I’ve noticed that. They must play a major ecological role in whatever ecosystem they inhabit
….except the floor and walls of our home - unless they’re cultivating microorganisms and insects
They do cultivate a helluva lot. On floors, walls etc😎
Their ability to disperse seeds ensures trees, bushes, flowers, berries continue to grow wild. If you see an oak tree, thank a blue jay. Planting oak trees are their specialty. They are major players in their ecosystems by pollinating, eating bugs & beetles & keeping trees healthy. Birds rule
Agghhhh don't remind me. I have to set the water bowl 60-80 inches from the food bowl for my conure to stop making soup, and even then doesn't solve the problem, just makes her do it less
We switched to a water bottle like hamsters use. I feel a little bad because it must be super fun and awesome to dunk the pellets! But come on, dude. It’s so grody
It was much easier than I expected. The lovebird figured it out immediately because she had to bite anything new in her cage to teach it a lesson lol. She bit the end of the metal tube and a drop of water came out.
Cockatiel was trickier because he is leery of anything new in his cage. I swapped it out one day and then kept a close eye because I didn’t want him to go all day without drinking, but I also knew if he had the alternative he would never go near the new one.
I put it near his food dish which is his favorite place.
After a couple of hours he got curious. The bottle part is clear so he could SEE the water in it but couldn’t figure out how to get it. It took a little while but once he took a tentative nibble it started to click.
He stood on his perch and studied it awhile longer and then tried again. By bedtime he was drinking from it. I gave him back his usual water cup that night and then removed it again the following day. We’ve never looked back!
This is AMAZING advice! Thank you so much. You've saved me so much time from cleaning nasty pellet water bowls. Gotta see if my stubborn conures will adopt this too.
Did you have to show them how it worked and did you leave water in the bowl initially? Definitely gonna try this out! I have constant pellet dippers and their water bowls in the morning are so nasty!
If you're not already, be sure to use the bottles with the stick, NOT the ball. The ball can get pushed up with food and drain, or clogged, overnight. The stick is better for this, but also needs to be cleaned very well (I occasionally use a dental pick to clean it).
Fun fact:
There is a positive ecological function to birds (especially parrots) being messy eaters! In the wild they'll crack open seeds and nuts and drop bits and crumbs on the ground for other birds, animals, and insects to consume.
I learned this from the Taronga Zoo in Sydney!
....and they will hide some for later and never eat it. If you miss anything during the clean up and end up with sugar ants, well its a battle because you can't use pesticides in bird areas.
They are afraid of the most random, harmless things, but run/fly gleefully toward anything dangerous or likely to kill them. They're basically flying toddlers with a death wish.
Harley Quinn, green cheek conure with a death wish:
Hey! Chocolate!
Ooo! Is that whiskey?
I smell garlic! Mmmmm!
Guacamole! Yay!
Citrus? GROSS!
Ewwww, green beans.
Is that broccoli? Why do you hate me?
"try this, it's a banana"
::sticks tongue out, barely touches it::
BLEAGH! ::shakes head to get taste of of his mouth:: That's the worst thing, ever!
Nuts? No. ::shoves them off the table::
MINE ARE LIKE THIS!! I only just discovered it about a week ago. I couldn't figure out what was making them so upset. I always wear my "poop sweater" when I have them out, so I can save my normal clothes, so I didn't realize what the issue was, until the next day I wore a similar pattern shirt and they freaked out again. I'm glad it's not just mine who are crazy like that 😆
We can't wear anything that's a particular shade of bright ball point pen blue or fire engine red or else it either terrifies or triggers major rage in Albie , my gcc
My budgies are frightened of raspberries, the laundry rack and the packet that their seeds comes in. Meanwhile, they'll happily land on and investigate inside my boxes tools which contain saws & knives Etc.
Babysitting my son's birds, I was afraid my dog would attack them. No, one of the parrots literally flew in rage into my dog's mouth. Dog spit it out unharmed.
The poop.
Yes, we all know birds poop, and they poop a lot. But you honestly don’t understand how much until you have one. And it’s everywhere. There’s so much poop.
You can train them to poop in designated areas or on command! One of mine took to it very quickly, the other is halfway there, and the third is just starting to understand that poop = treats. They still have accidents or times that they absolutely don't care and poop where they please, but it definitely cuts wayyyyy down on the mess! 😊
Yup, we have our trained like this. They also like to poop off their edge of their cage when we let them out in the morning. On the plus side they don't like to poop in their cage if they can avoid it so the cages are easier to clean. However I was definitely not prepared for my Caique morning power dumps...super impressive how much comes out of such a compact bird.
My in laws have larger birbs (dove, conure) and the morning power poops are insane! My little parrotlets just poop all night long in their sleep, so I don't get the pleasure 😅
When I wake my boy in the morning he goes directly to the toilet ." poop poop " he says. We usually make it. Sometimes we don't. I ask him if he's a goose in disguise a lot
Also OP beware of the morning poop. Birds hold up their poop during the night and literally shit it all out in one go in the morning. I taught my bird to shit his morning poop in the cage before getting him out, it is a blessing.
In that same vein, the importance of bedtimes for most birds! I really didn’t find anything about it in my research so I was a bit surprised when the recommendation for my hormonal bird was 12+ hours of sleep. I’m not sure how I didn’t come across anything about it since I did quite a lot of research!
Ohhh yeah I've seen birds that can get really hormonal and even offer to mate with their caretakers 😭 it's messed up but I guess it's nice to know they love you 🤷♀️
Absolutely, I never thought in my life I would utter the phrase “do not masterbate on me birbo” but 4 years later it’s a common thing during horny season. Not just one but both my Quaker and my Amazon try to get my affection in the most inappropriate way possible. My research did not let me know.
How good they smell lol.
But in all seriousness, I didn’t know how clingy they would be. I’ve owned two birds now. I haven’t been able to pee alone since 2010. Good luck.
If you have a tamed bird they may want to be with you most of the time. Many will sit on your shoulder the whole day. I found this endearing, you may not.
Does yours demand a TP tax every time you go to the bathroom? One of mine does. She loses her mind if she doesn't get a couple squares each time I use the facilities. 🧻🐤
Good Lord. This. We recently got an Eccie and she does not leave me alone for a second. I don’t mind her being with me but I wish she would use a perch or play with her toys a bit instead of burrowing into my chest like a reverse alien.
Years ago my husband and I had the family Galah, Bruce and he was able to climb onto the floor if he wanted (he's too dumb to fly). I'd be up the hallway doing my business then along waddles Bruce, never shut the doors as it was just us so Bruce would climb up onto my knee. Makes wiping interesting lol
Dangers of certain toys. I never thought the toys I would buy in the bird section of a pet store could be bad. I learned fabric and dyed toys are possibly bad and being careful buying stuff online because some things came with a chemical smell. BELLS. If you look at a post on my profile my AG got a bell stuck on her beak and bled a lot. Never again, I take all bells off now.
