new lad so be gentle

[trueblue]

Hello to all out there in bird land.My first time on this so bear with me.I've recently decided to venture into the world of bird ownership.But that's as far as i got.Any feedback from you guys would be very much appreciated.I'm leaning towards the sulpher crested.I definitely want a bird i can teach to talk and i have heard they are good talkers.I am open too suggestions though.
Also if anybody knows of good breeders from which i could buy one from.I am in Sydney.Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[vankarhi]

hello and welcome. You need to consider lots of things when considering getting a bird (or any pet for that matter) ;D

The bigger the bird the bigger the expense........bigger more expensive cages/toys and more food etc. Cockatoos are or can be....pretty loud......but having said that I own a couple of eclectus and OMG they can give a cockatoo a run for their money when they decide to turn the LOUD volume up.

Do you want a bird who can be independant, do you want a cuddle bug (cockatoos are cuddle bugs.....but this can lead to them becoming very attention seeking if it is not dealt with properly).

I live in Qld so I have no idea about breeders in your area......but we do have some Sydney dwellers here so maybe one of them can help you out.

[avinet]

Hi and welcome - don't worry, we are pretty gentle folk here

Since this will be your first pet bird, I would be a bit cautious of getting a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. They are a major commitment. Actually any pet bird is a major commitment, but a SC2 is even more so.

Beautiful birds but being large they need a bigger cage, have a great need for companionship, and need a bit of a degree in bird psychology to stop behavioural problems developing. And often they are not that great a talker - Some are good, a lot are mediocre talkers. If you do decide to get a SC2 then find a breeder who hand raises them - under no circumstances get a wild caught baby. While it is legal to take babies out of the wild in Victoria under licence, and these birds get sent all over Australia, the wild caught babies are very likely to have disease problems, particularly Beak & Feather Disease (a viral disease usually fatal).

An alternative species to look at is an Alexandrine - many here have them and they can make great pets. Smaller than a SC2, but still a good sized bird, and males in particular can be very good talkers. I have to admit a bit of bias here, we have 11 of them living in our house now!

Among the smaller parrots, Quakers can be good talkers (see ) and can be very affectionate to those they love. Well worth a look.

Being from Queensland, I can't recommend any breeders for any of these species, hopefully the Sydney based members will be able to help out with suggestions

cheers,

Mike

[silvercloud]

Hi and welcome. I agree with Mike about the alexandrines. They're fabulous birds. My girl doesn't talk but I've heard plenty of boys talk, and talk well.

[vankarhi]

Well I am glad you guys mentioned the alexandrines lol. I own and breed them ;D as do others here and I highly recommend them as pets as you all know ;D I have found the males and females talk........out of 2 pairs both my hens talk and my pet male alex talked also. Both made wonderful pets (male and female that is) and they just love to "chill" with their "human" just sitting on the shoulder while you are at the pc or watching tv and sharing a tid bit also. Takoda used to lick my face and give me tongue kisses (gosh I miss him)........

[pinkdevil]

Welcome.
Hope you find a suitable bird companion for you soon.
All the best.

[madaussie]

welcome..my...keyoard...is...wet.....thaks...to....dapresh....yes...alexs...are.....great....irds....lost....a....few...letters....ad...space...ar
jjjj

[asharee]

crap MA, your keyboard is stuffed LOL

[asharee]

woops. WELCOME! lol. maybe if you want a smaller bird, go for a green cheek conure? or a galah!

[vankarhi]

Galahs do make lovely pets too and are not usually quite as demanding as a sulfer crested cockatoo (or any of the bigger guys) can be. I had a galah as a pet for 15 years (RIP Bo )

[Robyn]

Hi trueblue & welcome. Looking for a companion are we.

You have been given excellent advice there. I have owned or do currently own the species mentioned. To be honest & IMO any bird can make a great companion a lot depends on the new owner & how they handle their bird. I am starting to think Parrots don't have bad behaviors but people do. LOL.

I have a SC Too, I am his second carer. Cocky is almost 10 years old now & is such a delight. He talks his head off & learns new stuff all the time. Funny bugger told me he "wanted to go to bed" the other night. Yes he is a bit of work but hey like Mike said all birds are.

I have 3 different species of Conures, Major Mitchells, Eclectus, Amazons, Hahn's Macaw, & am also hand rearing a Red Tail Black 2 that might very well stay with me & honestly I could not tell you any bird was better than the other. They are all special to me, they all have that special quality.

I think maybe i have lost the plot & spend way to much time hanging out with my feathered friends. ;D

All i can advise is to research the bird you really have your heart set on & just go from there the rest will fall into place. Oh dear sorry i haven't been to much help.

