Are birds good pets and easy to care for? see details below?

I'd like a talking bird. Perhaps a medium size one, a pretty one. I just have no idea how much "care" it takes. I have a dog who is 20 years old in human years and she is pretty self sufficient. I have no other pets except my husband. I'd like to get another pet. Are birds good pets and easy to care for? see details below?My mother-in-law has a parrot named Popeye. He's got to be in his thirties by now and mean as a streak to everyone but her. He wasn't properly socialized when young (a "gift" from her oldest son who found he couldn't take care of it,) I do know they are extremely messy and require a fair amount of care.

If you do buy one, get a baby and make sure you give him plenty of attention and let ALL family members hold him so he gets used to other people. I'm tellin' you that Popeye drew blood one Christmas when my B-I-L offered him a piece of brocolli.

You can train the bird to be in or out of the cage, but like I said it has to be done when they're young. I wonder how you'd train it not to leave "presents" around the house though. Hmmm....

Good luck yo you!

(Let me know if you get one!)



PS. Popeye is pretty cool as long as you don't stick your finger in there! He sings "Popeye the Sailor Man" and can mimmick mom singing too She sings in the gospel choir at church so there is always someone singing in that house! Haha! He says hello when the phone rings and a bunch of other fun stuff too!Are birds good pets and easy to care for? see details below?
Since this is your first time getting a bird, get a parakeet, they talk, but you can only have one in order for that. If you like them, get a bigger bird like a cockatiel or a parrot. They (Im talking about parakeets from now on) need a lot of attetion and if you get them tamed, they can cuddle and fly around the house. They poop around every 5-10 minutes, but they are really easy to clean up (They're kinda hard to find though :P)



They need a lot of foods and stuff too. Cuttlebone/Mineral block, veggies, bird seed, bird pellets, toys.



They're pretty easy to tame too. I tamed my first one in less than a week. Males are easier to tame and easier to teach to talk.



They dont need a big cage if they are going to be out around the house.



If your going to have one, they need a lot of attention or theyll get bored. You can supply it with toys and and a mirror, but it will also need human affection.



if your gonna get a bird, dont get one from petsmart. Get a hand raised one. Younger the age, the easier to tame. If your gonna get a baby though, you have to buy formula and hand feed it. I would reccomend a older one. Parakeets are way cheaper than other talking birds and I definitely recommend them. They live around 10-15 years.Are birds good pets and easy to care for? see details below?I'm not an expert with birds, but my parents have babysitted my uncle's birds before (African Greys) when he traveled, and they are very high maintenance pets. They're loud, messy, they need constant attention and interaction, and I mean constantly. They're much, much more difficult to take care of than a dog or a cat in my opinion. Are birds good pets and easy to care for? see details below?
get a cockateil. about a year ago i bought my lutino cockateil, Charlie. he doesn't talk, but he whistles well, and he's extremely easy to care for.

all you really have to do is clean the bottom of their cage about once a week, and provide food and water for it daily. if and when they start screaming, u can go to infobirdtricks.com and this guy teaches you how to tame your parrot and he turns them into angels. If you want a medium sized "talking" parrot, u could get an african gray, but be prepared, cause they cost ALOT. and so do their cages. but remember that whatever parrot you may get, give it alot of attention and love. and if u can't, u can get another bird, or even a mirror for it's cage. good luck!Are birds good pets and easy to care for? see details below?Birds require a medium amount of work and care if already full grown. I also don't think the 'talking' birds come in medium sizes.. those are usually the large birds. They eat and poop a lot! They always spill messes from their cages. Also plan on them always making noise. Some people can't stand that, so make sure your husband is aware. Birds are good pets...but I think maybe you wait and think about it a little more.



I HAD three med-sized birds. Two love birds and a parakeet. I don't think that I will get anymore.
A Quaker Parrot would probably be your best bet. They run about $300, plus cage, stand and toys. They live approx 30 years and learn to talk, sing/dance, respond to commands. In my opinion, they are more kid safe than large birds such as African Greys because they have much smaller beaks (they can't fit an adult finger in their beak). They are also less intimidating to guests.



As for care, they are low maintaince as far as vet bills are concerned. Typically they only need their nails trimmed (between 2-6 times/year depending on nail growth).



As far as their emotional care, they require quite a bit of attention, and they need it every single day to be happy and stress free.



As far as their cage requirements, the vision cages work great! They keep any seed messes inside the cage and the medium build cage works GREAT for Quakers.



Here's a link to the vision cages: http://www.hagen.com/uk/birds/product.cf鈥?/a>



You would want to go with a medium rectangle or a large rectangle. The bird we have at the shop is in a medium rectangle and has pleanty of room, however, the bigger the cage usually the better.



This is a link to the West Coast Pet Supply website, you can get an idea of prices on here: http://www.westcoastpetsupply.com/1/bird鈥?/a>





If you do a google search for Quaker Parrots several thousand hits come up :)





Edit:

You could let them out of their cage to fly around.. but I wouldn't, they typically have their wings clipped for safety purposes. Quakers are highly adaptable birds and if they escape they can often adapt enough to survive in the wild. They are certainly happy being carried around or sitting on your shoulder though.Are birds good pets and easy to care for? see details below?
they are expensive and have very long lives, a talking bird can usually live about 50 years and i've heard even longer. if not trained properly they can be dangerous due to the beaks. try out a parakeet first and see how you feel taking care of a bird then talk to or pet sit some larger birds.
If you want a tame %26amp; friendly bird, you must get one that is very young, just weeks old, and you should hand feed it with an eye dropper.



For most tropical birds, you should expect them to live as long as 50 to 75 years! Smaller birds like budgies live to 8 to 12 years.Are birds good pets and easy to care for? see details below?
don't get a bird, they squawk, they smell and when they get mad at you their aim their butt at the wall and mess all over it....stick with a dog or a cat.
The most popular birds in the U.K. are "Budgie". Other birds can be difficult mostly because of our climate. More exotic birds can be found in the Mediterranean regions and semi-tropical areas in Europe.
They can be noisy depending on the type of bird you get, and I always feel sorry for them all stuck in a little cage all day.
the bird will annoy you. i had one about 2 years ago and i love animals but the bird just annoyed me all night.
be prepared for a talking bird to live about 50-70 years.
birds are nice i got three i wouldnt let them fly around unless you trained them