S
St Helens RLFC
Guest
Anyone got one? Giving very serious thought to buying one.
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R
Rugby_Cymru
Guest
Well i used to work in a pet shop before i moved to Cardiff and i've had to look after a fair few.
There are quite a few things to know about a Parrot before you consider getting one.
- First i urge you to do your research becasue if you're going to by one as a youngster (6 months - 3 years) then you should know that's it's likely to outlive you (they can live upto 75 years altho there are some known to live longer). So this ******* isn't going to be something that'll die if you don't have the heart to give it away.
- They can take a while to learn words, but have an extensive vocabulary.
- They are immaculate at learning noises and voices. So be prepared to be woken at 4am by the phone ringing non-stop only to come down to find it's the bloody bird.
- If you live with another person, depending on the sex the parrot will favour one over the other. If you get a male parrot, then he will probably opt for your missus (if you have one) and be evil towards you.
- Parrots will tease you at any given moment. They learn people's voices and trick you by calling out learned sentences in other peoples voices. A couple i once knew who always used to visit the pet shop said they are always fooled by their parrot who asks, 'Fancy a cup of tea, Dai?' Dai responds enthusiastically only to be tea-less 10 minutes later when he discovers that his wife was upstairs all the time and it was the parrot asking the question.
- Parrots are ridiculously intelligent birds and if you keep them locked up in the cage all the time they will get depressed. Parrots suffer terribly from depression because of their intelligence and they'll usually begin to tear out their feathers, ruin their cage and turn violent against their owners. Make sure you spend plenty of time with it. Take it out of the cage allow it to go about the room, sit on your should etc. for as many hours as possible. But if they get naughty you do train them discipline. They learn over time if when they pull at the curtain and you tap them firmly (but not too hard) on the beak that what they are doing is wrong. and they will stop. But they are intelligent enough so that if they are in a bad mood that once they get out of the cage that is the first thing they will do to anger you.
- You can't leave it on it's own if you're going away for a short weekend break or anything. These guys are serious attention seekers.
- If you get a parrot and then down the line you get a baby it will go out of it's way to disturb the baby just to get your attention. All it wants is your full attention. So no babies, or puppies etc. if u get a parrot.
- Parrots crap more than any other bird and they are just as messy with their food as is every other bird. If you let them go about the room they are likely to crap places (curtains, walls, down your back whilst sitting on your shoulder). Keep an eye out.
- They are amazing companions. This one african grey we had always loved to be stroked on the side of his head and when he was enjoying it he would mimic children laughing (which was freaky, but he was in a large pet shop).
- Parrots have amazing balance. I used to be able to walk around the shop with him on my shoulder and in mid stride he would simply hop onto my head with no trouble. He was great, but he did adopt many a swear word thanks to annoying kids who stood at his cage saying "f***! f***!" over and over again.
All in all, if you have the time and are willing to put in the commitment, and if you know someone with whom you could leave the parrot to in your will and you've done your research, you'r willing to pay the HUGE amount for the parrot, his cage and the long term costs then go for it.
Do NOT go into it half heartedly.
These guys need 100% and if you're not certain you WILL regret your choice.
Hope this helped.
There are quite a few things to know about a Parrot before you consider getting one.
- First i urge you to do your research becasue if you're going to by one as a youngster (6 months - 3 years) then you should know that's it's likely to outlive you (they can live upto 75 years altho there are some known to live longer). So this ******* isn't going to be something that'll die if you don't have the heart to give it away.
- They can take a while to learn words, but have an extensive vocabulary.
- They are immaculate at learning noises and voices. So be prepared to be woken at 4am by the phone ringing non-stop only to come down to find it's the bloody bird.
- If you live with another person, depending on the sex the parrot will favour one over the other. If you get a male parrot, then he will probably opt for your missus (if you have one) and be evil towards you.
