trying to find a home that can offer loads of human interaction and space is hard to find.
He is very demanding but in a nice way he's so funny but gets lonley easily eventhough he does get loads of attention he needs someone who will be the center of his universe he actually needs more attention than your avereage cat or dog.

Rory123

Used to keep all kinds of small parrots in Aviary as a kid but didn't have birds for 7 or 8 birds. I got a lovely 2 month old, hand reared Senegal on Monday. We just love her so much already, have to be careful not to spoil them though! :rolleyes:
It makes me so happy to have her.

AngelicRaindrop

Rory123 wrote: »

Used to keep all kinds of small parrots in Aviary as a kid but didn't have birds for 7 or 8 birds. I got a lovely 2 month old, hand reared Senegal on Monday. We just love her so much already, have to be careful not to spoil them though! :rolleyes:
It makes me so happy to have her.

aww they are so cute when they are babies. the smaller parrots are lovely little things, we had a caique for a few months but had a heart problem he died before he was a year old:(

maybe when i have more time to myself a sennie might be in order!:D

Rory123

AngelicRaindrop wrote: »

aww they are so cute when they are babies. the smaller parrots are lovely little things, we had a caique for a few months but had a heart problem he died before he was a year old:(

maybe when i have more time to myself a sennie might be in order!:D

Yeah I'm delighted with her. Great species... The "big parrot personality in a small package" is what drew me to them.

tallus

Senegals are lovely parrots, I kept one for a year, many years back. I think if I was going to get another parrot the senegal would be my first choice because of size and temperment.
*edit*
Was looking into getting one around 2 years back but price put me off.

AngelicRaindrop

as far as smaller parrots go, Caique's are amazing little birds. they mot definately have a big parrot mentality in a small body, ours thought he could easily take on a friends macaw one day! thankfully nothing happened. the only problem yet again is the price, i paid €600 for ours a few years ago. but they are definately worth every penny!

Rory123

Anyone know of anywhere in Ireland that I can see a hyacinth macaw? They are the biggest of all parrots and cost about €14000 so they'd be quite rare in captivity (as well as in the wild... 2500-5000). I've been obsessed with them since I was a kid and would do anything to see one in the flesh! I think they are the most beautiful animal on earth.

AngelicRaindrop

i know there is a breeder in Louth that used to have a pair, weither or not he still has i dont know but hes the only one i know of. That was a few years back, HYs are amazing birds wouldnt mind being able to afford one

SB27

hey all!

Sadly you'll find it very hard to see HY's in ireland at this time and moment but i've been told that a company who supplies reptiles and birds to many pet shops in ireland have a pair and are tryin to breed them and hand rear the chicks so hopefully you'll see one soon enough but they'd be goin for insane amounts of money!

if you cant wait that long i know chester zoo in england have a few HY's!

I'm dyin to see them myself!:D

Sigma Force

I firmly believe that any of these more rare and difficult to breed birds are best left to the experts I think we have enough species of birds bred for pets in captivity. There are a number of parrot charities that people can donate to to help these rarer birds in the wild, to help protect their habitat and to help stop the smuggling. It's sick the way many parrots and packed, into toilet roll tubes and tight little crates many who don't survive the journey.

There are plenty of great parrot owners out there but joe soap still has to learn about the basic care of budgies.

Have said this before, I'm beginning to think that a hand reared parrot can end up with more behavioural problems because their feathered parents haven't been allowed to teach the baby bird how to behave.

Slightly off topic any seen the doccie the other night, aparently no one is sure wether these birds were set free/escaped pets or wether they flew over on their own accord (old link) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6478911.stm

bobbysands81

I have an African Grey - 3 and a half year old female - Chuckie is her name... now I just have to get a second bird called Orlaith!

CatBratTCA

I have a Love Bird and a Budgie, I'm trying to get a Quaker but it's hard to find the right breeder and I want one that is hand reared, i do everything with my birds from letting them have a shower to playing lol

Rory123

Good luck with the quaker CatBratTCA they make such good pets!!! This is my George...


We are thinking about getting a plum-headed parakeet in the new year too. They have such nice colours but George will always rule the roost! :rolleyes:

CatBratTCA

Rory the Ring Necked Parrot is lovely, I don't have one myself but if you look on youtube.com you will see all the types of Parrots and what the owners do with them it can be really funny!

