Do Any of You Own a Bird?

Nope. My GF and next door neighbor did in HS - pain in the rear!! Chirping and smell...

She had a cockateil and a parrot...urgh...

Steered me away from every wanting a bird!!!

GOOD LUCK!!

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I had a parakeet, I was really glad when it died. Messy loud things that bite. It is a pet like fish only loud and messy. It is not like you can play with them or anything, cause, they bite.

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I had a parakeet in high school and loved him! Yeah, you have to clean the cage........ not so bad. We let our bird fly around sometimes and it would land on us. We pet it. We loved each other.

If you have a cat or dog I might re-think. A cat or dog would be a predator. Also must keep birds out of drafts. They become sick easily.

If you do this don't pick a breed that lives 30 years. Try out a parakeet first to see how you like it.

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my friend has a bird and she loves it. It's a cool pet, but I'd never have one. they are so messy.. bird seeds and poo all around the cage. She is always cleaning it, needing to clean it, or just cleaned it. Her bird bites, so like Jo W. said, it's not an animal that one can really interact too much with. I also think her bird is SO loud. I would get tired of listening to it. She seems to love it though. So I guess if you love birds enough all of the love outweighs the work and noise. :-)

I got my son a guinea pig and SO regretted it. What was I thinking? I potty train my child and then buy a pet who's feces I have to clean? I got so tired of the smell and the labor. We could hold her and enjoy her, but in the end I took her to a pet store and told him she went to live in a special place with guinea pig friends.

Good luck in whatever you chose!! :-)

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Birds are cool pets and a lot of fun. But.. my friend had a Macaw and he was very destructive. He gnawed on anything wood and broke the spindles on her kitchen chairs. In the wild these birds spend a lot of their time eating nuts and their instinct is to gnaw. Other than that he was a cool pet, he learned to talk and we could amuse ourselves for a long time listening to him. He would repeat the side of a phone conversation that he heard. If someone would knock on the door he would say 'come in'--it was really funny when no one was home.

Another friend of mine had a parakeet and though it didn't talk it learned to mimic the sound of the back door opening. So my friends hubby was gone on a business trip and she was dozing on the couch, the kids were in bed and she kept hearing the back door open -- jump up--nope it's locked -- they played that game for over an hour before she realized it was the bird.

All in all bird are nice pets but they are destructive and messy--seeds everywhere.

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I don't have a bird, don't ever want to own one either. lol I love them though. A good friend of mine has lots of birds. They require a lot of attention, yet they do get very stressed out easily which isn't good for them at all. Beautiful pets indeed, lots of clean up too. If you have never owned a bird before, or delt with birds before, I would really recommend reading up on them, and the kind that are good for pet keeping (beginners), and check out an avery too. Your pet vet will know how you can go about learning about birds.

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Well it depends on what kind of interaction you want with a bird as a pet. If you are apt to sit by and just watch I suggest a pair of finches. They are lovely birds that chirp throughout the day and don't require much space at all. If you want a bird that you can handle I suggest a parakeet or a cockatiel. Keep in mind that a very young bird is best and I suggest getting one from a breeder than a pet store. That away they can easily get used to of being handled. Lovebirds are pretty but can be very aggressive, especially if in a pair and are not apt to being handled. Most birds either require a mate or you for some kind of interaction to be happy. If not paid attention to they can get quite neurotic. As for care, you provide adequate space for the breed and keep them out of drafts and sunny spots, keep them in a good supply of food, snacks and fresh water and of course keep the cage clean. I use a great product for the cage floor. I buy and huge bag of pine pellets from my local feed store and it works great. I think they are good pets if like any pet you are willing to provide the time and effort in caring for them :)
C.

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My friend, has lovebirds. A pair.
They make a lot of noise, she said.
AND, her daughter says, that it wakes her up at night. Her kids do not really like it.
Sure, they cover the cage, but the birds make noise.
I guess it depends where you put the cage.

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i really like little finches... all they do is go "beep beep beep" jump up and down in the cage all day long... really cute :)

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I think you need to do more research before you make a decision about getting one or not. I know part of that is coming on here and asking our opinions but there are other resources on-line, and you can also find out from one of your local veterinarians with bird experience what they would recommend as far as species and where to get one. Some birds are more "needy" than others as far as attachment to their humans (i.e. cockatoos). I don't much experience with birds on a regular basis, but I do know one of the biggest health issues we run into are pet birds being fed all-seed diets. A diet made up only of seeds will result in a variety of nutritional deficiencies which will eventually compromise the bird's health and lifespan. Ideally birds need to be on a pelleted bird diet specially formulated to meet their needs and be nutritionally balanced. Some species also should also have the diet supplemented with fresh fruits and veggies. Just FYI in case you end up getting one.