I absolutely second this!! Those bells are so dang cheap and sharp!! Not just from the bottom openings but the little slit at the top to hook onto toys is dangerous given their super strong tongues like to explore crevices like such. I hate those bells!
I remember seeing your post!! Your post sent me on a rampage, going through all of my birds' and my mom's birds' toys to be sure there were no unsafe bells. You also inspired me to look up other dangers, so I removed and replaced a lot of clasps on toys, too. How is your AG??
She’s perfectly fine and healthy now :)
only took pain meds for about a week and was very talkative the whole time and didn’t seem to bother her as much as it did us. glad my post raised awareness
Stainless steel long cylindrical bells with a large hammer fixed way out of reach work great, very safe.
The Xmas bells especially with the narrow hole that becomes a wider circle are especially dangerous to toes and their hammers easily removed and choked on.
In my experience, a bunch of birds *don't* end up being clingy/extremely needy. I've had like 8 over my lifetime - cockatiels, conures, and linnies. There have been 0 cuddly birds, 3 "happy to hang out on shoulder" birds, and the rest really don't want my hands anywhere near them. All except 1 have been very interactive with me.
They're wild, exotic animals, not domesticated pets. There's a decent chance you'll end up with a bird that doesn't act like most people describe.
Each has a unique personality that I have treasured. Even my most bitey goobers.
You really just have to be willing to roll with whatever the bird decides to be. Let it bloom in its own funny, unique way, even if it's not within the bounds of conventional for pet ownership.
I’m glad for this with my Amazon. He will come out of his cage and hangout with me for a little bit on his own terms, then puts himself back. He puts his little foot up like a hand ✋ letting me know he’s done with scritches. Meanwhile my Quaker MUST be up someone’s ass 24/7 or else the whole neighborhood can hear his screams.
Same with my Senegal. He wants to be in the same space as us but that doesn’t necessarily mean he wants to be on us. He’s totally happy to be on one of his playstands hanging out together.
My Sennie is the same. She occasionally has moments when she actually wants to be on me. Those moments usually last maybe 10 minutes before she goes back to just wanting to be near me. Once in a blue moon, she decides I'm a jungle gym and is climbing all over me before going back to just hanging out near me. Those days are *usually* when I've just gotten back from being on a trip, so I figure it's a combination of "I missed you" and "I'm glad I'm back home from being boarded."
The funny part is if I try to put her on me when she doesn't want to. She'll step up no problem. She'll step down no problem. Then she'll look at me like I'm an idiot and either fly to a nearby perch or hop somewhere next to me if there's somewhere to hop on. It's a pretty clear "yeah mom I love you, but give me some space" 95% of the time, lol. And that's perfect for me, so I'm not complaining.
Agreed! I have 2 green cheeks that are a mated couple so we try not to handle them too much to where they'll start favoring us over their own little mate. We had no clue about that until we went to the vet and she told us that our conure favoring my husband was making her mate mad which made their environment not a happy one persay.
My cockatiel has learned to whine. He'll happily sit with me for a while, but after about 20 minutes, he starts screaming in a very whiny tone until I bring him back to his cage and leave him tf alone.
Apparently some can give haircuts. It started out as a gentle preening and now my GCC likes to snip off my hair and chew on it. I've never had so many flyaways on the top of my head 😭
I have had an eyebrow go half missing and I literally have these rockin microbangs on me that have me looking like Alfalfa because I mostly wear my hair in a ponytail so I look like a Unicorn of some sort >:[
Birds hold grudges. As in, if I didn’t let her out of the cage at the same time everyday or if I had an errand and she stayed in the cage all day she would be furious. Big bites
Mine bites me when he knows I am leaving my house. When I return, he might still bite me. But he will happy to see me again and not bite the next day 😂
Something positive, their individualism with their personalities and how social they are. I really did not expect the amount of socialness that a dog has but i was proven wrong!
They show a lot of affection and a big range of emotions. Every bird is different and they all have their own fun and loving personalities. Theres not a day without fun and love!
I didn’t actually know about the Teflon thing when I got my first bird (terrible, I know, but fortunately I was already using stainless steel at the time)
Anything that heats up should be checked. Hair drier, flat iron, clothing iron, the whole freaking oven (specifically during self cleaning), and counter top appliances. As well as oven turkey bag. Space heaters and so much more. I research all of it.
That having one in my life has been the biggest emotional commitment I've ever made. I think it's similar to parenthood, and I don't say that lightly. I think about my bird and his needs all the time. If I'm not with him, I'm concerned about him (unless he's with his "aunt and uncle" who take him when we go on holiday - I even fret when he's at the sitter we take him to sometimes because she doesn't dote on him like I do and there are big birds there that might bully him). It's insane. I'm not an anxious person.
It's exhausting to take responsibility for a little life. He is completely dependent on me for everything, and I often feel I'm not doing good enough by him. The tension between owning him and having a normal adult life is severe, although his bed times help. A toddler you can't lock in a cage and leave for 12 hours!
Also, think about the setup of your house. You will need to have him in the cage often for his and your sanity, but if your cage is too central or tucked away, both could present issue. We've ended up needing to move things around a lot and change how we use our house to maximise his welfare and our sanity.
https://preview.redd.it/utaell9xwu8d1.jpeg?width=2736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aeeba93caaf0d10c9350b65ad973801ce575dc78
Lots of visibility to the rest of your home, but able to quiet down the cage area, darken it (a cover helps.)
Not an easy thing to achieve in most homes!
You'll need a cage in a place that can be dark and quiet for 12-13 hours a day. Cage covers can be used to help with dark, and your bird will likely get used to a level of noise at night, but if you have the cage in the living room, you can't have a friend over it watch TV. If it's in the bedroom, you can't have a partner for a sleepover, although you can sleep in the same room if needed.
In the end, we are settling on two cages plus getting an outdoor set-up. One cage will be for sleeping and is in an office room we don't need to use between 7pm and 7am. The other will be downstairs in the living room, or mobile so we can move it around to where we are, so he can see us coming and going through the day (one of us is usually home during the day). He's pretty clingy at the moment so we are working on the separation anxiety - we think it's worse because he's closed off in the room upstairs away from people and feels isolated. YouTube and snacks help get him settled and he can do a few hours on a good day completely on his own without getting too distressed.
It's really easy to build in problems without realising things, and so much mental energy goes into working out what he needs or what's going on.
They will fly to nibble on your plants if given the opportunity! That's why I leave basil and mint in the room since it's good for their little tummies muahaha.
They are masters at hiding their injuries so it is ALWAYS worth it to get them checked even if they seem healthy.
I've learned so much from vet visits that I haven't found online such as not to get too attatched to your bird if they are already 'married' (I have 2 green cheeks) because you can throw off the relationship they have with each other especially if you baby one more than the other.
I guess I should have known but they live extremely long and so traveling is almost out of the picture if you don't have someone they trust to care for them. I asked my sister in law to feed my birds for a weekend and LORD BOTH PARTIES HATED ME AFTERWARDS for what I put them through 😅.
They are magnificent little creatures ❣️🦜
We're going on a trip at the end of Jul for a week and I have someone coming in to take care of the bird. First time since we've had Kip that we're leaving so it's going to be interesting to see what he's like when we get home. Will it be "I've missed you so much" or "I hate you for leaving me". Guess we'll see.
Give them time to forgive you when you get back. Watch their body language closely and no kisses until you’re forgiven!
Advice from personal experience with a now scarred upper lip
How exciting! Have a fun trip!
Oh man it'll be interesting for sure! I got the "Where on God's green earth have you been?! Look at this hotshot!"
I'm sure Kip will miss you and will look foward to being with you once you get back. How long have you had said little Kip?
We had a great pet sitter, but it's always the same thing:
Three days of:
YOU ARE NOT MY PERSON!
BITE! BITE! BITE!
Followed by:
Oh yeah, I remember you. SEED ME!
How much they HATE change. Move the food dish? Does it even exist anymore? Change what shape the food dish is? A demon has entered my home and is tempting me! Rearrange the perches? How dare my furniture move! Add a new toy? It’s clearly a monster in disguise.
My little quaker uses his words in context. "Peek a boo. Where's Gordon?" means somebody pay attention to me. "Fresh water" means go in the fridge and find a treat.
I'm not sure what his mumbling "little green chicken" means.
That research is a jumping off point. Each bird is a wholly, unique individual that may even contradict your research. My best example is everything says birds like music and TV, people interacting etc. I see many people talk about turning the TV or radio on for their bird when they leave. It took me years, but I realized, with the exception of a few songs or shows, mine prefers silence. I've been bit because she didn't like my show. So now I use headphones and she she is relaxed and chills with me.
They really aren't just mimics. Most have an extremely solid grasp of conversation. Mine certainly. Or maybe I genuinely got a weird bird.ost commands were never trained or taught. I said "it's not a toy" and she stopped playing with my piercings a jewelry. After 2 or 3 times, she stopped entirely. She will no longer play with it. "Watch your toes," to have her back up, I said it once, and she immediately complied. And so many more.
There really is a tiny person under all those feathers.
Had always known about outside birds going around in flocks. Never thought about inside birds being that way. Learned the hard way that when we eat, they eat - something else if it’s not bird safe, just give them something at the same time. Otherwise they get either super cranky or confused or their feelings are truly hurt.
Our bird is happiest when he can join a group at the dinner table. Insists on checking out everyone’s plate to make sure his place setting is getting a complete share
They love sharing food and stealing off your plate. Anytime I got a plate of food out my bird will dive bomb and land on it and I gotta play keep away while I enjoy a meal, and as a result I’ve had to learn the dangerous of certain foods and what’s ok to share and what’s not.
Soup is a very hard to consume when u have a little bird trying to dip his face in
I think truly nothing can prepare you for the noises birds make. And I'm not just talking pure volume or shrillness, I'm talking the variety of noises and how different noises may be quieter, but far more nerve-grating. When my GCC was a baby, he made this absolutely godawful noise that was attention seeking. He just randomly stopped that noise one day and now has other attention seeking noises. Those I don't mind. No matter how many videos you watch, books or blogs you read, or how many birds you meet, each bird's noise is unique to them. And if you get a baby or young bird, those noises can disappear or change into something else when they're an adult. Even as adults, situations change and so will their noises.
As a pure joke, none of my research *ever* told me how my bird could manage to get poop on *top of his flight feathers.* Like, dude. That's above your vent, how did you manage to get poop there????
Maybe! I try to make sure he doesn't have any toys or other perches under/close to his perches. And he doesn't ever roll on his back (at least around me). He's a really mellow little bird.
Ours is a Quaker, and tho I’ve seen videos of them lying down, ours is never off his two little legs. I wonder if I should provide him with something soft he can rest that way on, but I’m not sure what.
Ours has also gotten so much mellower (which is saying a lot for a Quaker!) in his third year - so much for the terrible twos. He’s calmer, more independent and content. I attribute this to the day-long joys spent visiting his man-cave (a private shelf on the very top of a triangular bookcase) with his collection of straws, coffee stirrer sticks, and cheap plastic reading glasses he loves to open, close, and weave into things.
Aww, so cute! My GCC is vocal, and jealous as hell, but he really wasn't too bad during his teenage phase, and even during the spring. I've even had vets mention he's just about the friendliest bird they've met. He loves shtedding paper
You are very fortunate to have a bird with such a lovely personality. For a vet to say that is particularly impressive, not being an animal’s favourite person in general.
We don’t allow toilet/towel paper/tissues for shredding for hormonal reasons - but he manages to steal almost one a day anyway! I learned on this forum that Quakers are an exception in terms of *needing* to build nests, so ours has his special “man cave” on a top shelf, but that egg-nest materials like tissues should be avoided, as that will trigger hormonal behaviour.
I took him home and my family ran a daycare out of our home. So while he was never involved with all the children, he saw and met a lot of new people. I think that helped him be a friendly little guy.
Ooh, good to know! Mine doesn't tend to get hormonal, so I'm lucky. Just watch that my next bird (hopefully a macaw if life works out and yes, GCC and macaw will remain separate at all times) will be a hormonal monster.
Don't pet your bird's body! I feel like I researched and learned everything I possibly could have, but I neglected to learn that bit of information until it was too late. 🥲
That the term “bird owners” is strange or even not a valid statement. I don’t own my birds. I am needed by my birds and they more or less run our house as they see fit. I’m not an owner. I’m the parront of a couple of kids that are never going to grow up but I love them. I love being their parront ( and care taker) but they if you speak in terms of ownership, own me.
I Can opt out of being owned by them (I.E rehome them) but I won’t out of fear of if my little feathered companions are rehomed what would happen to them if they got rehomed.
Not everybody is prepared to or built to be a partont but I know that I’ll take better care of them than the next person would.
Ah yes, that is a much better word. I was a little iffy on using "bird owners" too because i know that birds are not made to be owned or even be pets, so thank you for introducing this term to me lol I will be using it!
I find the best term is “roommate.”
At least for Quakers, and unlike dogs, there is no hierarchy so you are never the boss.
It’s an egalitarian society, everything is peer-reviewed, and you are their equal, in their eyes.
So everything has to be negotiated and the bird has to agree - it’s about cooperation, not commands.
The number of tshirts and buttons you will have to replace.
I have "bird shirts" because my quaker LOVES to preen the folds & edges like they are feathers and he will bite it on occasion and that spot will eventually turn into a hole.
He also LOVES to pop off button.
Based on the breed and flock mentality, you could end up with a really cage aggressive bird.
So far I’ve found a lot of Quakers, sun conures and lovebirds etc to be cage aggressive.
Obviously not all were, but a lot.
Yeah we can't really touch him if he's sitting on his cage. He'll get all cute and you reach over to pet him and he'll bite. Hard. If he's in his cage he can get from one side to the next super fast so you need to remind him that he needs to leave your fingers as they are. We've never really had a big issue with it so we haven't done much about it as he's out of it often anyways. But it's his and we all know it.
That sometimes three aviary birds become more tame than the hand raised ones. It isn't because you haven't put enough effort into them, they just don't want to be around people and that's okay. Sometimes we co-exist and sometimes we're best buds
Be prepared for them to not be like what all the info says they will. My caique is nothing like all the cute little caiques you see. He's cute, but not like that.
My cockatoo is 32 years old and hates nail polish. Even clear. Even on your toes. 🤷♀️
Birds are not domesticated like dogs & (to some extent) cats. They will raptor your face off on a whim because...hormones. There is no bite like a bird defending their stuff during breeding season.
My bird is bonded & loves me. BUT I still get bitten about once every month or so., just to keep me in line. After 15 years, I don't really even notice anymore. Unless I'm bleeding alot.
Some parrots get motion sickness. My poor boy Koba will regurgitate even in the 10 minute drive to the vet. Ginger tea is supposed to help. Scared the heck out of me the first time it happened.
Very silly! My conure likes to chase my dog ! Whild of course screaming at her, (shes 16, no teeth and would never touch my birds) And my goodness. the food mine are very picky but will eat and if they dont like it said food will be thrown... ALSO get a large carpet to put under the cage as food feathers and toy peices end up atleast a foot away :)
The noise. I have 2 green cheek conures. They are generally pretty good with screaming since I let them fly so much, but sometimes...
Yeah anyways, the noise pollution is something to be considered. Esp if they start screeching at each other while on my shoulder 🤣
Moths. We’ve never quite gotten rid of them. If you leave bags of pellets open, moths will infest them and breed VERY quickly. It’s absolutely insane, but preventable by just closing the bags (a concept my siblings don’t seem to understand:/).
The fact that 90% of their food ends up somewhere other than their mouths. Seed shells, pellet dust, thrown veggies, nothing ends up fully eaten
THIS!! If I gave my birds an entire apple they would purposely spit out a combined total pieces of half of the apple
In fairness to the birds, their job descriptions include re-seeding the forest floor. Which is now your home.
I’ve noticed that. They must play a major ecological role in whatever ecosystem they inhabit ….except the floor and walls of our home - unless they’re cultivating microorganisms and insects
They do cultivate a helluva lot. On floors, walls etc😎 Their ability to disperse seeds ensures trees, bushes, flowers, berries continue to grow wild. If you see an oak tree, thank a blue jay. Planting oak trees are their specialty. They are major players in their ecosystems by pollinating, eating bugs & beetles & keeping trees healthy. Birds rule
Thanks for this detail! I will thank more birds more often
And if you let them, they’ll dunk their food into their water, making the water super gross
Agghhhh don't remind me. I have to set the water bowl 60-80 inches from the food bowl for my conure to stop making soup, and even then doesn't solve the problem, just makes her do it less
We switched to a water bottle like hamsters use. I feel a little bad because it must be super fun and awesome to dunk the pellets! But come on, dude. It’s so grody
I need to do this so bad. How do you teach your birds to use the water bottle? Was it easy?
It was much easier than I expected. The lovebird figured it out immediately because she had to bite anything new in her cage to teach it a lesson lol. She bit the end of the metal tube and a drop of water came out. Cockatiel was trickier because he is leery of anything new in his cage. I swapped it out one day and then kept a close eye because I didn’t want him to go all day without drinking, but I also knew if he had the alternative he would never go near the new one. I put it near his food dish which is his favorite place. After a couple of hours he got curious. The bottle part is clear so he could SEE the water in it but couldn’t figure out how to get it. It took a little while but once he took a tentative nibble it started to click. He stood on his perch and studied it awhile longer and then tried again. By bedtime he was drinking from it. I gave him back his usual water cup that night and then removed it again the following day. We’ve never looked back!
This is AMAZING advice! Thank you so much. You've saved me so much time from cleaning nasty pellet water bowls. Gotta see if my stubborn conures will adopt this too.
Super easy. just put the water bottle above their normal bowl and they'll figure it out. then you can remove the bowl.
Did you have to show them how it worked and did you leave water in the bowl initially? Definitely gonna try this out! I have constant pellet dippers and their water bowls in the morning are so nasty!
If you're not already, be sure to use the bottles with the stick, NOT the ball. The ball can get pushed up with food and drain, or clogged, overnight. The stick is better for this, but also needs to be cleaned very well (I occasionally use a dental pick to clean it).
They don't have salivary glands so rely on wetting their food to help eat it.
i even tried putting a seperate water bowl next to the food. bro just makes soup x2
Especially on a hot summer's day. That smell.....
This 😆 I knew going in they are messy, but didn't anticipate how little of their food actually make it into they bodies
My girl has this weird behavior to pulverize her food, my orher one just grabs a bunch with his feet and throws it away while mimicking my laugh
Fun fact: There is a positive ecological function to birds (especially parrots) being messy eaters! In the wild they'll crack open seeds and nuts and drop bits and crumbs on the ground for other birds, animals, and insects to consume. I learned this from the Taronga Zoo in Sydney!
That's so true; everything ends up on the floor.
....and they will hide some for later and never eat it. If you miss anything during the clean up and end up with sugar ants, well its a battle because you can't use pesticides in bird areas.
They are afraid of the most random, harmless things, but run/fly gleefully toward anything dangerous or likely to kill them. They're basically flying toddlers with a death wish.
My cockatiel: (Sound of a can being opened): absolute panic (Sound of a rocket launch): sleeps
Harley Quinn, green cheek conure with a death wish: Hey! Chocolate! Ooo! Is that whiskey? I smell garlic! Mmmmm! Guacamole! Yay! Citrus? GROSS! Ewwww, green beans. Is that broccoli? Why do you hate me? "try this, it's a banana" ::sticks tongue out, barely touches it:: BLEAGH! ::shakes head to get taste of of his mouth:: That's the worst thing, ever! Nuts? No. ::shoves them off the table::
my eclectus liked to land on a frying pan. I'm all "NO WE ARE NOT HAVING FRIED CHICKEN TODAY"
And eclectus was all “mom/dad never lets me have any fun!”
This is not wrong at all.
According to my Amazon balloons are The Devil™ and must be feared. Also anyone with a beard is obviously signalling they want to fight.
My severe macaw would agree about balloons! He's not truly spooked by much, but bring in a foil balloon, and he's gone, flying the other direction.
Too funny - my parrotlets are the opposite with beards. They love burrowing into my husband's big bushy beard and going to sleep 😁
My cockatoo has an immediate crush on anyone with a beard! 🥰
We had to move the daylight lamp because my son caught the red lored tasting the bulb.
I can’t wear anything with stripes or dots around my birds. No idea.
MINE ARE LIKE THIS!! I only just discovered it about a week ago. I couldn't figure out what was making them so upset. I always wear my "poop sweater" when I have them out, so I can save my normal clothes, so I didn't realize what the issue was, until the next day I wore a similar pattern shirt and they freaked out again. I'm glad it's not just mine who are crazy like that 😆
We can't wear anything that's a particular shade of bright ball point pen blue or fire engine red or else it either terrifies or triggers major rage in Albie , my gcc
My Hahns panics whenever I wear a pattern. It's solids for him or terror
My birds hate anything pink or purple lmao
My budgies are frightened of raspberries, the laundry rack and the packet that their seeds comes in. Meanwhile, they'll happily land on and investigate inside my boxes tools which contain saws & knives Etc.
Babysitting my son's birds, I was afraid my dog would attack them. No, one of the parrots literally flew in rage into my dog's mouth. Dog spit it out unharmed.
The poop. Yes, we all know birds poop, and they poop a lot. But you honestly don’t understand how much until you have one. And it’s everywhere. There’s so much poop.
You can train them to poop in designated areas or on command! One of mine took to it very quickly, the other is halfway there, and the third is just starting to understand that poop = treats. They still have accidents or times that they absolutely don't care and poop where they please, but it definitely cuts wayyyyy down on the mess! 😊
Yup, we have our trained like this. They also like to poop off their edge of their cage when we let them out in the morning. On the plus side they don't like to poop in their cage if they can avoid it so the cages are easier to clean. However I was definitely not prepared for my Caique morning power dumps...super impressive how much comes out of such a compact bird.
My in laws have larger birbs (dove, conure) and the morning power poops are insane! My little parrotlets just poop all night long in their sleep, so I don't get the pleasure 😅
You should see an Amazon poop in the morning lol
RIGHT? Especially since the sunny has taught the red lored to AIM his gigantic poops, morning and otherwise.🤭
When I wake my boy in the morning he goes directly to the toilet ." poop poop " he says. We usually make it. Sometimes we don't. I ask him if he's a goose in disguise a lot
Yes the poop. I was not prepared for it.
Baby wipes and my steam cleaner have been absolute god sends for the poop
Also OP beware of the morning poop. Birds hold up their poop during the night and literally shit it all out in one go in the morning. I taught my bird to shit his morning poop in the cage before getting him out, it is a blessing.
Bonk! Straight to horny jail! It wasn't until I had a frisky male that I found out about masturbating birbs.
In that same vein, the importance of bedtimes for most birds! I really didn’t find anything about it in my research so I was a bit surprised when the recommendation for my hormonal bird was 12+ hours of sleep. I’m not sure how I didn’t come across anything about it since I did quite a lot of research!
I bump up to 14 hours of sleep when they are being too frisky. It's crazy to put them to bed that long
Sometimes I feel bad for keeping him in his cage for that long but he’s just too horny sometimes 😭
Ohhh yeah I've seen birds that can get really hormonal and even offer to mate with their caretakers 😭 it's messed up but I guess it's nice to know they love you 🤷♀️
Absolutely, I never thought in my life I would utter the phrase “do not masterbate on me birbo” but 4 years later it’s a common thing during horny season. Not just one but both my Quaker and my Amazon try to get my affection in the most inappropriate way possible. My research did not let me know.
How good they smell lol. But in all seriousness, I didn’t know how clingy they would be. I’ve owned two birds now. I haven’t been able to pee alone since 2010. Good luck.
I would hate to have to pee alone 😞
If you have a tamed bird they may want to be with you most of the time. Many will sit on your shoulder the whole day. I found this endearing, you may not.
I can say that I am looking for a pet to be with me all the time rather than one that lays around
Does yours demand a TP tax every time you go to the bathroom? One of mine does. She loses her mind if she doesn't get a couple squares each time I use the facilities. 🧻🐤
lol yes the TP tax is real.
Oh lord he will bite holes in my shirt if I don't give him his TP tax 😭 I had no idea it's a universal thing hahahah
my hahns is biting holes in my shirt. and being a brat rn... shes being hormonal.
lol! my Quaker requires 1 square everytime I go into the bathroom whether or not I use the toilet.
Yes. In fact I'm also charged intrest rates and penalty fees.
Aww I would die for a clingy bird.. maybe I need a conure or something because IRNs just don’t for me
I have an IRN too. He isn't the most affectionate bird, but he does stick to me like Velcro a lot.
Good Lord. This. We recently got an Eccie and she does not leave me alone for a second. I don’t mind her being with me but I wish she would use a perch or play with her toys a bit instead of burrowing into my chest like a reverse alien.
They're just inspecting your pee for safety
Years ago my husband and I had the family Galah, Bruce and he was able to climb onto the floor if he wanted (he's too dumb to fly). I'd be up the hallway doing my business then along waddles Bruce, never shut the doors as it was just us so Bruce would climb up onto my knee. Makes wiping interesting lol
Got my Quaker in 2006, so 18 years for me.
Honestly, our Quaker smelled deliciously of popcorn the first almost two years. Now, going on three, more like wet dog, after a bath.
I miss the smell of my Quaker. My cockatoo smells great, but it doesn’t hit the same as the Quaker smell. The wet dog smell is so accurate though lol.
my hahns is getting hormonal for the frist time... so shes staying in her cage for now. I am sick of getting randomly bit in the face.
That they can drown really easy if they get too much water in their nares, so not to let them immerse in the shower, even if they seem to love it.
I shower with my sennie, but his perch is across from the showerhead, and he only gets a mist if I bank it off of my shoulder (which he loves).
Same! Sometimes I can barely get my shower in because the bird demands I spray her instead!
Never heard this before, thanks for the heads up
Dangers of certain toys. I never thought the toys I would buy in the bird section of a pet store could be bad. I learned fabric and dyed toys are possibly bad and being careful buying stuff online because some things came with a chemical smell. BELLS. If you look at a post on my profile my AG got a bell stuck on her beak and bled a lot. Never again, I take all bells off now.
