Is a parrotlet right for us?

[NikiP87]

My BF has been drooling over birds for the last couple of years. We've recently become more settled & i'd like to take the plunge for his Christmas present. I have raised & bred cockatiels when I was younger & have been around other parrots enough to know i've done pretty good not allowing him to walk out with every pretty bird he sees! Lol! I currently work PT & am working on trying to get back to a FT position. My BF currently doesn't work (he has sources of income outside of work) & is hoping to get a PT position soon. Between the two of us, we do & will continue to spend a decent amount of time at home.

My BF understands they are as much work as a child & I fully understand that I will probably do most the care of the bird. This isn't something I mind as I do miss having birds, so I want something that won't drive me nuts.

I'd ideally like something in the smaller - lower end of medium. We currently don't have a ton of room. A good size cage, not huge, plus we do have room for play areas in multiple rooms.

He is attracted to conures, running over to the bins of babies to have them fight over which one climbs him first

My understanding is that they can be noisy, nippy, destructive, & need as much room as possible. If any of this is wrong, plus correct me because I would love to get him exactly what he wants, but i'm trying to be realistic also.

He is also fond of parrotlets. In my reading about these guys from these websites:

Parrotlet Basics
Introduction to Parrotlets

It sounds like they are small & capable of entertaining themselves for a while. I do see they need lots of toys for self entertainment, but are they truly destructive outside the cage? I know all parrots are capable of being destructive to an extent. Are they fairly quiet? I don't mind talking, chirping, some noises, but the screaming the conures do in the store when you walk away...ugh! I also realize they eat like a horse. Not a problem.

Please let me know if there is anything else I may have also missed in this consideration.

Thanks!
Niki

 

[MacawGuy]

i don't own any conures but i hear that green cheeks are not to bad. i hear that the dun conures can be loud. maybe someone on hear with conures can gave to better info then i can

 

[Dharmawaits]

I absolutely adore my Parrotlet. Her "loud" is adorable.....Now keep in mind I've had a Quaker and a Pionus. She can't even play in the same ballpark with her loud as most parrots. And she really only does it if she thinks there is the smallest chance if whatever person might have walked in could possibly be me. If anyone in my family walks pasts her after coming home and she knows it isn't me. She calms back down. NOW if I dare to sit down in front of her and not get her out...............there is a righteous fit reserved only for a true princess. Other than that, she's not a big call back the flock type of parrot and she mostly just talks to you. Kind of a conversational chirp and sometimes a little bit of a quack.

My parrotlet is clingy. She adores being with me. She'd spend every waking minute with me if she could. I don't think she is the norm. But we do things a bit different. I loved the idea of a small parrot and I took advantage of it by making her special "scarves" and I wear her around my neck. I can bring her into a store and most people don't even see her. It looks like I'm wearing some kind of hipster scarf from Urban Outfitters. She LOVES her scarves. She feels very stable on them compared to my shoulder. They are tiny guys and are always a bit unstable on a shoulder. I also don't like her on my shoulder as she is a feisty bird and feels she is the queen bee and can boss me around if she is on my shoulder. The shoulder is a rare treat indeed.

She also enjoys her cage. They need a big one most of them are very active. Peapod is a shredder so she needs a ton of her type of shredding toys (sometimes I am seriously wracking my mind what in the world we can play/shred next). She goes through them like a banshee. Other parrotlets enjoy beating up bells, so on and so forth.

She's a girl so there is a good chance she will never talk but I can tel you after a month of being with me she already made the kissing noise. They are smart little buggers. Its super easy to think small bird, very I'LL DO WHAT I WANT ATTITUDE and you think you can't train them. But that is so not true. In a couple weeks I had her giving me kisses, turning around, gentle beaking and getting rid of a pill bottle top (she has to throw it away the most adorable thing in the world).

most parrotlets (like most birds) are very cage territorial. Peapod lets me get her out and the rest of my family can sometimes get her out and at the very least she is stick trained so they can get her out that way. Once she's out she's fine MOST of the time. I get the love so usually with me one gentle beak and a ladder step up exercise and she's good to go. The rest of the family if she is in a mood might get bit.

With that said, I think their bites are a joke. I hate saying that but after you've been bit by a very angry Quaker and "shudder" a hormonal Macaw. This just seems CUTE. A conure bite will hurt worse! But if your new to birds I don't want you to be surprised if it draws blood or does REALLY pinch. Its just a pinch versus your fingernail getting popped off.............yeah no contest.

