-birds

[Hermione]

okay so i'm looking into buying a bird. I really want an African Grey. Do you know anyone who has/had one? Are they nice? A lot of work? I've done a lot of research about them but I want to hear what Grey owners have to say about them.

http://tiger.towson.edu/~atompk1/mcom341/final/live_african_grey_baby.jpg

[madasacutsnake]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Max Headroom]

I don't know about your particular choice of bird, however...

My brother once bought a cockatiel, it was a lot of fun when we got it, however it soon became apparent that we did not have enough time to take care of it the way you should. It needed almost constant attention and became quite irritable.

We eventualy had to give it to a nice old lady who was able to give it the kind of home it deserved. I hope that he was able to live out a propper and happy life.

That being said, before you get a bird, make sure to do a true evaluation of your life to see if you will have enough time to take proper care of it. Birds can be a great joy if you are able to treat them well. But they can also be trouble if not. Not to mention that you would not be giving the bird a proper quality of life.

Also, if you do decide to buy, make sure to check where the bird came from. I've heard some scary stories about birds, and black market, and trapping of species and such. so just do your homework first

[Hermione]

I've been thinking about your post a lot. I think buying a bird would be good for me. I am wayyy too stressed out. Having a bird would bring me back to reality. I do think I will make time for my birdie. I'd rather play with Monet than watch the tele. :)

[smellyrayzin]

my grandmother has an african grey (his name is Oscar)
she travels a lot so I baby sit Oscar for her
it's actually a lot more work than one might imagine, but I really think it's worth it
their intelligence is just.... stunning.

i strongly recommend buying/borrowing some books on them first though... they are not easy pets to raise

but your hard work will be rewarded, i promise :)

[topcat]

get a chicken. then when you get tired of it you can eat it.

[Brynn]

If they don't get enough attention, then they get into the habit of plucking their own feathers out, and start looking raw and bald. I knew a guy who rescued a few, and he took them everywhere he went - he always had three on his shoulders, and a towel :) .

You may want to talk to as many owners as you can. Ask about gender too - some birds show a definite preference for owners of the opposite sex, for instance.

[trisherina]

I had a Timneh African Grey (they are smaller than Congos). His name was Sully. I had him for several years, got him as a young bird. He still ate mush at the beginning. It was very cute to see him all covered with mush.

Greys can't be beat for cleverness and vocal ability. They not only learn words and use them in context, but they don't use a birdy-voice -- they use the voice of whatever it is they're imitating. Sully's first imitative utterances to me sounded something like a monkey. My spouse pointed out that he was doing my laughter. As time went on, Sully learned to "do" one side of an entire phone conversation ("Beep! Hello? Yes... yes... mmmhmmm. Yes! Okay! Yep! B-bye! Beep!"), the dog's barking, the cats' meowing, the baby's cries, a perfect wolf whistle (which he only did when I had put him on the shower door for a bath and I was getting out of the shower afterward -- it was a little unnerving), and various utterances that we either taught him or he picked up on his own. He used to call for my spouse in my voice regularly, which snake referred to up there ^^^ and used to freak him out quite a bit when I wasn't around. He also loved to torment the dog by asking her in my voice, "Lucy! Do you need to go outside?" This, you will read later, was not a great idea on his part. He definitely said stuff in context. I used to take him outside on my shoulder for walks with the dog, and I noticed he often made a loud hooting noise on these outings. I thought maybe he'd heard an owl in the nearby woods or something. It turned out he was imitating a front-end loader backing up, a distant noise that I pretty much tuned out from an area of new neighbourhood construction some way away. I taught him how to wave, step-up, duck for head-scratching, and "wet" without much effort.

Okay, enough cute Sully stories. Keep in mind that birds bond to the person they choose, and it might not be the person you choose. We originally wanted Sully to be "for" my spouse -- but he bonded to me, probably because I did a lot of his custodial care. Or maybe I'm just cute. Anyway, be aware of that.

