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Anonymous
hey /an/

I'm thinking of getting a pet bird.
Im most interested in parrots of course.
so, tell me which parrot do you think would make the best pet. I'm looking for a cheap one (under 1000 dollars i guess, im not quite sure what a "cheap" parrot is)
Im pretty interested in the Eclectus.
share some parrot stories too.
>> Anonymous
i have an eclectus male. theyre the usual, smart, cute, fun to play with and teach it things. it's one of the more quieter species, but like all birds, it still has an ear piercing squak that will grate on your very last nerve until your ready to wring it's fucking neck..
this is a good choice of bird if you have multiple people in the house that also want to play with it, since it doesnt have the habit of clinging to one person in particular, and act agressive towards the rest of the family.
unfortunatly, they dont come cheap. an eclectus, if bought from a breeder, will probably run you a few hundred over your budget. not to mention the huge cage needed for this type of bird, and the continuing (fresh)food costs.
but good luck to you on this, i hope you find the right one.
>> Anonymous
Green cheeked conure :3
>> Anonymous
does anyone have a list of parrots that make good pets?

>>213143
they look awesome, they're not too big and not too small, and adorable. I think i might look in to them.
>> Anonymous
>>213195

not just green cheeks. most kinds of conures are really cool and under your budget. i recommend quaker parakeets
>> Anonymous
>>213106

>>213143


I second this motion -- if you're not an experienced bird owner or trainer, green cheeked conures are AWESOME. They're really fun and playful and hilariously cute. Green cheeks are the only species of bird I've ever had that likes to WRESTLE with you like a puppy! Mine rolls over on her back and sticks her feet up, just waiting to wrestle with your fingers.

Green cheeks are pretty easy to maintain and don't require one of the HUGE parrot cages (we bought a $300 one from yugisoft.com that was awesome) and they're constantly clowning around for attention. They're not loud at all, but the downside is they can't talk very well.
>> Anonymous
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Thanks guys, I've researched them quite a bit, and they sound perfect!
I live in Australia, so I hope they have them here.

Im going to ring a few (good) birdshops, but before I make a complete ass of my self, how to you pronounce "conure"?
>> Anonymous
>>213340
conure = "kahn-your"
>> Anonymous
once a parrot called me "asshole"...
>> KZN
>>213706
My brother's friend's parrot once said, "I have a bigger penis than you!" And then proceeded to squawk like it was laughing.
>> Anonymous
The fumes from non stick cookware can kill parrots.
>> Anonymous
I had a Cockatiel and a Budgie, both were good but the cockateil was really fantastic. Very lively, friendly, and affection. Perfect size, too, not too large, not too small. Mimiced a TON of different bird calls, and not nearly as SQUAWKKKKKKKKKKKK as a lot of other parrots. The Budgie was pretty much silent, which was nice ocassionally, but mostly boring.

Important, though, whatever pet you get, make SURE you get a baby that is still nursing, and has been hand-fed up to that point.

If a parrot is not hand-fed from birth it will be a faggot and never like humans. If you want to make sure it'll form a bond with you, buy a baby that's still nursing and hand feed it yourself from a bottle.
>> Anonymous
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I have a maroon-bellied conure I got about 12 years ago. He was a few weeks old and was missing a toe by the time I got him. I think it may have been bitten of by one of the other birds at the dealer.

I can't handle him without wearing gloves because whenever he sees bare flesh he'll bite until he draws blood. He's attacked the faces of guests. I keep having to replace his 'birdie bed' every few months because he's a chronic masturbator and humps it raw. He refuses to eat most fresh greens and if I don't buy a specific brand of $18 a bag fortified mix he dumps it and refuses to eat anything. The only treat he really seems to like is mealworms and I suspect it may have more to do with his being able to kill them than with the taste. I'd get him a mate but I'm genuinely afraid he'd kill her.

He's like the worst parts of myself incarnate.
>> Anonymous
>>213754
Wow, your bird is a real dick.