[conureowner1]

hi trueblue welcome to the board. I own a blue quaker who talks up a storm and is pretty intelligent. Quakers are actually as intelligent as a african grey. I'm finding that ture so far with my Aqua i just have to say the word once and he says it. Aqua says hello,what ya what ya doin,whos a pretty boy,whos a pretty boy Aqua,Arsshole,Shelley,Einstein,Lady,Rascal,shut up,f*ck off got that from our neighbour,there you go and many more. But in saying that not all birds will talk no matter the species, asharee green cheek conure talks up a storm where my green cheek conure hardly talks at all.

If your after a bird can i surgest to go for personality first and find a bird that matches what you want eg do you want a bird that is clown like,playful,cuddly or independant or can be both.To me personality comes first if the bird ends up talking great but if it doesn't i would still love it the same.

[asharee]

he doesn't talk up a bloody storm he talks my head off ._.

[lolwutburds]

Hello and welcome!

As much as I adore Sulphur Crested Cockatoos they are not (IMO) a first time bird. I had one and loved him so freaking much but as much as I loved him I still felt I couldn't give him all the attention he needed and as my first bird, he was a handful. I am finding this same situation repeated in many different places around the world.

To be completely honest, I don't think cockatoos should be kept as pets without a specialised licence. They are LOUD, destructive, demanding and need a lot of space. They are expensive to upkeep (you just look at the price of toys) but on the upside they are really one of the best birds you can own, if you are prepared for all of the above. It takes a special person to own a 'too.

If you 'must have' a talker, find an adult bird that someone is re-homing that already talks. I would hate for you to buy a baby bird and re-home it a year later because it didn't talk. Cockatoos are one of the most re-homed birds out there and the Parrot Rescue Centre is full of them. Check out the trading post, I often see older birds for sale there and often they know how to talk! Many of them are lovely birds as long as you understand that an adult parrot has a mind of it's own! A cuddly sweet baby doesn't stay a baby forever and this is a commitment that is going to last you the rest of your life. Do you fully understand the lifetime commitment of owning such a bird? Every morning they are going to scream, even if you are sick or hungover, they will scream. it's an inevitability... and even when i'm hungover, i still need to get up and give them attention every monring. Every evening when i get home fresh foods need to be changed, bowls cleaned and paper changed. I go through a lot of paper.... vacuuming around the cage is done every 2nd day but in a high traffic area such as a living room it really should be done every day.

Toys can be home-made and in my ebay store I sell toy parts but with a bird such as a cockatoo I can guarantee even with collecting fresh branches, recycling toys parts and using things from around the house (bottle caps, phone books, toilet rolls etc) that you still need to make sure you set aside $50 a month just for toys. They CHEW like mad.

I dont want to discourage you, don't get me wrong, but I do want you to understand what you are getting into. A cockatoo is a HUGE life decision and one that shouldn't be made lightly.

Good luck in your search. I would strongly consider you research some of the south american species like the Quaker and Conures. They are a little more exotic that a cockatiel or budgie and make wonderful pets. Alex's are great too! I babysat one for a few months and he was an absolute delight to have around.

[Robyn]

Cocky's Story, as already stated i adopted him when he was 6 years old. The only reason he was rehomed was because he screeched all the time for his previous owner. I first took Cocky to see is i could work out why he screamed all day. Once settled in at my place he was perfect with the exception of me, he was terrified of me i thought, but it was only my glasses as soon as i took them off all was fine. So we looked after him for a month & I could not find 1 fault with this bird so the owner came & took him home. About a month later i get a desperate call Cocky was back to his old trick again. Back he came & this time stayed. The only thing that i could come up with was that he got lonely while everyone was at work. At my place even though he didn't interact with my other birds they were company for him because there was always chatter going on.

I had never really thought about owning a SC 2 but i would never give him up. Like i said it's not the bird with the behavior problem it their owner. My parrots have very limited toys hanging in their cages as i find they are a waste of money because they are never played with. They really enjoy ripping apart fresh tree branches. They live in aviaries just a few feet from my back door they are not looking at 4 walls every day plus they have the company of heaps of other birds. With the exception of Cocky he has a cage in the open carport, he has out time for about 6 hours every day. The only time he hoots is at 4pm his usual time we let him out & that is only a reminder of what time it is. I have to say that he never is loud. He never wakes us up. There is no early morning or late afternoon screaming sessions. I am so glad i had the opportunity to have him in my life he is a crack up all the time. Talks like a thrashing machine.

I have to disagree that a cocky isn't a good 1st bird. For a matured person i would not hesitate to recommend a large parrot as a companion. I think it's up to that person & whether they can handle a large bird. Having bred many parrots for the pet trade you get to know a lot of different people. I have sold heaps of eclectus to first time bird owners. Given the right advice from the beginning there is never a problem.