Greys are not as messy as some birds, because they are not exclusively fruit-eaters... they enjoy fruit and are actually omnivores, but will generally subsist on pellet food. Still, cleaning up after parrots is a fair bit of work, and since greys often live 60 years, expect to do it a lot. The new acrylic cages are easier, sayeth my vet friend who has two large parrots, and they're very cool visually for both birds and humans. Training your grey to "wet" someplace acceptable while out and about -- they can learn -- will make on-the-shoulder time more fun. Speaking of which, expect to spend time DAILY with your parrot keeping him hand tame. Spending this time will give you a bird who likes belly scratches, and not spending it will leave you with a bird that no one can handle, and it will be no one's fault but your own. Be prepared to buy lots of toys, too, because greys need a lot of stimulation, and figure out the trick of toys very quickly.

What happened to Sully? Well, I'll only tell the story because it tells a little about how sensitive greys are. Sully got along fine with the cats Weasel and Spam, and the border collie, Lucy. Right up until the new baby came home. That changed the whole household dynamic, and the border collie suddenly became concerned about the parrot, over-focused on him, and he responded by talking to her in my voice: "Lucy! Do you want to go outside? Lucy! Lucy, come!" etc. etc. This made the dog focus even more, and so on. This went on for about a year, with us trying a number of ways to remedy the situation, until the bird got more and more anxious about being lunged at by a 50 pound dog every time he dared to move. Short of separating bird and dog entirely, we were stumped -- both this type of bird AND this type of dog need a lot of social contact, yet they could no longer be together in the same room. Well, to make a long story short, I'm afraid it came down to who was there first -- and for better or worse, it was the dog. We put out an ad and screened some people, and placed Sully in a home with some very enthusiastic parrot people. We kept up contact for a short while, but it's like adoption -- at some point it's better not to keep revisiting the whole scene.

Enough. That's all I know. Good luck.

[Hermione]

wow trish! thank you! i'm sending you a pm :)

[craig johnston]

doesn't sound like the way to avoid stress!
what about fish?
:)

[Frieda]

surbs, rats are cool. they require a hell of a lot of attention, but you can teach them neat tricks (even get them potty trained).

you have to be careful where you get them as most of them are either bred for lab purposes or as snake food.. so they will die of cancer when they are about 2 years old. the snake food rats aren't bred for their social skills.. so be careful with those..

try and find a good rattery (yes it is called that :D ) where you can watch several generations of rats grow up. you can decide which ones behave nicely and have one or two of their offspring!

anyway, rats are cool! :D

[Clytie]

i had a cockatiel...it was a lovely pet. would sit on my shoulder and churp and talk to me...we even trained it to wolf whistle...she also loved to take showers with me

[red]

My old roomate had an African Grey. I'm not sure whether he was a Timneh or a Congo. Wally was a smart bird. He was also not a tame bird. She bought him from some guy at a gas station. :rolleyes: He liked animals MUCH better than people. Whenever anyone would get near his cage to sweep he would fly down to the bottom and freak out. (Her guess his cage had been hit with a broomstick to quiet him down when he would scream. :( )
Wally would imitate the microwave so well we couldn't tell if it was him or the microwave. He learned the meow od both of my cats. (really funny to hear a bird meow) He imitated me and my roomate. She could never let him out of his cage because all he wanted to do was hide. (probably from being abused) He finally started to get really mean and snippy. She ended up donating him to the local bird place as a stud. (They had told her he was mean because he needed to mate—something like that) I hope he is happy there, poor bird.
Make sure you know where your bird comes from.
Birds live a looong time. It's a lifetime commitment.
I would never have a bird, but I am glad I had time with Wally.

[funkytuba]

It's a lot of responsibility.

I say that not in a "...and you can't handle it young lady" way but in a "and if you take on that kind of responsibility, no more spur-of-the-moment weekend trips to San Francisco, or Vegas, or even to stay overnight at a friends...dorm...frat..sorority..house--you'll always have to be worried about who'll take care of the bird." kind of way.

I recommend staying unattached for a while and remain able to go where your whim may take you on a moment's notice.

