ive always wanted a parrot and have the chance to get one ... im looking for advice on care and such ... we do travel and always have something going on ... i have the chance to get a fourteen inch matrix sp conure ... give me pros and cons please ...

By Feona on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 05:22 am:

They are very noisey. They have a very loud squauk. One of the loudest birds. Wake you up from naps.

Wake you up in the morning with noise.

Bite small children. Would love too bike those tiny fingers.

If you get a super friendly hand fed one, it might be fun if you have the energy to clean to cage once a day. Vacumm around the cage. You wouldn't believe the flying poop and flying seeds. Cleaing cage and floor around cage. Average 15-45 minutes a day for cleaning, feeding and watering. (45 minutes if you want to scrub dried poop from side of cage bars)

You need to have the energy to socialize with the bird about a hour a day or more to keep it sane. If the bird is not socialized with, it will go insane.

Are you all in the same room for the evening? Is there room for a bird cage in that room so the bird can socialize with the family? The bird should be fairly quiet if the tv is on.

I forget how many years they live? Is it 16 years?

By Feona on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 05:24 am:

You have to clean the wall behind the cage to... Poop gets on it and flung wet food such as fruit. A plastic sheet or plexiglass would protect the wall. or you can just clean the wall once a week or so.

By Feona on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 05:27 am:

You need to have someone watch the bird when you travel. They play with the water bottles so they might tip on over.

The birds poop in their food so the food wouldn't stay clean for 7 days. Even if you have 4 or 5 food stations.


We used to get a cat and bird sitter(friend) to come and stay at the house. I was afraid the bird sitter wouldn't able to get the bird back in the cage so I attached 3-4 heavy duty $20 water bottles to the cage so he wouldn't have to change the water bottles.

He threw in some bird food balls during the week.

By Children03 on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 06:25 am:

I had friends that had 2 of them and they drove me nuts when I would go over there. They were always so loud. I was only over there for a couple of hours and if it drove me nuts in that period of time,so think if you had to live with one.

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 07:54 am:

I've never had a parrot, but when Bubbels and I had our first apartment together, she had 2 finches in a cage in the DINING ROOM, of all places, and they drove me NUTS! LOL

That being said though, even though I'm not a *bird* person, I've known people who had some beautiful birds for pets, some of them parrots, and at the very least, they were nice to look at, and it always amazed me that they actually had relationships with their birds, like you do with a dog or a cat.

My sister had one, and it seemed like it was always having medical emergencies and she made more than a few midnight visits to the emergency vet with her parrot.

By Palmbchprincess on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 10:30 am:

My grandmother has a Military macaw, and that damn bird is SOOOO loud, and MESSY! Personally, I think birds are too high maintenance as pets, but if you are ready to put the work into it, go for it. My lawyer has a tuscan (sp?) in his office. He only likes females, especially the main secretary. (my lawyer is a man, go figure!) He likes me, but bit his favorite secretary because my DS was in her arms. He is very gentle with females, though, and he eats grapes from the secretary's teeth. Strange bird, again very loud. The way they keep General's cage clean is a linoleum remnant on the bottom of his cage. He poops on it, and they take it outside and hose it off. HTH, and let us know what you decide!! BTW, where have you been? I haven't seen you posting in a while!!!

By John on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 04:10 pm:

Feona and I had a Quaker Parrot for several years. We hand fed him as a baby and became very attached to him.

Parrots are VERY different than other pets:

(1)They are extremely intelligent. Far more intelligent than a dog or cat. African grey parrots have been taught to communicate wants and needs in ENGLISH. Many people have measured their intelligence as being on the same level as a 2-3 year old HUMAN child.

(2)They live for a LONG time. Many parrots live to be over 50 years old! It really is a lifetime commitment. That baby parrot you get at 30 will probably still be alive when you retire at 65! A conure can live 30+ years.
Make sure you are ready for that kind of commitment.

(3)You CANNOT ignore them. Unlike a cat or a fish who is fine to be left for a weekend, a parrot REALLY needs company. Parrots who do not receive attention develop mental disorders, becoming a screaming maniac who never gives you any peace for the rest of your life! (see 2 above). If you travel a lot, a parrot is definately not for you.

(4)As Feona mentioned, they are messy. Be prepared to clean up after him daily. AND you need to keep the cage clean so they don't get sick.