I absolutely second this!! Those bells are so dang cheap and sharp!! Not just from the bottom openings but the little slit at the top to hook onto toys is dangerous given their super strong tongues like to explore crevices like such. I hate those bells!
My lovebird died playing with a bell when I left the room for 5 minutes. I’m still not over it. No more bells. Ever.
I remember seeing your post!! Your post sent me on a rampage, going through all of my birds' and my mom's birds' toys to be sure there were no unsafe bells. You also inspired me to look up other dangers, so I removed and replaced a lot of clasps on toys, too. How is your AG??
Stainless steel long cylindrical bells are safe
She’s perfectly fine and healthy now :) only took pain meds for about a week and was very talkative the whole time and didn’t seem to bother her as much as it did us. glad my post raised awareness
Stainless steel long cylindrical bells with a large hammer fixed way out of reach work great, very safe. The Xmas bells especially with the narrow hole that becomes a wider circle are especially dangerous to toes and their hammers easily removed and choked on.
In my experience, a bunch of birds *don't* end up being clingy/extremely needy. I've had like 8 over my lifetime - cockatiels, conures, and linnies. There have been 0 cuddly birds, 3 "happy to hang out on shoulder" birds, and the rest really don't want my hands anywhere near them. All except 1 have been very interactive with me. They're wild, exotic animals, not domesticated pets. There's a decent chance you'll end up with a bird that doesn't act like most people describe. Each has a unique personality that I have treasured. Even my most bitey goobers. You really just have to be willing to roll with whatever the bird decides to be. Let it bloom in its own funny, unique way, even if it's not within the bounds of conventional for pet ownership.
I’m glad for this with my Amazon. He will come out of his cage and hangout with me for a little bit on his own terms, then puts himself back. He puts his little foot up like a hand ✋ letting me know he’s done with scritches. Meanwhile my Quaker MUST be up someone’s ass 24/7 or else the whole neighborhood can hear his screams.
Lmao MUST be up someone's ass 🤣
The big old zon TALK TO THE HAND! Love it 😂
Yeah my grey doesn't like handling or too much direct interaction. She wants to observe.
Most of my birds would rather hang with each other than me. I enjoy watching their relationships.
Same with my Senegal. He wants to be in the same space as us but that doesn’t necessarily mean he wants to be on us. He’s totally happy to be on one of his playstands hanging out together.
My Sennie is the same. She occasionally has moments when she actually wants to be on me. Those moments usually last maybe 10 minutes before she goes back to just wanting to be near me. Once in a blue moon, she decides I'm a jungle gym and is climbing all over me before going back to just hanging out near me. Those days are *usually* when I've just gotten back from being on a trip, so I figure it's a combination of "I missed you" and "I'm glad I'm back home from being boarded." The funny part is if I try to put her on me when she doesn't want to. She'll step up no problem. She'll step down no problem. Then she'll look at me like I'm an idiot and either fly to a nearby perch or hop somewhere next to me if there's somewhere to hop on. It's a pretty clear "yeah mom I love you, but give me some space" 95% of the time, lol. And that's perfect for me, so I'm not complaining.
They are individuals and no two are the same.
Agreed! I have 2 green cheeks that are a mated couple so we try not to handle them too much to where they'll start favoring us over their own little mate. We had no clue about that until we went to the vet and she told us that our conure favoring my husband was making her mate mad which made their environment not a happy one persay.
Linnies don't like the feel of human skin. They prefer to step on a dowel or on my hand covered with a cloth.
That’s interesting. We have two linnies who regularly sit on our hands, with or without treats available.
My cockatiel has learned to whine. He'll happily sit with me for a while, but after about 20 minutes, he starts screaming in a very whiny tone until I bring him back to his cage and leave him tf alone.
Apparently some can give haircuts. It started out as a gentle preening and now my GCC likes to snip off my hair and chew on it. I've never had so many flyaways on the top of my head 😭
One of my birds do this and I’m always worried that it might impact their digestive system :(
me with my new short tufts of hair
I have had an eyebrow go half missing and I literally have these rockin microbangs on me that have me looking like Alfalfa because I mostly wear my hair in a ponytail so I look like a Unicorn of some sort >:[
Whenever I work from home in the same room with my birbs, I am always sitting I the baseball type hat 🤣
😂😂 I wrap my head in blankets for protecktion
Birds hold grudges. As in, if I didn’t let her out of the cage at the same time everyday or if I had an errand and she stayed in the cage all day she would be furious. Big bites
Mine bites me when he knows I am leaving my house. When I return, he might still bite me. But he will happy to see me again and not bite the next day 😂
avoid helium balloons in the same room as the bird. its like they see helium balloons similar to sky predators and they go into pure terror.
Found this out too. It took a long time for my tiel to calm down
Terrified out of her mind by the balloons but ready to fight the four foot long snake plushie I happened to walk by with. It's now missing an eye.
Something positive, their individualism with their personalities and how social they are. I really did not expect the amount of socialness that a dog has but i was proven wrong! They show a lot of affection and a big range of emotions. Every bird is different and they all have their own fun and loving personalities. Theres not a day without fun and love!
Yes I didn't realize they have much of a personality until my oldest got their GCC. New appreciation for the birds I see on my walks.
I didn’t actually know about the Teflon thing when I got my first bird (terrible, I know, but fortunately I was already using stainless steel at the time)
Ohhh yes, I should also make or find a post about safe materials for birds because i heard that you have to be cautious about household items
There are lots of things we take for granted that birds can’t coexist with, like aerosols and candles
Self cleaning ovens is one people may not know
Beware the hair dryer.
Anything that heats up should be checked. Hair drier, flat iron, clothing iron, the whole freaking oven (specifically during self cleaning), and counter top appliances. As well as oven turkey bag. Space heaters and so much more. I research all of it.
Lots of posts on this. Just do a search
My GCCs love to eat chicken and kibble from my dog if I’m not paying attention. Little dinosaurs 🦖
🦖💚
The beak grinding when they are relaxed! Love it
That the breeder and a vet can tell you it’s a male but then it lays an egg for the first time in 9 years!
Yes! DNA sexing isn't 100% accurate
They’re excellent trainers. My bird pal even makes a clicker-like noise when I get things right 🙄
Okay, that's adorable!
They are escape artists.
This cannot be emphasized enough. My Quaker has learned to unscrew screws and has actually *removed locks* from her came doors.
That blows my mind, as a relatively new parrot owner!
Oh boy - hope mine doesn’t figure this out!
