Anyone got a parrot?
Discussion
My dad had an African Grey for a short while, I don't think he realised how much time it takes up. Just a quick google and found this:
"African greys are social animals. Keeping them on their own in a house means that YOU become their social outlet. You will need to spend a great deal of time (several hours) every day with your bird. Failure to do this will result in your bird becoming aggressive, vocally loud and often will start feather plucking".
"African greys are social animals. Keeping them on their own in a house means that YOU become their social outlet. You will need to spend a great deal of time (several hours) every day with your bird. Failure to do this will result in your bird becoming aggressive, vocally loud and often will start feather plucking".
Long time lurker... (I dont know if my 10 year old diesel peugeot 3008 classes me as a piston head lol)
Having 3 parrots myself, I always tell people the following:
Imagine a 2 year old with a foghorn, and pliers. They are messy. They require special diets, and a lot of time devoted.
If you still want to get a parrot, they will most likely outlive you as most breeds of the larger parrots live to well over 80 years old.
Make sure your local vet can deal with parrots, not all vets do, and some are hack jobs.
However they are wonderful intelligent animals, but messy and noisy. If you can pay a visit to the National Parrot Sanctury near Skegness, or to Tropical Birdland near Leicester to get a idea of what happens to these wonderful annimals when they are no longer wanted or cannot be cared for.
Having 3 parrots myself, I always tell people the following:
Imagine a 2 year old with a foghorn, and pliers. They are messy. They require special diets, and a lot of time devoted.
If you still want to get a parrot, they will most likely outlive you as most breeds of the larger parrots live to well over 80 years old.
Make sure your local vet can deal with parrots, not all vets do, and some are hack jobs.
However they are wonderful intelligent animals, but messy and noisy. If you can pay a visit to the National Parrot Sanctury near Skegness, or to Tropical Birdland near Leicester to get a idea of what happens to these wonderful annimals when they are no longer wanted or cannot be cared for.
A lot of people like the idea of owning a parrot, they're intelligent, funny and usually very friendly and playful. The reality of owning one is very different, you need to be prepared to invest a lot of time and effort. Expensive to buy, noisy, messy and potentially destructive, our Macaw is all of the preceding and a great escape artiste too. Their jaws are shaped like secateurs and can give you or household objects a very nasty bite. They tend to bond to one person and like to spend a lot of time with that person. They're very bright and get bored so need a lot of entertaining. And they live forever so expect them to be around a long time.
I have a particular soft spot for the kea parrot. These little f
kers are about as bright as they come and like to destroy stuff for sts and giggles.
An example being, they love to strip the window seals from your car windscreen if you happen to park your car near one.
On one memorable day I has half way up the Cook glacier and had had pleasant company most of the walk in - an adorable little kea who decided he would trot along side chatting noisily to us.
We roped up to do some ice climbing and as I was about half way up the ice face, I was suddenly aware of our guide effing and blinding at soneone, and then a snow ball whizzed past me.
My little chatty buddy had decided to sit on the rope - the one I was hung on 20f above the moraine - and try to scissor through it because he was now bored as no one was talking to him... fker! 
kers are about as bright as they come and like to destroy stuff for sts and giggles.An example being, they love to strip the window seals from your car windscreen if you happen to park your car near one.
On one memorable day I has half way up the Cook glacier and had had pleasant company most of the walk in - an adorable little kea who decided he would trot along side chatting noisily to us.
We roped up to do some ice climbing and as I was about half way up the ice face, I was suddenly aware of our guide effing and blinding at soneone, and then a snow ball whizzed past me.
My little chatty buddy had decided to sit on the rope - the one I was hung on 20f above the moraine - and try to scissor through it because he was now bored as no one was talking to him... f
ker! I had an african grey, he bonded with me which meant he was extremely violent to anyone that came near me. He would scream his arse of if the them mrs sat anywhere near me and by god if he got out he'd have her and my kids.
It would scream it's arse of if I left the room and would only stop when I came back, he'd also let himself out of the cage so I'd have to chain the door shut or he'd be in the shower with me.
Lovely bird but he was a psychotic mess, it was a bit like having Annie Wilkes live with you.
Went to a sanctuary in Lincolnshire in the end.
