Help me find the right bird, but tell it to me straight

[BluePaint]

I am having a hard time figuring out which species is right for us/which one would be happy in our family.

My bird experience: I grew up owning budgies and loved them, but have been waiting to get a bird until my youngest was school age (he just started 1st grade), and developmentally ready to be calm around a bird. So I'm aware of things like step-up training, seed messes, nipping, etc.

I'm kind of leaning towards a bird that's more touchy-feely, more personality than a budgie, but I don't want to get in over my head. My oldest has asthma, so a cockatiel probably wouldn't be a good idea because of their dustiness. I'm thinking about a hand raised green cheeked conure, but willing to get an English budgie if our lifestyle wouldn't be right for a GCC. Any other suggestions are welcome, too!

I have everything ready and set up for a feathered friend:
- a cage in our living room (inside dimensions 32''L x 20''W x 35''H with 3/8" bar spacing)
-natural tree branch perches (no sand covered ones)
-a few bird-safe toys (chewing wood, bells and a ball)
-a table top play gym, etc.
-many, many hours of internet research on balanced diets, gentle training methods, bird safety (no avocados, no teflon, etc),

Here's a rundown of our lifestyle:

-I have school age two boys, both relatively calm and gentle with animals, even small animals. (We had two dumbo rats that just passed away that they were very sweet with, the rats loved them back, too.)

-We homeschool, so we're home for more than 6 hours most days, and often are home all day. However, our schedule is different each weekday: We're gone Tues and Mon mornings for P.E. and group classes, and Friday afternoons for "recess" playdates with other homeschoolers. Every other week we have an all day field trip on Fridays. Every summer we go visit family across the country for up to two weeks. (I have a volunteer bird sitter I trust locally already lined up.)

-We have a single family home, though that could change to an apartment as my husband's job may make him move next year.

-Ready to do training sessions for 10-15 min every morning once we've established a trusting relationship (step up, potty training, etc.)

-We'd love to bring the bird over to the table top birdy gym at our school table while we do morning school work. (We did this with our rats, and although the rats chewed the corners of their papers, it was a good time for them to get out of the cage and have some casual interaction with us.)

-We'd also have a set time around lunch every day (except field trip days) that we devote more solely to playing with the bird for 30 min-60 min.

-We'd also often have time to play in the evenings before and after dinner, but it will depend on the day.

However, I don't know if our schedule would be more stressful, or better suited to a bird than say someone who works a more predictable full or part time job. I already know something as needy or loud as a large parrot would not be a good fit. I need it to be OK with kids as well. But, I also want a sweet, interactive pet, not just a "decoration", not something that will be terrified of us like finches or canaries.

Thanks SO much for your help!

 

[riddick07]

Conures all the way! Where are you located?

The green cheeks get a little full of themselves during maturity. A well raised sun conure could be kept in an apartment but they can get a little on the loud side if you don't teach them to be on the quieter side early on. My quietest bird, besides my cockatoo, is my sun conure. In my experience Nandays and Duskys are more annoying then suns but I haven't been around any that aren't in a rescue.

Our shelter has a large group of english budgies, that I believe are still available, if you are nearby....

 

[BluePaint]

I am in Eastern Georgia. There are two shelters near me, but one is closed for renovations, and the other primarily has the larger birds, or very, very needy birds that already have plucking problems, were abused, etc. As much as I'd like to help them, that'd be something I wouldn't want to take on just yet.

 

[riddick07]

One of them Miss Vickis? I'm not sure what she has right now but I don't think she puts everything she has online just like us. We work with her often, so was just curious if she was one of them.

Every shelter in the world has a bunch of problem birds and then the ones that are more adoptable. If you are prepared for a baby going through maturity then go for it. Your kids will most likely get bit but that will most likely happen with any bird you get!

I would lean towards a sun, jenday, crimson, or green cheek. Maybe a brown throat or cherry headed. All conures by the way!

 

[SailBoat]

Conures are truly a good choice, but I would not be so quick to discount a Cockatiel. A regular shower routine will limit/eliminate the dusting issue. Birds and dust is a natural combination.

Until your world settles a little more (possible move in the near future) you may want to wait until that is settled before you get a bird. Not all apartments or apartment complexes allow pets.

