Parrot Owners HELP PLEASE?

Question

How Bad Are The Bits (Be Specific)????

And Is Petco or Petsmart A Good Place To Buy A Parrot. If Not Were Is???
Thank U

Answer 1

the bites? they can be very painful
the one I had (a Nanday Conure, which is a smaller parrot) I bought from a private source. I think he bought it at a petstore, but it was hand raised and very tame. The only time he tried to bite was if someone was picking at him through the bars of his cage. I usually just let him out of his cage when there were no strangers (to him) and he would fly over and land on my shoulder

Answer 2

Some people believe the pain of the bite directly corresponds with the beak size of the bird, but not always. There are other factors to consider such how the bird was raised, the bird's past experiences with humans and also the species and even that fact can vary in individual species due to gender.

It's true that a parrot with a huge beak is capable of inflicting an extremely painful bite, but if the bird was raised by hand and has been handled well, the bite can be very gentle and more of a warning bite.

I have a male and female Congo African Greys, who are three year old brother and sister hatchmates. They've been hand raised and treated exactly alike since hatching. Neither parrot actually wants to bite and even during wing trimming, when both are a bit agitated, the female will not bite, but the male will express his displeasure with a firm, but not painful bite.

I have a Parrotlet whose bite is much more painful than my greys, but the damage done is minimal, as are the bites I occasionally receive from my Linnie and my green cheek conure.

I have a male Senegal who is handraised and mostly gentle, but he has a hot temper and does not hesitate to use his strong beak to his advantage when he is angered by something. When he bites, he aims to maim! His bite is like a can opener. He even will move his head from side to side in a motion designed to rip flesh. Senegals can and will be little green demons when they want to be!

The vet I worked for had a Yellow naped Amazon who wanted nothing better than to remove a finger. He was wild caught in the 70's and had no socialization until he came to the clinic.

All parrots are capable of inflicting a painful bite, it more depends on their individual temperament, environment and socialization.

Never purchase a parrot from a pet store. The birds are not well socialized, they are exposed to many diseases and stores like PetSmart and Petco demand a huge price. A knowledgeable breeder who hand raises her babies would be a better option to ensure a calmer and more gentle bird.

Answer 3

Pet stores generally don't have the best variety of birds, but if you can find what you want there you may want to consider that pet stores introduce new pets all the time, and with those new pets come new germs. You can get extremely good deals from:

Up@6 avian classifieds
http://www.upatsix.com/classifieds/fs_results.php

Bird Breeders.com
http://www.birdbreeders.com/

and Birds n Ways classifieds
http://www.birdsnways.com/birds/bpreown.htm

The breeders there are serious and alert to scams, and I've never had a bad experience with any of them.

I don't know if I understand the phrasing of the first question that you asked, but I think it's about the pros and cons of bird ownership. If it's not I'm sorry. There are tons, depending upon species.

You can narrow down your list of birds by assessing them against a list: talking ability, noise level, biting, size, etc. This one doesn't look very pretty but it's really informative:

http://www.petbirdpage.com/

Good luck! We have 8 parrots, and we still want more.

Answer 4

Biting does hurt but it depends on where the parrot bites you. I have a 10 week old rainbow lorrikeet & he loves to bites the grisel part on the top of my ear and YES it hurts like mad. But on the other had he can be very affectionate and give me kisses on my cheek. There are good bites and bad bites but the bad bites are worth it for the good bites.

We got our parrot from a petstore that gets handreared birds in and trains them too. Shop around and get lots of info before deciding. Good luck

Answer 5

The bite depends on the bird. They can be VERY bad. A blue and gold macaw has 200 pounds of preasure in it's beak.

I would NEVER buy a bird from petco. I would RESEARCH the breed FIRST then go to a reputable breeder. Birdtalk magazine is a great place to start.

Get a baby, if properly trained and socialized birds don't just bite.

Read read read.. :-)

Answer 6

depends on the bird.. a properly socialized - "hand raised" bird shouldnt bite.. sometimes they "test" their pearch (your hand) with their beak, but this is not a bite

Pet stores are the WORST place to buy pets.. they sell pets to make profit.. they care more about the profit than the pet.. you need to find a bird breeder - who will help you select the right pet for you.. look up on the internet or call a vet and ask if they know of any in your area...(the pet stores generally dont get from local breeders they get from mass prodcution places and wont tell you where you can get birds from except them)
magazines will also give you some breeder info...

main thing about birds/parrots is they are HIGH maintainance and require LOTS of attention and bigger cages than most people have

Answer 7

well parrot bites hurt alot, i have a female ecluctus and she can give a nasty bite when she wants to. she has broken the skin before and it takes awhile for it to heal. and the best place to buy a bird is to go through a bird breeder because if you buy one at a pet store you may not have the guarentees that a breeder might give you.look in the paper or go online and look up bird breeders and it will list all of them for you. good luck in your search.

Answer 8

Depending on how big the bird is, I had an African Grey that bite through my lip,can't blame him I was in his face. Look in your local paper for handraised birds, make sure they have a breeders liscene ask to see where they bird their birds, are the cages clean, fresh water etc.

Answer 9

try to get your bird from a breeder. There are good ones.
as far as bites-they hurt alot! I wouldnot go to pet stores.,
because of all the people that might handle your bird. Hard telling what you might pick up.

Answer 10

I bought mine form a Petsmart after going to a bird-mill and being grossed out. Our bird was a young Maximilian Pionas. He is/was very loving and spoke a few words. He loves next door now.