anyone own pet birds?

**94z28l** · 09-13-2007, 02:31 AM

i got a senegal parrot that was more like adopted as my own that my fiance owns and now we're lookin at gettin another to keep the dogs entertained

yes the senegal talks but he's kinda small now we're kinda researchin what is gonna be next to keep the little guy company

**NE98LS1** · 09-13-2007, 04:42 AM

i owned zebra finches when i was a little kid, they were pretty cool, but you couldn't do much but watch 'em

**Firebug** · 09-13-2007, 04:56 AM

I've always wanted an owl. Almost had me one a couple of weeks ago when he flew into where I work with a busted leg. If I had some help it would have been mine... Oh well...

**Amy98ta** · 09-13-2007, 05:03 AM

I have a Harlequin Maccaw. He is noisy and doesn't like me but I guess it's his problem!

**nhraformula** · 09-13-2007, 05:32 AM

Originally Posted by Amy98ta

I have a Harlequin Maccaw. He is noisy and doesn't like me but I guess it's his problem!

that must suck having a pet that doesnt like you.

**Amy98ta** · 09-13-2007, 05:46 AM

It kinda does. He was raised from a baby by my ex-husband. He never had me do anything with him when the bird was a baby so he got attached to my ex. Now that the ex is gone the bird is stuck with me!

He is a pretty bird though. Just not very friendly.

**67CamaroRSSS** · 09-13-2007, 08:20 AM

A gal I know has 22 birds, 7 of them various types of parrots. 1st time I was at her house I noticed all the birds making a racket at sundown. As I've found out this is common for birds. What blew my mind was the 1 parrot (who seemed to be the smartest and 1 of 2 living in a walk in cage - she raised both of them from eggs) who shouted out (he could be heard over the rest of them), "QUIET! Shut up!" I laughed so hard tears came to my eyes. Turns out that one has quite a large vocabulary.

**Amy98ta** · 09-13-2007, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by 67CamaroRSSS

A gal I know has 22 birds, 7 of them various types of parrots. 1st time I was at her house I noticed all the birds making a racket at sundown. As I've found out this is common for birds. What blew my mind was the 1 parrot (who seemed to be the smartest and 1 of 2 living in a walk in cage - she raised both of them from eggs) who shouted out (he could be heard over the rest of them), "QUIET! Shut up!" I laughed so hard tears came to my eyes. Turns out that one has quite a large vocabulary.

Actually there are two times a day birds get noisy. In the morning and evening times. Birds with vocabs can be funny!

**tnthub** · 09-13-2007, 08:32 AM

What you have is a bird that is fairly intelligent, pretty good at imitating sounds, and can be somewhat bothersome in terms of how they attach themselves to people or other birds. like lovebirds, the senegal can become very attached to a single person and as such will be prone to biting other people, and they are just large enough to really hurt...

I would generally suggest against introducing another bird if you want to retain the human friendliness of the Senegal. Most likely your bird will bond closely with another bird and then start to reject the friendship of humans.

I have had conures, parakeets, finches, lovebirds, cockatiels, a bluejay and a pigeon over the years. Generally, the larger the bird the more finicky they become and the more care they require. Lovebirds, conures, senegals, all tend to become friendly and protective of a single person, or another bird. When that happens they often become unfriendly to being handled, sometimes to the point of just being nasty and mean.

We had a couple of lovebirds that didn't like me and whenever it was my turn to feed and water the cage they would follow my hands and try to attack and even a small lovebird can have a harsh bite... One day one of them clamped onto the end of my finger and I had to shake it off like a rat to get it to release and it left a nasty cut.

As such, we ended up finding good homes for all our past birds, then we waited a year, and I went abd bought myself an english budgie. He is friendly, does some limited talking, loves to ride ion the car on an open perch (I clip him myself), and is so well behaved we keep his cage doors open all the time.

Birds require exercise and stimulation on an ongoing basis. They also require a varied diet and frequent handling to remain tame. A "good" pet bird is the result of a lot of time spent.

Birds that behave badly often bite a lot and will often pluck out their feathers resulting in skin irritation.

I am not saying this type of situation will happen to you, but a bird that thinks he/she is a human usually makes a much better per than a bird who realizes he is a bird. One bird is a pet, two are birds that have a cage that needs to be cleaned and probably won't like you very much. This isn't true with all birds but Senegals are prone to this type of behavior.