That they like to “mate” on top of your head, on top of your hand 🥲
Oh yes... Being shagged by my parrot was one of the weirdest experiences I wasn't expecting when I got him 😭🤣
Mine makes these NOISES that I don’t wanna hear ever AGAIN 😭 I’m like STOOOOP 💀
That having one in my life has been the biggest emotional commitment I've ever made. I think it's similar to parenthood, and I don't say that lightly. I think about my bird and his needs all the time. If I'm not with him, I'm concerned about him (unless he's with his "aunt and uncle" who take him when we go on holiday - I even fret when he's at the sitter we take him to sometimes because she doesn't dote on him like I do and there are big birds there that might bully him). It's insane. I'm not an anxious person. It's exhausting to take responsibility for a little life. He is completely dependent on me for everything, and I often feel I'm not doing good enough by him. The tension between owning him and having a normal adult life is severe, although his bed times help. A toddler you can't lock in a cage and leave for 12 hours! Also, think about the setup of your house. You will need to have him in the cage often for his and your sanity, but if your cage is too central or tucked away, both could present issue. We've ended up needing to move things around a lot and change how we use our house to maximise his welfare and our sanity. https://preview.redd.it/utaell9xwu8d1.jpeg?width=2736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aeeba93caaf0d10c9350b65ad973801ce575dc78
Where would you recommend putting the cage?
Lots of visibility to the rest of your home, but able to quiet down the cage area, darken it (a cover helps.) Not an easy thing to achieve in most homes!
You'll need a cage in a place that can be dark and quiet for 12-13 hours a day. Cage covers can be used to help with dark, and your bird will likely get used to a level of noise at night, but if you have the cage in the living room, you can't have a friend over it watch TV. If it's in the bedroom, you can't have a partner for a sleepover, although you can sleep in the same room if needed. In the end, we are settling on two cages plus getting an outdoor set-up. One cage will be for sleeping and is in an office room we don't need to use between 7pm and 7am. The other will be downstairs in the living room, or mobile so we can move it around to where we are, so he can see us coming and going through the day (one of us is usually home during the day). He's pretty clingy at the moment so we are working on the separation anxiety - we think it's worse because he's closed off in the room upstairs away from people and feels isolated. YouTube and snacks help get him settled and he can do a few hours on a good day completely on his own without getting too distressed. It's really easy to build in problems without realising things, and so much mental energy goes into working out what he needs or what's going on.
that induction stovetops are your friend. and stainless steel (no anti-stick coating) is the safest thing to cook with.
They will fly to nibble on your plants if given the opportunity! That's why I leave basil and mint in the room since it's good for their little tummies muahaha. They are masters at hiding their injuries so it is ALWAYS worth it to get them checked even if they seem healthy. I've learned so much from vet visits that I haven't found online such as not to get too attatched to your bird if they are already 'married' (I have 2 green cheeks) because you can throw off the relationship they have with each other especially if you baby one more than the other. I guess I should have known but they live extremely long and so traveling is almost out of the picture if you don't have someone they trust to care for them. I asked my sister in law to feed my birds for a weekend and LORD BOTH PARTIES HATED ME AFTERWARDS for what I put them through 😅. They are magnificent little creatures ❣️🦜
We're going on a trip at the end of Jul for a week and I have someone coming in to take care of the bird. First time since we've had Kip that we're leaving so it's going to be interesting to see what he's like when we get home. Will it be "I've missed you so much" or "I hate you for leaving me". Guess we'll see.
Give them time to forgive you when you get back. Watch their body language closely and no kisses until you’re forgiven! Advice from personal experience with a now scarred upper lip
How exciting! Have a fun trip! Oh man it'll be interesting for sure! I got the "Where on God's green earth have you been?! Look at this hotshot!" I'm sure Kip will miss you and will look foward to being with you once you get back. How long have you had said little Kip?
we've had him for 7 years now. So he's pretty used to us being around through COVID and now working from home. So he's spoiled.
We had a great pet sitter, but it's always the same thing: Three days of: YOU ARE NOT MY PERSON! BITE! BITE! BITE! Followed by: Oh yeah, I remember you. SEED ME!
Owner of two male pigeons. Everything I own has been thoroughly molested by them. Nobody warned me about the horny.
Conures are really freaking weird lol but I love them
There’s no scream like a conure scream
My Alexandrine is louder than my conures and I swear if I didn't already wear hearing aids, I would need them by now
On god but I still want one
They’re the best!! https://preview.redd.it/exotf1sdmt8d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=849b7ad2ac92c0bf16a959380630682385908d7c
What a beauty! 😍
They can take pleasure in hurting/ upsetting people
That soup becomes the hardest thing to eat when your feathered friend wants to bathe in it
How much they HATE change. Move the food dish? Does it even exist anymore? Change what shape the food dish is? A demon has entered my home and is tempting me! Rearrange the perches? How dare my furniture move! Add a new toy? It’s clearly a monster in disguise.
Don't forget that adding a new perch next to the heater has now become a bird eating monster and they need to escape it
My little quaker uses his words in context. "Peek a boo. Where's Gordon?" means somebody pay attention to me. "Fresh water" means go in the fridge and find a treat. I'm not sure what his mumbling "little green chicken" means.
That research is a jumping off point. Each bird is a wholly, unique individual that may even contradict your research. My best example is everything says birds like music and TV, people interacting etc. I see many people talk about turning the TV or radio on for their bird when they leave. It took me years, but I realized, with the exception of a few songs or shows, mine prefers silence. I've been bit because she didn't like my show. So now I use headphones and she she is relaxed and chills with me. They really aren't just mimics. Most have an extremely solid grasp of conversation. Mine certainly. Or maybe I genuinely got a weird bird.ost commands were never trained or taught. I said "it's not a toy" and she stopped playing with my piercings a jewelry. After 2 or 3 times, she stopped entirely. She will no longer play with it. "Watch your toes," to have her back up, I said it once, and she immediately complied. And so many more. There really is a tiny person under all those feathers.
Wow, that's amazing!
Had always known about outside birds going around in flocks. Never thought about inside birds being that way. Learned the hard way that when we eat, they eat - something else if it’s not bird safe, just give them something at the same time. Otherwise they get either super cranky or confused or their feelings are truly hurt.
Our bird is happiest when he can join a group at the dinner table. Insists on checking out everyone’s plate to make sure his place setting is getting a complete share
They love sharing food and stealing off your plate. Anytime I got a plate of food out my bird will dive bomb and land on it and I gotta play keep away while I enjoy a meal, and as a result I’ve had to learn the dangerous of certain foods and what’s ok to share and what’s not. Soup is a very hard to consume when u have a little bird trying to dip his face in
That's honestly really cute but I completely understand why you would have to be cautious
oh it’s SO CUTE that sometimes I just want to let him take it but not worth cursing their little frail anatomy 😭
That you dont choose it, but they choose you.
