Reply to Parrotlet?

Forum Index » Pets

Reply to "Parrotlet?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]NP here; used to manage a pet store that turned into a parrot store, so learned a lot about parrots.  Then I rescued a few and have had parrots all my life (I'm 54 now), so have some experience differentiating the species when it comes to having pets.  I have noticed that there is a real hesitancy for anyone or any article to slag on any sort of parrot, but different species have distinct personalities and in general, some make much better pets than others.

First, the "kitchen odors" thing mostly has to do with non-stick cookware.  Non-stick cookware, if allowed to get TOO hot, emits a gas that kills birds.  Our bird is in our kitchen because they are flock animals and it would be cruel to leave him in a bedroom by himself.  We're always in the kitchen which is part of a great room, and always within line of sight for the bird so he's not lonely.  I got rid of all non-stick cookware except a small egg pan and never burn that pan because I'm always watching the eggs while I cook them.

Also, his cage door is always open during the day, and I have a cage where the cage door opens downwards and stops, sort of like a plank, and he sits at that spot.

Parrotletts are not the friendliest birds.  They may be small but they are really not the friendliest, or brightest, or tame-able birds.  I don't think they are great first birds for anyone.  Young parrotletts *are* sweet--almost all young parrots of any species are sweet, which is why they sell.  But certain species are not great pets after puberty.

In my opinion, there are two great choices for first-time parrot owners (and I've owned both types extensively):

1) The parakeet (budgie, budgerigar) which comes in an English or American variety, or mixed. The American is the most common in the US.  The budgie looks similar to the wild budgie, but comes in many amazing colors.

While with many parrots, male vs. female doesn't really matter, I personally like male budgies because they chatter happily all day--they are just happy little guys and their mood is contagious.

A female budgie has a brown cere (nose) that sometimes is flakey.  A male budgie has a blue cere.

A baby budgie has a light violet cere and if really young, its yellow beak may have some black on it.  If you are looking at babies but want a male, look for male behaviors (chatting, bobbing happily, and/or pretend or real regurgitating for another budgie)

2) The cockatiel.  The cockatiel is not the prettiest parrot--no jewel greens or blues--but it is a fantastic bird.  The reason is it's got a big bird brain in a little bird body.  It's smart.  It's actually a cockatoo, just a miniature one.  Cockatoos are a class of parrot that likes to be petted and coddled.  Big cockatoos like cuddling way too much, though, and can never get enough--but cockatiels are ok with ambient attention.

A cockatiel is not big enough to take off a finger or eat through your table leg in 5 minutes (I have had a cockatoo for 25+ years and had to buy extra table legs).  Cockatiels can emote, but they are not ear-splitting screams of a cockatoo.  They are small, but way smarter than a parrotlet or a parakeet.

Male or female, cockatiels are sweet.  Males may whistle a little more than females, but both are loves.  I had a cockatiel for 20 years that I could communicate with just by looking at him!  If I looked at him a certain way, he'd walk over to me.

Ok I hope that helps.  Whomever you get, please consider feeding them all sorts of things besides seeds--whatever you are eating that day (except chocolate or avocados).[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics