my mum has wanted a parrot for ages, even more so since the sudden death of her talkative cockatiel, i am stuck on which type of parrot to get her, ive decided to get her one as an early xmas pressie as a surprise, she likes colourful parrots like the macaws, i would love to have a blue and gold or scarlet macaw but there is no way at the moment that i can afford tha 1500 for a macaw as im buying my mum a car (also for xmas) but also likes the talkers like the african greys, a definate no-no are minah birds she had one as a kid it knew everyone name but hers kept calling her owen then spitting at her :)
any advice what sort of parrot or should i just go for a parakeet for the time being?
also any one in the essex area know of parrot breeders?
tav.much in advance :)

What about Lovebirds - mine are breeding like mad at the moment and I am not going to be able to keep them all :(

Christine

have you got many then?
mum does like lovebirds and they would probably be ideal for the time being, also got to make it up to her for the mess my zebra finches keep making :) she rues the day she ever bought a new cage for her canary as it left an empty cage, and at the time she didnt realise what zebras are like, and went and bought me four as i kept going on about them, they have been banished to the bathroom as its all wipe down walls, come the new year im building an avairy outside for them, then itll leave another empty cage, oh what to put in it :D

Norwegian Blues are definitely the least trouble of all parrots.

Hi LongDog - I love Parrots and would love one, if I didn't already have more than enough animals :rolleyes:. Would be great though if you could explain how they are the lest trouble though...for future reference only, of course :)

think Monty Python Chloe ;)

b*gger LOL

'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!

Oh please.......I've just got rid of a colleague who would spout the parrot sketch every second day!!!!!:D

ROFLOL :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Hi Dawn

Was thinking about you the other day and wondering how you were :)

What about a Cockatoo, I just love them. The grey ones are nice to. There are also the little ones that are just a little bigger then a budgie, can't remember the name of them. They are really cute.

ttfn :)

Hi,

I have to say if your mum wants a bird that talks go for an African grey, we have one called Ecco and he is so clever, he talks really well and picks stuff up so quick. I look after peoples dogs and he knows all of their names and new ones he just calls "doggie", he really confuses them by whilstling so they all come running in the room then look around confused :D. The only problem with greys is their screaming, he has a really high pitch screech, which sends the dogs running back out of the room (some refuse to go in there now). To be honest though although he was english bred and hand reared he is really spiteful, many a time he has landed on my shoulder only to attempt to take a chunk out of my head/neck/lip We also have a maximillian parrot who is really sweet, he doesnt talk but he is really friendly, he isnt as big as the grey but is much prettier and colourful. Other choices would be the amazon family, they are all brightly coloured and can talk, usually its the males that talk though (and yes its hard to tell which is which :( ) I would avoid anything like a macaw of cockatoo if you have neighbours, the noise they make is unbelievable :rolleyes:

One word of advice though as with any animal please be careful where you buy the bird from, buy an english bred one, there are still so many imported parrots into this country which generally carry disease and dont live a long or happy life. Although english bred are more expensive you really do get what you pay for.

Sorry I got on my soap box a bit there didnt I !! Best of luck

:) claire :)

With the current crop of babies I will probably have around 30 by the time they have finished hatching at which point their nest boxes will be removed!

Christine

hi. i would say get a grey, i have had jordi now for 3 years and he is gorgeous, you need to pay the extra to get a hand reared baby, and put in hard work at the beginning to make sure you bond well with the bird, jordi is very loving, comes for a cuddle all the time and is perched on my shoulder as i type this!, generally he spends a lot of time out of the cage, they are very sociable by nature and like a lot of attention, but be warned they never shut up!, although mine doesnt do the screechy thing though, he does shout for the dogs all the time, he is next to the back door in the kitchen and when i open it he shouts "go for a wee" and the dogs come running! and as soon as they step outside he shouts " in now", the dogs get so confused!!, ive also taught him to speak to me when i come down stairs on a morning he says " hello my darlin" and i say it back to him, he shouts for the kids, rings the phone, barks, great fun really
he is lovely, i wouldnt be without him, but they can live for up to 75 years so not for the short term

Ok as a parrot breeder/exhibitor/handrearer and total bird nut for over 25 yrs I'd like to know what greedy b is selling Blue & golds for £1500 max handreared they shouldn't be over £800!

I have reared alsorts of parrots and have found the most pleasant to be Amazons, but they can be very expensive dependant on which one you go for. African grey's, done both the Congo and Timneh and found the larger Congo to be of a better temperament but I warn you all greys have a tendancy to fixate on 1 person who to them is their life partner, these generally go for about £450 - £550 and most learn to talk very quickly.

You can get in touch with The Parrot Society UK who will be able to advise you on the best choice both for your mother and her circumstances, they can also put you in touch with reputable breeders or people with birds that are needing to be rehomed in your area. There is also a very large show and sale day on 12th Oct this sunday at Stafford show ground, Bingley hall, you've never seen so many Parrots and Parrot like birds in one place unless you've been to the NEC show lol.

http://www.theparrotsocietyuk.org/

I once met a young galah who I fell for in a big way. It was soooo friendly, and sidled up to me to have its head scratched. I would have loved to have him, but the price tag (£1500 ) and the fact that the dogs would think of him as being dinner stopped me. Beautiful bird, though. (Like Dhal in Neighbours.)
:)

A galah would be my choice, they are beautiful and soooo friendly, they talk too - the first thing I would teach it would be "ya great galah" :D. The price is a bit steep though, they are £1000 round my way, then it would be half that again for a cage !! Maybe once I have my weim pup and paid off all my debts (never then :) )

Claire :)

I live in Stafford. Thats Sunday sorted then!

I agree with Scip...the greys tend to be one person birds but Amazons more family orientated although may not talk quite as well as greys. timnehs (greys) are, or can be nervous in general. big macaws such as B&Gs & scarlets are VERY noisy and really do require a heck of a lot more space, not to mention the trouble they can cause if you have near neighbours! If she is not totally 100% on a parrot then a smaller cockatiel would be better. parrots need as much social interaction and time/company as dogs. be very careful where you purchase it as there are some really shady places offering birds :(

Mmmmmmm parrots......would love one, but so would the cat!

I used to know an African Grey, called Blue who went to the pub with his owner! and BIT everyone in sight!

I can vouch for how loud the macaws are, there is a red n green one living in the house on the corner of my street. All summer long he is on his perch in the garden, and if i open my bedroom window at night, i am woken at around 7am, when his owner puts him outside by loud calls of...

CHARLIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! charliecharliecharliecharlieCHARLIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! PUSSY CAT, CATCATCAT Miiiiiiiiiiiiiooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!

and some silly git taught it to swear, so if you are really lucky you get 'P*SS OFF, F*CKER, F*CKERF*CKERF*CKER!!!!!!!
He also barks at passsing dogs, (his owner has two really noisy rotties, so its a parrot version of a rottie woof) growls, and says 'HELLOOOOOOOO IM A NORWEGIAN BLUE'.........

My cat is drawing up the plans for how to kill it and eat it.....but knowing my luck he wont get the body through the cat flap, so ill get caught with a dead macaw on my doorstep!

Em

greys are very quick learners, when some one knocks on the door 3 dogs bark ( we only have 2) when i shout for my hubby, the bird answers in my hubbys voice, ive had loads of half conversations before ive realised:), he fools the kids all the time by shouting of them in my voice, he's very sweet and he puts his head on you and says jordi wants a love when he wants his head scratched, he is very much my bird though, hubby can stroke and pick him up but the kids cant and no one else could without maybe losing a finger:D
get one, you'll never regret it!!+