[lapietra]

My cousin had an African Grey. They are beautiful, intelligent, sweet birds to be sure - but Spreckles - Katie's Grey - did not get enough attention and spent most of his life with Katie with a bald butt from plucking out his ordinarily beautiful tail feathers. (He's now living in an aviary, getting lots of attention, and apparently will be used as a breeder (!))

I've known other African Greys, and the ones that seemed to do well were in places where they had constant interaction with people - one was in the lobby of a tanning salon :D another in the lobby of a veteranary hospital, and another in a pet store. I'm not convinced that they do well in places where there's only one or two people (Spreckles lived with a four-person family and still didn't get enough attention). If you want to get a bird, it would probably be wisest to start with a smaller one, like a budgie or a cockatiel. Parrots are like three- or four-year-olds their entire, very long, lives. From what I've seen, it's a huge commitment that should not be taken on on a whim.

[Hermione]

wow everyone! thank you so much for your posts. you have all given me a lot to think about!:)

[lapietra]

Hey surbhi - why not a kitty? They're so cuddly and let me tell you, BIG stress reducers... and they're one of the most low-maintenance pets you can have. (Of course I'm kind of biased... )

[Hermione]

hehe

I used to love cats when I was a child. Then I developed horrible allergies. When I'm around cats, I feel like I'm going to pass out. Stuffy nose, hard to breathe, itchy everywhere.. Not a pleasant sight. They are soo cute though. I love their eyes.

Frieda- thanks for the rat tip. I was bitten by a rat at a shop when I was 5. Damn thing. I had to get a rabies shot and all of these other tests. They have freaked me out ever since.

as for fish.. I've had fish back in the day.. but they all died. Poor fishies.

edit- other than fish.. I've never had a pet. when I tell people this they look at me like i'm weird.

[madasacutsnake]

My friend has a budgie which talked in context.......once. Her fiance accidently broke Cheeky's leg and Cheeky said "sh*t, sh*t, sh*t!". Then I taught Cheeky to say "MARK broke my leg, MARK broke my leg, Mark's a bstd!".

[venusupnorth]

http://www.maars.org/images/birdssmall/poicephaluskiwi01.jpg
Shurbi, my friend got a Senegal Parrot and he's got the greatest personality. You can read about her bird experience here:
http://www.dontsaymeno.com/pollo.html (http://www.dontsaymeno.com/pollo.html)

[Hyakujo's Fox]

hehe

I used to love cats when I was a child. Then I developed horrible allergies. When I'm around cats, I feel like I'm going to pass out. Stuffy nose, hard to breathe, itchy everywhere.. Not a pleasant sight. They are soo cute though. I love their eyes.

Frieda- thanks for the rat tip. I was bitten by a rat at a shop when I was 5. Damn thing. I had to get a rabies shot and all of these other tests. They have freaked me out ever since.

as for fish.. I've had fish back in the day.. but they all died. Poor fishies.

edit- other than fish.. I've never had a pet. when I tell people this they look at me like i'm weird.

well, you don't seem to have killed or been attacked by a bird yet, so I say go for it.

[Hermione]

i have my name on a waitinglist for a grey and senegal. the chick says i can choose which one i like when they are available. :)

http://www.maars.org/images/birdssmall/poicephaluskiwi01.jpg
Shurbi, my friend got a Senegal Parrot and he's got the greatest personality. You can read about her bird experience here:
http://www.dontsaymeno.com/pollo.html (http://www.dontsaymeno.com/pollo.html)

[lapietra]

hehe

I used to love cats when I was a child. Then I developed horrible allergies. When I'm around cats, I feel like I'm going to pass out. Stuffy nose, hard to breathe, itchy everywhere.. Not a pleasant sight. They are soo cute though. I love their eyes.


Awww that's such a shame. I love cats for soooooo many reasons - and one of them is that I can go away for a few days and they're not too freaked out - just a little ;)

Good luck with your bird adventure! :) I hope you're getting one that's hand-feed-trained - they can be so gentle and sweet if they're handled right.

[Max Headroom]

Good luck indeed.

I wish I could have a bird, or a dog, or, well, even manage to keep a fish alive..

