Tell me about owning a bird.

[Anonymous]

I was about 10 when I got a bird and it died in my arms after a few weeks and it was terrible. I'm 32 and still remember.

[Anonymous]

They tend to attach to one person and can be quite aggressive toward others, even when others feed them.

[Anonymous]

OP literally everyone has given you reasons to say no. But most of all, you are the parent here. Say no to your kid.

[Anonymous]

I have multiple dogs, a bird and a kid. My bird is the most work. They are complicated, emotional and messy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no. Just no. Mainly, Birds don’t belong in cages. They’re also not cute or cuddly and they’re very loud. You will clean the cage weekly, if not more. They sh*t wherever they want. Your son will 100% lost interest within a month.

They are awful pets.

They can be great pets but require a LOT of work. Birds that are not given proper care and emotional stimulation (handling, games, puzzles, etc.) get depressed, for lack of a better word, and will self-mutilate. It's awful to see that.

Unless you are 100% on board with a bird, and caring for it for many years (even the smaller ones can live a long time), don't do it.

[Anonymous]

They live FOREVER

[Anonymous]

Birds are flock creatures, so they require a lot of socialization, at least several hours a day and more if you can manage. It needs to be the right socialization, too—too many people think poking your finger at a bird is all the entertainment it needs, and then they’re surprised when it bites.

I have a medium-size parrot who has been partially blind since hatching. She would definitely not do better in the jungle. The vet told me to return her, but we all know how that would have ended. She’s out whenever I’m home. She’s a great companion, and she’s quiet except for one scream in the morning and one at night. Yes, her poops are messy, but she’s leaning to poop on command. (The smaller parrots generally can’t do that.) Lots of people have great relationships with their birds, if you know how to care for them.

I guess in the end, though, I wouldn’t recommend a parrot for most people. I have a lot of patience, a lot of experience, and I like the way they interact— which is warmer and more interesting than anybody’s interactions with the cat I inherited from my mom. (And yes, I spend a lot of time making sure the cat and bird never meet) But I’m not the norm.

If you do decide to try a bird, do consider adopting from a bird sanctuary like Phoenix Landing or one of the ones on PetFinder. Don’t support breeders or PetSmart when there are too many birds waiting for adoption. Also, getting grown birds means you’ll have a better idea about the personality. in Phoenix Landing even makes you take two (short) classes before they’ll let you adopt, which might be a good test for your son.

Also, definitely consider a smaller bird, like a parakeet or cockatiel (louder). Nix on the more emotionally complicated Amazons and Greys, which are for more experienced owners

[Anonymous]

I had a bird at his age.
I was constantly getting yelled at for not cleaning the cage.

I hated cleaning the cage, it’s like a every other day type thing

Plus you have to get their wings trimmed

Just no

Get a dog or cat or fish

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They tend to attach to one person and can be quite aggressive toward others, even when others feed them.

A properly socialized bird, one that interacts with everyone in the family, is much less likely to do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a bird at his age.
I was constantly getting yelled at for not cleaning the cage.

I hated cleaning the cage, it’s like a every other day type thing

Plus you have to get their wings trimmed

Just no

Get a dog or cat or fish

I had a bird at this age. I loved it, and the whole family loved it. It started me on a lifetime of liking birds, and now I go bird watching.

Don’t trim the wings, that’s mean because then it can’t fly.

Fish die. Cat poop is way grosser than bird poop (guano is the original whitewash).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a bird at his age.
I was constantly getting yelled at for not cleaning the cage.

I hated cleaning the cage, it’s like a every other day type thing

Plus you have to get their wings trimmed

Just no

Get a dog or cat or fish

I feel sorry for your bird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a bird at his age.
I was constantly getting yelled at for not cleaning the cage.

I hated cleaning the cage, it’s like a every other day type thing

Plus you have to get their wings trimmed

Just no

Get a dog or cat or fish

I feel sorry for your bird.

Me too
It was the worse thing ever

[Anonymous]

I have 2 budgies. They were cheap to buy (about $40/each).
We got them a big cage, approx $300. Their food is cheap and lasts long. We have them on a mix of pellets and seeds. They fresh food like apples, grapes and any type of greens. They like to sleep about 12 hours a night.

We tamed ours. It took about 3 weeks of slowly getting them used to us. You can google on youtube, their are lots of videos of how to do it. Now they are hand tamed and we can open the top of their cage whenever we are home. The fly around to their favorite spots in the house (poop protected).

There is upkeep on their cages, changing their cage paper about 3 times a week. I give the cage a good cleaning every saturday, takes about an hour. There is also daily sweeping, or vacuuming around the cage.

They are sweet little guys. We enjoy their singing, make sure you pick birds that you enjoy their sounds, some are annoying (cockatiels). They are smart and have funny little personalities. Also, I wouldn't get one, they need a friend.

We have taught them tricks, and they love taking baths once a week.

I do agree that ideally they would be free and not cooped up in cages, but that's not reality. Mine are free to fly for hours a day, unfortunately it's in a house, but they'd die if i let them free. I try to give them good lives of freedom, barring anything that would hurt them.

Also, agreed it will be all on you.

[Anonymous]

16:34 here, one more thing to add. Vet bills. Avian vets are more rare and hard to find. One of our budgies had a little infection (in hindsight he had it from when he was purchased from the pet store). It cost approx $400 to get him back on his feet. Something to take into consideration. Some have said we should have let him die, but I do not agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh man we had neighbors who had a huge cockatiel. That thing was a NIGHTMARE. Screamed all the time, would repeat the same phrases over and over (one of which was SHUT UP!).

Yup. My friend in high school had a big cockatoo. ALL it did was scream her name (in her mom's voice, which was sorta funny, until the 1,000th time you hear it). Crapped all over its cage. Much less rewarding than a dog or a cat.