Thinking about getting a bird-

I haven't had a bird in YEARS but recently have been toying with the idea of having one again.

As a kid, we had a cockateil, and before him- a parakeet.

As a college student I had a monk parakeet that my roomate left behind. The bird HATED me to the extent that once I was moving, since he got along with the latest roomate I had I left him with her

For about 3 years I kept a friends moluccan cockatoo. Very nice, but with the changes in the house I don't have room for a large cage. Once he returned home with his owner I REALLY missed him, but his owner was back from overseas and I knew they deserved to be reunited.

About 6 years ago I took in a splay legged english budgie and kept him through his lifetime, though due to his severe deformities his lifespan was shortened to just 3 years once his quality of life started to fail.

I hate to admit this, but after losing Chance (the boy mentioned above) I bought a pair of Gouldian Finches. Very short stint here, one passed away almost immediatly after I got her home and as the male started to mourn the loss of her I took him back to the breeder, explaining the situation.

So now, I'm considering another bird. I have to admit, I like the parakeets and saw a nice one once at Petco- a pure yellow with red eyes. It was a beauty! I didnt buy it right away and before I decided fully, it was sold.

Anyhow, Im tentatively thinking about looking at getting a parakeet, unless two is a better choice

I have nothing yet for a bird and figure that if I decide to go this route I'd buy a bit at a time so I can do it right and be prepared beforehand.

One immediate question I have is- if I were to get a parakeet, could I use the finch flight cage that Petco sells for it? That seems to be the 'largest' small cage they offer for the value. The others, more for parakeets or cockateils, seem to be awfully narrow in the width, but then they are taller than the finch flight cages. I'll try to look up the size, or I'll stop by petco to get the measurements of the cage... and then I guess, if anyone knows- if it's good for one parakeet, would it be good for two? I wouldn't want more than two birds and consider that ammount since I wouldn't want one to get lonely.

Parakeet! The only birds I've kept... during my childhood.

The first pair died for unknown reasons. Maybe food poisoning. There could be pesticide on the vegetable I gave them as treat.
The second pair someone broke the cage and got away.
The third pair... had one more addition when one parakeet probably escaped from someone else's home and entered mine lol. I had these 3 for a very long time, until my dad gave them away because he thought I spent too much time on them and not enough on study! Lame! That was two decades ago.

You definitely need two. Or they will get lonely.

They don't exactly require large cages, but if you show me the link to the cage, I might be able to tell you more.

I think this is the cage. I know Petco only carries one type of finch cage, or at least the one in my area. Petco is the only pet store within an hour driving time from me, so my options are a bit limited.

Finch Cage

Totally big enough then.

That cage looks huge with that little bird inside. The size is at the bottom too. 30"x18"x18". That's at least 4x bigger than the cage I had for a pair when I was little.

(02-23-2012, 11:50 AM)OnyxGuide Wrote: I haven't had a bird in YEARS but recently have been toying with the idea of having one again.

As a kid, we had a cockateil, and before him- a parakeet.

As a college student I had a monk parakeet that my roomate left behind. The bird HATED me to the extent that once I was moving, since he got along with the latest roomate I had I left him with her

For about 3 years I kept a friends moluccan cockatoo. Very nice, but with the changes in the house I don't have room for a large cage. Once he returned home with his owner I REALLY missed him, but his owner was back from overseas and I knew they deserved to be reunited.

About 6 years ago I took in a splay legged english budgie and kept him through his lifetime, though due to his severe deformities his lifespan was shortened to just 3 years once his quality of life started to fail.

I hate to admit this, but after losing Chance (the boy mentioned above) I bought a pair of Gouldian Finches. Very short stint here, one passed away almost immediatly after I got her home and as the male started to mourn the loss of her I took him back to the breeder, explaining the situation.

So now, I'm considering another bird. I have to admit, I like the parakeets and saw a nice one once at Petco- a pure yellow with red eyes. It was a beauty! I didnt buy it right away and before I decided fully, it was sold.

Anyhow, Im tentatively thinking about looking at getting a parakeet, unless two is a better choice

I have nothing yet for a bird and figure that if I decide to go this route I'd buy a bit at a time so I can do it right and be prepared beforehand.

One immediate question I have is- if I were to get a parakeet, could I use the finch flight cage that Petco sells for it? That seems to be the 'largest' small cage they offer for the value. The others, more for parakeets or cockateils, seem to be awfully narrow in the width, but then they are taller than the finch flight cages. I'll try to look up the size, or I'll stop by petco to get the measurements of the cage... and then I guess, if anyone knows- if it's good for one parakeet, would it be good for two? I wouldn't want more than two birds and consider that amount since I wouldn't want one to get lonely.

