the future

[mydogtales]

So, since my dream dog is about to come true, (one month and three days from now... :( ) I have been thinking about my other future pets that I would love to own someday. My ideal household would have one or two dogs, a cat, and a parrot

Comments

[omnipoodle]

My family has parrots--I have a sun conure and my mom has a lovebird and a black-capped conure. We've also had a tiel and budgies in the past. Lovebirds are very cute and great for a certain kind of person, but they are also pretty much evil. They can be very territorial, and those little beaks can deliver a really painful bite. Just be sure you know what you are getting into if you decide to get a parrot. Plus, I'd definitely wait until your whippet is all grown up because you are going to have your hands full with her!

Honestly, if affectionate and relatively (definitely relatively!) low-maintenance is what you're looking for, I'd totally recommend a pair of budgies or tiels over a lovebird or two. You don't get much better than those species. I think they are sometimes overlooked because they're so prevalent and for some bizarre reason they're considered to be "starter birds" (whatever that is). The tiels are a little drab compared with some other parrots, but they are wonderful pets. The parrot_lovers community is a great resource for learning more about birds.

[mydogtales]

They are evil? Oh no! I saw that they are territorial, but I didn't realise it was that serious! Geez... Well I thought of budgies, but we had four when I was growing up. They were unfriendly and generally boring. It's probably because they weren't hand raised. I guess if I looked for an actual breeder my experience might be different. Would you recommend getting at least two? I've never known anyone getting just one parakeet but I just thought I'd ask. Thanks for the info!

[mydogtales]

Are they fairly common? I feel like every animal I like is extremely hard for me to come by...

I will read up on the English budgies too then. ^^ Thanks~

[omnipoodle]

I believe that because birds are flock animals, they do better when they're with or at least by other birds. In my opinion a human just cannot provide the same level of companionship as another bird--even one in a different cage. My budgies were bonded sisters and great pets. They were tame and friendly (and flighted). They were hand-fed babies, although I have heard some controversy over hand-feeding--apparently it can be pretty detrimental to the bird (but I don't really know enough about it). I know there are several people in the parrot_lovers community who have paired parrots who are excellent pets. There was an interesting post a while back about paired parrots and destructive behaviors--check it out here. I also personally loved seeing my budgies play together and groom each other. Also, don't discount cockatiels--I think they are sweeter in general than many other species. Ours was a champion whistler and talked (with a limited vocabulary), too.

My sun conure currently has very little in the way of avian companionship, which makes me sad. He used to be friends with my budgies and our cockatiel, but all three have since died. (For the record, many people would disagree with letting birds of such different sizes interact, so you can take my advice with a grain of salt.) He doesn't get along with the other two birds in the house. I'd sacrifice what's left of my hearing and get another sun conure in a heartbeat if there was any guarantee that the two would be friends.

Anyway, in short (or not), I personally would get two budgies if it was me.

[mydogtales]

Thanks so much for all the info! I feel like I should take more time to research cockatiels. I guess I hadn't given them much thought either. Good thing I have plenty of time to sort this all out! Lol