[lapietra]

Good luck indeed.

I wish I could have a bird, or a dog, or, well, even manage to keep a fish alive..

You could have a virtual pet. :) Some of them don't even need to be fed!

[Max Headroom]

Lord help me if I ever have a kid.

[venusupnorth]

Lord help me if I ever have a kid.

LOL :D

[Gatsby]

LOL @ Snake's post.

I don't have any bird stories, but when I was in college I got a cat.

It was a kitten, I did everything right, socialized it, taught it manners, fed it well, and it grew up to be an asshole.

Some animals are just that way.

So now I'm stuck with an asshole cat for the next 10-12 years.

So it goes, I guess. At the time I got him, I was totally prepared to have a cat. I was in college, had an apartment, etc.

But now, a few years later, things have changed. LOTS of things change as you graduate from college, things you never even thought of will shift your life in major ways.

Not to mention the difficulty of finding an animal-friendly apartment complex.

And as you get older, you'll probably want to travel more, go away for the weekends, etc.

Companion pets are wonderful, but there are times I wish I'd waited.

But, like everyone else has said, if you're ready, you're ready. I know you're smart. :D

[Gatsby]

The Asshole Cat:
(he's so ashamed of his behavior)

http://img228.echo.cx/img228/4076/gatsby1cj.png

[venusupnorth]

LOL @ Snake's post.

I don't have any bird stories, but when I was in college I got a cat.

It was a kitten, I did everything right, socialized it, taught it manners, fed it well, and it grew up to be an asshole.

Some animals are just that way.

So now I'm stuck with an asshole cat for the next 10-12 years.

So it goes, I guess. At the time I got him, I was totally prepared to have a cat. I was in college, had an apartment, etc.

But now, a few years later, things have changed. LOTS of things change as you graduate from college, things you never even thought of will shift your life in major ways.

Not to mention the difficulty of finding an animal-friendly apartment complex.

And as you get older, you'll probably want to travel more, go away for the weekends, etc.

Companion pets are wonderful, but there are times I wish I'd waited.

But, like everyone else has said, if you're ready, you're ready. I know you're smart. :D

I adopted a cat from a home that he didn't fit into. He fit in with us and ended his life peacefully. Like you said Gatsby it matters so much the environment. You should call animal shelters if you can't keep your cat any more, they usually have a list of people willing to adopt. I'm so against animals being put to sleep and there are so many places out there willing to help with adoption.
My solution to when I go on vacation is keeping in touch with cat owners in my neighborhood, we take turns and it's alot cheaper than a cat hotel. Some owners want you to take the cats in others just want you to go visit the home and feed them. It sure is alot cheaper than paying the cat hotels $20 a day. ;)

[Gatsby]

Oh, I'll never actually get rid of him. I'm very adamant about people taking responsibility for their pets. He'll live a long happy life eating designer cat food and biting the shit out of my hand every chance he gets.

It's just my lot in life, I guess. *sigh*

[venusupnorth]

Oh, I'll never actually get rid of him. I'm very adamant about people taking responsibility for their pets. He'll live a long happy life eating designer cat food and biting the shit out of my hand every chance he gets.

It's just my lot in life, I guess. *sigh*

LOL, tell me about it. Ever heard about the cats controlling their owners? They're like that and get away with it. When people tell me how dumb cats are I realize they haven't owned one yet ;)

[topcat]

haha

[Hermione]

well it's a no go on the bird. i spoke to my doctor about getting a bird. she doesn't think it's a good idea because my mum and brother both have really bad allergies. she said that a bird would make my brother's asthma worse.

my mummy told me that she would buy me a "cool" fish. it's so funny to hear a mummy say cool. ha.. anywhoo if she would just let me get a penguin or a tiger we wouldn't be in this situation. i've wanted a tiger since i was 2.

[Audreyvgs]

Ask spart about the waterfrogs. I had em, totally cool pet. amusing as hell, and having a bird is like having a monkey or a child. At your age just a little responsiblility is enough. the others take too much concentration. The are so damn emotionally needy, all of em!