HI. Getting a bird is a great idea. The cage you are talking about is fine. The bigger the better for any bird. As long as it can fully expand its wing and flap away then it is big enough. But birds love to climb and have plenty of toys. Just make sure the bar spacing is correct for the size bird. I would suggest getting one parakeet instead of two. That is if you want it to bond with you and be a hands on bird. If you get two they usually will want to pretty much be together and not bond as well with you. They may even get over protective of each other. Ways to make sure one does not get lonely is to put plenty of toys in with it, give it lots of attention. At least devote 1/2 hour a day or night for just bird and you time. Leave a t.v. or radio on when you are not home or even when you are. If you find that you don't have a lot of time to spend with it then I would suggest getting two. Many times two birds will bond with a human and it works fine. But in my experience it has always been better to start with one if you want the bird to bond and be a hands on pet. Good luck. I hope you find a great bird or birds. : )

(02-24-2012, 12:23 PM)Beth Wrote: HI. Getting a bird is a great idea. The cage you are talking about is fine. The bigger the better for any bird. As long as it can fully expand its wing and flap away then it is big enough. But birds love to climb and have plenty of toys. Just make sure the bar spacing is correct for the size bird. I would suggest getting one parakeet instead of two. That is if you want it to bond with you and be a hands on bird. If you get two they usually will want to pretty much be together and not bond as well with you. They may even get over protective of each other. Ways to make sure one does not get lonely is to put plenty of toys in with it, give it lots of attention. At least devote 1/2 hour a day or night for just bird and you time. Leave a t.v. or radio on when you are not home or even when you are. If you find that you don't have a lot of time to spend with it then I would suggest getting two. Many times two birds will bond with a human and it works fine. But in my experience it has always been better to start with one if you want the bird to bond and be a hands on pet. Good luck. I hope you find a great bird or birds. : )

Good lesson on the bond.
No wonder my parakeets (from my childhood) never really formed a bond with me. Because I always had more than one! I gave them a lot of attention, built a "nest" for them, which worked... they always slept in that little box I remodeled for them. But when I took them out of the cage, they don't act like my friends lol. I could put one on my head and shoulder, but what came first = I must lock up all my doors and windows.

It is pretty common for them to fly away and never return from what I knew. As I caught one escapee myself when it entered my home.

I only really thought about not to let the birds being lonely, and never thought about the effect on the bond with me.

Good advice!

Next time when I want to get any bird again, I might just put our bond first.

I still haven't moved forward with this, yet. I'm trying to figure out where to keep the cage- in here, the computer room would be ideal but space may be an issue. I have room in the fish room, so that may work since I spend a good deal of time in there- but then my bedroom upstairs may be perfect.

I was at a resale shop last week and saw some cages, one of which I wish now that I had bought then. Its a hanging one on a stand that would be perfect for my bedroom- and then if I get the finch flight cage, it would be perfect for a table in the fish room.

Between two cages, I think the bird (or birds) would have a variety of interests and different levels of socialization etc.

Tomorrow I may see if the resale shop still has that cage (hopefully!) and then I may stop at Petco to see if they have the cage I mentioned above in stock. If so, I have a gift card I could use to buy it and many of the necessities as well.

The bird/s will come last after the setup/s!

I can imagine you would be having trouble decide where to put it, since you said you have 9 fish tanks.

If you keep the cage in your bedroom, the bird might wake you up early. They will wake up as soon as there is light lol.

I would suggest you get one as young as possible. Easier for the bond.

Keep your cats away from it!

LOL! The cats aren't allowed in my bedroom at all or in the fish room unsupervised

I have a 10 gallon tank in my bedroom, a 10 gallon tank in the kitchen, a 55 gallon tank here in the computer room. The "fish room" has the other 55 gallon, two 10 gallons, the 20 gallon long, the 20 gallon high and the 5.5 gallon.

I'm seriously thinking about getting a 20 gallon long to eliminate some of the 10 gallons; I could divide it up well for some of my male bettas and then keep the extra 10's for grow out tanks, hatcheries and QT tanks. I already have hospital and QT tanks available as needed... I just don't know yet.

Waking me won't be a problem, I start work at 5:30 every morning so I'm naturally an early riser I just worry some about bird-dust in the fish room.

Tomorrow I'll look around at the cage options, then it's house cleaning day and I'll be looking to see if Petco is having the $1/gallon sale so there's no telling what I may come up with.

It's been a couple of days. Do you have the bird yet?