Reccomend Any Pets?

[Bre_B]

Birds are good, but budgies are noisy. If you want one that you can handle, try a hand-raised lovebird. If you don't necessarily want one you can handle, try a finch.

budgies are noisy, so get a lovebird??? My lovebird wakes me up at the crack of dawn every day, and all my friends are always surprised by how loud such a little bird can be.


i mean, dont get me wrong, she's adorable and evil ( she bites me. ) And for some reason that makes me love her to death, cuz she hates me but loves my sister.... but if noisy is a problem i wouldnt say lovebird either. My grandmother has a cockatiel that has its loud bursts, but its generally quiet other times. Id say if you have a problem with noise, birds arent the best, since most of them will always have a time that they wanna talk.

i have to say, i've never met or seen a lovebird that was even close to friendly. however, a black-cap or dusky conure would probably be good for you ~ ultrafriendly and quite small.

just saw this. they ARE friendly! they just dont trust easily, if you have them from a young age, they will LOVE you! Thats the issue with mine - she doesnt trust me =p she trusts my sister.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Noise isn't much of an issue, I'm used to sleeping with lots of noise (fish tanks, hamsters, fan etc.). I wouldn't buy one from there, but what sort of temperment, age etc. are birds from shops like Pets At Home?

 

[Pixie25]

look on ad trader and find a breeder or home bred bird. large chain pet store birds are usually much older and have been shipped from somewhere far away...

lovebirds bite hard, budgies can bite, but not hard. they have absolutely great personalities and are often under-estimated as pets.

birds need at least 10hours of undisturbed sleep if you have the computer on, tv or the fish tanks make a hell of a racket at night after youve covered the bird over i suggest for you to find a quiet space in another room where they will not be disturbed. lack of proper sleep can cause stress moulting in birds so thats something to consider.

also - ive been looking at your pictures...you have a lot of open fish tanks. the bird will not be able to fly in a room such as this. he will need a bird proofed room to play in. i have fish tanks in my bird room but they are both covered. not only that but dust and feathers will blow into the fish water - making it not very nice for the fish either.

birds are great companions, check out these sites for more info:

http/www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/community

http/www.budgietalk.com

good luck

 

[Bre_B]

lovebirds CAN bite hard, but htey rarely do. My Houdini i got when she was 4 years old - so she wont EVER trust me. I've only once gotten a hard bite, and it wasnt much. i must say, im definately a supporter of getting lovebirds, as long as you dont mind noise in the morning (she gets quiet in the afternoon/night, its just the morning when she can hear birds twittering alot lol!)

if you get them as young birds, which for lovebirds is the best, they will not only love you and be VERY nice to you, but they will trust you and be very sociable. you just have to give them time each day to be with you and get to know you, ESPECIALLY at a young age.


anywho, im done being a lovebird loony.


My houdini also lets herself out of the cage... hence her name she so sma't! (smart, in case you couldnt figure it out.. .hehe)

oh, and yeah, especially wit hlovebirds (mine likes to sit by the tank and try to eat them through the glass... leaving it open could be fatal... for fish AND bird... ) youd need tanks to be covered. but thats a good thing to do anyway, IMO.

 

[Pixie25]

as well as lovebirds and budgies, parrotlets and cockatiels make wonderful pets all of which are quite easy to care for because of their size. lovebirds and parrotlets are more prone to feather picking if you cant spend much time with them.

also (a bit more helpful info) budgies and lovebirds tend to live up to 10 maybe even 15 years. cockatiels and parrotlets can sometimes live to 20.

 

[consp]

I'm not sure about love birds but...

My boyfreiend has a hand rasied cockatiel and it is fabulous. He is so amazingly cute and the breeder was really helpful! They are quite big (well, bigger than budgies) so you might wanna stick up a wall hook or shalve for the cage to go on if you did decide to get one. Heres a pic of my bf's when he went to pick out the one he wanted. They were still being weened onto food at this time so weren'tready for taking home.

He loves to wolf whislte lots and loves to chew on anything shiney.

If you want a really tame bird... Cockatiels are a great choice.

 

[Jessica13]

Hand reared lovebirds go for about £60 but you may be able to find them cheaper from a private breeder. Try advertising on parrotlink.com Thats where i found the breeder of my new conure.

One problem with lovebirds is that they take a lot of work to keep them tame..

Have you thought of adopting a bird? Birdline have LOADS of small birds (lovebirds, cocktiels, budgies, conures) that need homes. Of course, you need to really think whether you have enough time to spend with the bird, its a big commitment.