It would scream it's arse of if I left the room and would only stop when I came back, he'd also let himself out of the cage so I'd have to chain the door shut or he'd be in the shower with me.
Lovely bird but he was a psychotic mess, it was a bit like having Annie Wilkes live with you.
Went to a sanctuary in Lincolnshire in the end.
I honestly believe the only largeish pets people should be allowed are dogs and cats, as the species have been specifically domesticated for thousands of years and live happily in human homes. I don't think it's fair on wild animals particularly birds, to be kept in houses. I love the idea of a parrot too, but the reality is that I don't think it's fair on them to be kept domestically just because we find them amusing.
Just sharing food for thought, I accept that opinions differ. Would advise the OP to consider this asepct though.
Just sharing food for thought, I accept that opinions differ. Would advise the OP to consider this asepct though.
I have a blue fronted amazon, a similar size to an african grey. He is my parrot and tolerates my wife, he gets possessive when we have guests i.e. invite people into his flock without consultation. We have learnt not to get him out when others are in the house. He has plenty of toys that we regularly swap around, these keep him amused if there is no one around. We leave Classic FM on if he is by himself, he is happy whistling away to the radio. He is 15, we have made provision for him in our wills as he will likely outlive us.
We have enough space so he has his own room where he can sleep in peace at night and a separate cage in our living room for the daytime. Parrots tend to be less cranky and stressed if they get enough sleep, often 10+ hours. A large cage (or two in our case) also help keep them calm as they have freedom to move around and you can give them a good variety of toys.
He is very affectionate, and chatty but as with all parrots, you have to be mindful of hormonal mood swings. You learn to read the signs. He can be loud, he tries to join in conversations when you are on the phone, it is normally funny but for serious conversations I do have to move away from him. First thing in the morning and last thing at night he can get noisy, this natural where they call out to the flock to say they are safe before and after roosting.
To me, there is no difference in keeping a parrot to having a dog or cat. He was hand reared in the UK and domesticated to bond with humans. The way some people talk it is as if they think all pet parrots are snatched from their parents in the wild.
They do require time and attention, maybe not as much as some are making out, but as with most things in life you get back what you put in.
All in all, I find them great pets. I certainly get more from him than I believe I would a cat. They are not for everyone, but if you have the lifestyle, time and space then you will have a loyal and lifelong friend.
We have enough space so he has his own room where he can sleep in peace at night and a separate cage in our living room for the daytime. Parrots tend to be less cranky and stressed if they get enough sleep, often 10+ hours. A large cage (or two in our case) also help keep them calm as they have freedom to move around and you can give them a good variety of toys.
He is very affectionate, and chatty but as with all parrots, you have to be mindful of hormonal mood swings. You learn to read the signs. He can be loud, he tries to join in conversations when you are on the phone, it is normally funny but for serious conversations I do have to move away from him. First thing in the morning and last thing at night he can get noisy, this natural where they call out to the flock to say they are safe before and after roosting.
To me, there is no difference in keeping a parrot to having a dog or cat. He was hand reared in the UK and domesticated to bond with humans. The way some people talk it is as if they think all pet parrots are snatched from their parents in the wild.
They do require time and attention, maybe not as much as some are making out, but as with most things in life you get back what you put in.
All in all, I find them great pets. I certainly get more from him than I believe I would a cat. They are not for everyone, but if you have the lifestyle, time and space then you will have a loyal and lifelong friend.
My AG would pick up a lot with the voice of the person that said it.
To them they are calls not words, the only thing he did pick up on which he seemed to know was when he'd say what you doing? He'd say that when you left the room and he'd be satisfied when you responded, if you ignored him he'd get increasingly stressed and then start to scream.
To them they are calls not words, the only thing he did pick up on which he seemed to know was when he'd say what you doing? He'd say that when you left the room and he'd be satisfied when you responded, if you ignored him he'd get increasingly stressed and then start to scream.
Here he is trying to constantly have sex with my face
That was probably 15 times a day, hed get very upset and angry if anyone came near me, perhaps it was his young age but he was a nightmare to live with, if he was in his cage he'd scream the whole time, a really horrible scream, if he was out he'd be trying to shag my face and attacking everyone else in the house. I feel bad hes gone but I dont think I had any of the skills to keep him.
