Inside/Outside Debate

[murphy91]

I'm sure there's other topics on this but I couldn't get the search to work!

I am getting a pet bird and I want to keep her outside. This seems to be a topic that sends pet-owners in hysterics, I'm not sure if they picture a small cage sitting in the middle of the lawn being rained on or something but anyway I just wanted to know if anyone here has tried it.

I'm getting an Indian Plum-Headed Parakeet, the cage is quite large and is designed for the outdoors. I want to keep it on the balcony which is on the second storey right next to the living room. She would be mostly undercover, and next to massive glass doors so she can see inside. Temps (extremes) here reach 35-40 in summer and 1-3 in winter (degrees celsius). It does not snow and we do not get frost.

Does anyone here think that would create problems and potentially kill her? Please no judging.

Cheers!

[anzac]

Hiya

I'm no expert but I keep my birds, turks and canaries, outside in aviaries and my birds have even survived the hot spell over here in Perth where the temp was over 37 for seven consecutive days a few weeks ago As long as you monitor your bird, and I was spraying mine down with water (and they loved it) I can't see a problem with the heat. Hopefully being on the second storey should also keep her away from any potential predators like snakes etc. Not sure where you are located? I always have a spare cage handy though for any bird that becomes sick so I can take it inside.

[murphy91]

Hey mate! I live in NSW on the coast about an hour north of Sydney. I heard about that heat wave over there, we're going through one right now. Over 100 bloody bushfires burning across the state! Still not nearly as bad as Tassy have it at the moment.

Thanks for your input

[anzac]

No Problems For the cold winter months, an old blanket at night could help too, bring them on!!!

[avinet]

I am very strongly of the belief that if you keep a parrot as a pet then it needs to be inside. Most parrots are flock birds, or at least form a strong pair bond with their mate. When a single parrot is being kept as a pet then the people around it form that flock, and often it will bond with one particular person as it's mate. That means it want to be close to it's flock or mate as much as possible.

By keeping such a bird outside - even on a verandah but separated by glass from it's flock - you are effectively separating that bird from it's flock and that leads to an unhappy bird. If the bird is inside, even in a cage some of the time, it has that sense of belonging that is so important to the bird. It will get talked to more often, it will likely come out of the cage more often and it will be a happier bird as a result.

If the bird cannot be kept inside then I strongly believe that it should have a same species mate in the cage to give it the companionship it needs.

The cage location isn't a problem as long as it is protected from any rain, including rain driven by strong winds. On very cold nights a blanket could cover the cage to provide a bit of protection.

Finally I might comment that Plumhead Parrots are not an easy bird to keep as a pet - they need a lot of daily attention, especially in the first 12 months, or else they will often become increasingly wild. Even with that attention some will become increasingly nippy, in fact I consider them to be the most prone to biting of all Asiatics - and I currently have a 21 year old pair of Ringnecks, 10 Alexandrines from 20 years to 4 years old, and a 12 year old Plumhead all kept as in the house pets so have some experience of Asiatics .

cheers,

Mike

[murphy91]

Thanks Mike. I do have a second cage to keep her in, and I was planning on bringing her inside a lot if I'm home to train her and just generally so she can be around everyone. But her main home will be her larger aviary.

You said they're hard as pets, other people have said they're easy, some say they like being independent, some say they're owner-obsessed. The internet is a valuable source of information but a conflicting one! Spose we're never gonna know until I get her ay!

[avinet]

Is the Plum-head hand raised or aviary raised, and how old is it?

Regarding Plumhead nature I can only talk from my experience. I've bred and hand raised a few, had two as pets, and sold a fair number when I had my pet shop (for 20 years).

Of the two I've owned, both were females with one bonding very closely to me only - she wasn't at all interested in my wife or my daughter. The other (still with us) bonded to an Alexandrine - funnily enough also a female - and isn't interested in any human, except as a source of cashews

From those we sold and got feedback down the line, all seem to have been largely one person birds. Some had become increasingly nippy and ended up in with other birds in an aviary. All were hand raised, I've never heard of a successful taming of an aviary raised bird although that might be a reflection of their relative rareness as a pet bird.

cheers,

Mike

[murphy91]

She's hand-raised and 10 weeks old. Haha a source of cashews, that's funny. How do you stop a bird becoming nippy? I mean she's nipping on my fingers a bit now but dunno if that's because she's young and has no idea or...?

Cheers Mike