Newbie; Hello!

[MoreForLifeNow]

Great day to you all! I am in the researching phase and have been since about October. Growing up we had 2 Amazons straight from Venezuela. They were quite awesome pets. My dad brought them home with his carry on luggage after he worked down there building a hospital. Rosie and Louie spoke spanish and english...and were as different as night and day personality-wise. They would squawk like they were in the jungles and we (my 2 brothers, my sister and I) could hear them down the street while we played with friends. I have so many great memories of them, but also still feel the pang of heartbreak when we had to re-home them. 4 kids, a traveling husband, a new business had my mom overwhelmed...adding the noise of Rosie and Louie put her over the edge. My dad had to choose her or our birds...literally!

While I have the fun memories, I also realize the responsibility that comes with ownership and I don't ever want to have to give up my pet again.

I am a single mom with a fantastic 11 year old boy. Our home is quiet, and we do have work, school and sports commitments. But, we have a lot of mom/son time where we are home reading, playing games, watching movies...

I think about my college and grad school days when I traveled with my cockatiel. RC came with me everywhere-like you take your dog on a leash. RC (Royal Crown!) got old and passed. I loved the companionship!

So-I am open to suggestions. I thought that an Eclectus might be a great choice, but a couple of breeders have since said that they can be very sensitive to their environment where sickness or death is more likely than with other species.

We definitely would like to teach our bird to talk, but we are also a snuggly family. We go to a local pet store to play with their caiques but we miss the speech aspect. Room is no issue, and Santa brought my son a cage for his new buddy...it's 42" x 23" x 35"

So, I am here to learn...and soon to share pics, stories.
Enjoy your day!
Mary

 

[Marnie]

Hello to you! and welcome to the board
i am pretty new here too. i understand about the Amazons, they are great birds with a powerful voice. their range of sounds and words is phenomenal! we had one for 10yrs and she was quite the character.
it got so that my husband and i couldn't even talk in her presence, she would drown us out. if i opened my mouth to speak, she would let loose, if my husband tried to speak, she would do it again. we had to go to another room.
answering the phone was another impossibility. as soon as it rang she would say hello and mimic me talking so loudly i had to leave the room.
she was very good. she sounded so much like my dogs barking i had to go see if it was her or them!
we rehomed her to a very nice family with 2 kids, 2 cats, keets and a tiel.
i get updates all the time. they love her and treat her like a queen.
i missed having a bird to talk to so we downsized and now have a nice little Senegal.
tried a tiel first, but my allergies went off the scale. so she found a new home after only 3 weeks.
then we had a pair of ringnecks which i think are the neatest birds, but i really just wanted a nice hand tamed one and their 1st batch of eggs were duds, so i decided not to wait for a baby from them and rehomed them to a IRN loving home in another state. she too send me lots of pics and updates. she has done a lot with them and is working on taming them down.
so i don't know what kind of bird you will end up with, there are so many nice one to choose from. make a list of what you are looking for in a bird and what you don't want and maybe that will narrow down your search somewhat.
good luck

 

[DustyDusky]

Welcome to the forum!
Sorry to hear that you had to re-home your childhood friends. I would feel like death if I lost Dusty. I love him so.

 

[Spiritbird]

Hello Mary and a very warm welcome to you. This is a great place to connect with other parrot guardians. I ask if you want a young bird from a breeder or want to adopt one. There are hundreds of birds in need of good homes like yours. Not all of them have behavior issues. I do volunteer for the Gabrial foundation and attend classes by the Pheonix Landing foundation. You can log on to their web site and find out about the birds available if you wish. Otherwise I would suggest getting a bird from a breeder. They will often back you up if any problems should arise. I have a Timneh african grey who is fantastic!! We all have our preferences. Good luck in your choices. Let us know what happens. Thanks for joining.

 

[idahogems]

Hello and Welcome! Definitely there are so many types of birds out there and you are doing yourself and child well with the research you are doing! Very commendable! I am sure when you find your feathered friend it will be wonderful! xxx

 

[parrotqueen]

Hi there Mary, pleased to meet you!

I'm sure it was vry dificult to let go of those amazons, how sad. At leats you have another opportunity to be a parrot guardian again.