Birds as pets?

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I'm all for keeping birds as pets as long as the bird is cared for properly, allowed to be out of its cage, has proper enrichment(especially if the bird is an African grey, corvid, or macaw), and the owner has a plan for when the bird outlives them. The larger parrots are notorious for outliving their owners.

Not okay with keeping birds of prey as pets.
Daddy's Little Kitten said:
I don't like birds and fish as pets. It makes me sad seeing them in a cage/aquarium.
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Birds aren't supposed to be in their cages all the time. There's ways to let the bird fly around the house without them shitting everywhere. There's diapers you can put on the bird. Think some can be potty trained, too.

From what I'm reading, the potty training is very similar to how dogs are potty trained. If they are about to shit in an inappropriate place, say "No". Obviously the meaning of no needs taught first.
 
Synechdoche said:
Well, haven't looked into it a lot.
Some old lady who lived next to my grandparents had a parrot and left it on it's own quite often. It would also fly around in the garden.
To be fair, I was pretty small back then and might misremember things and surely didn't grasp the whole ins and outs of parrot keeping.
Guess I learned something today...
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Parrots are not birds that should be kept as pets. They're extremely high maintenance and they live a long time. They also get depressed without constant companionship and stimulation.
 
Agent Abe Caprine said:
Not okay with keeping birds of prey as pets.
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Isn't this pretty much just one of these ultra-rich people kind of things? Like for Saudi princes and such? I feel like i am more okay with that than your average elementary schooler owning a sad little budgie in a too small cage who lives a miserable life compared to a falcon who gets properly cared for by a staff of proffessionals. I remember watching a documentary once about the best falconery hospital somewhere in the Middle East, place was more swank than any human clinic i ever set foot in.
Synechdoche said:
Might be a hot take, but I don't even like it, when people keep cats in a flat. As in, only indoors. I feel like a pet should be kept in a way, that somewhat resembles it's natural habitat. fully grown cat has a territory of about a square mile.
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While i am sadly not able to have my cat run free i am still 100% with you on this. I feel like many people are bad pet owners in general but i know i am over-critical when it comes to pets/animal ownership.
 
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Synechdoche said:
Might be a hot take, but I don't even like it, when people keep cats in a flat. As in, only indoors. I feel like a pet should be kept in a way, that somewhat resembles it's natural habitat. fully grown cat has a territory of about a square mile.
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Not to go too offtopic but the average lifespan of an outdoors cat is much, much shorter than that of an indoors cat. No thanks, I'm keeping my kitties safe.

skjora said:
Yeah having a bird that's permanently kept in a cage is cruel and retarded. Either you let them roam around the house and resign yourself to constantly cleaning bird poop, or you don't get one. Get some feeders and a bird bath for your garden and enjoy having some wild ones around instead.
A well adjusted free-flying pet bird can be a very endearing, affectionate and entertaining pet, but the amount of work involved and life style limitations imposed on the owner are pretty huge.
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As a proud budgie owner myself I go ballistic over this. I see that shit a lot where I live. The midwit who treats birds as decorations, the parent who buys a bird as a toy for their kid, the old geezer who collects several species in tiny plastic cages like a hoarder (oddly specific but I've seen it several times), the list goes on.
Even well-intentioned owners can easily harm their birds, most people vastly underestimate how much work is needed to keep them (and any small pet like hamsters and goldfish, really). They've got this dumb idea that because the animal is small it's easy to take care of, when these animals need better care than most dog owners are willing to give their dogs. People who clip their birds' wings are another topic that makes me go ballistic. If you can't handle your pet's flying, don't get a flying pet.

Birds are not easy pets, especially parrots. They're loud, destructive, messy, and you can never fully train these behaviors out of them because they are not domesticated animals. They need another of their species to be happy AND they need you to socialize with them daily to avoid having them turn into misanthropic pricks. Oh, and some parrots can live as long as humans.

