About Parrots as Pets

So, your crazy about parrots.

You’ve got Parrot Fever and you're crazy about parrots! But you're asking yourself "Is a pet parrot a good idea for my lifestyle?" Parrots make good pets for those that understand that parrots are a very long-term commitment have unique care needs and despite these concerns, they enjoy being around mischievous, intelligent animals.

Research shows that parrots are one of the most intelligent animals known to man. There are tons of reasons that parrots make good pets for the well informed. Do you know these facts about parrots?

• Parrots have excellent language skills. They frequently understand human language about as well as a 4 to 5 year old child. Not only that. You can teach many parrots to talk with groundbreaking bird training DVD's like Training Your Parrot To Talk.
• Parrots are both social and intelligent so they learn bird tricks and expected behaviors quickly with positive reinforcement like Clicker Training for Birds.
• Parrots are a loyal, loving, life long companion with real emotions.
• Parrots are colorful and beautiful
• And, Parrots can fly!

Browse Google to find out why people love their parrots. You'll learn that parrot owners love their parrots funny antics and silly dispositions and are surprised that such a small creature can have such a big personality. They love teaching their parrot new skills or tricks. A lot of people are crazy about their parrots!

What are the Con's about Parrots as Pets?

However, just as many people are unhappy after they acquired a parrot. Maybe they didn't do their homework about parrots. They didn't realize how messy pet birds are. These dusty pets drop feather dander and down feathers everywhere. Parrots can be very needy, too. Especially if they have not been taught to entertain themselves or they don't know how to play with bird toys. Parrots are an expensive pet requiring healthy foods and the need to constantly restock bird toys. Parrots that don't have enough socialization frequently develop problem behaviors like very loud and obnoxious screaming, biting and feather plucking. Think of a parrot as a pet that is stuck in the terrible two’s for the rest of its life. Sadly, the difficulties associated with caring for parrots have resulted in thousands of birds living in parrot shelter awaiting a new forever home. One such parrot shelter is The Gabriel Foundation in Denver, Colorado.

So, if you still want a parrot, what do you need to do make it a successful, mutually satisfying relationship? You'll need to think and act like a preschool teacher who has the patience of Job. Preschool teachers know how to engage and reward desired behaviors while ignoring and replacing undesired behaviors. Another important skill is to learn is how to read your parrot’s body language and mood. Parrots need you to:

• Develop a relationship with a knowledgeable avian vet
• Feed them a nutritious, varied diet
• Play with them each day and provide as much out of cage time for passive socialization as possible.
• Give them a large cage, the largest bird cage you can afford
• Provide them with new or recycled bird toys.

With this knowledge in mind you can decide whether a parrot is the pet for you.

Click here for more help on Choosing a Pet Bird.  Browse all of our pages to learn more about parrots.