What breed of bird is the best to keep indoors as an family pet???

Question

Besides expensive parrots, is there any other bird that is recommended to be kept as an indoor pet?? If you know any could you then limit it down to the cheaper ones? And which is the best place to buy one of these birds??? (In a healthy or at least cheap condition). Thank you.

Answer 1

Unless you have a LOT of time to spend don't get a cockatoo. They are noisy, naughty, destructive bastards. My family had a Red Tailed Black Cockatoo given to us and we love him to bits but we are always at home to look after him. He needs constant supervision which is OK for us. We have a busy, noisy house with four kids. He is a manic idiot, and will wreck every thing if we aren't constantly giving him new toys to play with. His daily routine is for us (whoever is up first) to uncover his cage in the morning. It is next to the glass sliding door outside the lounge room. He watches us through the glass and occupies himself until noon. Then he lets us know it's time to come inside and that's when the fun starts. He plays and squawks and poops and screams until dusk, then off to bed for another day. Do not underestimate the work these cockatoos will need if you are considering one!!!

Answer 2

It is all relative; one persons "cheap" may be another persons expensive. I might think $100, which is what we paid for our Green Cheek Conure, is inexpensive but for someone else, that same $100 might as well be a million if they don't have it to spend. Besides, the true expense isn't what a bird costs to purchase but how much it costs to house and maintain the little guy. Being a responsible bird owner can be very expensive.

The first big expense is the cage. Even a small cage for a parakeet can run from $50 to $100. Then you have food; if you want your bird to live a long time, seed from the grocery store isn't going to cut it in the diet department. Birds need seed, pellets and fresh fruits and vegetables. I buy 10 pounds of seed from a bird store every two weeks at a $1.75 a pound and pellets at $2.35 a pound about once a month. When we were unemployed and eating bologna sandwiches, my birds were eating fresh broccoli in the winter. Because my birds depended on me for their care, it was up to me to make sure they had what they needed even when money was tight.

Next come the toys. Man has taken birds from the wild and put them in a cage. In the wild, birds occupy their time with hunting for food, searching for a good location and building nests and socializing with the flock. A caged bird that sits in a wire prison with nothing to do very easily becomes bored and will start plucking and self-mutilating so we buy them toys that aid them in foraging for food, building nests, maintain their beaks, and socializing with their human flock members. Because these intelligent little creatures easily bore, their toys should be rotated once a week so you need to buy enough toys so that they can be changed out often. I buy them toys a couple of times a year and can easily spend $200. I would buy my Senegals a $15 wood toy and they would have it totally destroyed within 5 days. It gets costly.

The next big expense is health care for your friend. A responsible bird owner will take their bird to an avian vet after purchase for an initial examination and blood work and then have at least annual well-bird checks for the life of the animal. My birds go to the vet every six months. I've yet to get out of the vet's office for under $75 and depending on how extensive the exam is, it can cost me up to $300 for each bird. When I first got my White-Eyed Conure, whom we re-homed, we had to make three visits to the vet's because his nails were so long they made complete circles and hurt his feet. The bird was free but that initial vet bill was $400. Like any animal, should the bird become ill and need medications or surgery, you could be looking at shelling out thousands of dollars.

I could go on and on about how expensive owning a bird is but I think you get the picture.

Back to your initial question, the cheapest bird to buy would be a finch. They're also probably the least expensive bird to maintain.

Answer 3

Have you owned birds before? IF not , i would stick with a budgie or lovebird, or cockatiel. If you have experience, move up to a type of conure or a type of parakeet like a quaker or mustache. The best place to get a parrot is from a breeder in my opinion. They are always healthier and cheaper than a dirty pet store. Good luck!

Answer 4

I'm sure many people would disagree with me, but if you're truly looking for a bird to interact with and make part of your family (meaning you intend to have the bird out of the cage a LOT), I don't think budgies are the best option (commonly called parakeets - but really aren't parakeets). Budgies will be your least expensive bird, but you honestly kind of get what you pay for.

Cockatiels are GREAT family pets. If they haven't been socialized (as with any other bird) it may take it a while to warm up to you. Cockatiels are also fairly inexpensive. The only thing I would caution you about with regards to cockatiels is to make sure you give them a constant relatively unchanging amount of attention. Cockatiels can develop plucking and mutilating behaviors if you teach them to be "velcro" birds (i.e. give them lots of attention so they depend on you then abandon them to their cages). Best to set a routine schedule with a cockatiel and try to stick with it.

Conures are interesting birds, a little more expensive, and not quite as cuddly. They're very active though, can be held/touched when socialized, and are very playful and fun to have around. If you want a cuddly bird, these are not for you. But, if you want a fun to watch and play with bird, these might be an option.

Quakers are also great pets. They're more expensive than cockatiels/budgies, but IMHO they're worth the extra dollar. They're more cuddly than a conure, not as cuddly as a cockatiel. They're smart and playful too.

Another option to consider is a parotlett. These are true miniture parrots. They learn to talk well and are friendly and playful. They're the gem of smaller birds but are hard to come by. They are very small though and are probably not the best kind of bird to have with small or wild children.

