Home » Pets & Animals

Parrots: Why NOT to Get One as a Pet

17 Comments
- Useful parrot resour…
- Questions and commen…

17 Like

Like 17

Pin It

Ranked #9,517 in Pets & Animals, #244,017 overall | Donates to ASPCA

Please reconsider buying a parrot

For most people, a parrot is just not the right animal to bring into your home.

I say this as a parrot owner who has observed how incredibly intelligent, undomesticated, and socially dependent these amazing animals are. It has been painful for me to acknowledge that it just isn't possible for most people to provide parrots with the care and attention they need.

Please, if you're considering getting a parrot as a pet, read on to learn just what responsibilities it means you'd be taking on. If you still want to get one after thinking it all through, I've provided some helpful links to the resources that will help you provide the best possible care for your bird.

Contents at a Glance

7 Reasons to rethink having a pet parrot
If you're still planning on getting a pa...
Good books on training or caring for par...
Useful parrot resources online
One final note: metal toxicity and parro...
Questions and comments

7 Reasons to rethink having a pet parrot

Beyond beautiful plumage and clever "conversation"

There are a number of reasons to love parrots: they are gorgeous, intelligent, fascinating animals who are capable of learning tricks and mimicking our speech (some parrots, such as African Grays, have been evaluated by scientists to possess the intelligence of a 3-4 year old child).

Beyond beauty and intelligence, they can also be quite friendly and playful--even cuddly (cockatoos are particularly known for loving to snuggle).

Given all these amazing qualities, why on earth would I suggest that parrot ownership could be a bad idea?

A few reasons:

1) Many places that breed and sell parrots do so in cruel and unethical ways. Almost any parrot you find in a pet store, for example, especially chain stores like PetCo or PetSmart, has probably been weaned too early and had little to no human handling since it's arrival in the store (if not before). Parrots that are weaned too soon are far more likely to exhibit neurotic behaviors, such as feather plucking, screeching, and biting when they become adults. This is especially painful because your pet parrot might seem wonderful when you first get him or her, and then a few months later everything goes wrong and you can't figure out why. If you really want a parrot, please do research on breeders and find one that uses abundance weaning practices and allows their birds to become fully flighted before clipping their wings, or adopt one of the many abandoned needy parrots around the country.

2)Maintaining healthy human-to-parrot relationships can be extremely difficult, and their subsequent misbehavior can place strain on marriages, families, and other relationships. Improper weaning practices are far from the only reason parrots can start to exhibit neurotic behavior; it can also be triggered by both insufficient or excessive human contact. Not enough time spent playing and training with people often causes parrots to stop seeing their humans as members of their flock and thus they become aggressive or depressed and begin biting, screeching, and/or plucking. On the other hand, too much time spent with just one person can cause parrots to identify that person as their mate, and thus become aggressive towards other members of the house (I knew one family where the parrot had bonded with the wife to the extent that the bird actually began attacking the husband every time he came near either his wife or the bird. The wife loved the parrot, but she eventually had to give him up to save her marriage).

3) Feeding parrots healthy diets is a lot harder than store-bought mixes make it seem. Parrots don't get that many seeds in the wild, but they will quickly become addicted to them in captivity and refuse to eat anything else. This causes major nutritional imbalances, which lead to illness and behavioral problems. While there are very healthy and balanced pellet mixes out there, like Harrison's (the brand suggested by most avian vets), most informed parrot professionals agree that feeding some organic fresh veggies and fruits is also important. Buying, cleaning, and preparing all these, however, is both expensive and time-consuming.

4)Parrots can live up to 80 years. In other words, they are a life long -- often times a two-life-long -- commitment. And parrots who have bonded with a human who then passes on, or has to give them up, often become severely depressed--to them it is like losing a spouse would be for most of us.

5)Parrots have not been domesticated for long; their instincts are still geared to wild flock life. Unlike cats and dogs, which have lived with humans for thousands of years, most parrots are only one or two generations removed from the wild. Additionally, they are prey animals that survive by being members of a flock; without a close relationship to their flock they die. In captivity, this translates to a need for a lot of socializing--either with other parrots (which can cause some parrots to become less friendly to humans) or with other people (but most people don't have more than an hour or two, if that, to spend directly with their parrot each day). In the wild, in other words, they never sit for long stretches of time in a small enclosed area by themselves--they fly, and hunt for food, and protect each other. Does it really seem fair to place them in a lifestyle that is nothing like what all their instincts and genetics have prepared them for?

6) Parrots and some other pets just don't mix . Most people tend to think having parrots and cats in the same household is the biggest issue, Surprisingly, there are far mroe parrot deaths or injuries in households with dogs or--most dangerous--ferrets. While it is possible to have a happy and safe multi-pet home, bird enthusiasts generally agree that ferrets and birds are an absolute impossibility (unless you're going to keep them both caged 24-7--and that would be cruel). Dogs and cats are trainable, but even the slightest scratch or nip can leave bacteria in your bird's bloodstream that can kill them, so it requires constant vigilance. No matter how well trained your animals are, the only safe policy is not to let them get too near each other (with dogs, this means keeping them out of the rooms where the parrots are caged unless you're directly supervising) and to seek immediate vet care for even the smallest skirmish.

7) Parots are expensive. If you've been looking around you've probably noticed that it's costly to get a bird--most medium parrots cost over a thousand dollars, and most large ones are over two thousand. This isn't your only expense to consider, however; parrot food, toys, accessories and vet care all tend to be more expensive than their canine and feline counterparts--especially if you want to keep your bird safe.

If you're still planning on getting a parrot...

...then I certainly won't be the one to judge you. If you've considered all the difficulties of parrot ownership and have determined that you have the time and financial resources to give your parrot the care she or he needs, then I have a few resources, listed below, that have come in handy for me as I try to provide my African Gray the best care I can give him.

Just in case you're wondering, 50% of all proceeds from any purchases or advertising on this site go to an animal charity (I couldn't find a parrot specific one on squidoo's list).

Good books on training or caring for parrots

My personal favorites

These are books that I and other very caring parrot owners I know have found incredibly helpful. I particularly recommend the first two--the nutrition one was very helpful for me understanding what my parrot needed and why, and Blanchard's book is just incredibly helpful in understanding parrot behavior.

Useful parrot resources online

I'm including a few links I've found helpful; feel free to add your own (though please, no self-promotion in this list).

Parrots: Why NOT to Get One as a Pet