Attn: Lineolated Parakeet (Linnie), Parrotlet, Lory & Green-Cheek Conure Enthusiasts?

Question

I've been wanting to get a bird for a long time and am debating between one of these five types of birds. (I would be willing to get a cage-mate if I must. ^^) They are expensive, after all. I'm looking for a bird that likes to be handled (but will be alright if I go out for a weekend; i.e. a couple of days), and is not too noisy. I do realize that parrotlets don't like to be handled so much as the other birds I mentioned. At the moment, I am leaning towards the linnies. Currently, I work at a pet store and we have a number of exotic birds. I'm just so conflicted! On some background info, I've never owned an exotic bird, but as I mentioned before, I care for all my stores birds every morning and evening. (I realize the difference of caring for a bird and owning one.) On a side note, I don't know minute details of the differences between the birds, so any help or advice will be appreciated! I do know basic care for parrots as I mentioned. :)

Answer 1

I have a rainbow lorikeet, and I love him to death! He loves to be handled and is very playful.
Their diets aren't that difficult to handle, they just require more fruit than other parrots and lorikeet food instead of seeds and pellets.
I need to buy a sheet on the back of his cage to stop him pooping on the wall but other than that the droppings rarely land outside of the cage.
The only thing is rainbow lorikeets and lories are LOUD! :D

Sorry, I don't have info on the Parrotlet but here is the basic info on the other parrots you mentioned:

Green Cheek Conure
Size: Small
Noise: Low
Talking: Poor-Medium
Cuddliness: High
Playfulness: High

Lineolated Parrot
Size: Small
Noise: Low
Talking: Good
Cuddliness: Medium
Playfulness: Medium

Black-capped Lory
Size: Medium
Noise: Loud
Talking: Medium
Cuddliness: Medium
Playfulness: High

Chattering Lory
Daily Attention: Moderate
Noise: Loud
Talking: Medium
Cuddliness: Medium
Playfulness: High

Red Lory
Size: Medium
Noise: Loud
Talking: Medium
Cuddliness: Medium
Playfulness: High

Rainbow Lorikeet
Size: Small
Noise: Loud
Talking: Medium
Cuddliness: Medium
Playfulness: High

Answer 2

Those are all great birds but they do have distinct differences in personality as others have mentioned. I worked for many years in a specialized pet store and hand-raised several species of lories. They are unique clowns in the bird world but I also found their diet (and cleaning up after it) not something I could imagine in my house! I currently own the other three species you asked about. I think you are making a good choice with the linnie. They are really sweet natured little birds and mine has never developed that nippy territorialism around her cage that both my parrotlets and my green cheek developed after maturity.. She is very low volume but has a quite a few different whistles and vocalizations ( I don't really work with my birds for speech). I was able to follow the progress of several linnies that I hand-raised for customers and they all remained delighted with them.

Answer 3

If you know basic parrot care, any of those birds would be nice, except for the lory- if you are just starting out, lories can be hard because they have a slightly more specialized diet. and personally, I think their poop is way to messy (eeeewwww... liquid poop squirted out of the cage? No thanks.) I like the green-cheek conure, myself. Not too loud as far as parrots go, reasonably priced, playful and sociable. (as an edit, yeah- they might be loud in an apartment... but NO WHERE NEAR as loud as a sun conure, jenday or nanday. They are the quietest of the conures, imho.) They like to be handled (if they're handled regularly) and I think they are just delightful. If you give it lots of toys and get it used to spending time entertaining itself, it would probably be ok by itself over night. If you go out for more than an over night though, you should consider having a bird sitter to make sure food and water is kept up. My conure LOVES to have dirty water :-P lol, until its time to drink it!

I don't know much about linnies or parrotlets (although i do think that parrotlets are a little too "bossy" for my tastes.) There was a nice article in Bird Talk about linnies last month that I would suggest looking up. They sound like great birds.

Answer 4

You can google any of these species to get more information on the care and such of them.

Conure's are much louder and are not suitable for apartments with thin walls. Linnie's are very sweet and playful. Parrotlets are the same. It's not nessecary for a cage mate. It would be harder to keep them tame and for any training you might want to do. Lory's are mainly Nectar eaters and are much more costly to care for.

Since this is going to be your first bird I would have to say that linnie's are the best out of the group you have said. You can also find alot of information, recipes etc on Bird Talk Magazines website. Birdchannel.com

Answer 5

Lineolated Parakeet Care

Answer 6

i have 2 parakeets and a parrotlet. One parakeet is afraid of hands and the other is very stupid but also very courageous. I don't even think those 2 know that the parrotlet is a parrotlet. I think they think that he is a parakeet. i do know those 2birds get along really well. I also know that parakeets can talk since one of them can say hello...but thats is lol. they r all very playful birds that is certain. they can get pretty loud at times and other times i don't even know they r there. I don't know if this helps, but hopes it does in some way.