Cat

bigpinkelephant

I have two cockatiels. I'd love a pair of blue Indian Ringnecks!

smelltheglove

I have 4 budgies at the moment but hoping to find a new home for them if anyone is interested anyway. I don't think its fair for me to keep them as I dont know how to look after them properly and 2yr old is scared stupid of them.

Has anyoine else heard of birds being related to respiratory problems??? A few people mentioned this to us and hubbie has gotten a little paranoid as he is a singer and of late hasnt been feeling as up to his high notes as he used to be. The birds have been around a few months but only the last month or so has he commented on this and after peple mentioning this being related to keeping birds he has gotten worried.

bigpinkelephant

smelltheglove wrote: »

I have 4 budgies at the moment but hoping to find a new home for them if anyone is interested anyway. I don't think its fair for me to keep them as I dont know how to look after them properly and 2yr old is scared stupid of them.

Has anyoine else heard of birds being related to respiratory problems??? A few people mentioned this to us and hubbie has gotten a little paranoid as he is a singer and of late hasnt been feeling as up to his high notes as he used to be. The birds have been around a few months but only the last month or so has he commented on this and after peple mentioning this being related to keeping birds he has gotten worried.

I haven't heard of that. Is it possible he could have an allergy maybe?

tallus

I had terrible trouble when I kept budgies, they produce a lot of dust and I had a runny nose a lot of the time. Only when I rehomed mine, and had the room painted did the symptoms go away.

smelltheglove

I dont think so and also for the first time eer I have had my voice coming and going over the past few weeks. Now mine could be unrelated altogether as I have come across people with throat infections. I googled and found a few things that suggest keepig birds relates to respiratory problems and his voice pays the bils so I think we may need to find them a nive loving home.

If anyone here is interested say so, we need to talk about it and may put a post on the good homes wanted section.

Sigma Force

Budgies do not create all that much dust they need to have access to a bird bath and that will help them keep their feathers in good condition and keep down any dust from their skin.

2 birds certainly don't create much mess of dust however bird poop should be cleaned regularly as the dust as it dries from this isn't good to inhale but really only if you let them get really manky, newspaper is the cleanest type of cage liner and just taking off a layer of newspaper every other day is perfectly fine and doesn't create dust just roll it up and pop it in the bin.

The 2 year old can learn to get used to the birds how have others reacted around him about the birds or is this a general fear he has?

Just keeping the birds in another room where hubby doesn't use as much will help but tbh sounds more like he's being a bit paranoid and just wants rid..no offence meant. You can also get those air filters that you plug in would be healthy for the birds too will keep their room free of dust and other nasties. But not the filters that have air freshners etc in them just a plain air filter that cleans the air.

Budgies are easy to keep and sand baths (with birds sand from pet shop) and the water baths help big time with any dust. Budgies are more likely to be affected by humans than the other way around, fumes from non stick ovenware, smoke, spray cleaners etc can all be toxic to budgies. Scented candles, incence etc as well.

smelltheglove

The 2 yr old actually runs upstairs and hides in her wardrobe screaming crying when they are out, I know, she is a bit dramatic but it really really upsets her. Tbh he does get paranoid about his voice, he suffers from tonsilitis (sp?) but would not get them removed for fear of changing his voices so suffers the pain instead once every couple of years he has to cancel some gigs due to it.

I don't really blame him for being paranoid though as the voice pays the bills and tbh I dont think many people would risk their job on a pet bird especially the way things are now.

The birds are lovely, but I think they are showing stress. When reading up I see that they may lose feathers once a year, maybe my source is wrong, but every day I am cleaning feathers which I read was a sign of stress. I do thin they may be better off elsewhere though as the dog does upset them. I will look into it more though first.

bigpinkelephant

CatBratTCA wrote: »

I have a Love Bird and a Budgie, I'm trying to get a Quaker but it's hard to find the right breeder and I want one that is hand reared, i do everything with my birds from letting them have a shower to playing lol

Quakers are cool. There's loads of them living beside the beach in Santa Ponsa. I've seen them in Florida too. Escapees

Rory123

Ring necks (Psittacula krameri) and Plumheads (Psittacula cyanocephala) are 2 different birds... Ring necks don't really make good pets and generally become a bit unconfident and flighty when the reach sexual maturity, even when hand reared. They are better suited as avairy birds. I've still lots of research to do on the plumheads.

victoriaa

I had 2 budgies when I was younger.. The shop assistant told me they were a pair, male and female. Six years later, a visit to the vet and I find out that I actually had 2 lesbian parrots. Anyways, when one of them died, I was extremely depressed and cried for a month, so nowadays I really avoid going into pet shops. The tentation is too strong.