 

[riddick07]

If your kid has asthma why risk a dusty bird. Yes showers and an air purifier help but the problem is not eliminated if your kid has bad asthma. If a cockatiel shakes even one with baths and such will most likely shower dust and down feathers at your kid. My cockatiels are insanely dusty and showers only reduce the problem.

 

[BluePaint]

No, Miss Vicki's is nearly 3 hours west of us. We're in Augusta, on the GA, SC border.

 

[Flboy]

I love my GCC, but for sure, nippy is their nature! And a baby going through teen hood terrifies me!

 

[BluePaint]

I've read conflicting info on whether to get a young, hand fed bird and start off right or to get a grown rescue and avoid puberty, but deal with a bird that has issues. Maybe this is a dumb question, but are there often hand tame, family friendly birds at rescues? I'd be willing to drive a ways out if there are.

If I go for a grown bird, at what age are they out of the woods for puberty?

Most of the local profiles detail birds that are pretty skittish, previous breeders, or avid pluckers. I'll give that one that's open a call and see if they're just not listing all their birds.

 

[riddick07]

I love my GCC, but for sure, nippy is their nature! And a baby going through teen hood terrifies me!

lol it really was a nightmare! Both of mine went through it at around the same time...I remember wanting to strangle them often.

My sun was easier I don't know if that was because I knew what I was doing that time around or if she is waiting until her twos to get really bad.

 

[SailBoat]

Asthma runs in both sides of our family. I know and understand the needs of someone that suffers from Asthma. The forced air heating/cooling system commonly is the last thing that people think about and more often target what they see (i.e. the bird). If the forced air heating/cooling system has not been cleaned in the past four to six years that is the most likely source of problems. In addition, most homes have not upgraded from the old standard 1" filter to the new 3" filters, which are available to meet different needs, better levels of filtering. Plus, most people only replace whatever filter they have only when they remember.

 

[riddick07]

I've read conflicting info on whether to get a young, hand fed bird and start off right or to get a grown rescue and avoid puberty, but deal with a bird that has issues. Maybe this is a dumb question, but are there often hand tame, family friendly birds at rescues? I'd be willing to drive a ways out if there are.

If I go for a grown bird, at what age are they out of the woods for puberty?

Most of the local profiles detail birds that are pretty skittish, previous breeders, or avid pluckers. I'll give that one that's open a call and see if they're just not listing all their birds.

I'm all for adopting rescues! I do have my ones that I got as babies and I bred my first two cockatiels and pulled the babies when they were two to three weeks old to handfeed since the male was trying to kill them. Soooo no judgement on my part if you go for a baby They each come with their own challenges and issues to work through.

Rescues do have birds that come in that do well with kids. We have adopted a wide variety of birds to families with children. The only way to know for sure is to ask. Just make sure the shelters near you have a good reputation because not all shelters are the best.

A Helping Wing has adopted a slew of gccs to families with kids. There have been other conures too. We have also adopted a very extraordinary amazon to a family with kids and the same for a few big cockatoos. I'm guessing we have for macaws too but I'm not really recalling any right this second. Our go to for kids are the conures but if the kids are calm and listen we will allow families to adopt larger birds. But if we tell a kid not to stick their fingers in a cage but they do it anyway or its bouncing through the rooms then no we don't introduce the bigger ones.

At our shelter right now we have a few little birds, a cockatoo, and possibly a grey that could easily go with a family with little ones. They aren't perfect but I guarantee that any baby you get wouldn't be perfect either even if we all like to pretend they are little angels sometimes

 

[kq_fan]

I know green cheeks are nippy, but if I could get another bird, I would get another green cheek! I love them, they are "quieter" (no bird is quiet) then any other conure. They are so fun and cuddly. Actually, my green cheek is on my head currently! They are more for apartment life then big conures when I meet my friends Jenday or sun, they are so loud just because. But her green cheek is the one who sits there and plays or eats. They have dander but all birds do and much less then a tiel. My tiel I had was so dusty and I dont have asthma but I had allergies really bad. But then when he left, I didn't have the same issues. There was dust everywhere! Oh my and they aren't even the dustiest! African greys and cockatoos are way worse! I can't even imagine! So please consider a green cheek, fun playful sweet and a good size, they aren't intimidating at all

 

[chris-md]

Blue Paint,

I'm all for rehomes too! I got my Parker - male red sided eclectus - as a Craigslist ad. He is a plucker but he's not bald (plucks to the down feather seasonally, so it's possibly natural hormonal plucking. He's feathering out right now).

