* Pet Bird Chat * NEW

[Jazz_Cat]

hey, does anyone have any recommendations for apartment pet birds? i have grown up with budgies and cockatiels and i have had animals when i lived with my family on the countryside, but i have had to move to the city for work and i've been feeling like i would like to have a pet bird friend.

i have been looking into lovebirds, cockatiels, and budgies, but i would like to know other people's experiences in terms of loudness, cleanliness and such!

You know it also depends on how much space you got for the aviary in your new home,.... birds Need enough space to fly and move there wings and play(one should go with around 1mx2mx2m), each bird Needs atleast two-three different perches and ome nice natural toys...
how much time do you have for them, always get two or more when they need bigger group to be happy...is there a bird vet near...what do you do when sick, or traveling or such? and so on

You cant really go with who is more calm or not, some are silent and other from same breed are noisy, some eat nicely and with other the food is thrown around all over...or they destroy more things than other...

I did read here when im not wrong that pigeons/dove should be nice calm birds...but could be wrong

But dont get hand feed birds....this is jut wrong, bad for parents and young birds.... mot handraised birds get Problems later on in life... feather plucking, health, behavior and so on

Good luck with whatever you do^^
.

I've never heard about hand-fed birds having issues, do you have any sources for that, I kinda want to see what they are because I'm planning on getting a hand-fed conure

[Eyulf]

I've hand fed and hand raised birds and all of them are healthy. Four of them are my feather kids, all of them are healthy, full thick smooth feathers. The rest are all in their forever homes. Some went back to the aviary they hatched in, as they were brought to me to rescue due to the mother attacking the Father, other birds in aviary and the chicks. Or a mother bird passed due to egg binding leaving the chicks orphaned as the Father showed no interest in the chicks.

I love hand feeding the lil chicks, they're so cute, after their meal they love a cuddle and head scratch as their feathers grow in all spiky and itchy.

Hand fed birds are more adjusted to being handled, and take to training a bit easier because they're used to hands so step up training comes a bit more naturally to them.

aephon wrote:
hey, does anyone have any recommendations for apartment pet birds? i have grown up with budgies and cockatiels and i have had animals when i lived with my family on the countryside, but i have had to move to the city for work and i've been feeling like i would like to have a pet bird friend.

i have been looking into lovebirds, cockatiels, and budgies, but i would like to know other people's experiences in terms of loudness, cleanliness and such!

All birds are messy, I keep a long handled dustpan and broom on hand, and the vacuum is my friend. Wet wipes are good when poop gets on fabrics, otherwise a spray bottle with 50% vinegar and 50% water and paper towels for cleaning.

I have four budgies, they can be loud in the morning and evening for a couple of hours, otherwise they're quiet. They'll also get a little loud when trying to communicate something to me, a toy is stuck or they want fresh food or water.

[kitty teeth]

Username: Tatum.
How many birds do you own?: I have one parakeet
How long have you had them?: 3 days
What brings you to the bird chat?: I’m a beginner but did my research extensively!

I got my parakeet from Petco three days ago. They told me he’s 6 months old but seems closer to 4 months as he hasn’t even had his first molt.

Him and I have already started to bond, I’ve taught him to perch on my finger and shoulder already. I’m working on the saying “pretty bird” which he’s already picking up! He tried saying “pretty bird” today which was precious. ;o;

I was told not to get a buddy if I want him to bond with me more but I feel like he needs a playmate when I’m not home.

What do ya’ll think? I think he’ll do just fine with just me but at the same time, I know parakeets are social animals.

[MarMar_Awakening]

Username: MarMar_Awakening

How many birds do you own? ( if applicable ): I own two cockatiels; a male and a female, as well as a pionus parrot! We haven’t gotten his gender tested but we highly think he’s male thanks to the shape of his head and feather colors.

How long have you had them?: My make cockatiel: Avelino, has been with me for five years now. He is currently four! His 5th bday is coming up. We’re making seed cake.
My female, Lina, is two, turns three this year. We got her when she was a few months old, so she took longer to warm up to me and my family.
As for the Pionus birb, Lolo, we had him for a little over a year I think? We got him recently.

What brings you to the bird chat?: I love geeking out about animal stuff. As you can see in my stamp collection thingy, animals are incredibly interesting to me! I want to learn more about them.

—

If I figure out how to send pics of them all, I’ll show them! Avelino is a Pearl cockatiel. His markings faded away as he grew and molted though. Lina is a mutated whiteface. As for Lolo, we just call him green boy! I’ve never owned a parrot other than cockatiels since it was young, so I still have a lot to figure out.

[Eyulf]

Big hard changes for me, I had to give up my Budgie girls Jangle and Ollie. They are fine, they went to a big aviary at the house of my Moms partners parents.
Jangle started her second year of seasonal egg laying, and Ollie started her first year of seasonal egg laying. They both got very territorial and Ollie attacked my male budgie Sky, she had him pinned on the floor of his cage and was biting the back of his neck, their feet interlocked, she kept biting his tail, and she grabbed him by his wing while she was on a perch so he was hanging by it. I separated them.
Sky isn't one for being held in my hands, but he was so stressed by the attacks that I had him cupped in my hand holding him against my chest giving him a cuddle and head scritches, he wanted Momma cuddles.
I was getting bitten by them a bit also, and for little beaks they really hurt.

I visited my budgie girls this past Sunday, they are doing well, both have a chosen nest box and some male suitors. Neither one came to me, they're settled and content in their new home and have lots of other budgies, finch and cockatiel friends.