Overall, I'd say a parrot is FAR more work and responsibility than ANY other pet I can think of.

While Feona and I became very attached to our parrot, we could not give him the attention he needed once we had our son.

The other unfortunate thing is that you can really break a parrots heart after he becomes attached to you. We saw a few of these sullen birds at parrot pet store near where we live

BTW, Conures tend to not be good talkers. Most never learn to speak.

By Happynerdmom on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 07:08 pm:

As stated above, they are very noisy, and very messy. It's like having a two-year-old. My sister just got rid of hers. They had it a few months, but she was ready to kill the thing! Don't get it if you value peace and quiet. "Bird people" are special people, indeed!

By Sue3 on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 10:23 pm:

My Brother has one of those and several other ones also.I think 4 big birds total.
What Feona and John said is all true.
They need LOTS of attention as John said.
More so than a Dog.
When my Brother goes to his cottage for vacation
he brings them all along.
We had cocketeils before kids and parakeets also
and they are very messy,had to vacuum a lot.
I sold them after having my first baby because the noise drove me nuts and woke my baby up from her nap !
The pro`s are that they are very loving and cool pets .

By Melana on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 10:53 pm:

I LOVE large parrots, and eventually want a Blue and Gold macaw, and also an african grey, but I don't plan on owning one untill my children are over the age of 12. As stated above, the are VERY high matinence, and need so much attention. The pro is that they are the most loving, social, and inteligent pet you'll ever own, weather they learn to talk or not. Macaws tend to live about 105 years, and african greys between 60 and 90, I don't really know much about conures, but I'm guessing about 50+. I know you have to change watter and food daily, the water is a MUST, or they'll get very sick. You do have to clean a lot, and they need a fairly large cage. Once you own one, plan on keeping it a long time, they don't do well with having new owners, and you never know who will end up with the bird. You have to socialize with them for a MINIMUM of one hour, preferably two. I do not recomend clipping the birds wings, as this is their main form of excersize, and to me it would be like having the ability to walk taken away from a person. You'll need a perch for outside the cage, and a good lock for the door of the cage, as they learn very quickly how to unlock the ones that come with it. You'll want to have the bird sexed, and spend some extra money on mite prevention medicine. If it's a female, she'll likely lay eggs when she get's to sexual maturity, regardless of if she has a male to mate with, and could be protective of the eggs. There's a lot of thought that goes into owning a parrot, but IMHO it's well worth it, if you are able and willing to put the effort into it. I also happen to be a huge bird person. HTH.

By Melana on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 11:00 pm:

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/birds/conures/ConuresProfile.htm#CareandFeeding

here's a link on total care and needs

By Dana on Friday, June 18, 2004 - 08:27 am:

We have a quaker parrot too. John, I didn't know you and Feona had one also. If you really want a bird, I would do more research on Quakers. They are said to be as smart as the African Grey, they live about 30 years, they are small enough for a medium cage, they CAN learn to talk if they choose, they certainly have a personality, they are pretty easy to care for and not really messy as most birds and are social. Here is a link for more info about Quakers. But check w/ your state, Quakers are illegle in many states due to their nesting habits in the wild (they interfere w/ power lines and stuff)

http://www.quakerparrots.com/

We love our quaker! Of all the parrots, they are considered the cleanest. I've had parakeets and cockateils and my quaker is FAR CLEANER! No seed spreading or anything like that. The floor surrounding the cage is pretty clean. But, as with any good parrot home, you take the parrot out of the cage for play time. And, unless you potty train your bird (it can be done!), you will have poop where ever the bird goes. That part is pretty gross as you never can clean it up perfectly. Also, for quakers, they are notorious for chewing on things. Honey has destroyed our remote control clickers to the TV. And I mean in a FLASH! Turn your head and 4 buttons are missing.

She is noisey, and there are days she spends outside on the patio, but she likes it. When she doesn't want you to touch her, she bites like the dickens. Will bring blood if you aren't fast enough to get away. DD has been bitten on a few occasions. Typically, birds do not like children. Luckily, Honey bonded to DD so it's not too bad, but still she gets bitten.

I think the worst thing about having a bird, esp if you have a big bird, is the dirty messes they make. They are SO DIRTY. Think long and hard about getting one before you do. As someone mentioned above, the birds do get attached and are seriously depressed if they loose a loved one. It is so sad to see a depressed bird.