- Parrots will tease you at any given moment. They learn people's voices and trick you by calling out learned sentences in other peoples voices. A couple i once knew who always used to visit the pet shop said they are always fooled by their parrot who asks, 'Fancy a cup of tea, Dai?' Dai responds enthusiastically only to be tea-less 10 minutes later when he discovers that his wife was upstairs all the time and it was the parrot asking the question.
- Parrots are ridiculously intelligent birds and if you keep them locked up in the cage all the time they will get depressed. Parrots suffer terribly from depression because of their intelligence and they'll usually begin to tear out their feathers, ruin their cage and turn violent against their owners. Make sure you spend plenty of time with it. Take it out of the cage allow it to go about the room, sit on your should etc. for as many hours as possible. But if they get naughty you do train them discipline. They learn over time if when they pull at the curtain and you tap them firmly (but not too hard) on the beak that what they are doing is wrong. and they will stop. But they are intelligent enough so that if they are in a bad mood that once they get out of the cage that is the first thing they will do to anger you.
- You can't leave it on it's own if you're going away for a short weekend break or anything. These guys are serious attention seekers.
- If you get a parrot and then down the line you get a baby it will go out of it's way to disturb the baby just to get your attention. All it wants is your full attention. So no babies, or puppies etc. if u get a parrot.
- Parrots crap more than any other bird and they are just as messy with their food as is every other bird. If you let them go about the room they are likely to crap places (curtains, walls, down your back whilst sitting on your shoulder). Keep an eye out.
- They are amazing companions. This one african grey we had always loved to be stroked on the side of his head and when he was enjoying it he would mimic children laughing (which was freaky, but he was in a large pet shop).
- Parrots have amazing balance. I used to be able to walk around the shop with him on my shoulder and in mid stride he would simply hop onto my head with no trouble. He was great, but he did adopt many a swear word thanks to annoying kids who stood at his cage saying "f***! f***!" over and over again.
All in all, if you have the time and are willing to put in the commitment, and if you know someone with whom you could leave the parrot to in your will and you've done your research, you'r willing to pay the HUGE amount for the parrot, his cage and the long term costs then go for it.
Do NOT go into it half heartedly.
These guys need 100% and if you're not certain you WILL regret your choice.
Hope this helped.
S
St Helens RLFC
Guest
An absolutely fabulous read. I was in stitches about the cup of tea. Maybe I don't have an awful lot of time but if I were to get two maybe it would make their lives easier?
R
Rugby_Cymru
Guest
Parrots are complicated creatures.
If you get 2 you have to make sure that you get them at the same time and make sure that they are from the same family, because if they are not established with ohter parrots they will not like each other.
They need a big cage as it is, and with 2 parrots they are really gonna need a massive cage.
If the two parrots are not from the same family (i.e brother/sister or brothers etc.) then it will cause huge fights between them.
They fight for dominance (as does every single animal) and they'll do it to the death if necessary.
So there are two things to take into mind when regarding parrots: -
- They'll fight for dominance and territory in their cage.
- They'll fight for your favour.
They want to be centre of attention and if you favour one over the other in any way, the least favoured one will let the other one know about it with a painful bite.
Remember, parrots can crack a walnut with their beaks.
I used to tease a parrot in work when he was in his cage by putting my finger in and carefully (you could feel he was doing it carefully) he'd nibble at it. I'd then gently grip his beak between my index finger and thumb and move his head around gently (slightly cruel but it was fun to watch his roll his head around in weird way which i can't do it.) But if it annoyed him to much the next time i'd put my finger in for him to nibble he would bite...and quite hard. Making me learn my lesson.
Never feed them chocolates.
But if you get siblings then either one should have already established its dominance or they both should be laid back about each others presence and will feel no competition.
I can't really lecture too much about having 2 parrots at the same time because i never had to deal with that situation and i'm just going on the basic training i once had.
You'd be better off asking a "parrot person" what the deal with two parrots would be.
But for certain if you get a parrot and then a few weeks later get another one and introduce it they will fight. I believe they will fight regardless of whether or not they are male and female together.