I love her size LOVE I can have a parrot that fits close to my heart. Love her little stinker attitude. Her big heart and her ability to play like the big boys.

PS Usually the biting is because she's tired. Parrotlets really do need 12 hours of sleep. Especially the girls! Sorry this is so long! I just think they are great additions to a family!

 

[Dharmawaits]

Here's a wonderful forum Parrotlet lovers. A lot of good info and if nothing else your going to get a feel for what its like to have a parrotlet.

TalkParrotlets.com Homepage

 

[Karigan]

I think one sounds like it would suit you. I would also look at Meyers parrots. They are renound for calm and docile demeniors and Poicephalous birds are known for being quieter as far as parrots go.

http://www.susanclubb.com/pdfs/meyr.pdf

 

[NikiP87]

Dharma, thanks! Sounds right up our ally Neither of us are afraid of bites, I have a decent sized snake collection & most have really nice teeth! I'm glad to hear their bites aren't bad though as i'd really love the bird to bond with the bf, so i'm prepared to be the hated one Plus i'd really like to find one that already needs a home(like craigslist, a rescue, etc) before going to a breeder. I know there may be some bonding issues right off.

In a couple of years we'll be upgrading our living situation, then we'll have room & the setup to support a sun conure if he still wants one. I on the other hand want a pionus & do plan on one in the future.

Karigan, thanks for the suggestions! If a parrotlet seems it will fit into our situation, I think that's the way we are going to go. I have a bunch of critters & this the first kind of animal he's expressed interest in. I want to stick to what I know he likes if it suits our household, otherwise he may know something is up

 

[Birdlover11]

If your BF really wants a conure you could get him a GCC , they are not that noisy and love to be held and cuddled.

 

[NikiP87]

Yeah, last night I was reading about pineapple conures. They sound like a really good option. There's also a breeder a few hours from us.

 

[Birdlover11]

Then you have 2 choices ! Maybe you could ask your BF and see which one he likes ?

 

[NikiP87]

Well, things have gotten bumped up

Found a breeder 4hrs away from us. She breeds several types of conures, parrots, & lovebirds. I have arranged with her tomorrow for us to go look at a yellow side, a GCC, & a pineapple youngsters. She has sun conures, but they won't be brought out so he'll have a limited amount of choice, but still a choice in his new bird She'll have no more clutches until spring, so we're going to go ahead & jump on it now rather then me gambling on a pet store to have what we are after.

Also ordered a cage of amazon that is set to be delivered tomorrow, but we'll be gone well before it arrives, so the cage will be waiting when we get home!

 

[momto3]

How exciting for you! A word of advice--don't let your bird see you putting the cage together as it might scare her. Long story short, our Quaker saw her cage fall apart and she refused to go back in it. Good luck in choosing a bird! I think you will be fine with any hand reared baby that is well socialized.

 

[Birdlover11]

So happy for you ! Hugs ! Does your BF know which mutation he wants ? When you go to the breeder and see all the little gcc babies you die of cuteness ! They are so cute especially when you see them bugging their mom!

 

[NikiP87]

No clue what mutation he wants. Knowing him, if I show him a picture to see if he liked a particular color, he'd know what is up. He has zero idea what we are doing tomorrow, actually I was complaining today about not having anything to do for the next three days that i'm off

The lady has a nursery area for prospective buyers to cut down on the germs into her breeding building. Which works for me as that will help cut down on the likelyhood of leaving with an inappropriate species. At my request, she is just bringing in a single youngster from the pineapple, yellow sided, & normal clutches. All her current babies are weaned & ready to leave with us tomorrow, hence why i'm jumping on it now as she's doesn't have many babies left.

 

[animallovinmom]

I had a peach front conure that was Awsome fairly quiet but he did have a huge cage. I also had a parolett last year that was an angel she was we sweet and cuddly she was a big parrot with a little body and a little voice she didn't like my husband much and bit him every single time he tried to play with her drew blood twice unfoutantly she passed away in the winter we are not sure why it was very sudden I would definatly recommend either a peach front if u can find space for a bigger cage or a parolett they are Awsome!!

 

[NikiP87]

Thanks for all the help! The bf is now owned by a lovely little pineapple conure. It was love at first nibble on the nose, I'll have pics up tomorrow!