Parrot Info? (specifically Greys, Cockatiels, and Budgies/Parakeets)

[ShrekDawg]

I'll get right to it... I'm curious about African Greys. I know that I probably wouldn't be able to handle one right now, considering their intelligence, and probably can't even handle a cockatiel, but I eventually want one and am looking them up. I found some articles but obviously experience is better aha thanks.

I will say that I have read several of those articles and have a general idea of the personality and huge commitment this would be and know there's 2 types but, again, obviously experience is best.

That said, I really don't know if I could handle one at this point in time so perhaps a 'tiel or 'keet is best and I am looking into them as well. For parakeets I'm thinking just the standard ones, like at pet stores, BUT I know there's American and English and pet store ones I think are usually American so I may go to a breeder, both to get a hand fed one and to possibly get English or part English.

I used to have parakeets but it's been years so, again, would like some experience.

I don't necessarily have to be able to cuddle with it or anything but I would like to be able to maybe teach it some cute tricks or get it to dance or make sounds and at least be hand tamed.

I'm also looking into rodents however.

I know I said we're probably getting chickens, and we most likely still are, but I'd also be interested in a small pet, so really, any information anyone can give is helpful.

Thank you so much!

 

[GuineaFowling]

I have experience with american parakeet, lovebirds, cockatiels, and green cheek conures. I would say an african grey would be right for you if you were more experienced. Its not because they are a long commitment, as all birds live very long. Cockatiels live about 20 years and conures live from 20 to 50 depending on the specific breed/subspecies. Greys are pricey, as are any large bird thats why I personally prefer parakeets over parrots. Parakeet means small parrot so it is not reserved for the little colorful birdies you see at petstores. They are really budgies...... which are parakeets. Just think of it this way, budgies are parakeets but not all parakeets are budgies.

Im just going to thoroughly explain what you will be getting into when buying or adopting a companion bird.


First of all I will tell you the birds are a long commitment. They live very long. They are flock animals who constantly crave attention, even when they arent tame, and will hate being locked up in their cage all day. Even birds with large cages and lots of toys hate always being in their cage. If you are unable to let your bird out, supervised mind you, for about 6 hours MIN. a bird is not right for you.

It is best to buy from a reputable breeder as petstores are overpriced and their birds almost always have behavioral issues. A good breeder should fully handfeed the baby and wean it onto a fresh fruit and veggie and pellet diet. I wouldnt buy from a breeder who weans onto seeds.

Next you have to have the cage, food, and all accessories before you bring home your baby. For a cockatiel you would need a medium sized cage. I think the Hendrixs HQ Flight cage on Amazon is great and its also very inexpensive. Make sure the bar spacing is 1/2 inch or smaller for cockatiel sized birds. You do not want heads getting stuck between bars and necks snapping.

Birds need lots of mental stimulation so foraging toys and chew toys and basically any toys are needed. Some birds will go through toys faster while others wont. Toys arent exactly cheap too, seeing as most of the stuff I see at petstores I can make at home for half the price.
You'll need various perch sizes. Some thicker than others so your birds feet are exercised. My birds love natural perches.
Birds cost a lot so dont get panicked when you realize your emptying your wallet on them.

Food costs a lot too. I buy roudybush pellets and nutriberries as dry food for my birds. This they have access to all day. But for breakfast they get a birdie mash or chop. Frozen birdie mash and chop saves a lot of money and your birds love it. Make sure to buy all organic as the pesticides can get your bird really sick. And I mean really sick.
Make sure to add lots of vit. A in your birds diet as vitamin a deficiency is one of the most leading problems in birds.

It costed me well over $300 for my GC Conure just to get him and all his stuf in the beginning. On average it costs about $20 a month to buy food for him. The nutriberries and roudybush pellets arent exactly cheap. I plant a garden and have lots of fruit trees so fresh food is always home grown and organic. I do have to run to the store to buy some fresh food that i dont grow sometimes though.

Vet visits are the most expensive thing about a bird. It costs on average $350 at my local avian vet just for an annual wellness check. Imagine if your bird was really sick, that would be a fortune. Most of the times avian vets are hard to find so that also poses a risk.


Keeping a pet bird = lots of time and money being spent.
Good luck.

Im not trying to get you out of getting a bird, just letting you know what it takes(and costs).

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thank you so much for all the great info!!

That cage looks great

I definitely do want one eventually but maybe I should wait, I don't know.

