Greetings from Long Island

[Bryce]

Hello.

I don't have any parrots yet. I am still doing research; at this point I have only narrowed it down to a medium-sized bird based largely on the room I have available. (I want it to be able to fly in its primary cage.) Considering Eclectus roratus as my front-runner (I have a good supply of inexpensive and varied fruit and veg available) but also considering Amazonas spp. I'm planning to attend a parrot expo on Long Island the weekend after next, not to buy a bird yet, but to meet-and-greet some parrots and try to observe them / talk to parrot people. I'm currently about 1/4 through Luescher's Manual of Parrot Behavior and hoping to get suggestions on some other good parrot books, ideally based on research rather than strictly anecdotes. (Though I recognize this is not available for all species and questions, of course.)

I own my own house with no neighbours in squawking range. I can definitely give a parrot daily attention (~20-30 mins), but I am away for 6-8 hours a day so I'm hoping to provide a highly enriched habitat. I intend to build the primary cage in sight of my office area so the bird can see me when I am working at my desk. Will put some kind of play gym setup elsewhere for variety. The papers in zoological journals seem to suggest that there isn't really a substitute for social enrichment with conspecifics. But I don't want parrots coming out my ears, either, especially starting out...

I'd rather adopt a non-baby bird at this point rather than get one from a breeder; I'm pretty tolerant of animals so it's fine if the parrot doesn't warm up to me right away or otherwise needs TLC/respect as long as it is healthy. My ideal bird would be one that's hard to place because it cusses like a sailor.

Anyway, I look forward to talking to you in the coming months as I work my way toward possibly bringing a parrot into my life.

 

[psychocircus91]

Almost all of that sounds great. I highly recommend you meet and greet at your closest rescue, and do that several times before deciding. This will give you a better idea than the bird expo (although I'm not discouraging you from going!). My only gripe would be the level of attention each day. IMO 20-30 minutes is not enough. Several hours a day is ideal of at least indirect attention (ie: sitting by you, out of the cage, talking to the bird). In the wild, these birds are virtually never without companionship of a flock or mate.

 

[Bryce]

Oh, if just being near me out of the cage counts as attention I can do more than 20-30 mins, yes. I typically spend several hours a day working in my office area and I could put a perch or play gym type thing in there next to my desk. I meant time spent primarily paying attention to the bird.

I think there's a couple bird rescue places around here I could visit, good idea.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome!
I love your style... researching, reaching out...
Parrot-owning... you're doing it RIGHT!

 

[Flboy]

Welcome to you, you have very close neighbors that are more than willing to help!

 

[Allee]

Welcome to the forums! Sounds like you're giving this a lot of serious thought and doing the research, some lucky bird will appreciate all your effort. I really like your ideas about a highly enriched habitat, that will make a huge difference when you have to be away.

Research the species and meet some birds personally before you choose. Some species specific traits hold true to a degree but all birds are individuals and personalities can vary greatly. Meet several Amazons if possible, real characters and lots of fun. Maybe consider the African Greys too, I have a feeling you'd find them compatible with your lifestyle.

I have a female quaker I could loan you if you seriously want your bird to swear. She's eight inches tall and she's made it her mission in life to teach all her flock mates to use profanity.

Enjoy the journey and please share the details.

 

[wrench13]

Welcome fellow Islander, and be welcomed. I always reccommend Sally Blachards Companion Parrot Handbook. Excellent look into owning a parrot. Sallys published other more specific Handbooks, too.
The sub-forums on this board are also a great resource for individual speceices and topics like Health, Nourishment, etc. All the stickies on the top of each forum has key information from some of the most respected folks on here ( not me!) and we have a good bunch here.

If I might make a comment - parrots,especially medium to large ones, love to chew things. Making you own parrot cage or aviary, uness you weld one up, out of wood and some sort of netting is not such a great idea. Wood quickly degrades under busy beaks, and anything zinc coated ( like chicken wire or square wire panels) is toxic to parrots. Your safest bet is to invest in a good quality parrot cage, appropriately sized for your bird. Get the biggest one you can afford and fit. If this is your first parrot, you'll want to do A LOT of research - being owned by a parrot is a lot of work and they are certainly not a 'easy care' pet.

Medium size Amazonae are not rare on L.I. but certainly not common. I have one of the smaller ones, a yellow shoulder amazon, around 280 grams or so. We have a great Amazon community here - some very experienced owners, breeders and rescuers.

 

[Bryce]

Thanks for your input. I am definitely still considering Amazona and other species in my research, the Eclectus just appeals to me the most so far. I'll keep my mind open species-wise toward any appropriately-sized parrot.

With regard to building a cage - valid concern I'm sure, but I've got a pretty complete workshop for simple metal fabrication and I enjoy designing and building things myself. I will be looking at parrot cages at the parrot show for inspiration, and I'll be sure to run the basic design by the community here for input before I order the materials. I want something easy to clean, but adapted to the animal's behavioural and environmental needs, and to the architectural setting (i.e. exactly as big as the spot in my house where it will go.)

 

[Scott]

Welcome, I am sure a special bird awaits a terrific living environment.

Agree with all of the prior sentiments, your inquisitive approach and willingness to create an enriched enclosure bodes well. Please keep us updated and ask any questions as your research unfolds.