That was probably 15 times a day, hed get very upset and angry if anyone came near me, perhaps it was his young age but he was a nightmare to live with, if he was in his cage he'd scream the whole time, a really horrible scream, if he was out he'd be trying to shag my face and attacking everyone else in the house. I feel bad hes gone but I dont think I had any of the skills to keep him.
Edited by Sheets Tabuer on Monday 13th December 22:13
Edited by Sheets Tabuer on Monday 13th December 23:00
Family had may birds /Avery set up when I lived with my parents. In the house were a few “special cases”… one of which being Lucky, an African grey.
Lucky was originally my dads, and was fine with him, but when my dad no longer lived there Lucky was hard work. It responded to me more than others in the house, but it could be a bit of a tyrant. Don’t take the comments about a two-year old with a pair of pliers lightly… we had a dog, a pretty tough jack russell. The dog would keep out of the parrots way for good reason.
A lot of the time it was fairly happy, had a big cage and it climbed out onto the top of it and could move about the room freely. It would chat sometimes, saying hello, what you doing, get off, oh st, and whistled at everyone. Made an irritatingly good house phone noise that would have all of us answering the dead phone. Some days it was a pain in the ass, clearly irritated and probably a bit pushed off with the world, it was ok with me on those days but bad with others. It barely tolerated women on any day.
Easy to care for physically, took a lot of time to spend reassuring it and stopping it destroying a house, got a lot of dust of it as I recall.
A roofer was working on the house one day and showed an interest, he was well read about them and had been after an Amazon for a few years but couldn’t find/afford one. I had left the place by then so my mother passed it on to him as it was too much for her to handle (I still had to come around every few days to clean its cage etc).
I suspect it is still alive, it was the same age as my sister and she is around 48 now.
I wouldn’t recommend one. But then again, it was never mine, it just adopted me in the circumstance.
Lucky was originally my dads, and was fine with him, but when my dad no longer lived there Lucky was hard work. It responded to me more than others in the house, but it could be a bit of a tyrant. Don’t take the comments about a two-year old with a pair of pliers lightly… we had a dog, a pretty tough jack russell. The dog would keep out of the parrots way for good reason.
A lot of the time it was fairly happy, had a big cage and it climbed out onto the top of it and could move about the room freely. It would chat sometimes, saying hello, what you doing, get off, oh s
t, and whistled at everyone. Made an irritatingly good house phone noise that would have all of us answering the dead phone. Some days it was a pain in the ass, clearly irritated and probably a bit pushed off with the world, it was ok with me on those days but bad with others. It barely tolerated women on any day.Easy to care for physically, took a lot of time to spend reassuring it and stopping it destroying a house, got a lot of dust of it as I recall.
A roofer was working on the house one day and showed an interest, he was well read about them and had been after an Amazon for a few years but couldn’t find/afford one. I had left the place by then so my mother passed it on to him as it was too much for her to handle (I still had to come around every few days to clean its cage etc).
I suspect it is still alive, it was the same age as my sister and she is around 48 now.
I wouldn’t recommend one. But then again, it was never mine, it just adopted me in the circumstance.
Had a parrot. Back in 1997 we got a Hahn's macaw, at approx 1 yr old, named Peter. I was just a teenager then. He died this summer aged 24. Hahn's macaws are like mini-macaws - physically a good bit smaller but also live a shorter duration approx 22-35 years. Had the free reign of a lot of the house. Cage was mainly for bedtime and if he'd been naughty.
Good points: entertaining, a good companion, intelligent, not too too messy
Bad points: need routine, structure and attention ++. Can be destructive (Peter was a very god wire stripper!!)
I would never get another parrot. Overall suspect they are not sufficiently domesticated - feels like looking after an animal that should be out in the wild, and probably too intelligent for humans.
Good points: entertaining, a good companion, intelligent, not too too messy
Bad points: need routine, structure and attention ++. Can be destructive (Peter was a very god wire stripper!!)
I would never get another parrot. Overall suspect they are not sufficiently domesticated - feels like looking after an animal that should be out in the wild, and probably too intelligent for humans.
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