Potential new bird owner here looking for some advice!
Hello! I have been wanting to buy a pet bird for years now! I have several other pets so I have become used to the routine care, time and dedication needed to house any type of pet, and I finally thought that I felt confident and ready enough to start researching and looking for the perfect bird. However, I have instantly become swamped with different opinions and recommendations, from sources that I don’t know enough about to really consider reliable! Before any research was really started I wanted to find a specific type of bird that I wanted, so that I could focus my research to a more specific level of care and housing etc. However I’ve been told to look into so many different types of birds, half of which when I look them up seem to be either a poor fit for me personality-wise, or seem way out of my experience range!
If anyone is able to help out any I would be extremely appreciative!! I have exactly zero experience owning birds, however I have a lot of experience with other animals. I plan to keep the bird in my room, and I want to be able to train them to leave their cage and be able to move freely around my room when I am there. (I don’t have any other pets kept in my room specifically, or with any access to my room unless I choose to let them in, so there shouldn’t be an issue there!) I was originally hoping to find two birds so that they could keep each other company, but I’m not hard set on that. I’m willing to spend a decent amount of money on the bird itself, however I’m looking to hopefully only spend around $250 approximately (I’ve been told that birds can be a bit pricy so I’m not super picky about the cost, as long as it’s not thousands of dollars like some of the birds I was recommended were! I volunteer at a therapeutic Horseback-riding Center, so I’m not home all of the time, but I do spend quite a lot of my time at home for school, research, and work. So I would have time to spend interacting with the bird.
Some of the original birds I was looking at (both from what I’ve heard of before, as well as recommendations from different sites) were parrots, conures, parrotlets, and lovebirds (those were the first that came to mind) however, I’m not experienced with pet birds, and I’ve learned from experience with the other pets i own that a lot of information that you can find online about pets can be misconstrued or is simply just false. A lot of sites only want to convince you to buy the pet, and don’t always share actually helpful information! Since I don’t know yet which sites are reputable and trustworthy, I though it might be a good idea to get some advice from people who already have experience with pet birds!
I would appreciate any advice or information at all! Thanks in advance!
(If I messed anything up with the way I posted this then I apologize, I’ve never used this specific forums before, and all of the other animal forums I use are specific to a certain type of animal, so I couldn’t post this there!!)
RE: Potential new bird owner here looking for some advice!
Hi Redhtaeh,
Welcome to the forum!
(I am going to move this thread to the bird section)
If you are going to be a first time owner of a pet bird, I highly recommend a budgie. Full name is Budgerigar. It is a parakeet or a small parrot.
They are small, beautiful, hardy (easy to take care of), and cheap. What's more? They are one of the birds which can be trained to TALK!
By the way, is your budget of $250 just for the bird or for everything? Budgies go for $35 each at pet stores the last time I saw them here in Michigan. So the rest of the money can go toward a large cage, bird toys, other gears, and food. You probably will have plenty left lol.
It is one of the easiest birds to take care of. It will be a good learning experience for you. Then if you wish, you can move your way up to more expensive birds.
If you want to have a pet bird that is your personal friend, then get just one budgie. If you get more than one, they won't pay much attention to you since they have each other. All the talking budgies were trained alone.
RE: Potential new bird owner here looking for some advice!
Thanks so much for the advice! I haven’t had budgies recommended before so I’ll definitely be looking into it!
In answer to your question about my budget I had that set aside for the bird specifically because most of the people I had talked to beforehand had said to be prepared to potentially spend a lot on the bird, and since I don’t know what to expect I followed their advice.
Potential new bird owner here looking for some advice! 
