my apt is going to the birds!

[avlena]

:o) Hi all! i know we have a lot of fish experts out there, but i was wondering if got|apex also had some bird fans. i'm planning on getting a bird for my apt, and was hoping for advice on what bird to get, or how to best care for it. i had a zebra finch all through HS, but i'm looking for something that's more interactive, that i can take out of the cage and handle. the pet store guy suggested a cockatiel, so i'm currently thinking about that, though the love birds were really cute. any thoughts/suggestions/comments out there? thanks!

-avlena

[dbax791]

Thanks DF.

Yeah, we have a few bird owners over there, some grey parrot, cockatiel, cockatoo, parakeets, etc...

[Nija]

my g/f has a cockatiel. It's a nice little bird when it shuts up. they are social birds, so they like to chill on you. Her's gets REALLY excited WHENEVER she see's her, and it has to be near her. Of course she's had the bird almost 14 years :shrug:

I hate animals that make noise...

[chadlnc]

A cockatiel may be a good choice if you want to be able to take it out and handle it. Just remember that with a lot of birds that can live for quite some time. Make sure to check out the age expectancy on whatever bird you are thinking about. There are a number of species that outlive their owners.

I've had three parakeets. One is still alive (about 8 years now) and my mother-in-law has him now and she really loves him\.

[avlena]

I had a zebra finch that lived 7 years, though he had this nasty habit of killing all his mates within a year(he went through 3 different ones before i finally gave up and stopped buying females). It was a cute little thing, and rather on the loud side, but you couldn't really handle or train him. :P so yeah, i think i'm ready to move on to a bigger better bird!

[Jcranmer]

My wife and me have been toying around with the idea of getting a Macaw. Since we have 3 dogs and a cat, we think the idea of a large bird might be a safer bet around them.

There are only a few issues holding us back at the moment.

1) Price: They can range upwards of $1500 Add another $1500 for a BIG sturdy cage.

2) They live for between 80 and 100 years old. It would easly outlive both my wife and me. Then you have to wonder who would take care of it.

3) Bites: A full grown Macaw can break a broom handle with it's beak. I know someone that has one, and he has dime sized scars on his arm where his bird has "playfully" nipped at him.

[Merlin]

Originally posted by Nija

I hate animals that make noise...

:stupid: When that thing starts making noise early on a Sat. morning when you're hung over you'll want to freaking serve it up as chow. Get an iguana. You can play with them and they are quite interactive and they make no noise.

[rtse313]

Originally posted by Jcranmer
My wife and me have been toying around with the idea of getting a Macaw. Since we have 3 dogs and a cat, we think the idea of a large bird might be a safer bet around them.

There are only a few issues holding us back at the moment.

1) Price: They can range upwards of $1500 Add another $1500 for a BIG sturdy cage.

2) They live for between 80 and 100 years old. It would easly outlive both my wife and me. Then you have to wonder who would take care of it.

3) Bites: A full grown Macaw can break a broom handle with it's beak. I know someone that has one, and he has dime sized scars on his arm where his bird has "playfully" nipped at him.


i feel terrible for the birds that live in a cage for 80 and 100 years !!!

[avlena]

i always kept the cage open for my finches. they'd fly around during the day in my room, and then at night return to their nest and let me cover the cage. only prob was that i found bird poop all over my room!!

[attgig]

Originally posted by rtse313



i feel terrible for the birds that live in a cage for 80 and 100 years !!!

i feel terrible for humans that live in a cage for 80-100 years!!! :hmm:

[ufcrusher]

We have had 12 parakeets and 1 Amazon yellow naped parrot. My step father right before my mom married him had 2 lorikeets and a bunch of finches. By far, all of my parakeets and my parrot were much more fun than the finches. Unfortunately, birds all seemed to meet unfortunate fates around our house.

Max 1 - Died suddenly no reason
Max 2 - Drowned in my fishtank
Max 3 - Was beheaded by a fan :bawl:
Snowwhite - Died suddenly for no reason
Samanatha 1 - flew really fast into a glass door and broke her neck
Sam 2 - seems like that name was cursed as she did the same thing
Deep Blue - Caught some bird flu and took out 3 of his cage mates too
Damn, I just realized its been too long and I cant remember their names....bad me. (But we had 8 at the same time...and 4 others before then.)

Our Parrot, Gonzo was a foul mouthed funny bird. He used to say hello to you everytime you walked by his cage. If you didnt respond to him he used to say "Fock you". (I kid you not) So one day my mother walked by his cage and said hello to him and he didnr respond. She looked at him and he didnt look right so she took him to the Emergency room at UPenn Vet hospital. The bird was immediately admitted and they attempted to treat him. So the next day in the middle of the day my mom got a call that he had died and they wanted to do a necrospcopy on him. We consented and it turned out that he had the highest urea count in his body that they had ever witnessed in a bird.

Just so you know, he had a problem with his intestines that required us to put some creme on his bum every day. As for his cursing, we got him from my uncle who got him from his original owner, one of his friends.

As for all the lorikeets and the finches....I dont even remember them being in our house...I think they all died right before my stepfather moved in with us. The loris were nice but I didnt like the finches.

[avlena]

Originally posted by ufcrusher

Max 2 - Drowned in my fishtank
Max 3 - Was beheaded by a fan :bawl:


your birds weren't the smartest things on the block, were they! :heh: but seriously, how the heck does a bird manage to drown in a fish tank, or get beheaded?? (finding your bird beheaded sounds like a rather horrific thing to discover when coming home btw!)

[Dirty Sanchez]

Originally posted by ufcrusher

Max 3 - Was beheaded by a fan :bawl:


You didn't tape his head back on and sell it to the blind kid down the street?

[Paymaster]

I have four cockatiels. They are my babies and I love them dearly. However, you really do have to make sure that the environment is safe for them. I normally keep their cages open when I am home, (they don't fly away, or when they do, they are flying to wherever you are) but this means no ceiling fans running, no open doors/windows, no open pots on the stove, etc. If I want to light a fire in the fireplace, or run the ceiling fan, I close up their cages.

If you are wondering what type of bird to get, you might want to pick up a few issues of "birdtalk" magaine. You can get a subscription pretty cheap from www.bestdealmagazines.com. If features different birds every month, and has a lot of great resources for bird care products and the like.

[ufcrusher]

Originally posted by avlena


your birds weren't the smartest things on the block, were they! :heh: but seriously, how the heck does a bird manage to drown in a fish tank, or get beheaded?? (finding your bird beheaded sounds like a rather horrific thing to discover when coming home btw!)

I had a 20 high tank in my bed room with a fitted top. However, there was less than a 1" gap in the back to make room for the heater controls and filter. I assume that he landed there trying to get a drink of water and fell in. but was swept under the lid by the flow of the water thereby preventing him from getting out. To be honest we only found him when I thought my newt (a big fire newt who disappeared from the tank) came back because I noticed something big and dark floating up and down in the tank.

As for Max 3, my younger sister let him out of his cage when he wasnt supposed to be. My mother had a bunch of people over and the ceiling fan was on (which it was always off if the birds were out). So he flew down to find me and into the kitchen, where the fan was. The fan was immediately turned off, but it obviously needs to slow down before it stops. Everyone tried to chase Max off but he thought they were playing and so he kept flying back in. On the third buzz he met his fate, which led to my moms friends singing were going on a head hunt as the searched for his head. :(