6 Things That We Have To Consider Before Buying a Pet Bird

What to start with?

First we have to consider the following:

What can I afford?

The price of a parrot varies in large bounds in dependence with the species. You can buy for example a budgie for less than £10. The price of the cockatiel varies between £25 and £35. An Amazonian parrot and grey parrot can be purchased for about £300 – £400, cockatoo for £1,000……. and the price of some parrots can reach £15,000! This is one of the initial questions which you have to answer.

How much space will the bird need?

Larger birds and even some of the small ones are very active physically and need big cages and space in which to play.

Is there any free time for the bird?

Probably this is the most important question. Birds are intelligent, playful and mostly “social” creatures. Will you have time to play with your bird? To care properly for it? Will it have the chance to be a part of your family? Consider the fact that birds live fairly long. A small parrot cockatiel lives for 20 years and more! Amazonian or African grey parrots can live for 50, 60 and there are documented cases for birds that lived up to the respectable age of 100 years! Can you devote to this? It is not unusual to inherit birds for previous generations. Don’t buy a bird if you think that you will soon get bored of it.

How noisy is the bird? Will the neighbours murmur?

Budgies and cockatiels are comparatively quiet. They are suitable to look after in a flat. A Moluxco cockatoo could live in a flat just if you have neighbours around you and six floors above / below you that like listening to screams and cracking their ear – drums. The African grey parrot tends to be one of the most comparatively non-noisy parrots. Certainly, there are individual differences between birds. Somewhere there could be a cockatoo, that doesn’t make a noise to heaven. If really there could be found such a bird, an enterprising person could make a fortune from it. Remember that noise is a subjective and relative sensation. A bird can be considered as “ non-noisy ” only at the background of another one, considered as noisy.

How “destructive” could a bird be?

Do you possess peerless old furniture? Rare books? Remember that these birds have strong beaks, Some of them are less inclined to “ nibbling ” than others, but nibbling is a completely natural behaviour for them.

Does the parrot need special food?

Lory parrots, for example, need a specialised diet. Do you have an opportunity and means to provide it? Once you have made a preliminary investigation and have decided what kind of parrot you want, you can go looking for it and buy it.

NEVER, NEVER BUY A PARROT IMPULSIVELY!