with pet birds? My soon to be nine year old daughter wants one for her tenth birthday this August. I have done some research and think we have narrowed it down to a hand-raised budgie or lovebird.
Any tips on having a succesful pet bird? I do plan on letting it out of hid cage, with wings clipped, when supervised. Also, do they make alot of noise and can you cover the cage with a cloth to quiet them at bedtime? Thanks!

By Kernkate on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 09:42 pm:

We had a cockatiel about 5 years ago and JMO I would never have a bird again! We took the bird off of a friend that was getting rid of it... She {Mable} was so messy. Bird seed all over the place, crack the sunflowers seeds and just spit them out. As for covering the cage it was fine until she could see light in the morning...then she would go nuts.
As I said Just My Opinion...

By Dana on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 11:19 pm:

I have had several birds since childhood: canaries, parakeets, cockatiels and now a Quaker parot. All of the above, except one, are VERY VERY messy. Seeds everywhere. But my Quaker is really clean. She/he doesn't toss her food anywhere. The worst she does is drop it in her water to where I need to change the water all the time. But that is much better than stepping on the food. There are loose feathers and "bird dust?" from the shafts of the new feathers. If she is out of the cage, there will be poop where ever I let her (but you have control on that). She will squawck like crazy at certain times which can be very annoying. But she is sweet and silly and fun to listen to when she starts laughing like DD or says "kissy kissy kissy" followed by the smacking sound of a kiss. She even started to make the crying sound of our newborn. She LOVES my DD (age 6) and this is who she bonded with. DD was only 4 when we got her and the bonding occured. They are great play mates. But she can bite and bring blood.

Here is a link for more info on Quakers. You will need to check your state laws to see if they are allowed. http://www.quakerparrots.com/

Also, two of the cockatiels I owned we got for free. Both were hand fed birds. We had lost our original bird after a very unexpected windy day. We searched for him and checked out every add in the paper for found birds. Those who posted the birds didn't want to keep them and had not gotten other replies, so they asked if we wanted the bird. We said yes, just incase it was our bird but tramatized so much we couldn't recognize its habits. So you might get a great bird w/out paying the high cost that way. Infact, our Quacker is a found bird. We found him in a tree squawking away....after several hours in the same spot. We picked him up and he let us. I had always wanted to find a bird .

By Annie2 on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 11:33 pm:

Where do you keep the cage? I am thinking of keeping it in our family room right near the kitchen. I do not want to let dd keep it in her room, since we have a cat. I am still concerned on the noise. The last thing I want is to have sleeping disturbed. From all the sites I have checked, not one has mentioned irritating squawking.
I'm okay with keeping on top of the mess, since it will be dd's bird, it will be her chore to clean it up. We also have two dogs, a cat and a hamster, so cleaning up from pets is part of the program here.
Thanks for the info so far! Please keep it coming!

By Kristie on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 12:19 am:

We have 2 parakeets. We got the female (Chica) when she was only 5 days off the feeding seringe. She hadn't even tweeted yet and she didn't even have all her feathers!! She will be 2 years old in August. We just got a male (Chico) and he is only 8 months old. We LOVE our Parakeets!! They were hand raised (which I HIGHLY recomend) so they are very much a part of our family. They fly around the house and love sitting on dh and playing "get the worm" with his fingers. They kiss each other, really they are feeding each other but it looks like they are kissing, and our ds can hold them and take care of them.
Make sure you keep them in a place where they won't be too hot or cold. And try to get one that is very young so you can be the one to set its schedule. (the squawking in the middle of the night) And my experience is DO NOT cover the cage at night. When you do that they will always have to have that at night and it is a hassle. We don't cover our cages and they go to sleep when we do. Also, when you leave the house leave the radio or tv on so it won't be lonley, and if you will be gone at night a night light is a good idea too. I don't mind the bird seed on the floor but I just got a new vacume and I love to vacume anyway, it is my fav. chore so that is no big deal to me. I hope you do get a budgie because they are so much fun and have the prettiest little tweets and great personallities. (bad spelling) Good luck in your bird search!!!

By Dana on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 11:32 am:

My bird is in our family room where we stay the most. He would be so lonely if we placed him anywhere else. Most birds need company. Plus they are so much fun to have near by where you can chat with them and watch them play (regardless of the type of bird).

As for the squawking, my bird has a certian time of day to just make noise. Some of it is really fun to listen to...but that load "CHIRP" gets annoying. I just put the cage outdoors during those times if the weather is nice. He loves being outside too.

He has never kept us awake. He goes to bed at 8PM and doesn't wake til I wake him at 7am.

By Annie2 on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 07:43 pm:

Thanks everyone! My dd's birthday isn't until August but "I" can't wait to get the bird now.LOL
I will call around to a few bird places which hand feed and see what their baby schedule is like. I may go ahead and let dd get her present early, at the beginning of summer vacation, so she can spend quality time with her new friend.

I know with our hamsters we set up the cage before our new pet was brought home. Then told ds he could not pick him up for a few days but after one day he could hand feed him, etc, without many people around in a quiet atmosphere.
Any tips to introduce dd and family with new feathered friend...any what NOT to do's?
Thanks again!

We take pet owning very seriously and want the best experience for everyone and every animal. I hope I am not sounding alittle too neurotic!

By Colette on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 08:34 pm:

My grandfather had TONS of birds, he had parakeets, a cockatoo, a cockatiel, and a really great parrot that outlived him. They lived in a 3 bedroom apartment in south Boston. One bedroom was for them, one was for his fish tanks, and one was for the birds. I know he used to put blankets over the cages when he wanted them to be quiet. I also know there is a uncommon illness you can get from birds as pets, I remember my mother yelling "JC don't touch the birds" and then I would get the disease story. this is a link I found http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/psittacosis_t.htm

I never got sick from my grandfather's birds, but I got REALLY sick after gardening under a bird feeder without gloves, so be careful.

By Kristie on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 10:31 pm:

that sickness is a type of flu and I havn't ever known anyone personally to get it. I do know that if any of us are sick with a sinus cold or cough we don't let the birds out cuz they can catch it.
As for how to introduce the family to the new pet, have everyone go to the store with you. If it is hand fed and raised, your dd can walk right up to it and gently put her finger to its chest and it will jump right up on her. Have the pet store clip its wings if it is flying before you take it home then it can't fly away from you while your getting to know each other. By the time the flight feathers grow back out you will be one big happy family and the only place he will want to fly is to you!! (this way you don't have to run around the house chaseing a flying bird who dosen't know you). I know the first place chica goes is on my head. Just talk to it alot and hold it and let it be around you family and before you know it he will be part of the family. I can't wait till you get one, they are a blast!!!