Think of the prices tho.
We sold parrots in our shop for around the £1000 mark and those were just for the african greys which stand about a foot in height.
If you're looking at the amazingly coloured Richie's (a nickname i always gave to the McCaw's) which are bright blue, red, yellow and green (one's you traditionally find in amazonian forrests) then you could be looking at anything up to £10,000!!!
They are not cheap.
If you get 2 you have to make sure that you get them at the same time and make sure that they are from the same family, because if they are not established with ohter parrots they will not like each other.
They need a big cage as it is, and with 2 parrots they are really gonna need a massive cage.
If the two parrots are not from the same family (i.e brother/sister or brothers etc.) then it will cause huge fights between them.
They fight for dominance (as does every single animal) and they'll do it to the death if necessary.
So there are two things to take into mind when regarding parrots: -
- They'll fight for dominance and territory in their cage.
- They'll fight for your favour.
They want to be centre of attention and if you favour one over the other in any way, the least favoured one will let the other one know about it with a painful bite.
Remember, parrots can crack a walnut with their beaks.
I used to tease a parrot in work when he was in his cage by putting my finger in and carefully (you could feel he was doing it carefully) he'd nibble at it. I'd then gently grip his beak between my index finger and thumb and move his head around gently (slightly cruel but it was fun to watch his roll his head around in weird way which i can't do it.) But if it annoyed him to much the next time i'd put my finger in for him to nibble he would bite...and quite hard. Making me learn my lesson.
Never feed them chocolates.
But if you get siblings then either one should have already established its dominance or they both should be laid back about each others presence and will feel no competition.
I can't really lecture too much about having 2 parrots at the same time because i never had to deal with that situation and i'm just going on the basic training i once had.
You'd be better off asking a "parrot person" what the deal with two parrots would be.
But for certain if you get a parrot and then a few weeks later get another one and introduce it they will fight. I believe they will fight regardless of whether or not they are male and female together.
Think of the prices tho.
We sold parrots in our shop for around the £1000 mark and those were just for the african greys which stand about a foot in height.
If you're looking at the amazingly coloured Richie's (a nickname i always gave to the McCaw's) which are bright blue, red, yellow and green (one's you traditionally find in amazonian forrests) then you could be looking at anything up to £10,000!!!
They are not cheap.
R
Ripper
Guest
We have a parrot, situated in my room at the moment because it seems to enjoy the sun alot more. (As well as that, it is reasonably large area adjoining to the upstairs rumpus room) so it spends usually 2 or 3 hours during the day out of its cage, usually when my mums doing the ironing upstairs, and usually 1 or 2 more at night - more on weekends and when its rainy. In winter when I don't have to leave my Windows open, I just generally lock the door and let it go in and out of it's cage as it pleases during the night, only problem is if it's bored it usually rips at my hair.
But they are high mateinence, and as Rugby_Cyrmu said, very jealous - there is hell to pay when i'm seen patting the dog or feeding the fish. It seems to know about 20-25 words, i'm not sure if this is the norm, but it took awhile to learn words, but as soon as it learnt to the basic wolf whistle, things suddenly sped up and it started mimicking things like ordinary car noises along the street and my mobile phone, until it gradually began to form simple words like "Hello" and "Shut Up"... now it mimics specific car noises, whenever my dads car pulls up, it will make that sound, and whenever my Mums scooter pulls up, it mimics that sound as well.
But they are high mateinence, and as Rugby_Cyrmu said, very jealous - there is hell to pay when i'm seen patting the dog or feeding the fish. It seems to know about 20-25 words, i'm not sure if this is the norm, but it took awhile to learn words, but as soon as it learnt to the basic wolf whistle, things suddenly sped up and it started mimicking things like ordinary car noises along the street and my mobile phone, until it gradually began to form simple words like "Hello" and "Shut Up"... now it mimics specific car noises, whenever my dads car pulls up, it will make that sound, and whenever my Mums scooter pulls up, it mimics that sound as well.