I'd definately vote snake if not birds though! I LOVED my snakes!! They were really friendly, easy to keep and not very expensive at all

 

[Pixie25]

oh my god he is sooooo adorably sweet! look at his little tufty crest!

a lutino tiel is next on my birdie list but unfortunately no room at the moment

 

[livelife]

budgies are noisy, so get a lovebird??? My lovebird wakes me up at the crack of dawn every day, and all my friends are always surprised by how loud such a little bird can be.

Oh Bre B, I had to laugh when I read this! Yours is noisy in the morning? Mine is quiet as a mouse until I take the covering off the cage. Now when he's falling asleep for a nap and fighting it....oh gosh, does he make a racket!

Nat

 

[lljdma06]

budgies are noisy, so get a lovebird??? My lovebird wakes me up at the crack of dawn every day, and all my friends are always surprised by how loud such a little bird can be.

Oh Bre B, I had to laugh when I read this! Yours is noisy in the morning? Mine is quiet as a mouse until I take the covering off the cage. Now when he's falling asleep for a nap and fighting it....oh gosh, does he make a racket!

Nat

I have owned lovebirds, budgies, zebra finches, and canaries, and loved them all for different reasons. But my favorite is the canary. I have a pair and the male, Wesley (his wife's name is Buttercup) has such a lovely voice. His song is absolutely wonderful to listen to, and very different from the calls of lovebirds and budgies. They are also very pretty to look at, and don't require much as far as care is concerned. Though, if you are looking for a touchy feely pet, you will be disappointed, they are not as easily tamed as the smaller members of the parrot family, though I can handle mine when they need their toenails clipped and such. A really pretty bird, I enjoy mine quite a bit.

 

[OohFeeshy]

also - ive been looking at your pictures...you have a lot of open fish tanks.

Yeah, all the tanks do have lids (well, OK, not the bowls but I'm replacing them anyway) but I prefer not to use them when I don't need them so theres more air for them. Cockatiels were another bird I was looking at, I love the tuft on them and apparently (from a book that I take with a large pinch of salt) they are quieter than a lot of other parrots. But how true that is, I don't know. I'll check out parrotlink, thanks for the hint

 

[consp]

well, hand rerared ones that are kept on their own tend to be more quiet because they haven't got the encouragement to learn new sounds from other birds... only their human companions. Thats why my bfs one only knows wolf whisltle and a few random chirps. He tends to only pipe up when he sees people walking to the door (like a guard dog ) or when he can hear or see people.

My budgie is a very noisy little birdy but I've gotten used to it. I got him from a pet shop where he'd been kept with loads of other budgies and he does all kinhds of cool chirps as soon as I take off his cover. If I don't put his cover over him at the right time he squawks at me really nastily until I put it on. I got his a little toy that I stick outside of his cage when hes out that chirps when he moves it... He can now do that exact chirp and it sounds funny hearing them do it together

My point was... I think budgies are noiser birds anyway but as birds learn from what they're shown... hand reared birds tend to be quieter and replicate the noises humans make with less effort from the owner.

Oh, and on another note... You're not supposed to use overs on birds. I didn't know this until last year but apparently getting birds used to a cover is really stressful and unnessercery.If your bird alreayd uses a cover at night then stick with it but if you get a new bird try not to use a cover

 

[Pixie25]

i am interested to know your source about covers, ive not heard that before?

without a cover it is almost impossible to regulate the birds hours of sleep. there are artificial light sources in the house and having a cover blocks them out.

if you got a really old bird that never used a cover all of its life then decided to add on that wouldnt be a good idea at all and yes it would be stressful - but if you get a young baby budgie/tiel and start using a cover they quickly adapt to it.

there are some birds that suffer from night frights but birds with and without covers can suffer from those - the solution is a baby night light near to the cage.

 

[consp]

i am interested to know your source about covers, ive not heard that before?

without a cover it is almost impossible to regulate the birds hours of sleep. there are artificial light sources in the house and having a cover blocks them out.

if you got a really old bird that never used a cover all of its life then decided to add on that wouldnt be a good idea at all and yes it would be stressful - but if you get a young baby budgie/tiel and start using a cover they quickly adapt to it.

there are some birds that suffer from night frights but birds with and without covers can suffer from those - the solution is a baby night light near to the cage.

I first heard it from he lady my BF got the cockatiel from said it and shes been keeping and breeding birds for many many years. I checked it out on a few bird forums & looked at some caresheets and found most mentioned same.

I agree... If you get them used to it its fine and better to than not because keeping it off when they are used to it could be more stressful.

I still use a cover though... I have no choice - My bird yells at me if I don't put one over his cage and won't stop until I do. Cheeky thing

My BF however doesn't use a cover on his bird and his bird is very heathy and happy.

 

[Jessica13]

I've never used covers for any of my cages, i dont see the point at all Birds can sleep perfectly well without them But its all down to what you prefer, i dont think its a problem to use them