With all of these birds, the best place to buy would be from a bird breeder. Avoid pet stores at all costs if possible. Pet store birds often carry parasites/diseases and often are older so you won't get to enjoy them as long. Budgies live for about 5 years or so, the rest I've mentioned can live about 15+ years. For all of the birds I've listed above, I would imagine you could find them from a breeder for under $500. If this is your first bird, I would STRONGLY suggest you don't adopt or buy one out of the newspaper that needs a new home. People get rid of their birds for reasons, and if you don't know how to help change bad behavior or health problems then you'll probably only end out frustrated. Also, all of the birds I've mentioned above can learn to talk - but keep in mind that there's no guarantee that a bird will ever learn to talk. African Greys are known for their talking ability, yet I've had the priviledge of adopting two who only mimic sounds and have never spoken a word in their lives.

The best thing you can do is research, research and research some more. There are great organizations out there that will provide tons of free information - the Gabriel foundation is the first that comes to mind. Don't get your information from pet stores or breeders - a lot of people will tell you incorrect information because they just want you to buy the bird. The internet has tons of information, but you'll have to sift through some of it. You might want to do searches on the negatives of owning specific type birds so you know what the worst case scenario might be.

Hope some of that helps!

Answer 5

There's a wide range of birds that you can choose from besides the traditional budgies and cockatiels. Those birds may be common but they're common for a reason - they're easy to tame and as far as parrots go, there's few behavior problems. I'd avoid a lovebird as they're incredibly aggressive and you have to handle them often to keep them sweet.

Finches are rather hands off pets but they're easy to care for. Feed them , water them and clean their cages. That's pretty much it! They're also very easy to breed in most cases. I've bred zebra finches and I'd certainly get more if I had the room!

Then there's birds like Pigeons and Doves. Pigeons are larger than doves and come in numerous breeds such as the tumbler and fan tails. The come in white, pieds, fawn, albino and many other colors. Some cities consider them livestock and you may have to double check with your pet bylaws to see if you Can have one. Doves, from what I understand, don't have that problem. They, too, come in numerous species and in the case of diamond doves and ring necked doves, several feather types. Some even have poofy feathers similar to a Frilled canary.

Crows and Ravens are much harder to come across. I Know of one corvid breeder in the usa and he specializes in the Pied (African) Crow. These guys are incredibly intelligent and would compete with parrots for the smartest birds.

Mynahs are more common. The Greater Hill Mynah is said to be the best talking bird in the world. They have a sharp, clear voice but have a specialized died and messy turds. They're smart though and I've heard many great things about them :-) .

Quail, such as the button, painted and Japanese (Coturnix) quail, are very good pets. They're not the smartest wicks on the menorah but they have their own, peculiar charm. The females will not incubate their own eggs so if you wish to breed you need to get a decent incubator. I have Japanese quail. They're greedy little stinkers! They love to kick and have an annoying peck when they want food. They can't wait the 2 seconds it takes to plop their food bowl onto the bottom of their cage >.< . Quail tend to be peaceful with parrots and finches but should be watched with other quail. Female Japanese quail are quite aggressive with each other and will peck other bloody to establish territory.

Answer 6

A cockateil makes a very good pet bird, perfect for the first time owner. What ever bird you choose remember they need a great deal of attention. Birds are special from handling to training. some can be psycological nighmares. finches, love birds, even a parakeet is a nice pet. Larger birds are complete different story. But it doesn't sound like you are moving in that direction anyway.

I enjoy my lovebirds we just had a clutch 2day!

see them and my other birds here.
http://webpages.charter.net/rjsworld/pages/fam2.htm

Answer 7

I have an african grey parrot, and he is really cool, but I also have a cockatiel, and they are cool also and less expensive too. I have one named Lil Bit, and she is only 4 months old now, but she is already riding around on my shoulder and everything, hoping she will start talking, like my parrot soon. But, anyway cockatiels in a pet shop are a little higher, I know a lady here, that is a breeder, and she sells hers very reasonable 35-40 dollars, and they are nice, healthy birds. good luck to you.

Answer 8

My X and I use to breed meny different kinds of birds,and sell them to the pet stores.Pearakeet's are good little bird's.They cost little also! If you have the time and patients,you can teach them to talk and even do tricks.Also good if kids are around.They come in different colors.If the area around the nostrels are a dark color (blue-purple)its a male.Pinkish-light grey-off white,its a female.Pearakeets are easy,fun,and cheap little birds.

Answer 9

I prefer a cockatiel because it's the easiest to tame. You can probably get one for $30 from a breeder; look in the newspaper ads. Sometimes they can learn words.
Budgies (parakeets) are cheaper; if you get one that is hand-fed or has been handled since babyhood it will be tame too. Again, the best source is usually a breeder. Budgies can be very good talkers, but individuals vary.

Answer 10

if you want a bird that is more like a companion to you and learns to talk easily i would suggest a quaker parakeet and they are about 100-200 dollars!!! if you want a bird that is pretty and he is justs for there looks i would say a pair of lovr birds they ar enot to loud but they squak alot and you prob will not get to go to sleep !!!!! and they are 50-70 dollars a piece!!!
Well good luck!!!