Anyone know anything about them?? Particularly any kind of parrot or cockatoo/cockatiel. Brad is giving me the OK to get another pet while he's gone and he says he wants a bird and that it must be a parrot-type bird. I've been looking at lovebirds and cockatiels, but would really love to have a bigger bird (of course, I can't afford one, lol). What do y'all think?? I need to find out anything and everything about these types of birds. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
We had a quaker parrot that was awesome. We got him as a hatchling and hand fed him every hour for awhile until he got bigger. He learned to talk a lot and would lay on his back while we petted his belly. He was so cool. They are a little bigger than a cockatiel but not much. Here is a pic of one.......
There are also African Grays and Macaws but they are huge and expensive. If i got a bird again, it'd be a quaker. Good luck.
Keep looking at lovebirds and cockatiels. Or, quaker parrot[which I've never heard of]. The dietary and maintenance req. are much smaller with them. The noise[oh, they are up as soon as it is light, and sleep during dark]is consistant with the light they are exposed to. Do you want to hear birds scream and chatter during all hours with light? It is normal, and w/o it, unhealthy. Quiet birds are sick birds. Birds are noisy when they are healthy.
I have an Indian Ringneck, he is a parrot, but part of the parakeet line. He is about the size of a cockatiel but a little rounder in the belly area.
I have had Pete for about 10 years now. He is very noisy. He can talk, but saves it for when no one is around.
I have had him for a long time, but I can't offer much info. I bought a book on the Indian Ringnecks when I first bought him. He is fairly easy to take care of.
Plus side, he is funny. He is cute.
Down side, he is extremely noisy and messy. I dread cleaning the cage. It didn't bother me the first couple of years but it is now wearing on my nerves. He throws water around. (Loves baths, so he gives himself one if I haven't) Food everywhere. My sweeper is usually full of two things...dog hair and bird food. He is a picky eater and discards the crap he doesn't want, if I am lucky it lands in the cage.
He seemed lonely. I always feel so bad for him. What a life....but I look at it this way. He would have wound up somewhere sitting in a cage, at least I know I have him and he is well taken care of.
Pete isn't a friendly bird, which from what I understand isn't the norm for the Indian Ringnecks. When I bought Pete, he was very young, but had a leg that had been broken. It healed on its own. I took him to the vet as soon as I brought him home. They said not to worry about it. He gets around like any other bird. He just limps! lol Hence the name "Peg Leg Pete"
Well, sounds as if I gave too many "down sides" lol He really is great. I guess the novelty of a bird wears off kind of quickly if they aren't friendly. My kids lost interest after a couple years. They flip out though if I talk of giving him to the local bird sanctuary.
I bought him a parakeet awhile back hoping to give him some company. Still not sure how he feels about it. They get along great.
Quakers are awesome birds. They can be alot of fun, same issues as with any bird though....noisy and messy.
My mom has a lovebird, he has quite the personality, but doesn't like to be handled either.
I've only had a parakeet, got rid of it, because I could not stand the noise and mess. Gave it to the pet sotre to rehome. My sister had a cockatoo. Had it for about 5 years till she could not take it anymore. She was used to smaller birds. Lovebirds. That big bird was soooo needy for attention. They need alot of attention. It was given to her, and she just was not ready for it. She tried, but nearly sent her overboard with all the noise. If you were not in the same room it squawked like crazy.
I would LOVE to have a cockatoo!!! :( Too bad she prolly doesn't live anywhere near me, lol. I'd have given it a good home.
Well, I went to the pet store today and looked at the birds again. She told me that the lovebirds haven't bonded with any people yet, since there's two in the same cage and they've pretty much bonded with just each other. Then I looked at the male and female cockatiels and there was one male in particular that I liked and she told me that her breeder worked a lot with this particular one and that he's got the most personality of them all. She's got like 5 cockatiels in the store right now. Sooooo................I put a down payment on him and a cage and told her that I'd be back later with Brad to see what he thinks.
I asked her to also compare the cost in upkeep for a bird and upkeep for an iguana, it's been so long since I gave away my Spikey. She said it's pretty comparable, just that birds are messier, with the feathers and food everywhere and the iguanas food is more expensive. And the fact that if I got an iguana, I'd end up having to keep getting bigger and bigger places for it to live, which sucks but I think I could handle it. I've got a 10 gallon aquarium and she said that'd be fine for probably a year or so. Then I'd have to upgrade to a larger one and if we did that, I'd prolly just have a friend of ours build us a big enough one to keep it in till it's fully grown. That way we wouldn't have to waste money and keep buying bigger and bigger all the time.
So anywho..............we're going back to the pet shop to look at the bird and discuss things. She said she could hold him and the cage till after he leaves for boot camp so he wouldn't have to deal with it right now, amongst everything else. I already talked to him on the phone and he said "We're getting too many pets". LMFAO!!! Whatever!!! There's no such thing as too many pets!!! lol. So anyway, wish me luck in getting another pet!! I'll keep everyone updated as things get going.
