Questions about birds

There is definitely a pretty big difference in the time and resources a bird demands between small birds and large birds. Little finches or canaries being happy without a lot of contact and attention if they have another birdie to live with. Parakeets and tiels are a step up from those IMO (though I also do not profess to be any expert, just by my personal experience), though I think parakeets again can be just as happy if their main companionship is another parakeet, and tiels seem to crave more affection and people time even if they have another tiel companion.

I know that in my experience, female parakeets and female cockatiels are far less vocal overall than the males, but it is probably very different with the large parrots. I have never had a finch or canary type bird before either.

This thread has been interesting :)

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Originally posted by K9soul
This thread has been interesting :)

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Yes it has!!

I have got so much of great information from this thread!

Also I do have a few hours a day to spend with a bird, and the bird will be let out of the cage daily..etc

But what exactly do they need that can be so much effort? That's really all I dont understand...

Also do they need baths? :eek:

I don't think the type of birds you are considering take any extreme effort other than care and attention like you were already planning on. A large bird like a full size parrot or McCaw takes a lot more effort and attention or they can develop problem behaviors. They need a lot of training and work with any problem behaviors in order to prevent them from becoming the ruler of the house, because I have heard nightmare stories of large birds like McCaws that rule the house! :eek:

Those types can become spoiled brats so to speak if they aren't handled and trained correctly. I used to visit a pet store where you could bring your dogs in with you to shop, and they had a McCaw they let run around the store.. only it walked around and terrorized the dogs, coming up and lunging at them and causing a ruckus. When they put the bird in its cage, it began screaming at the top of its lungs, and a McCaw can have deafening screams. He would NOT stop screaming, not for anything, till they opened his door again.

But again, I don't think this is the type of bird you are looking into anyway. A parakeet, tiel, dove etc., would not take this kind of time and effort, they are pretty easy to train and can be happy as long as they have company and are well cared for, preferably with some time to be with people every day for awhile too, plenty of toys and things to play with, etc.

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Originally posted by DogLover9501

But what exactly do they need that can be so much effort? That's really all I dont understand...

Also do they need baths? :eek:

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It's really not that they need a lot of effort. Just think if you had to stay in a cage all day. You'd want out too :)

Yes they need baths, but it isn't what you may be thinking. You can spray him/her with a spray bottle or something like that. I take Alex in the shower with me sometimes. They make perches that stick to the side of the shower. I don't have one yet, but I want one. I don't let the water directly hit her, obviously. She'd get knocked down :p When it's warm out side I have a smaller cage I put all four in and I put the hose on mist and mist them down. They love to be misted and put in the sun.

Sorry I'm late at replying.. I just saw this thread. :o

You've been giving tons of GREAT information already, but I just thought I'd add my two cents in.

I think probably the biggest thing IMO is that Cocktiels can not, not, not be kept in a cage all day. Piper's *usually* out all day unless we're not here, he's sleeping/taking naps, or if the dogs are in the same room. I know he'd go INSANE if he wasn't taken out often. :p

Also, they're VERY smart birds! Piper's pretty vocal, but it's not so much as an annoying sound, like PCB said, but soothing. I love his little songs he sings throughout the day. Piper can bark like a dog, imitate a dog squeaky toy, laugh, "wolf whistle", and say "Uh Oh", which also sounds like "Hello". :p

You can have one or two even though you have dogs around. But, that doesn't mean I would trust Molly or Daisy with Piper in a second; Molly most of all. Piper's wings are not clipped, only for the fact that in case something *does* happen with him and the dogs, he'll be able to get away.

They do need baths, but Piper prefers showers. Once a week while I clean his cage, I'll take him outside [while he's still in the top portion of his cage] and gently spray him with the hose. We have a hose nozzel that lets you put it on different settings, so you're not just spraying with *hard* water. He loves it.

They can be messy birds. I know Piper is, but certainly not compared to some of the larger parrots. It's not that big of a deal to sweep/vaccum under their cage when they do decide to make one. :p

You can only tell for sure if a bird is male or female by getting them DNA tested at the vet. We haven't, because quite frankly, it doesn't matter to us. PCB is pretty good with guessing *what* gender they are, though. :p I've also heard that you can guess what sex they are by how much noise they make; being that males are the noiser of the two. Not sure how true that is, though.

Good Luck! I hope you can get a tiel. They're great! :D

Thanks for adding some information, Julie :)

My mom seems to be leaning towards "no" right now :(, we still haven't "fully" talked it over, so things may change once she learns everything about them.

I'll let you guys now if anything changes.

Thanks again everyone, I have gotten so much great information!!

I suggest getting the Cockatiels for Dummies book. I've read it twice and its very helpful as far as basic information about cockatiel care goes. I've been researching cockatiels for awhile now because I'm DYING to get one and I had tons of questions too. That book will answer a lot of them for you!

I have a question for bird owners. I read that scented candles, air fresheners, carpet cleaners, aerosol sprays, etc are bad for them. Do you guys just not use any of those things at all or do you make sure you use them in a room far away from the bird then air the room out well?

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Originally posted by aly
I have a question for bird owners. I read that scented candles, air fresheners, carpet cleaners, aerosol sprays, etc are bad for them. Do you guys just not use any of those things at all or do you make sure you use them in a room far away from the bird then air the room out well?

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Personally, I take some precautions, but I still use those products. I actually didn't know about the scented candles one. I'm going to look into that. I always use scented candles. I have even used them in the same room as my birds, but it wasn't really close to them. None of my tiels has had any respiratory problems other then when Alex was egg bound and having trouble breathing.