**Blitzed** · 09-13-2007, 08:59 AM

Nothing against birds as pets because I know NOTHING about them, But everytime I go over to some of my friends houses that have them 2 things happen...

CAAAAAAAA CAWWWW CAWWWWWWW *insert most god damn annoying noises ever here*

and I get shit on, they'll always land on my shoulder and shit on me if I let them sit there

**94z28l** · 09-13-2007, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by Amy98ta

I have a Harlequin Maccaw. He is noisy and doesn't like me but I guess it's his problem!

thats a big bird

Originally Posted by 67CamaroRSSS

A gal I know has 22 birds, 7 of them various types of parrots. 1st time I was at her house I noticed all the birds making a racket at sundown. As I've found out this is common for birds. What blew my mind was the 1 parrot (who seemed to be the smartest and 1 of 2 living in a walk in cage - she raised both of them from eggs) who shouted out (he could be heard over the rest of them), "QUIET! Shut up!" I laughed so hard tears came to my eyes. Turns out that one has quite a large vocabulary.

thats the way buzz a umbrella mccaw at the vet we go to is, incredibly smart, he likes to talk to the owners african grey, i know buzz's name because whenever someone walks in he says "hi buzz"

Originally Posted by tnthub

What you have is a bird that is fairly intelligent, pretty good at imitating sounds, and can be somewhat bothersome in terms of how they attach themselves to people or other birds. like lovebirds, the senegal can become very attached to a single person and as such will be prone to biting other people, and they are just large enough to really hurt...

I would generally suggest against introducing another bird if you want to retain the human friendliness of the Senegal. Most likely your bird will bond closely with another bird and then start to reject the friendship of humans.

I have had conures, parakeets, finches, lovebirds, cockatiels, a bluejay and a pigeon over the years. Generally, the larger the bird the more finicky they become and the more care they require. Lovebirds, conures, senegals, all tend to become friendly and protective of a single person, or another bird. When that happens they often become unfriendly to being handled, sometimes to the point of just being nasty and mean.

We had a couple of lovebirds that didn't like me and whenever it was my turn to feed and water the cage they would follow my hands and try to attack and even a small lovebird can have a harsh bite... One day one of them clamped onto the end of my finger and I had to shake it off like a rat to get it to release and it left a nasty cut.

As such, we ended up finding good homes for all our past birds, then we waited a year, and I went abd bought myself an english budgie. He is friendly, does some limited talking, loves to ride ion the car on an open perch (I clip him myself), and is so well behaved we keep his cage doors open all the time.

Birds require exercise and stimulation on an ongoing basis. They also require a varied diet and frequent handling to remain tame. A "good" pet bird is the result of a lot of time spent.

Birds that behave badly often bite a lot and will often pluck out their feathers resulting in skin irritation.

I am not saying this type of situation will happen to you, but a bird that thinks he/she is a human usually makes a much better per than a bird who realizes he is a bird. One bird is a pet, two are birds that have a cage that needs to be cleaned and probably won't like you very much. This isn't true with all birds but Senegals are prone to this type of behavior.

thanks for the advice maybe we wont be gettin another quite yet then, and believe me when i first met him i got a fairly good chomp from him, had to shake him off too. birds are really fascinating tho and can be very smart. as it is our senegal gets a lot of attention as well as his usual diet from the vet and the occasional snacks from our plates.

Originally Posted by Blitzed

Nothing against birds as pets because I know NOTHING about them, But everytime I go over to some of my friends houses that have them 2 things happen...

CAAAAAAAA CAWWWW CAWWWWWWW *insert most god damn annoying noises ever here*

and I get shit on, they'll always land on my shoulder and shit on me if I let them sit there

i dont mean to laugh but damn that bird must really hate you

**Neo** · 09-13-2007, 01:08 PM

I had a cockatiel that was (unfotunately) terrorized as a little baby. It's wings were cut badly so it was injured for its entire life; couldn't fly, and when it did it couldn't land so it just ran into walls to stop itself. Pretty sad really, and the only person it trusted was my mother. But it was a pain in the ass, we had very little love for it, if any. It was pretty much dropped on our doorstep by my aunt...