BTW, O, they also have a quaker parrot and he's mean!! lol. She got him from a lady that brought him there and said she couldn't handle him. He didn't like women!! Chris (the pet store lady) said she's had him for 3 years now and he still doesn't like women and he doesn't like dogs and he's bit a hole in the owner of the store's finger!! Mean old bird!! He's pretty though. Wish I could afford one like that, but nicer!!
Update again!! LOL. We went to the pet store and Brad looked at him and was like "I can't believe you already put money down on a damn bird!!" and I was like "well you told me that you would like to have a bird!!" and he was like "I told you that, yes, but I thought we'd be minus a dog first!!" LMAO!!! Well, he didn't tell me that last part until now, so I'm justified, lol. I hate how he doesn't like animals as much as I do though. I'm glad though that he puts up with me. I don't know what I'd do if I'd married a total non-animal-lover. I'd prolly have to divorce him!! lol.
But anyway, I'm going to pick up the bird and all the necessary stuff tomorrow. Wish me luck with this one!!
Now about that iguana..................................................................... That's a whole new subject, lmao.
good luck with your bird and have fun. my old roommate had two parrots. nanday conures. N-O-I-S-Y !! and messy. rosta was mean to everyone but norm. he would kiss on him and sit on his shoulder all day while he walked around. he would bite anyone else that tried to touch him. gypsy was more friendly and she took to me right off. i would lay on the couch and she would walk back and forth behind my head and then peck me in the head so i would give her attention.she would sit on my shoulder and i would hold my plate of food up and she would share it with me. sometimes she would tap my cheek if she thought i was getting more than her ! lol. they were loud though. one of our neighbors said she could hear them two houses away ! lol . i miss gypsy though . she was alot of fun. you will enjoy yours. just expect some messes ! lol
My favorite type of large parrot is the blue and yellow maca(sp) but they are expensive. I don't really know anything about brids but you might want to just do a search on the internet about birds and call pet specialty store for birds and see if they can help you out.
Thanks for all the help, guys. I talked to Chris (petstore lady) and she said this particular male would work well for me because the breeder worked with him more than the rest. She said she was really surprised that the breeder sold him to her!! He did seem to be the one with the best personality though. I'd stand there and whistle at him and he'd whistle right back at me. Of course I will take pictures of him when we get him all settled in. I just wonder how the pups are going to get along with him?? I know that every bird they see outside gets chased right now!! lol. I think I'll just have the dogs outside or in their room when I take him out to play. That should work just fine.
My mom had a Cockatiel that barked back at our dog. It was hilarious! The dog would bark, then the bird would bark and then say "Shut up Beej, Shut up Beej" (the bird's name was BG) then bark some more.
He had no problem being handled when I lived with my mom...I took him out and played with him all the time. After I got married and left, though, and he didn't get handled as much or as often, he became hand-shy, and mostly just stayed in his cage shouting "I love you," "Hello," wolf-whistling or whistling the old "shave and a haircut" or just squawking up a storm. When I'd come over to visit, he'd get very excited, and he and I would communicate with various whistles and clicking sounds. He didn't like me to touch him anymore He died a number of years ago. RIP BG...
I decided this morning that I'm not going to bring him home today. I didn't even think about the fact that Brad and I are going to be gone this weekend and the dogs are being kenneled and I'd have no one to look after him while we're gone 'cuz my parents are going with us. So I'm just going to have to go over to the pet shop and tell Chris that I'll pick him up NEXT Tuesday instead of today. She'll understand. I just don't want the poor lil guy to come here and think we abandoned him right away. Even though it'll really only be for 2 whole days, but still, I'd feel bad. I'll just go there and buy all the other stuff I need for him and bring it home, then go get him on Tuesday.
I had a cockatiel. I have no idea how old she was when I got her. Her name was Precious and precious she was not. I used to call her devil bird. I couldn't even put food in her cage without her trying to take my hand off. She wanted lots of attention though. If I walked by her cage and didn't talk to her she would spit on me. My mom got a bunch of tapes from the lady she knew and we taught her to talk. Someone had taught her a few things before I got her. I think she had been to like 3 previous homes before I got her. Her favorite line was "Son of a b**ch! She would yell that after she spit on you.
I would love to have another bird. I want a umbrella cockatoo. My husband says no more tenants unless he sees some rent money.
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Saving just one dog won't save the world, but it surely will change the world for that one dog. -Richard C. Call
She very well could have been. Nobody could get close enough to tell. Poor thing, had a horrible life, being passed from place to place. She/he was just so mean.
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Saving just one dog won't save the world, but it surely will change the world for that one dog. -Richard C. Call
I'd prolly have to divorce him!! lol.