CatBratTCA

pets can really make you happy....ss about the budgie but you know one on it's own and let fly around or even on you while watching tv makes them happy too.

CatBratTCA

Rory, i wish you the best of luck, i've only had green cheeked conure, cockateil, budgie, lovebird, kakariki so not good on the way a ringneck behaves.

victoriaa

CatBratTCA wrote: »

pets can really make you happy....ss about the budgie but you know one on it's own and let fly around or even on you while watching tv makes them happy too.

my budgies were happy with sitting on my finger for 3 seconds and then fly or bite me. never managed to get them to do more.

Sigma Force

Victoriaa that's because with 2 or more budgies they usually tend to bond with each other more than their owner. Always exceptions to the rule but I find this in general is the case.

Budgies are great though they are so much more agile than say cockatiels, who can be pretty lazy..well mine can be, he prefers to sit and chat where as any budgies I've had love to fly about and keep busy.

A lone budgie can bond very closely with the owner and if a lot of time is spent they can do all sorts of tricks, deffo more clever than people give them credit for

CatBratTCA

I always keep only on breed of a diff bird...they can be friends with each other but will still bond with me which i love.

budgies are great talkers to if you keep at them with the same words all the time and i love to let them fly and come to me for treats or a cuddle and maybe play with some toys.

SB27

i have a black headed caique!! only have him a week now but he's a little ball of fun!:D:D

philog

i have an african grey called herbie ....and a sun conure called pepe...boy are they cute...conure has beautiful colours....grey talks and sings all day ...can even sing in irish ...beidh aonach amarach,,,,unbelievable birds...wouldnt be without them

Sigma Force

"i have an african grey called herbie ....and a sun conure called pepe...boy are they cute...conure has beautiful colours....grey talks and sings all day ...can even sing in irish ...beidh aonach amarach,,,,unbelievable birds...wouldnt be without them"

Ah now you can't say all that and then not post piccies of them, sounds like the grey can speak more Irish than most school kids.

philog

wish i could post pictures of them....herbie loves john spillanes cd of irish songs we sung in school years ago...not only can he sing but he can dance aswell...but no ..not irish dancing

michelleans

nice to see other parrot owners, have my baby jess 2 weeks now she is a green cheek conure a big snuggler :P

ThunderCat

Currently have two lovebirds. The female lovebird is in the nesting box in the cage almost constantly at the moment because she laid 4 eggs a couple of weeks ago. The male keeps her company a lot of the time but when he's out of the cage he loves to hang out with our rabbit. Ill put food down for the rabbit first thing in the morning and the male lovebird is out of his cage like a shot to help him eat it. Theyre best mates. Looking forward to hand rearing the chicks when they arrive later this month.

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Sigma Force

Just be careful not to over breed her they need a good long rest between times it takes a lot out of a hen to produce eggs.
Great the bun gets on with them but do be careful with bird poop around rabbits.

ThunderCat

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Just be careful not to over breed her they need a good long rest between times it takes a lot out of a hen to produce eggs.
Great the bun gets on with them but do be careful with bird poop around rabbits.

Cheers for the advice Guineapigrescue. This is the first time the hen has laid a clutch of eggs. Seeing as she laid 4 eggs and chances are they wont all hatch, I will be keeping the chicks and then removing the nestbox in order to discourage her having any more. I can cope with the few that are on the way but if she was to keep breeding then id have to give the chicks away which id rather not do, so im going to keep a very close eye and hopefully will stop her breeding any more.
The birds arn't out of their cage constantly but when they are they tend to poop on ledges and stuff, never seems to be on the floor. I clean up after them pretty much straight away anyway so the rabbit doesnt have anything to worry about there.