Do I have the time?

[Markus603]

I would Love to have a parrot, they are amazing. My main concern is I work 4- 10 hour days. So between getting up/ready for work and coming home from work, my potential parrot would be home alone for about 12 hours....
So I would have 3 whole days of being home and time spent with the bird, but would those 12 hours a day at work be unhealthy for the bird?
I am for the most part a homebody, and would absolutely have time for it when i am home. It is just the long work day that concerns me?

 

[ShellyBorg]

I don't see why not. As long as you spend some time before and then after work. I would look at breeds that are not as needy as others

 

[Markus603]

Yeah i definitely am wanting to learn about breeds and whatnot..Just dont know where to start lol.

 

[DallyTsuka]

i think the less needy bird species would be great for your schedule.

i know cockatiels would fit that schedule very well

i have cockatiels and lovebirds, and they're not overly demanding of time

 

[Markus603]

My father had a cockatiel. Was a pretty cool bird. It didnt like me tho just him lol.

 

[crimson]

cockatiel are a great bird. they are very tolerant when in the cage, but love being out spending time with you.
they are easy to train, and very loving

 

[momto3]

Our birds--a Quaker and Blue Crown, get pretty upset if we have long/busy days and they don't get the attention that they want. Personally, I wouldn't get a bird with your schedule because if you are working that much then your down time is going to be considerably taken up by bank trips, grocery shopping, etc. It's like ignoring a toddler--you can't. I make new toys for our birds every week and they listen to the radio when we aren't here, but they still crave the one-on-one time with us.

 

[Jtbirds]

my schedule is the same as yours and so is my fathers really, plus we help run a rescue... and we have plenty of time to spend with our parrots and animals and even on ourselves. The issue is as humans we waste a lot of time, the time we spent chatting over some tv is time wasted doing nothing constructive, the time you spend texting or calling people to just talk about nothing is time wasted... if we cut this out of our lives we are much healthier productive people..

This is how i explain this to people that say they dont have time andi always ask do you watch a hour or more of tv a day, usually the response is yes, well then you do have time you just spent it unwisely.

so you have the time for a bird believe me.

 

[antoinette]

You can make the time for a bird, adjust your schedule to fit in with your bird.

I get up at 4am, Mishka my African Grey is up at 4.30am I feed him his formula, then he showers. We spend 2 and a half hours together before I go to work.
When returning home another 3 hours together one of which is spent training him.
Every weekend is spent together "quality time"

 

[drlisaort]

My schedule is very similar to yours and it works out just fine. I initially had the same concerns as you. I spend two hours every morning with Oliver and three at night on my four long work days and then on the weekends (Sat, Sun, and Mon) I'm pretty much a few feet from him the entire time--except when I'm sleeping. ) Also, I think teaching your parrot to play independently while near you, gives him time to learn how to entertain him/herself.

 

[legal_eagle]

I have a GCC and she does very well on a schedule similar to yours. I let her come out of the cage as much as possible when I'm at home, and I spent a lot of time with her on weekends as well. I'm interested to see that other species can do well on the same type of schedule.

 

[Jtbirds]

Legal I believe all species can be like that all of mine do great. They all know how to play independently which is a must and they all get there time and they are happy everyday of there lives...

 

[Markus603]

Thank you all for the input. So far the general consensus seems to say a Parrot would be happy with me so long as i make sure it has plenty and plenty of attention. with my work schedule and all.
This helps me be more optimistic about getting one. I am a pretty routine oriented person and I do tend to waste a lot of unproductive time per day mostly after i come home from work. A Parrot is a good reason to be more productive (Damn PC games..)

 

[Jtbirds]

O don't worry I had big issues with pc games as well(runescape, and other mmorpgs)... So yea plus you can ah e your parrot with you when you do things like games or tv and it is more productive then just doing that by itself!