In the end she got sick with a weird kind of disease that made its chest swell up real huge before she died....We called her Pamela Anderson for the longest time...

**dr_ws6_00** · 09-13-2007, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by 94z28l

i got a senegal parrot that was more like adopted as my own that my fiance owns and now we're lookin at gettin another to keep the dogs entertained

yes the senegal talks but he's kinda small now we're kinda researchin what is gonna be next to keep the little guy company

I have a cokateil and i absolutly hate the sob. Hes loud and only whistles pretty when im trying to talk on the phone, watch tv, or talk to my wife. get the dogs some chew toys and leave the tv on for them dont put yourself through the hell of two birds.

**67CamaroRSSS** · 09-13-2007, 07:32 PM

The big talker and his mate (the 2 she raised from eggs) in the walk in cage are African Gray's. She also has 3 Senegal's and 2 (mated pair) Amazon parrot's. Some of the birds are ones that neighbors brought over that had fallen out of nests. She has a mated pair of Doves that she got as rescues. And yeah, I heard the "morning chorus" when I spent the night.

**FSANE** · 09-13-2007, 11:33 PM

my parents once had 30+ finches and 10+ parakeets. Well I accidentally killed all the finches and 6 parakeets. Its a long story happened over 10 years ago. I love all animals and would never intentionally harm any of them. It still hurts me to this day.

**67CamaroRSSS** · 09-14-2007, 08:27 AM

Originally Posted by FSANE

my parents once had 30+ finches and 10+ parakeets. Well I accidentally killed all the finches and 6 parakeets. Its a long story happened over 10 years ago. I love all animals and would never intentionally harm any of them. It still hurts me to this day.

So, you tried to kill yourself by sticking your head in the oven and turning it on with the pilot light out and all it did was kill most of the birds? Sounds like bad planning to me

**Neo** · 09-14-2007, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by 67CamaroRSSS

So, you tried to kill yourself by sticking your head in the oven and turning it on with the pilot light out and all it did was kill most of the birds? Sounds like bad planning to me

But seriously, guys, don't get birds. All they are are pointless pains in the ass. At least dogs and cats can actually DO things for you.

**Tempest** · 09-14-2007, 10:46 AM

I own a Blue and Gold Macaw and a Scarlet Macaw. Lot of work and a lot of mess but they rock.

**tnthub** · 09-14-2007, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by Neo

But seriously, guys, don't get birds. All they are are pointless pains in the ass. At least dogs and cats can actually DO things for you.

Actually, my english parakeet rides in the car on a rope perch secured under the passenger side headrest. He actually behaves better than most dogs I have owned. He likes to listen to the radio, especially the Rolling Stones and Queen. He takes showers with me. He perches in the bedroom at night on the dresser. He rides around on my shoulder when I go out to get the mail or sit out on our deck. He travels easily on an airplane (strap him to my chest and he is allowed in the passenger cabin.

He may not be able to fetch my slippers but he makes a great little companion. I do keep his wings clipped so he runs around like a little drunken green soldier with no arms. We do not even have to close his cage door.

He does drop a few "presents" but the neat thing about parakeets is they are incredibly easy to clean up and generally not runny like larger birds.

**94z28l** · 09-14-2007, 11:20 PM

Originally Posted by Tempest

I own a Blue and Gold Macaw and a Scarlet Macaw. Lot of work and a lot of mess but they rock.

indeed a lot of work but if they're friendly they're awesome to have around, that couldnt have been inexpensive however with two macaws

Originally Posted by tnthub

Actually, my english parakeet rides in the car on a rope perch secured under the passenger side headrest. He actually behaves better than most dogs I have owned. He likes to listen to the radio, especially the Rolling Stones and Queen. He takes showers with me. He perches in the bedroom at night on the dresser. He rides around on my shoulder when I go out to get the mail or sit out on our deck. He travels easily on an airplane (strap him to my chest and he is allowed in the passenger cabin.

He may not be able to fetch my slippers but he makes a great little companion. I do keep his wings clipped so he runs around like a little drunken green soldier with no arms. We do not even have to close his cage door.

He does drop a few "presents" but the neat thing about parakeets is they are incredibly easy to clean up and generally not runny like larger birds.

have a cockatiel that does that now, pretty funny reall, he just isnt too fond of his cage