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Choosing your first parrot

2K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  catalinadee 
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I have decided to make a thread on choosing the best species for you as a first time parrot owner as we get many new members asking what we think is best, well now hopefully their questions can be answered and they can get a rough idea of what will suit them best. So here goes!

Choosing the best species for you is one of the most important decisions you'd ever make as a parront. If you choose a bird that is not suited to you, you may end up with a bird in your house that you don't like, don't want, are afraid of, don't have the time for and wish you'd never gotten it in the first place.

Considerations:

Parrots are individuals!
No matter what species of parrot you choose they will all have their own unique personalities. They may have the same traits as others but they can be totally different. Spending time with an individual bird is the best thing you can do before you get one. This way you will know its habits, temperament and companionability. A great example is amazon parrots, they're very well known for being feisty, aggressive and unpredictable, when on the other hand some amazons may have never ever bitten anybody. Also an African grey parrot is well known for its talking ability yet some may never speak.

Not all species are created equal!
You can't just go into a pet store and choose a parrot because it is pretty, each species has its own needs and behaves in a unique manner. For example:

  • Poicephalus parrots like a dark area inside their housing where they can retreat from commotion
  • Amazons, conures and macaws need a lot of chewing material, especially wood and paper
  • Cockatiels and budgies are lighter birds and need a more extensive wing clip than other birds
  • Caiques tend to be beaky birds who use their beaks to explore the world, which can include fingers!
  • Cockatoos need lots of preening toys and rope toys
Noise!
Many parrots get rehomed due to noise. They are demanding and can become very vocal about their desires. They also are programmed to shout at sunup and sundown and there isn't anything you can do about it. What you can do is choose a parrot that isn't as offensive as some others.

African species tend to be a little quieter than other birds whereas South American species tend to be very loud.

Neat or messy
Almost every parrot is messy to a certain degree. Some worse than others. They scatter seed, poop where ever they want, spray water all over the place when they bathe and destroy anything in their little paths. It's easier to control a smaller birds mess than a larger birds mess.

Birds known to be particularly messy include:

  • Eclectus - messy eating, spreading wet food all over the walls and floors
  • Lories and Lorikeets - one of the messiest groups. They eat soft and liquid foods and they have soft and liquid waste which gets everywhere outside of the cage. Twice a day cleaning is required... at least!
  • Lovebirds and kakarikis - love to fling seeds out of the dish and onto the floor. Also huge fans of ripping up paper
  • Amazons - shred and chew just about anything

The cost of your bird
This is NOT including equipment. (I'm doing this in $ as most of the members on here are from the US) A budgie may set you back $17 but can reach anything to $100. A hyacinth macaw may cost $10,000+ and some of the rarer birds like red-tail black cockatoos may cost $23,000+!! Ask yourself what you're willing to spend... this is without the equipment, your equipment may end up costing a lot more than the bird itself!

Talking ability
Many people often assume all parrots talk. This is not always the case at all and many of the species that are well known for talking may never actually talk.
However, the species that are very well known for talking are African grey parrots, Budgies and Yellow-naped amazon parrots.

Child friendliness
One rule - if it has a beak it can and will bite. Some parrots may never bite anybody, but some people may be unlucky. This can be very scary for children.

Species that make good hands on companions for children include:

  • Budgies
  • Cockatiels
  • Pionus
  • Rosellas
  • Bourke's
  • Pyrrhura conures
Some people think that the smaller the bird the better, but this isn't always the case, some of the smaller birds can be very nippy, such as:

  • Lovebirds
  • Parrotlets
  • Lories
  • Caiques
If you want birds just for your child to care for but not to handle then a pair of birds would be fine, such as a pair of budgies that may be with your child for around 15 years if they can be cared for well.

One or more?
Some parrots will enjoy each others company, species that may get along with their own kind when provided with enough room etc are budgies, cockatiels, hanging parrots and conures.

Some parrots however can and will kill each other in the wrong situation. The most common birds for this are cockatoos, caiques, lovebirds, some macaws and lories.

If you are thinking along the lines now of the sort of personality etc you're looking for then go ahead and leave a comment, somebody will point you in the right direction to a suitable species :biggrin5:



 
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