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Here's a Poicephalus Profile for the first page--also known as I turned my bird into a goon but he's still pretty cool. Pinto! Pinto is a ten-year-old Red-bellied Parrot, Poicephalus rufiventris; they're closely related to the more common Senegals. Somewhat more distantly they share a subfamily with the famous African Grey Parrots. You can tell--they've got a similar stocky potato shape, somewhat similar personalities, and they can be good talkers. Subjective personal opinion: I think, going from mine and other people's experiences, I might recommend Senegals (or another relative, Meyer's Parrots) over Red-bellies, but Poicephalus parrots are very high on my list of recommendations for someone who wants a "real parrot." Waaaaay less likely to turn into self-destructive neurotic wrecks than an African Grey. Pinto is not a very hands-on bird, hasn't been since he hit puberty. A lot of that is from my own neglect, but red-bellied parrots aren't generally known as big snugglers and cuddlers. They're usually pretty content with some head-scritches and a lot of side-by-side hanging out with you. This dude loves it when you sing to him. He likes peek-a-boo, he likes you to hand him toys to wreck. He's got a pretty big vocabulary, a lot of which he uses in context. (Yes, it's pretty great when your bird says "Bless you!" after you sneeze. Then he demands that you sing about the Eensy-Weensy Spider until you're sick of it, at which point he might start saying "Hey! Spider? Wanna sing Spider? HEY! SPIDER! Wanna sing Spider?") So...how did I turn my adorable cuddly baby parrot into a goon? It's depressingly easy to do! I was doing great with my happy derpy cockatiel; I wanted a more "advanced" parrot. I did loads of research, and Poicephalus parrots were a good match for me--small enough to house comfortably, relatively quiet, smart but not prone to self-destruction, funny and talkative, don't need to be cuddled up under your chin 24/7. It sounded good to my (now) husband, too, with the understanding that if we split the birds were mine. It was all cool until I started working full-time and my husband was working part-time. That coincided with horrible, horrible PARROT PUBERTY. Pinto decided that he did not want me touching him. I'd come home in the evening, after a job I hated and an hour+ commute, and I'd just want to chat with my husband over dinner and then veg in front of the computer for a while...and not get my fingers shredded by my goddamn parrot. The cockatiel, she was fine, she'd snuggle on my shoulder, but Pinto stayed in his cage. I got depressed about the bird. The bird got more and more territorial about his cage. I got more depressed, bird got more territorial... Then I got cats, which restricted Pinto's sphere to one safe room. Then I had a baby, which restricted me to a different room while the baby was awake. THEN I STARTED READING PI! And by gum, Pet Island gave me hope. Pinto remains untouchable-by-me, but he's happy to come out of the cage on my hand if it's covered with his special blue towel. We chill together, not as often as we should but more than we did. My daughter is old enough to hang out with him too, so we usually spend at least an hour a day with him. We sing with him, he shreds toys. It ain't perfect but he is still with his life-time family and not kicking around the endless cycle of rehoming. (E. He really is a goon. Mr. Antisocial Agoraphobic Picky-Eater Pudgy Goonybird.) If you are thinking about getting a parrot, think about whether you plan to do things like work full-time and have children. Or other pets. It's easy to say "I'll always make time for Polly" but in practice it's complicated. Andrias Scheuchzeri fucked around with this message at 15:11 on Oct 26, 2012 |
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Oct 26, 2012 13:34
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LITERALLY A BIRD posted:Nice OP, Sanchezz, but you forgot to add under "Conures" that they are objectively the best companion bird. Prove it.  ....by posting a lot of pictures and stories. 
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Oct 26, 2012 19:37
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Cracker Jack posted:Hi fellow bird crazies, I hate to be a downer in such a new thread, but yesterday my almost 3 year old budgie passed away rather suddenly. Oh, jeez, I'm so sorry. My cockatiel Rambo passed during a vet exam--he was an older bird with some organ issues, and the handling just stressed him too much. I don't really fault the vet. One of the rough things with budgies is that they're so small it can be hard for vets to take enough blood for tests or handle them safely to get a lot of information. My first bird was a young budgie that died of...something. I got him to the vet and all but he died before they could really pin down what was going on and plan a treatment. You could ask your vet about getting your conure tested for the common communicable bird diseases, if you haven't done that already.  Zomodok posted:No other pet will love you like your conure will. Again I say prove it. With pictures and stories. Wanna hear more about conures snuggling up under people's hair and calling the pretty biiiirds. ...Or conures being nippy assholes, either way.
