Am I fit to have a pet parrot? If so, which breed do you reccomend?

Question

I live in an apartment, but there is room for a decent sized cage

I have enough money to spend on food, cage and toys

I do travel once or twice a year- are any parrots okay with traveling? Whenever possible I would like my bird to come with me instead of having a sitter or boarding it with a vet.

I keep unconventional hours and am up late at night

I have school 16 hours a week (4 hours, 4 days) and I go to the gym for between 1 and 2 hours a day... but besides that I have a lot of time to spend with a bird.

I live with my long term boyfriend, but we have no plans for children.

Do you think a Parrot would fit into my life now or would it be best to wait? I have wanted a bird for several years and have read a lot about them but I remain undecided about which breed of parrot is right for me.

Advice is appreciated, thank you.

Answer 1

yes your a great owner i got a great advise for you to get a parrots

make sure they are no more older then 22 weeks old and no more younger then a 20 week old so i suggest you get 20 or a 21week old parrot

first choice :scarlet macaw

second choice: green-winged macaw

third choice: blue and gold macaw

fourth choice: Congo African Grey

fifth choice: Timneh African Grey

sixth choice: military macaw

then last choice: Indian ringed neck parrot

i strongly recommend you go from first choice to last choice and get handfed 1s and i strongly recommend you buy them from a breeder and get 1 of the first three as your a girl and i recommend you get its wings clipped so you can keep it on your shoulder when you go outside

hope it helped

Answer 2

i say you are the perfect parrot owner!

any breed wwould fit into your life, you just

need to  know the basics,feeding it,giving it attention etc. for the breed,id just pick the cutest one and the smallest. :]

Answer 3

If you have your heart set on a parrot,rather than a small bird like a Budgie[ who are very tamable and clever] My advice would be an African Grey.

You will need to get a very young one or a ready tame one.

African greys are affectionate, they will mimic your voice and words in detail,and they bond to one owner more so than two.

The Down side:

As with any caged birds, They need daily exercise with Free flight.

They are Messy, Destructive and extremely noisy. They Also have a very painful bite if mishandled .

There cages need cleaning every Day,They need the correct food and lots of interaction with human company!

If you are prepared for all this, bearing in mind your parrot could well out live you, Then you will

be rewarded with a funny,cheeky and very intelligent pet.

If after great consideration you will not have the time or energy for these magnificent birds,

Please reconsider!

Answer 4

as the others have said, you seem like the perfect parrot owner!

I would recomend an indian ringneck, they are fairly cheap, very very clever and east to train, they will do ANYTHING for food. and they have attitude to boot.

they take a little bit of time to get talking (about a year) but i started teaching my boy tricks at 7 weeks old.

they are small enough people don't mind if you take them with you somewhere (i know a few places don't like bigger birds in thier places)

Answer 5

parrotlets!!

they are tiny 4inches long but are true parrots, the most common is the pacific you can get them in any colour and are cheap compared to the bigger parrots, also they are awesome for apartment dwellers they can not scream and the most noise they will make is a medium chirp(quieter than a tiels) also unlike other parrots these little guys do okay while their owner is at work or school as long as they have plenty of toys to play with. They will not scream while you are away, instead as soon as you step in the will want to be with you. I would recommend getting a handfed and handled baby that is just weaned that is when they bond.

also they dont need those GIANT parrot cages, a cockatiel cage with plenty of toys is great.

Answer 6

do i think youd be a good parrot parent?!

yes, the potential is there...

you must remeber some things:

parrots are LOUD...even the tinest of birds can give the eardrums a work out!

parrots are MESSY!

they can be VERY destructive

and tempermental.  thingk, terrible twos for their entire life.

that being said:

avoid conures, even the quietest are NOT suited to be apartment birds, their calls are shrill and VERY loud for such small parrots!

though personality wise conures are absolutly wonderfull!

Avoid Macaws.

these birds are HUGE (even mini macaws have very large personalities) and like conures make LOTS of noise...and said noise is very much matching to their large size...

macaws also tend to be the most tempermental of the parrots, scarlets are one of the best known nippers and when a bird that bit bites...your up for hurting!

a congo or timneh african grey parrot might work for you, they are a nice medium sized parrot with the best vocabulary, congos are better talkers then timmies.  they do however have a huge tendency to become ONE person birds and can inflict some serious damage to anyone they dont want neer them...they also may bond to the person whos not interested so you could get one for you and he bonds to your bf and tries to bite you. (this happens with MOST greys)

good beginner birds would be the budgerigar, a small parakeet (common parakeets sold in usa pet stores), these little birds have great personalities and a male english budgie holds the record for words known.  get a handfed little boy for hours of entertainment and lots of talking. a male budgie will almost AlWAYS pick up a few words!

other good "beginner" parakeets include the liniolated and ringneck parakeets, both make good pets!

the ring neck has a big voice though so might not be a good apartment choice.

Cockateils are another WONDERFULL choice.  they pick up chirps and whistles easy and many learn to talk, a hand reared baby makes an excelent first time bird! they are hookbills (parrots!) but a great first time bird size!

but my biggest suggestion to you would be the blue head, bronze or maximilian pionus.  they can be a littl ehard to find, but pionus owners will tell you.

of all parrots, pionus tend to be the quietest!

they are a smaller parrot, perfect size for hanging out on the shoulder but not so big that they take over an entire room of your home...

they can talk, though their voices can be kind of robot like and there not well known for it...their personalities more than make up for it though...

these guys are a quiet little bird happy to either play on/in their cage or snuggle with you.

pionus as i said are still farily rare, but i do think a pionus could be the perfect birdy buddy for you.

Answer 7

you'd be fine with a parrot! :)

my advice is to get a smaller one, going by the smaller the quieter.

the BEST bird i've found information about for apartment life would be the lineolated parakeet(aka linnie).   They are one of the most quiet parrots, can mimic with a clear voice(search on youtube for videos), and come in several colors. price ranges from $100-300.

second, i'd recommend the budgerigar(parakeet), i'm not very fond of them, but they are quiet and can mimic a little. you can find handfed budgies for $10-30! great price for them.  :)

Lastly, a lovebird.  I own one, and can say they are pretty loud and have an high-pitched annoying call, but they are nothing compared to conures or bigger birds.   They are so cute, and come in the most beautiful colors! and prices are usually around $45-80 depending on color.

My main advice is that you go to a Breeder/Aviary, and make sure the bird you get is friendly and handfed(lovebirds are an exception, some breeders tame the babies after weaning)

You can find breeders around you by looking at sites like birdsnways.com and birdbreeders.com

good luck! i'm a little biased, but parrots are great pets! :)

Answer 8

Yes I think so. I got my bird from this lady and he is wonderful. Here is a link to what kind of breed you may want.

http://avesint.com/choosing.html

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...