sillygoose
New member
I know this question gets asked all to often, so thanks very much in advance to anyone who can share their advice and experiences with my boyfriend and I.
To summarize my experience with birds my mom had 2 amazon parrots and 1 cockatoo, 2 of which were show birds and every so often we would baby sit 2 macaws when their owners went out of town. I use to help care for the birds with her and a good friend of the family who use to breed and show birds. Sadly we had to give the birds away because they were to loud for the neighbors likings. I later went on to have 3 small breed birds (parakeets and a cockatiel) and I also worked at a small family owned pet store who sold and also rescued parrots of all sizes.
I haven't had a bird in over 8 years and I really miss it. My boyfriend and I live in a nice size house with our 2 cats. My boyfriend likes animals but his experience and tolerance with them is a little lacking. The other day we stopped at PetsMart to get our cats some food (my cat needs prescription urinary track health food). While we were there I did my usual lap around the store to check out all of the animals. When we got to the birds there was an adorable little Conure who I instantly started to play with. He was friendly and loved to roll on his back and have his belly rubbed. Once my boyfriend realized it was safe to stick his finger in the cage it was love at first site. He had no idea birds could be so affectionate and fun and has now agreed to let me get a bird!
I understand personalities and temperaments will differ and just like no two pet owners are alike, no 2 birds are the same either. We put together a list of traits we would like in a bird which are;
1. medium-largish sized parrot - important
2. talking capabilities - important
3. not overly loud
4. affectionate, hands on, likes to be held and cuddled with - important
5. not excessively needy, there may be times during the day where he may be without someone there
6. not a one person kind of bird, even though this will be my bird, my boyfriend would also like to interact with the bird and not get his fingers gnawed on like a cuttlebone! lol
Now I know birds aren't like building a Dell computer and you won't get the whole package (lol that would be to easy) so compromise is inevitable and I'm up for the challenge of training the bird as well. I'm just trying to narrow down our options and find the most appropriate breeds to suit our lifestyle so we can make the best decision. Ideally I'd like to get a large cage so the bird will have lots of room to move about and have a nice variety of toys to keep him occupied at times when no one will be home. I have no problems letting the bird outside of the cage with supervision, however I'm still a little undecided if I would get another bird as a little friend later down the line.
To summarize my experience with birds my mom had 2 amazon parrots and 1 cockatoo, 2 of which were show birds and every so often we would baby sit 2 macaws when their owners went out of town. I use to help care for the birds with her and a good friend of the family who use to breed and show birds. Sadly we had to give the birds away because they were to loud for the neighbors likings. I later went on to have 3 small breed birds (parakeets and a cockatiel) and I also worked at a small family owned pet store who sold and also rescued parrots of all sizes.
I haven't had a bird in over 8 years and I really miss it. My boyfriend and I live in a nice size house with our 2 cats. My boyfriend likes animals but his experience and tolerance with them is a little lacking. The other day we stopped at PetsMart to get our cats some food (my cat needs prescription urinary track health food). While we were there I did my usual lap around the store to check out all of the animals. When we got to the birds there was an adorable little Conure who I instantly started to play with. He was friendly and loved to roll on his back and have his belly rubbed. Once my boyfriend realized it was safe to stick his finger in the cage it was love at first site. He had no idea birds could be so affectionate and fun and has now agreed to let me get a bird!
I understand personalities and temperaments will differ and just like no two pet owners are alike, no 2 birds are the same either. We put together a list of traits we would like in a bird which are;
1. medium-largish sized parrot - important
2. talking capabilities - important
3. not overly loud
4. affectionate, hands on, likes to be held and cuddled with - important
5. not excessively needy, there may be times during the day where he may be without someone there
6. not a one person kind of bird, even though this will be my bird, my boyfriend would also like to interact with the bird and not get his fingers gnawed on like a cuttlebone! lol
Now I know birds aren't like building a Dell computer and you won't get the whole package (lol that would be to easy) so compromise is inevitable and I'm up for the challenge of training the bird as well. I'm just trying to narrow down our options and find the most appropriate breeds to suit our lifestyle so we can make the best decision. Ideally I'd like to get a large cage so the bird will have lots of room to move about and have a nice variety of toys to keep him occupied at times when no one will be home. I have no problems letting the bird outside of the cage with supervision, however I'm still a little undecided if I would get another bird as a little friend later down the line.
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