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Oct 26, 2012 20:05
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Zomodok posted:Does your bird sit on your neck and fluff up trying to warm you when they know you are sick? Do they also fly back to their cage and pick up food or water and fly back and try to feed you?  I think I already covered that he does not.Honestly, as much as I joke about cockatiel supremacy, I absolutely see the appeal of conures--I'm just agitating for people to make some more bird/species profile posts in the first pages of the new thread. I know conures were covered in the OP but the more info the merrier.
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Oct 26, 2012 20:57
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Birds and cats is hard. I do it, but the birds lose out: it's easier to keep the bird confined to one safe room than to shut the cat(s) up, which means that you have to organize your life so that you have good reasons to be in that room a lot. For instance, make it your screw-around-on-the-computer room. (My bird room is now my daughter's art room, where we go to mess around with crayons and playdough and stuff.) You--and more importantly your bird--miss out on a lot of the experiences folks here have been talking about, where their parrot gets to wander around and mooch off dinner plates and stroll through the living room.
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Oct 26, 2012 23:54
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My favorite is The Birdsafe Store. It's a small business and the guy who runs it is always really great about customer service. Lots and lots of toy parts, particularly for birds that like to destroy wood. And there's always https://www.bird.com
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Oct 28, 2012 12:46
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You want to find perches of varying sizes--birds can develop arthritis and other foot problems from always sitting on perches of the same diameter. I have a mix of natural-wood perches, a dowel, and some rope perches. I really love the rope perches, since they can be set in different positions. Perches with sandy textures for claw maintenance can be problematic. I do have one--it's just a small one, set in front of Pinto's food dish. He doesn't spend enough time on it to hurt his feet, but he does use it daily and I think it has some slight effect on his claws. e. Another nice perch type is something small that goes on the door of the cage. Pinto has an acrylic semi-circular perch; it doesn't interfere with opening the door and he can hang out on it with the door open if he doesn't feel like actually coming out.
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Oct 28, 2012 18:40
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Eeee, is that a little Meyer's parrot? --Oh, wait, I see from the tag it's a Ruppell's parrot. Wow. Very uncommon. Did you get to hang out with him/her?
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Oct 29, 2012 12:26
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Awww. Little babby Poicephalus without evil glowing red eyes. That's pretty neat--I hope you get to see more of him. There's not a whole lot of info about them as pets. Great pictures!
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Oct 29, 2012 16:29
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Does he spread out for Eagle Wings? That's a popular one. And there's things like putting a ball in a cup or a ring on a peg--even if you don't want to hunt up trick supplies you can mess around with variations.
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Oct 29, 2012 16:40
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I think anything that makes a quick reliable click noise should work just fine. I never got my act together to use it, but I have a little clicky noisemaker thing that was a party favor/piņata goody. Theoretically you could just make a noise yourself, but it's hard to keep the sound uniform that way.
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Oct 29, 2012 19:03
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You need to make a huge big Charlie post! The secret secret is that after the cockatiel infiltration comes the iron-clawed Poicephalus rule (Penis Land > Bird Crazies III).
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Oct 30, 2012 13:37
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It's reasonably common for parrots to favor one type of person or another--whether that means they prefer men, or they warm up faster to petite women, or whatever. But it's not a certainty. Parrot puberty...well, yeah, that's bound to happen, it can be awful or okay. Some species are more likely to be difficult than others. Caiques have the reputation of being VERY high-energy clowns, and potentially quite temperamental. Eclectus parrots are pretty interesting in that the difference between males and females behaviorally (not just in coloration) can be very marked. Pretty much every baby parrot is adorable and fun, just like puppies, so going by "we really liked this one in the store" isn't your best bet. Have you owned birds before? What qualities are you looking for--noise levels, playfulness, cuddliness, size, lifespan? What kind of daily time do you expect to have, long-term, for a bird? This kind of stuff helps you think about what birds might be right for you.