 

[wrench13]

Hi Bryce, easy to clean is a relative word d when it comes to parrots, so much is dependant on if the bird is a flinger or not. Also where you have him eat the soft wet foods that are a part of every good diet. My Salty only has pellets to eat in his cage. THe other foods ( fruit for lunch and chop + whatever) are served on his Boing. Our set up - cage, and then a long chain,plastic, hanging from the ceiling and then to a round boing with a feeding perch and cup on it. I got a really large ( 3 foot) diameter St St bowl to hang below that to catch everything he drops. Under that is a office chair protector, big plastic sheet for under office chairs. SO clean up is pretty easy. If you feed your bird in his cage for all meals, you should be cleaning it out 1x a week and having to wipe down every bar in a parrot cage is a tedious affair. Cleaning cages is best done with a steam cleaner, as they are allergic to every household type cleaner (Mr clean, Ammonia, et etc) . A steam cleaner will loosen up all the dried foods and let you just wipe them away. Natural sunshine is a great way to lill off bad bacteria too, so if you build your cage, put swheels on t, and make it so you can get it outside in the sun. Here is a pic of our set up, or most of it.

 

[Bryce]

Thank you again for your comments. I have reached out to a local parrot rescue to ask to visit their birds, so that I can hopefully have a chance to see them behaving in a more normal environment before seeing parrots in the bird show context. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks!

 

[rangerktc1]

Hi Bryce-Hello from another newbie in the forum (also from LI) but I've had some experience in the past. Had an OW Amazon for 35 years who passed away last November and now I did a rescue of an Umbrella cockatoo in May. Bianca is doing amazing. I think you're going about things the right way here. Worst thing is to just jump in and then discover its not for you. A lot of birds end up in rescue that way. I'm probably going to that same parrot expo in Freeport in a couple of weeks. I went 2 years ago and it was good. You should be able to pick up a lot of good info there.

 

[Bryce]

After going to the parrot expo and handling some well-socialized parrots, reading some species-specific books, and talking to lots of others in various contexts, I'm now sure I'd like to get a parrot. So we'll see how things go, maybe it'll be soon, maybe not for a year. Wish me luck.

 

[psychocircus91]

After going to the parrot expo and handling some well-socialized parrots, reading some species-specific books, and talking to lots of others in various contexts, I'm now sure I'd like to get a parrot. So we'll see how things go, maybe it'll be soon, maybe not for a year. Wish me luck.

Anything in particular catch your attention?

 

[Bryce]

Well, I enjoyed interacting with the African grey there. I held him four times over the course of the day, haha. Most importantly it showed me an example of an AG that wasn't a one-person bird that wouldn't tolerate anyone but his owner. I continue to be impressed by them generally and there's a lot written about them. Not set in stone yet, things are going to depend of course on bird availability and individual personality more than general things like species. I still love the Eclectus too... so pretty.

I tried to look more seriously into Amazons, but - as a generalization, I'm sure there are varied individuals - they just appeal to me less than the other two types on my shortlist (Grey, Eclectus, Amazon.) Not that I'd say no to an older Amazon who is well-socialized and talkative, of course.

A did buy a cage at the charity cage sale. It's on the smaller side, I thought it would be a good sleeping cage or for temporary accommodations etc. I know from fishkeeping that it never hurts to have a spare with that sort of thing... though at least birds breathe air.

 

[Bryce]

Well, this was much sooner than I expected, but an acquaintance had a Congo African Grey that she needed to rehome because of urgently changed family circumstances, so I decided to meet the bird. I talked about it with a trusted friend and he pointed out to me that I clearly really wanted a parrot and had been going on about them and stuff I had read about them every time we talked for a while now, and that I probably should just adopt this particular parrot now rather than in a few months when she had gotten behavioral problems from loneliness. I decided that, circumstances being what they were, it would probably be better for the parrot if I adopted her now rather than equivocating for a month or two. So now I have Ruby, a sixteen year old CAG.

The parrot books made me think this was going to be horrible ordeal, but right now she is sleeping quietly in her cage after a pleasant evening of occasional beeping sounds and one clearly spoken "Hello" immediately after I let her out of the travel carrier and into her cage. (And yes, it took her about forty seconds to come out on her own without any enticement.)

Actually, during the car trip she made just enough noise that I didn't worry she'd died or something. She tried to take a bath in the little water dish, which was cute.

She's really chill. She took a peanut from me (which her previous owner said was her favorite thing) and ate it immediately. The books were definitely right about each bird having its own personality. She has explored her new cage, played a little with the toys, and ate the treats I stashed around the cage to encourage her to explore it. I'm trying not to come on too strong while she's getting settled in, but I put her cage where she could see me at my desk and covered one third of it or so so she could hide if she wanted to. She preferred to perch where she could look out, though, for the most part.

She is currently on a bad diet (the peanuts aren't just a treat, she gets them as part of her regular food...) The previous owner gave me a bottle of some kind of seed mix. There are pellets in there too, plus what looks like dried pasta, and some dried fruits and chilis, but per the owner she doesn't eat all of it and mostly picks out the seeds. (The droppings in her old cage also looked consistent with the dropping pictures of seed-fed parrots I've seen.) So I'm going to try to transfer her to appropriate parrot-specific pellets + fresh fruits and veg and mostly save seeds for a reward or enticement.

 

[wrench13]

Hi Bryce, I am in SUffok cty, be more then happy to check your set up , give tips on how to switch over to good food, how to make batches of 'chop' , how to make cheap toys that will be part puzzle and part toy, and how to start Enzo on learning tricks, which most parrots love to learn - gives them a 'job' within the flock, and its very important that they feel like they have a job.

AL
Check out the video below to see whats possible to teach your parrot to do