Birds are not just pets, they're a lifestyle choice. They're beautiful, adorable, and can be very affectionate with you once they've accepted you as part of their flock, but that requires a level of time and commitment most people either can't or won't have.
 
I feel bad for caged birds. If you can't socialize with them enough then you shouldn't have them. It takes a lot of effort to keep them happy.

Squawking Macaw said:
Not to go too offtopic but the average lifespan of an outdoors cat is much, much shorter than that of an indoors cat. No thanks, I'm keeping my kitties safe.
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So many community cat frens disappear every year.:(
 
I have a cycle. I Want a bird, I imagine and daydream about having birds, I start looking birds up and reading about them, I go looking at birds in shops and want them even more when I see how gorgeous they are .... Then I start imagining them suffering indoors, ripping their feathers out from depression... and in my imagination I always set them free just to feel guilty for releasing them because it's not climate for them and they are defenseless against predators, and finally I console myself by thinking getting eaten by owl is more natural and less sad for a birdie than to live indoors.

I never had a bird, and never will. This cycle repeats itself somewhat regularly.
 
I love birds Highly pleasant and handsome creatures the only other animal that can say "nigger" . also a little known fact about birds is that the infamous and terrifying "Black Triangle" UFOs are actually attracted by and to birdsong.
 
Don't birds get more attached to a select person or people and not really befriend anyone else? That's what I've seen with a parrot.
 
All pets are high maitenance. Some just fit better with different lifestyles and preferences. I really hate when people say that as if most pets should be "easy". Dogs require lots of socialization and training and a lot of them need to be walked daily, play with toys, fed two or three times a day, water constantly checked, their poop picked up in yard, sometimes they also chew on furniture, your house will need to be cleaned with more attention to detail/more often to keep up with shed hair, they need groomed regularly, and so on. Cats much the same aside from walks. You have to really organize the house well and make sure they get enough stimulation to be comfortable indoors without going schizo.

If anyone thinks an animal should be easy to keep than I worry about any animals you may be responsible for or seek to get in the future. They all need species specific care. And a lot of them will need lots of attention and play time to be happy.
 
Birds are my favorite animals, but very few people have the temperment and living arrangements suitable to own them. They need several hours of time to socialize and explore outside their cages daily, they're messy and destructive, and they simply don't respond to traditional forms of discipline the way a mammal would.
 
I like the idea of a pet bird and have considered it a few times, but realistically I couldn't handle the maintenance. Too much dander and apparently using an air fryer around one will kill it. I'll stick to rodents.
 
eDove said:
Birds are the superior pet, especially when they're in chicken form.
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Ducks and geese are good, too. Especially if you have all three. Duck eggs are the GOAT when it comes to baking due to their high fat content. Plus, if you have ducks and geese running around, the ducks know that the geese are the leaders and follow them around with the swagger of an Italian mob member.
 
idk, he seems cool with it
Neuroticks.jpg
 
Squawking Macaw said:
the old geezer who collects several species in tiny plastic cages like a hoarder (oddly specific but I've seen it several times)
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I wasn't aware of this (:_(There have been a lot of cases of people hoarding birds over the years around here that i am aware of but it was like 100's of budgies in a 1-bedroom apartment flying free, shitting everywhere. The smell and sound must've been maddening. Animal hoarding is such a weird phenomenon.
 
I really do not see the point of large parrots as pets. They aren't domesticated and their habits are way too incompatible with indoor life. The overwhelming majority of people cannot provide them the care they need and I would bet that most who own large parrots are neglecting them in some form. Most people fail to even care for budgies properly.

ToroidalBoat said:
Don't birds get more attached to a select person or people and not really befriend anyone else? That's what I've seen with a parrot.
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The messed up thing about owning a parrot is that parrots will often perceive their selected person as their mate. It's not like with other pets like dogs and cats. This type of attachment exacerbate hormonal issues and since birds can’t really be spayed or neutered, there are limited ways to deal with them. Parrots who treat their owners as a mate can make others in their life difficult due to jealousy and even become more aggressive towards their owners.
 
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