I currently have 6 little budgie chicks I'm hand raising, there were more, but sadly some passed away, hidden illnesses. They had good food, love and cuddles before their passing.
One of the chicks has French Moult, but is thriving, so I'm keeping it with me it'll be a lil foster brother or Sister for Sky until it's first moult and I can see if with good food and care it's feathers grow back in, if it's a male it'll likely end up with me and big brother Sky in it's forever home.
I'm too worried to have a female again sadly. Sky is happy and doing well. He likes to roll a ball to me and I roll it back, so he likes to play roll the ball with me. He also likes meeting new friends when I'm raising chicks, once the quarantine is over and the chicks are almost weened and learning to fly, he's a sweetie and tries to show them how to fly.

I miss my girls, but it's for the best, Sky is a gentle soul and the stress of attacks wasn't good for him or me.

[Bridgy1234]

Username:bridgy1234
How many birds do you own? ( if applicable ):a lot, but ones that are strictly pets, one duck and two drakes, and maybe getting a chicken soon.
How long have you had them?: first ducks I got(the ones who started it all) a year ago.
What brings you to the bird chat?: I saw it and was like I have birds.

I was given a duck and a drake that were about a month from sexual maturity, because they were supposed to be friends for a house duck but they were not introduced properly and the person decided her house duck hated other ducks, so I got the since I lived on a farm. Since then I got meat ducks and chickens, laying ducks, and breeding geese. Of the laying ducks I got more than half ended up being drakes, one was of European breed standard and I was going to keep for breeding but he had a nasty personality. Would attack the ducks and the geese at random. So he is going and I’m keeping his brother as a pet, he has a mutation that’s given him a small crest, only of down feathers. Because of this it’s risky to use him for breeding as if the duck he breeds with carries the crested gene and isn’t showing it, it has the possibility of throwing a duckling with an incomplete skull and the brain being exposed.
But he has a super sweet personality and he is so cute. If I knew how to add a picture not from the internet I’d show y’all!

[~Totally Insane~]

Its been 6 years but I have returned!

Turned out my Sun Conure is a girl

[darling feathers]

username:
darling feathers
how many birds do you own?:
1 bird, a double yellow amazon named poncho :)
what brings you to the bird chat?:
where would you guys recommend purchasing toys
for medium sized birds like amazons? also, i'm looking
in to upgrading his cage, do any of you know of cost-friendly
sellers? :) thank you!

[inkyy]

hi everyone!!
Username: peter parker
How many birds do you own? ( if applicable ): two!! they are both male chinese painted quail/king quail
How long have you had them?: i got the younger one about a year ago, and the older one a good 3 years ago now. i used to have 3 females but they sadly passed. ill try find a picture to show.
What brings you to the bird chat?: id just like to talk abt birds lmao, bonus points if anyone else has quail, idk anyone else irl with king quail and they are so precious <3

@darling feathers i've never had a larger bird but with my birds i found some nice specialist parrot/bird shops online, some of them will even send you catalogues so you can look through the items haha. they're smaller buisnesses, so I feel better buying from them than from amazon etc. apart from that, maybe pet stores if theres any near you. or if you speak with other owners, you might get ideas for toys you can make yourself/get toys that are items that arent marketed as parrot toys. (obviously making sure they are safe for him!!)

[Kaizoku]

Welcome everyone who's new here!

Not sure if I've ever posted about them here, but my partner and I have owned zebra finches since February 2020. We originally got just two, Cloud (female) and Marshmallow (male)! We were told they were the opposite genders when we recieved them, but it didn't take long for us to work out Marshmallow was a male since he would sing all the time. In Cloud's case, we witnessed her laying multiple eggs. :")

A sad update however, a few months ago, Marshmallow suddenly passed. We woke up one day and he was lethargic and not eating, and within the next 12 hours he was gone. Cloud was very close with him, and was looking up and down her cage, calling out for him. We didn't want her to be distressed, so we ended up getting two other finches, which was our plan within the next few weeks even before Marshmallow passed.

We ended up with another male and female pair, named Diluc and Dvalin! After introducing them, we soon learned that Diluc, despite being our smallest finch by far was a MASSIVE bully and would not stop hissing and biting at Cloud. Dvalin got along with Cloud fine, and they even played together very quickly. This led to a change in cage arrangements - Dvalin and Cloud share a cage, and Diluc has his own bachelor pad next to them. They can interact, hear, and see each other, even when covered. It's also a safer option, since Diluc seems to have some birth defects (beak deformity, toe deformities).

Cloud was a pretty shy bird when we had Marshmallow - she would play and do her thing, but wouldn't do it often and wasn't very noisy. She's changed completely now - she's extremely loud, very happy, and always moving about and playing. It's a bit strange as she did really get along with Marshmallow, but since Dvalin is always busy and moving around, I think it's influenced her. (:

Dvalin is very playful - the first day we had her, she played with every toy in her cage. She loves their foraging toy, but her actual favourite toy is... a binder clip! Not sure why, but she goes insane wiggling it around and making noise with it, and don't have the heart to take it off her. She's also probably our smartest finch, and probably our greediest as she enjoys seed and treats the most out of the 3.

Diluc isn't bright. We love him so much, but he's just not very smart. But, he still gets around and does his own thing, even if its a bit different to the other finches. He LOVES going to sleep in his food and his favourite toy is a bunch of bird safe palm frond (?) material. I think my favourite thing about him is that his version of a "bath" is splashing water on himself with his beak and barely getting damp. The other two sit in the water and flap their wings, and he watches and thinks he's doing the same thing. He's too cute! :")

Sorry for the semi-sad, semi-happy, long update!