Who Makes a Good Parrot Parent?

You’ve got Parrot Fever! 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 social, 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.  

• 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 parrrot new skills or tricks.  A lot of people are crazy about their parrots!

Why Parrots End Up Being Rehomed

However, just as many people are unhappy that they acquired a parrot.  They didn't realize how messy pet birds are.  These dusty pets drop feather dander and down feathers everywhere.  Even though there are bird specialty cleaning products, not everyone is willing to do the work to keep a parrot area clean.

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  has 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.

Five Tips for a Well-Behaved Parrot

1. Develop a relationship with a knowledgeable avian vet. No one can expect a sick or malnourished bird to be fun to be around
2. Feed them a nutritious, varied diet
3. Play with them each day and provide as much out of cage time for passive socialization on a bird stand.
4. Give them a large cage, the largest bird cage you can afford
5. Provide them with new or recycled bird toys.