R
Rugby_Cymru
Guest
I beg of you to go out and do more research than just what i'm telling you.
There's so much to be learnt about them, of which i've most certainly forgotten.
There's so much to be learnt about them, of which i've most certainly forgotten.
S
St Helens RLFC
Guest
These stories have me in stitches. Would a parrot get jealous of me being friendly with Mrs SHRLFC?
R
Rugby_Cymru
Guest
If it's a male parrot you get then yes he will object to you getting "friendly" with mrs.SHRLFC.
Likelihood is that if he's male then when the 2 of you are around he will favour her.
With one of the parrots i used to work with, the parrot used to be able to detect a hot woman, i kid you not!
It must be something about nature, but the women we think are hot male parrots think are hot as well.
There was a lush MILF i was showing the parrot to and i was saying how great he was. He quickly shuffled to the cage and out his head agaisnt the cage to be stroked. In a flirtatious manner i was all, "Yeah, he's great." i went to stroke him and in a kind of Alien-esque moment he opened his beaked his tongue flickered around and he squeeled really loudly. Then he hissed at me. I was stunned. I didn't know parrots could f***ing hiss!
Get a female parrot, at least you won't have the hassle...your missus will.
But it's never guaranteed that they will get aggressive towards you.
The nasty parrot, mentioned above was brilliant with me when we were on our own and i was playing wtih him or cleaning his cage or feeding him. But if there was a female empolyee around i wasn't to put my hand in his cage to get his water or his feeding bowl without risking a nasty bite.
*******.
Likelihood is that if he's male then when the 2 of you are around he will favour her.
With one of the parrots i used to work with, the parrot used to be able to detect a hot woman, i kid you not!
It must be something about nature, but the women we think are hot male parrots think are hot as well.
There was a lush MILF i was showing the parrot to and i was saying how great he was. He quickly shuffled to the cage and out his head agaisnt the cage to be stroked. In a flirtatious manner i was all, "Yeah, he's great." i went to stroke him and in a kind of Alien-esque moment he opened his beaked his tongue flickered around and he squeeled really loudly. Then he hissed at me. I was stunned. I didn't know parrots could f***ing hiss!
Get a female parrot, at least you won't have the hassle...your missus will.
But it's never guaranteed that they will get aggressive towards you.
The nasty parrot, mentioned above was brilliant with me when we were on our own and i was playing wtih him or cleaning his cage or feeding him. But if there was a female empolyee around i wasn't to put my hand in his cage to get his water or his feeding bowl without risking a nasty bite.
*******.
G
gjohn85
Guest
I got a budgie if it helps?!?!
B
Bull
Guest
I've got an African Grey, these birds are really intelligent. They are quick to pick things up you say. You'll also need to give the parrot enough attention.
R
Ripper
Guest
Yeah, thats the kind I have I believe. Not sure for sure, but during my research, most photos of AG's resembled him.
Did yours actually take a while to learn its first words? With mine it struggled and sturggled, but it finally learnt the wolf whistle, than the floodgates opened and it learnt phrase's and noises like they were going out of business
B
Bull
Guest
Nah it learnd pretty quickly, he also says things which I don't know where he heard or learned from. It also makes the sound of other birds.
B
Bullitt
Guest
I thought this was going to be Monty Python related...
O
O'Rothlain
Guest
Get a sensable pet, like a dog or an aligator.
R
Rugby_Cymru
Guest
Sensible?!
S
St Helens RLFC
Guest
Depending on the sort of dog of course!
Do you know any good breeders, RC?
Do you know any good breeders, RC?
G
getofmeland
Guest
I would not get a dog mate when your at work all day its unfair on the animal...
S
St Helens RLFC
Guest
Referring to the feathered option mate. Not that I made that clear.
R
Ripper
Guest
Depends on how big your backyard is.
R
Rugby_Cymru
Guest
No, mate.
All my parrot experience came from working in Pets At Home with the things.
No idea about any breeders, sorry.