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Oct 31, 2012 22:47
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alucinor posted:HO HO HO, do I have the thing for you. Parrots can't unscrew these. I have the "Chewable Hangers" version; in addition to threading chewable blocks onto it, I take off the carabiner that comes with pre-made toys and thread one of the welded rings onto the hanging bar so the whole toy hangs off it. Those hanging skewers are the best. I've got a few of them and they're so versatile.
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Nov 1, 2012 15:26
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That is a toy that has done its job. Rest well, toy.
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Nov 3, 2012 20:56
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mikerock posted:I can deal with half a baby. They have a kitten upstairs. How many half babies are in a toddler? Three half-babies per toddler. Bird would go through 2.33 toddlers/week. Um. Discouraging words, as requested: they can be bitey, they're super-prone to feather-plucking, they live forever. (Oh man I would love to inherit an elderly grey.)
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Nov 5, 2012 13:46
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mjs6643 posted:Instead of a grey you should consider the Senegal Parrot. It's their smaller, greener cousin. Serious answer: this is true, Poicephalus are really interesting birds with many of the appealing qualities of greys but so much less likely to self-destruct. They don't live a hundred years, they're less prone to neurotic behavior, they're an extremely "parroty" parrot... unprofessional posted:Our male grey just bit the poo poo out of my finger - slow and hard, not just a lunging bite. Hurt like a mother. ...though I should add, this is a favorite Poicephalus biting tactic too. Clamp and grind. It sucks.
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Nov 5, 2012 17:13
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I've never used huts because of safety concerns and the hormonal stuff, but I make sure Pinto has some big complicated toys set up in the top/back of his cage with perches behind them, so he has some hiding spots where he can stare down at the world unseen.
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Nov 6, 2012 01:09
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Could there be some kind of, I don't know, age-related hormonal imbalance? I seriously have no idea, but some kind of medical thing?
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Nov 12, 2012 23:57
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They say human flesh tastes like pork. Those conures are just warming up.
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Nov 13, 2012 21:02
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I'm glad to hear she's perking up a bit! I hope it's just some kind of case of the derps and that she'll continue to eat.
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Nov 15, 2012 19:16
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That is excellent news! See, I'm still holding out for a rare cross-species case of derps--or, more seriously, some useful results from the labwork. Keep feeling better, little Novolo.
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Nov 16, 2012 14:09
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Pile of Kittens posted:Does anyone else here daydream about getting a flock of white budgies and dyeing them all different colors with kool-aid? Well, now I do. I'll have to let my husband know in time for Christmas. Or Hannukah, he could give me one for each day.
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Nov 22, 2012 21:54
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Jesus, I'm so so sorry.
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Dec 3, 2012 16:01
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Oh, he's lovely!
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Dec 10, 2012 01:58
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Oh wow, that's really great. She does a wonderful job with all the textures--feathers, beak, feet.
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Dec 14, 2012 21:55
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My husband was wondering if it was too early for Pinto's bedtime and I almost said "Why don't you just go ask him?" ...I ended up phrasing it in a less insane-pet-lady way but still, it totally works.
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Dec 18, 2012 01:53
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Yeah, Pinto really wants to go to bed by about eight. He starts in with the cutest little "night-night!" and says a couple of words of the song I sing for bedtime.
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Dec 18, 2012 12:43
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Joe Don Baker posted:Not sure why but Hannah just spent 10 minutes making nasty fart, burp, and cough noises. I've read that greys are particularly into mimicking rude bodily noises. I have no idea if it's true, but I'm ready to believe it.
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Jan 13, 2013 02:47
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 10:18 |
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Lenswork posted:At Zazu's the greys in the special needs aviary can make some pretty funny sounds when they feel talkative. I don't spend much time in that aviary though, so when I do walk in the birds always go silent and stare at me. The only noise is songbirds. However, it's the middle of winter and there are no songbirds outside. It's the greys filling the silence This is hilarious. But clearly the next step is to get them started on cricket-chirping.
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Jan 13, 2013 13:45
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