By the way Cocky isn't the only bird i adopted, 4 year old Elliot the eclectus was another screamer, again bought on by being a lonely bird while the owners are away. There has been a heap of others, but i couldn't keep every bird that came through my door so i found them new homes.

Most of us oldies never considered the consequences of buying a companion parrot. 30 or 40 years ago there wasn't much choice except for Cockatoos, Cockatiels & budgies the rest were so out of our price range. Today there is the internet & we have a different outlook on owning parrots, their diet & care & training. Help is everywhere.

So to trueblue go with your heart, who are we to say what bird is a good first bird for you. I am glad I chose the birds i wanted to keep, I didn't have any expectations of what my birds should be. I don't molly coddle any of my birds i also have the greatest respect for them, I very rarely get bitten & if i do it's something i have done wrong & the most important i honestly don't have any major behavior issues with any bird i own & i think last count was around 40 & most of them i can handle even though some are breeders. IMO any parrot can be a 1st bird if your willing to put in the miles.

Robyn

[vankarhi]

well I am probably going to upset some people.......then again ....... maybe not

Even though I do not have as much as experience as some people and I am not referring to anyone in particular I am just stating what is true...... that when it comes to handraising and breeding I don't have as much experience as some. I have owned birds of some sort basically all my life and I started to own birds at the tender age of 13 while my father and uncle always had canaries, finches, and I can remember pidgeons too.

While on the whole I do agree that most problems that go wrong with our birds (and dogs......I own a few of them and used to compete in agility and obedience trials) are the problems of the handlers/carers etc.....ie....we are the ones that are inadvertantly doing something wrong to upset our birds. Geesh I know full well now how that works.......I did it to my first eclectus pet and she was a hen.......OMG did I end up at the other end of her a few times and I know I started it now even if it was accidental. Now I hope I have learned a few things since then and especially this year and so far........I have handraised a nice natured female eclectus who has not once bitten me (and a very sweet natured alexandrine boy) ..... so far........I have managed to change how I do things and yes it is "respect" to a large degree as well as knowing "your" bird.

BUT........I believe there is a difference between having aviary birds and pet inside birds. Yes I own both and no I don't have as many as others.......but in the few short years I have been breeding I have noticed a difference between owning a "pet" bird and owning an aviary bird.

My aviary birds do have each other for company and they have room to fly around and they have branches to chew, swings to swing on on and a boing in each aviary. They have the rain when it rains and the other wild birds and other stuff to entertain them.......mine are very close to my house also as in I could step onto the roof of one aviary from my verandah if I so desired. But when we move to our acreage (fingers crossed....they will be not so close to the house.......but not too far away so as not to enjoy them).

Birds who are inside pets quite often are single birds and now a days most people work.........I am lucky now that I don't work anymore so my pets can get a bit more of "me" time (although lately that has been a bit less because of having the house on the market and needing to keep it pristine)......I did work for a few years and it was so hard.

I find my inside birds LOVE their toys they love to explore new ones (well Snowy gets a bit freaked out at times ... she is a cockatiel) but the babies I am handraising and my pet male eclectus LOVE their toys. I just go to the second hand shops quite often and buy used but in good condition baby toys that I think are suitable for big beaks to chew and destroy. I do buy toys from PRC and PSOA as well as other online shops and I LOVE to look at pet shops where ever we go and buy a toy here and there that I think my guys might like.

I guess owning a "pet" bird can be difficult due to trying to keep them amused and entertained so they don't develop these bad habits and then become problems. The bigger birds are extremely intelligent (not to say the smaller ones are not).

Like Robyn when I owned sulfer crested cockatoos (2 of them) and a galah (all at separate times) I would let them out to "strutt their stuff" around the yard. I personally had no problems with my bigger guys......except when one chewed the ex's stereo system cabinet......he unfortuneatley didn't have a sense of humour and made me rehome my sulfer.......but I got another one lol)

I am not sure anyone was trying to talk you out of getting a 'too........but there can be problems and I think everyone has their "fav" types of birds and just wanted to share that with you.

Also I have found there are differences in different breeds of birds and dogs.........and that is why we are attracted to different animals ......... because certain traits attract us. I have found the 'too type birds and the budgies and cockatiels are in general love bugs.....they can sit on your knee all day if you let them and they love to patted/scratched if you allow.....where as the alexandrines and eclectus are not normally cuddle bugs.......they are affectionate in their own way .........but not like a cockatoo type bird.

I am older than you and I am considering getting a RTB2 .......... my 8 year old boy will have to inherit my birds lol lucky he LOVES them too.

I hope I have not stepped on anyone's toes.........or upset anyone that was not my intention. But this is something I have wanted to say for some time now and now I am in a hurry and probably didn't get it out right...... (I have a girlfriend coming over and I made scones and will make us a cappacino.....girly stuff)

Let us know when you get your new companion.........we are all waiting to hear about him/her ;D