If I did though, I figure it can sit on my shoulder or a perch or something while I'm on the computer, watching a movie, etc. and/or I'll train it and play with it and stuff

thanks again for all the info

 

[ShrekDawg]

If I get parakeets, I want to get that cage or the double version from them or someone else (though the double's so expensive D but I don't know if I want to have 4 budgies, which is about the max for the cage.. I plan to either have cockatiels (one or two) in it, as mentioned, or have budgies in either the double or this and I'd get 2-4 but I'm also afraid to get 4 because I want to be able to bond with them and/or teach them tricks and I've heard with 2 they bond more closely with their friend and with aviary birds, they're just not tame, so I'm a bit worried. Has anyone experienced this at all? I know some people's seem pretty tame. I know they probably don't NEED 4 to be happy but it seems like a bit of a big cage for just 2 so I'd want to get 4. I'm torn right now between getting 4 and/or letting them fly in a room and be happy hanging with their pals or only getting one or two and bonding with them. I'd also like to teach them tricks, which is my main worry. I'm afraid that with 4 that won't be possible. What do you guys think? I plan on getting them from the pet store or rescued from Craigslist

and hopefully i can find either cage cheaper. It's a great price but if I can find it cheaper, that's always good haha

 

[GuineaFowling]

I think budgies are great starter birds. And Lovebirds as well. Have you thought about Lovies? They are slightly bigger than american budgies and are soo much cuter. They have the personality of a bigger parrot too. They can be quite feisty. But if you want more than one bird I would stick with parakeets as lovebirds are monogamous.

Are you talking about the Prevue Pet Products Flight cage. The F040 model?? I think I told you the wrong cage.

Heres a link: http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Produc...423794995&sr=8-3&keywords=hendrix+flight+cage

This cage is big enough for a max. of 8 american parakeets.


Parakeets are the easiest birds to introduce new birds too. I have never experienced a parakeet attacking a new bird before.

What I usually do is get the first bird. Then I bond with it and after several months I add a new bird. I get weaned parent raised babies so thats why it takes so long if you get a handfed baby you should bond and introduce another bird after about a month or two. You will need to bond with the second bird as well, so while you have two birds your going to have to keep them in separate cages in separate rooms until you have bonded with both and then introduce them.

I normally get a male first and then add a female so its easier. If your going to get four your gonna want to add all four into the big cage at the same time so they dont get territorial.

I would personally get all four babies handfed from the same breeder. Bring them home and interact with them equally everyday. They wont be mature enough to want to bond with a 'mate' yet and when they do mature they will still be tame and handleable.

 

[BrendaJ]

Glad you are doing your homework. Birds/parrots are a huge commitment. The life span can be 50-70 + yrs alone on the greys.They are definitely higher maintenance pets than some others you could choose . Ive rescued several types of birds over the years but only own 2 parrots. Looks like you got some great advice above too

 

[ShrekDawg]

I think budgies are great starter birds. And Lovebirds as well. Have you thought about Lovies? They are slightly bigger than american budgies and are soo much cuter. They have the personality of a bigger parrot too. They can be quite feisty. But if you want more than one bird I would stick with parakeets as lovebirds are monogamous.

Are you talking about the Prevue Pet Products Flight cage. The F040 model?? I think I told you the wrong cage.

Heres a link: http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Produc...423794995&sr=8-3&keywords=hendrix+flight+cage

This cage is big enough for a max. of 8 american parakeets.


Parakeets are the easiest birds to introduce new birds too. I have never experienced a parakeet attacking a new bird before.

What I usually do is get the first bird. Then I bond with it and after several months I add a new bird. I get weaned parent raised babies so thats why it takes so long if you get a handfed baby you should bond and introduce another bird after about a month or two. You will need to bond with the second bird as well, so while you have two birds your going to have to keep them in separate cages in separate rooms until you have bonded with both and then introduce them.

I normally get a male first and then add a female so its easier. If your going to get four your gonna want to add all four into the big cage at the same time so they dont get territorial.

I would personally get all four babies handfed from the same breeder. Bring them home and interact with them equally everyday. They wont be mature enough to want to bond with a 'mate' yet and when they do mature they will still be tame and handleable.

I haven't considered lovebirds but perhaps I should. I don't mind having only one bird, I just thought something like parakeets would be happier with friends.

I've seen that one too but I was referring to this one http://www.amazon.com/HQ-Flight-Multi-Purpose-Aviary/dp/B002UTZ040 and now am not sure haha those are the two I'm comparing.

I've seen a few videos of the HQ & liked it but the Prevue seems great too so I don't know.