I think truly nothing can prepare you for the noises birds make. And I'm not just talking pure volume or shrillness, I'm talking the variety of noises and how different noises may be quieter, but far more nerve-grating. When my GCC was a baby, he made this absolutely godawful noise that was attention seeking. He just randomly stopped that noise one day and now has other attention seeking noises. Those I don't mind. No matter how many videos you watch, books or blogs you read, or how many birds you meet, each bird's noise is unique to them. And if you get a baby or young bird, those noises can disappear or change into something else when they're an adult. Even as adults, situations change and so will their noises. As a pure joke, none of my research *ever* told me how my bird could manage to get poop on *top of his flight feathers.* Like, dude. That's above your vent, how did you manage to get poop there????
Probably backed into it after?
Maybe! I try to make sure he doesn't have any toys or other perches under/close to his perches. And he doesn't ever roll on his back (at least around me). He's a really mellow little bird.
Ours is a Quaker, and tho I’ve seen videos of them lying down, ours is never off his two little legs. I wonder if I should provide him with something soft he can rest that way on, but I’m not sure what. Ours has also gotten so much mellower (which is saying a lot for a Quaker!) in his third year - so much for the terrible twos. He’s calmer, more independent and content. I attribute this to the day-long joys spent visiting his man-cave (a private shelf on the very top of a triangular bookcase) with his collection of straws, coffee stirrer sticks, and cheap plastic reading glasses he loves to open, close, and weave into things.
Aww, so cute! My GCC is vocal, and jealous as hell, but he really wasn't too bad during his teenage phase, and even during the spring. I've even had vets mention he's just about the friendliest bird they've met. He loves shtedding paper
You are very fortunate to have a bird with such a lovely personality. For a vet to say that is particularly impressive, not being an animal’s favourite person in general. We don’t allow toilet/towel paper/tissues for shredding for hormonal reasons - but he manages to steal almost one a day anyway! I learned on this forum that Quakers are an exception in terms of *needing* to build nests, so ours has his special “man cave” on a top shelf, but that egg-nest materials like tissues should be avoided, as that will trigger hormonal behaviour.
I took him home and my family ran a daycare out of our home. So while he was never involved with all the children, he saw and met a lot of new people. I think that helped him be a friendly little guy. Ooh, good to know! Mine doesn't tend to get hormonal, so I'm lucky. Just watch that my next bird (hopefully a macaw if life works out and yes, GCC and macaw will remain separate at all times) will be a hormonal monster.
Hope not! It may also depend on your own personality and the gentleness or tolerance of your interactions.
Whenever my bird was hormonal, the very few times he was, he learned when I'd tell him no or if I put him back in his cage.
Don't pet your bird's body! I feel like I researched and learned everything I possibly could have, but I neglected to learn that bit of information until it was too late. 🥲
That the term “bird owners” is strange or even not a valid statement. I don’t own my birds. I am needed by my birds and they more or less run our house as they see fit. I’m not an owner. I’m the parront of a couple of kids that are never going to grow up but I love them. I love being their parront ( and care taker) but they if you speak in terms of ownership, own me. I Can opt out of being owned by them (I.E rehome them) but I won’t out of fear of if my little feathered companions are rehomed what would happen to them if they got rehomed. Not everybody is prepared to or built to be a partont but I know that I’ll take better care of them than the next person would.
Ah yes, that is a much better word. I was a little iffy on using "bird owners" too because i know that birds are not made to be owned or even be pets, so thank you for introducing this term to me lol I will be using it!
Parront!!! I love that. I love being a parront!! ☺️
I find the best term is “roommate.” At least for Quakers, and unlike dogs, there is no hierarchy so you are never the boss. It’s an egalitarian society, everything is peer-reviewed, and you are their equal, in their eyes. So everything has to be negotiated and the bird has to agree - it’s about cooperation, not commands.
The number of tshirts and buttons you will have to replace. I have "bird shirts" because my quaker LOVES to preen the folds & edges like they are feathers and he will bite it on occasion and that spot will eventually turn into a hole. He also LOVES to pop off button.
That their favorite place to perch is on top of my head
when the molting season starts, mine is cranky as hell, always yelling at me like I should do something about it.
Based on the breed and flock mentality, you could end up with a really cage aggressive bird. So far I’ve found a lot of Quakers, sun conures and lovebirds etc to be cage aggressive. Obviously not all were, but a lot.
Yeah we can't really touch him if he's sitting on his cage. He'll get all cute and you reach over to pet him and he'll bite. Hard. If he's in his cage he can get from one side to the next super fast so you need to remind him that he needs to leave your fingers as they are. We've never really had a big issue with it so we haven't done much about it as he's out of it often anyways. But it's his and we all know it.
That sometimes three aviary birds become more tame than the hand raised ones. It isn't because you haven't put enough effort into them, they just don't want to be around people and that's okay. Sometimes we co-exist and sometimes we're best buds
Birds will drop whatever they are eating and want what you are eating if it's brightly colored, especially fruit
They are like children, can play hours with a piece of cardboard instead of the 10 toys i bought xD
Morning poops. No one prepared me for the morning poops
Be prepared for them to not be like what all the info says they will. My caique is nothing like all the cute little caiques you see. He's cute, but not like that. My cockatoo is 32 years old and hates nail polish. Even clear. Even on your toes. 🤷♀️
The underbeak hurts more than the top one
They might name you. I am 'Pretty Bird'. My wife didn't seem to get a name.
That my life would be controlled by the music they like and not the music I like.
Birds are not domesticated like dogs & (to some extent) cats. They will raptor your face off on a whim because...hormones. There is no bite like a bird defending their stuff during breeding season. My bird is bonded & loves me. BUT I still get bitten about once every month or so., just to keep me in line. After 15 years, I don't really even notice anymore. Unless I'm bleeding alot.
Some parrots get motion sickness. My poor boy Koba will regurgitate even in the 10 minute drive to the vet. Ginger tea is supposed to help. Scared the heck out of me the first time it happened.
Very silly! My conure likes to chase my dog ! Whild of course screaming at her, (shes 16, no teeth and would never touch my birds) And my goodness. the food mine are very picky but will eat and if they dont like it said food will be thrown... ALSO get a large carpet to put under the cage as food feathers and toy peices end up atleast a foot away :)
The noise. I have 2 green cheek conures. They are generally pretty good with screaming since I let them fly so much, but sometimes... Yeah anyways, the noise pollution is something to be considered. Esp if they start screeching at each other while on my shoulder 🤣
The fact that he would be the one training me when he figured out clicker training and no knows how to mimic the click perfectly…
Moths. We’ve never quite gotten rid of them. If you leave bags of pellets open, moths will infest them and breed VERY quickly. It’s absolutely insane, but preventable by just closing the bags (a concept my siblings don’t seem to understand:/).