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Google BirdTricks.com. This is Chet and Dave Womach's site. Anything you need to know about birds, you'll find from these guys. They KNOW birds!
That being said, I had a cockatiel (Bert) that was a wonderful little bird. He lived for about 7 years. Messy, yes, but not too terribly loud and annoying. Now I have a 14 year old African Gray (Chico)*sigh* Love him to pieces, but he is very messy and the "noise" can really try your patience some days. However, he is also hilarious and not a day goes by that I don't get a good ol' fashioned belly laugh from him. I very well may end up having to decide which of my children I will leave him to, as they do have very long life spans.
One thing to take into consideration before getting a bird is whether anyone in your home has allergies. The mess they make is not just seeds/food thrown from the cage and poop, but also lots and lots of dander.
If you are willing to take the time to bond properly with them, and you don't mind the mess, they do make wonderful pets.

P.S. If you do end up getting a larger bird capable of a large vocabulary, be sure to watch your language. Chico cusses like a sailor and since he also mimic voices as well as words, everyone now knows that I have a potty mouth.

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I grew up with canaries. Both my grandmother and my mother had them. I've had parakeets, and now my daughter has 3 parakeets (along with 5 cats, believe it or not!) The sound of their singing is such a peaceful sound. We all enjoy them. Other than cleaning their cage about once a week, and keeping fresh water and feed in the cage, I find the maintenance is minor. My daughter has a big cage suspended from a ceiling hook so the cats just look up and dream.

We grew up with parakeets, cockatiels, and a African grey. They are all messy. They poop on, in and around everything. They throw their food feet away from their cage. The parakeet was not too exciting. The cockatiel will mimic a bit. But the grey was the biggest pain. Their beak is very strong and they do bite, hard. They are similar to a two year olds mentality, but stay that away for60years! The big birds are so smart and needy. The grey will chase people, cats and dogs. So, don't worry about the big birds with other pets, the can defend themselves. I do not recomend parrots and the other big birds. They require so much time and energy, like a child.get one of the little songbirds, and be ready to clean, a lot! Reconsider a dog or cat, please!

We had birds growing up. We had a parakeet, lovebirds and a cockatiel. The parakeet was cute, but hard to train. It always ran in to everything, so he was pretty much a cage bird. The Lovebird was very pretty, but just there. The cockatiel was my favorite. If I were ever to get another bird I would get another cockatiel. He had the best personality and loved when we rubbed his neck. He would just hang out on our shoulders all day if we let him. All birds are messy, but nothing a vacuum cant clean. The poop dries and cleans up easy.

I had a Quaker parrot, also called Monk parakeet. She was the best bird because I hand fed her and trained her when she was 6 weeks old. She talked up a storm and even pooped on demand. She went on all my walks with me, sitting on my shoulder. We weren't living in this heat in TX at the time. Everyone loved her. She was messy though and would let out a loud chirp but not as loud as conures and some of the larger parrots. She was a much smaller parrot. So if you get one, l would recommend a hand-fed one.

We have always had a menagerie growing up. Multiple dogs and cats to multiple birds and 2 monkeys. As far as birds, we have had a blue macaw, a yellow crested cockatoo, a pair of rose breasted cockatoos, 3 quakers, and numerous cockatiels and parakeets. The cockatiels and parakeets were not a whole lot of fun. the quaker parrots were amazing!! They would talk and clean our teeth (I know that is disgusting) and cuddle with us. They would let us hold them and just love on them. We hand fed them and got them very young. This helped tremendously. The macaw we could hold upside down like a baby and was very nice but very expensive. The cockatoo is loud and obnoxious and not very nice. The rose breasteds are amazing also. they are like pigeons in australia and they are not exporting them any longer so they are quite expensive also. But the 2 we got, 1 boy and 1 girl, they were both really sweet and loved to be loved on. We still have the girl and she is super sweet. The boy passed away about 5 years ago. She is so very sweet, loves to be held and talked to and loved on. they are all extremely messy and need a lot of time devoted to them.

I haven't had birds in a long time! When I was growing up we had finches and a parrot (gosh, I forget what kind).

I went to a colleagues house the other night after a sales meeting and she had a bunch of finches. They sound so great and happy! She said they are very easy to take care of.