Just be aware that rescues will have a number of hurdles you will have to overcome (multiple visits to your house, multiple visits to visit the bird), all of which are designed for the best interest of the bird. I ultimately ruled out rescues myself because I don't have that kind of time during the day to devote to the homing process. Additionally (this may vary from one rescue to the next), scour the fine print. My local rescue mandates that while you have the bird, it is still under their legal guardianship which has a number of ramifications for the owner. I have a number of issues with this, so a rescue wasn't for me.

But everything worked out great! Parker came to me as a 6 year old (through puberty but like any other mature bird, seasonally hormonal). He came to me already trained, and I couldn't have trained a better bird if I tried. He is very social and steps up for other people, he's not generally a squaker (with somewhat predictable exceptions), and he is able to talk up a storm - so long as we aren't int he room...or have a camera rigged up to catch him talking.

 

[Doublete]

I would agree. Check craigslist in your area.

And a green cheek may be ideal. I have a young one but I have bird experience and the training involved doesn't bother me. I adopted my amazon off craigslist and the family that had her loved her greatly just couldn't keep her anymore. She has zero bad habits and is very healthy and happy.

 

[RavensGryf]

If you want a parrot, even a small one, then you're going to have to deal with the 'parrot characteristics' that come along with it which will involve training that you can't get relaxed on if you want a bird who is well trained around kids. Even then, of course they can bite hard. But if you decide to get a small parrot, there is a wealth of great advice here on the forum.

I personally think an English Budgie is an excellent idea! I don't think of the small guys as starter birds at all... just different. I've had parrots for a long time BEFORE getting into budgies. I love the small birds.

Mink, my English girl is NOTHING like my American budgie. She is SO much more calm, easy going, she was handfed so she is tame and steps up, and as a bonus she is extremely cute and super soft to touch as well . Just adorable. If I could have more birds right now, I'd get a couple more English. She has a cute and funny personality, loves both hanging and foot toys. If you get one used to you, they can become as closely bonded to the family as any parrot, without the hard bites or neediness.

 

[ZephyrFly]

All birds have personality, and all birds can be nippy/beaky. Know the difference though, beaky birds are just using their beak to get around, unless they bite down this isn't an issue. Conures likes climbing and clowning around, which can turn nippy but can be dealt with by pressure training. Then biting, its obviously bad but again it can be trained out.

I love green cheeks, but they are like kids where if they can put it in their mouth they will try.

As for allergies, if you want to look at other allergy friendly species look for "new world parrots". Typically but not always the case, new world parrots skin have oil glands rather than relying on dust, which is why green cheeks are recommended for people with potential allergies.

If you're set on green cheeks then welcome, but you and your children will have to be comfortable with the chance that they will be bit either on purpose or accident at some point. This is true for all birds but you you want a hands on bird, for cuddles and affection, you all will need to work for it and put hands in the firing line. Smaller the beak, smaller the bite. This is not fear mongering, this is someone who loves their bird and has been bit for things like holding his toy, moving his shining things, alternatively I've been bit because he lost balance, not a real bite but it can hurt (he is gentler now after training).

 

[MyFlock]

An English budgie I think would be a perfect fit like RavensGryf suggested. GCCs can be nippy but also very friendly and cuddly depending on the GCC. A Cockateil would be nice too! They are usually pretty mellow but dusty I think?

My personal favorites are the Pois such as Red bellies, Senegals and the like and also lovebirds but I don't think they would be a good fit for your family, just my opinion.

 

[Birdman666]

My little sun conure was the sweetest little bird who ever lived... BUT they can be loud!

 

[riddick07]

Smaller the beak, smaller the bite...

Well I would rather get bitten by a big macaw then the little brats just saying! I absolutely hate being bitten by the little birds and it always hurts like a yeah well you know.