I have a set of budgies, they're boring and hate me unless it's time for food.
>> Anonymous
>>213706

Once a bird called me a 'nigger'

I'm not even black.
>> Anonymous
>>213754

That definitely sounds like the bird was raised in an unacceptable environment at best, and seriously abused at worst. Probably a large "bird farm" type place where the animals get no positive contact and are raised 50 to a cage.

That's something the OP should remember -- CHECK YOUR SOURCE BEFORE YOU BUY A BIRD. Birds aren't like cats and dogs -- they won't forgive you and they definitely won't forget mistreatment. If they decide they don't like people, that's the end of it, they don't like people. You can't re-train them to enjoy human contact if they're mistreated long enough.

It's always advisable to go to your source and spend some time with the birds before making your decision. Our source for our conure was a local pet store that hand-fed their own birds, and we got to get her out once or twice and play around with her before buying her. It was great!
>> Anonymous
>>214041
Actually, he was hand-fed as a hatchling. I put a down payment on him and visited every few days (during which time he somehow lost a digit) until he was old enough to take home. He was fine the first 5+ years, nippy and picky but affectionate and would constantly try to talk. Then we had a death in the family of someone he was used to seeing every day and shit went south.
>> Anonymous
african grey? very smart, friendly, happy
>> Anonymous
I saw another thread about Lovebirds, how are they?
>> Anonymous
why not start off with a cockatoo?

they are friendly, and if you are female it gives you the perfect opportunity for hours of Carry On style fun with double entendres.
>> Anonymous
>>214769
>>a cheap one (under 1000 dollars i guess

Besides, large parrots aren't the sort of thing people should get after just 'thinking about'. All pets are something you need to put a lot of thought into, of course, but a large parrot lives decades longer than any dog or cat, is a lot smarter, costs a lot more to properly feed, and can easily snap the bones in your hand with its beak. It's like buying a mentally challenged teenager that you're going to have to take care of for the rest of your life. One that shits all over.
>> Anonymous
>>214891
>Besides, large parrots aren't the sort of thing people should get after just 'thinking about'.

Bingo. What some people fail to realise when perhaps buying a cockatoo is that it's not unusual for those buggers to live to 80 if cared for. You have an extreme duty of care there, much more so than even having a child of your own.
>> Anonymous
>>213106
like they have been saying if ur thinking about a bird, go with something small 1st see if u even like birds, they are not like cats and dogs. try a budgie or something a bit larger, but dont go big on the 1st try cause live much longer than you will.
>> Anonymous
op here, I've kept birds before when i was a kid.
we've had cockatiels, cockatoos, 28 parrots (its a kind of parrot where i live) and others.
All of them lived to a good age, except for the cockatoo, some kids down the street came and scared it to death with huge sticks.

Im just looking for something different.
also,>>214769
not a good idea to recommend someone a cockatoo as a "start-off" bird, as far as I know they are very needy and intelligent, one of the most needy pet birds. If some newbie got one a first-timer, They would probably just get rid of it.
>> Anonymous
woops, also forgot to add that no store, or no breeder where i live has green cheeks or maroon bellies. Only noisy sun conures.

I think Ill go back to the good ol' cockatiel.

also, i was really surprised how cheap cockatoos are here, i saw about 3 in the paper for 30 dollars each. a hand-raised just 100 dollars.
Im defiantly going to get one of them later on in life.
>> Anonymous
>>215022
>>also, i was really surprised how cheap cockatoos are here, i saw about 3 in the paper for 30 dollars each. a hand-raised just 100 dollars.

How old? Like you say, a lot of people try to get rid of them once they become 'problem birds'.
>> Anonymous
>>215024
well the 30 dollar ones were more than likely old, problem birds.
but the hundred dollar ones were like a few a months old, cant remember how many, but young.
these were galahs, which are very common in the wild around here, which is probably why they are cheap.
>> Anonymous
>>215031
Ah, I forgot you were in Australia. Here in the U.S. cockatoos tend to be more costly than most other hookbills, barring rarer species. Even goffins hatchlings range between 700-1000. Galahs tend to range between 1500-2000.
>> Anonymous
>>215080
two thousand dollars for a bird?!
fuck that.