Hello!
I'm 18, and I've had my Juliet since I was 16, so I understand what befriending a bird young is like. I assume you're around 14?
Anyways! I'm going to give you a lot of billeted advice that I think is very important...
-a mustache (red bellied) parakeet would be about as high maintenance as a conure in terms of attention, so the breed isn't a problem. They are generally really sweet and intelligent.
-when/ if you get the bird, make sure you do your research on reputable breeders. No inbreeding, lots of hand training and hand feeding, etc.
-or you could consider a rescue!
- it's really important for a birds health that seeds are at MOST 10% of the diet. I know it's a common misconception that they should be eating all seeds, but they are really fatty. I would even say absolutely NO peanuts or sunflower seeds at all.
- because of this, there are things called pellet mixes that you can try and transition a bird into. (My favorite are Harrison's high potency. They are all the same color so the bird won't throw out colors they don't "like" and they are really nutritious)
- but, do not just try to give a bird pellets cold turkey. It's likely any bird you find will be on seeds, so you'll need to introduce them slowly by mixing and association, eat some yourself too (I know it's weird lol, but it helps way more than you'd think)
- fruits and veggies should make up 20-30% of the diet for sure as well.
So just from that so far I hope you're ready for how expensive even their diet can be, haha.
Further on cages...
- never a rounded cage, birds need corners
- I am not exaggerating when I say this. Get literally THE LARGEST cage you can afford/ and fit in your house. Even for small birds
- it should be absolutely filled with toys. No mirrors if you want to avoid aggression
- you need to clean the paper every few days and the whole cage at least every other week, so maybe not too big If that'll be really hard on you.
- do NOT use bleach or any cleaners not made for birds, aside from gentle soaps and hot water. I use vinegar and sun for disinfectant of some things.
Another thing, balancing your birdie and School may be tough, but hey I'm a full time college student and I do it! Just spoil him rotten to make up for the few hours lol.
I just really want to make sure you know that you need lots of time and patience for this commitment. They can snap, bite, ignore, whatever. It can be totally heartbreaking and you can't take it personally. It's just not a good time for them sometimes.
This is also a LOOONG time friend... years and years.
Sorry if this is a lot of info but I just really want to make sure you're prepared!!!
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