Here's some of the videos I saw. They're by the same person but show different things so yeah. I also like the set ups they use, no matter the cage I'd get.

Cockatiel set up

Budgie set up

Bird room tour (though there's a few of these)

Cleaning the cockatiels cage (theres one of all of them but I figure this one was more relevant)

But I feel like those would be applicable to either cage? the other one seems great too and it certainly is cheaper so now I don't know

They do seem like friendly, social birds so that's probably why

That's a good idea about getting the birds separately though, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the info. So do you think they should be in a smaller cage then the big one? or perhaps I could get one or two at a time off of Craigslist with their cage so I don't have to buy one?

The breeder thing is definitely a good idea too but do budgies go through the "teenage phase" like other parrots do or as badly? Because that's the one thing I'd be worried about and have heard some people say because of it to rescue or something instead. So many people have so many different opinions though, I guess.

Thanks again

Glad you are doing your homework. Birds/parrots are a huge commitment. The life span can be 50-70 + yrs alone on the greys.They are definitely higher maintenance pets than some others you could choose . Ive rescued several types of birds over the years but only own 2 parrots. Looks like you got some great advice above too

Thanks Yeah, the life span is a bit intimidating hahah

I'm thinking I will probably end up with cockatiels or parakeets or something similar.

And yes, definitely great advice above so thanks again to them!

Your birds are so cute! And the cat! Orange cats are some of my favorites haha

 

[GuineaFowling]

I personally wouldnt buy from craigslist. I had bad experience with both craigslist and petstores so for me its breeders. Where are you located? If you live in central cali i could refer you to some great breeders.

As for cages I personally prefer the prevue pet products one. I think its a great big scage for such an awesome price. If your still stuck about what bird to get and how many for the cage size, I would suggest speaking to a breeder or an avian vet. They are very knowledgeable and if you visit a breeder they can show you there birds and let you see what bird 'clicks' with you.

I dont think budgies go through that nippy phase as much as other birds. The females are more moody but its nothing compared to some species of parrots. I have a green cheek conure. They are known for their nippiness but grow out of it if the behavior is handled correctly.

Petstores dont sell cheap cages. I buy my small temporary parakeet cages from my local feed store they are only $15 dollars for a temporary cage thats bigger than the villa sized ones. Petstores sell the same size cage for double the price.

 

[ShrekDawg]

That's true, craigslist is definitely hit or miss. Plus most of the birds people need to get rid of probably came from the pet store anyways aha I think I'll either go to a breeder or a pet store, maybe I could find a smaller pet store or something. Breeders seem great but the only thing is they're more expensive, especially if I was going to get 4. But maybe I could only get 2? I'm in Massachusetts, near Boston but if it was the right breeder I'd drive to Western MA or any of the surrounding states.

I think I'll have to look at it more. That one definitely is an awesome price! Where did you get yours? That's a good idea about asking too, I'll have to try that.

That's good to know they're not really nippy. I figured they wouldn't be because they're smaller but wasn't sure. What about cockatiels? And do you think that most birds grow out of it like that or are some just like permanently changed? Just a general question hahah

Yeah, it seems like they tend to overprice everything. Only thing that seems slightly more reasonable or at least around the same price as Amazon is the bird toys. Though some of those are overpriced too and dog ones definitely are. We just went to the local feed store recently and I didn't see any bird cages but I'll have to look around

 

[GuineaFowling]

I got my cage from amazon. It was on sale during the holidays.

I have not had cockatiels for years but my parents used to breed them when I was a kid. Cockatiels dont seem to be nippy either. Nothing compared to conures for sure. If you get a cockatiel get 2 males. If they are both introduced young they wont fight. The males also learn how to talk and sing. Most birds do grow out of their 'teenager' phase just as people do but sometimes they dont. Most of the times they do not grow out of it because their owners dont handle the behavior properly which aggravates the birds. Have you ever heard about the IRN bluffing period? If you have you will know that your supposed to ignore the bad behavior and reward the good behavior and they eventually go back to being sweet birds.

Where I live petstores are really overpriced, I dont know if its the same for you. A normal grey untamed adult cockateil would be around $100 and you could get a handtame regualr grey baby from a breeder for around the same price or cheaper depending on the breeder.


Here are some links to sites that show breeders. Maybe you could find one in your area. Give thema call or email and ask about price, at what age they wean their babies, and what they wean them onto.

http://www.birdsnways.com/birds/bradm.htm

http://www.avianbiotech.com/breeders/breeders.asp

http://www.birdbreeders.com/

good luck!!!