[Aimra]

Hey Iria. Is that you amazon in your avatar? Do you have any other parrots?

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack the thread.



(MOD NOTE: split off from the "You Know You're From Ohio When..." thread.)

 

[Iria]

Lol, no problem. Yes, that's a yellow-naped Amazon. His name is Kiwi. He's our only parrot right now, but we may get another one later. Do you have birds?

 

[Aimra]

Yeah, I figured that was a yellow nape. Sometimes I'm not so great on my different types of zons.

How old is Kiwi?

Right now we have three fids. We have Sancha the Black Headed Caique (8 years), Roger the Blue Crown Conure (9 years), and Kelsey the Senegal (3 years). All of our birds are second hand parrots. I've only been owned by them for 4 years.

I love yellow napes. They are so beautiful and intelligent (too smart sometimes!). Although I think one might drive me nuts learning all the things I say!

A friend of mine has a yellow nape and she would ask her "hey Reba, whats your name?" and she would start singing "I'm the little old lady from passadena!... Go Reba! Go Reba! Go! Go! Go!"

Sorry.. I don't mean to ramble. I just love parrots.

 

[Iria]

He was probably less than a year old when that picture was taken, but he's about two years old now.

I love parrots too, lol. Your house sounds fun. Just having one parrot is a handful, three must be crazy.

Kiwi mostly just picks up the words that we mean to teach him, but he comes up with some funny things on his own. The best is his one-sided phone conversation, complete with ringing.

 

[Aimra]

Thats great.

If you're interested a great forum is www.parrotalk.com/forum . I've been on there for quite some time (although not very active lately) and its great. Some of the best stuff are the stories and pictures that are swapped.

 

[Iria]

Thanks! I'll check that out.

 

[Aimra]

Here are some pictures.

 

[Iria]

They're adorable! The picture of Roger is my favorite. He looks like he has personality.

 

[Aimra]

Yeah, I think she was doing her evil cackling laugh when I took that picture.

 

[Amy SF]

I can split those parrot posts off into a new thread, if you want...

 

[Iria]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy SF

I can split those parrot posts off into a new thread, if you want...

Sure, that'd be fine. Then non-Ohio bird owners will have a chance to participate.

 

[karenlovessnow]

I LOVE birds! I used to have a lovebird and my daughter has a cockatiel. I might adopt a Quaker Parrot from a friend who may be giving her's away.

 

[GhostUser]

I have two cockatiels, I used to also have two doves.

 

[jenna]

i've never had birds but i've worked with quite a few kinds. my favorites are sun conures, orange-winged amazons, umbrella cockatoos and african greys. i've had the most experience with sun conures. i'd love to have all 4 kinds, though.

 

[karenlovessnow]

Does anyone have any tips on how to keep the "mess" down with birds? It's the main reason why I'm hesitating on taking one on.

 

[Aimra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by karenlovessnow

Does anyone have any tips on how to keep the "mess" down with birds? It's the main reason why I'm hesitating on taking one on.

Birds can be VERY messy. What exactly kind of mess are you referring to?

Once I know that, then I can help.

 

[Aimra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jenna

i've never had birds but i've worked with quite a few kinds. my favorites are sun conures, orange-winged amazons, umbrella cockatoos and african greys. i've had the most experience with sun conures. i'd love to have all 4 kinds, though.

Conures are great little clowns. The only thing, as you probably know, is getting used to all of their vocalizations. I think Suns have a shrill call and for some reason (probably because I love her) I can stand my Blue Crowns calls much better.

I had an Orange Wing latch onto my ear once!! They, and any other bird, can be such nasty little creatures if they aren't socialized properly!

 

[Iria]

Quote:

Originally Posted by karenlovessnow

Does anyone have any tips on how to keep the "mess" down with birds? It's the main reason why I'm hesitating on taking one on.

If your experience is with cocketiels, oddly enough those little guys are some of the messiest birds around. They have a lot of dander.

Amazons are known for throwing their food, but even so our mess isn't that bad. We haven't done this yet (just talked about it for two years), but if you lay down plastic (even that hard kind that is made to stick into carpet and become a smooth surface--don't know what to call it, but it'd look more 'neat' than just a sheet of plastic) around the cage, it would be very easy to clean up.

Vacuuming often and wiping up the bird poop before it dries is enough to keep your home looking decent. The cage and water dish need to be cleaned often, but that's the same as with any other animal.

 

[Aimra]

Yeah, it really depends on the bird.

A lot of birds like to make soup in their water bowls. Cleaning their water bowls out 3-4 times a day (instead of once a day) got old for me. I ended up buying them glass water bottles and have never looked back. Training them to the water bottles was quick and easy. Now I don't have to worry about food or dropping in their water.

I've also invested in a small steamer to help with cleaning. Bird poop can be like cement sometimes. It easily lifts poop off of furniture and cage bars.

 

[Aimra]

Another way to help with the mess outside of the cage is to buy a cage that is the right size for your bird. Far too many people buy cages that are too small for their bird. Not only is this cruel but it also doesn't give a lot of room for the mess to go anywhere but on the floor. Research cage sizes. Just because a bird is small does not mean it needs a small cage. You need to buy the biggest cage (with the correct bar spacing) that you can afford.

In my experience most of the cages I've seen bought for cockatiels and parakeets are not even big enough for a finch to live in! It is very sad really.