HELP parrot and apartment

[Taylor Zaugg]

When i got My eclectus parrot i was 17 years old. I’m a zoologist major. I planned on living with my dad through my years of college and i was set. sadly i have to move out in about a year. I need help. I can only afford a 1 bedroom apartment, and i really don’t know if it would work. my eclectus can get loud. He’s 2.5 years old and i love him like a child, but what is the right thing to do? Should i rehome him to someone who has a stable home? Or should i keep him and when the time comes for an apartment hope that they let me keep him, and then will have to try my hardest to keep him quiet when I’m home... hes Registered to me as an Emotional support animal, but i don’t think that’d make a huge difference. I want the BEST for my Ekkie and fear that if i rehome him i won’t be able to find someone who can care for him the way i do, and feed him as well as i do because of how specialized there diet is.

Please please help this kills me. I don’t want to let him down but I’m stuck.

 

[Taylor Zaugg]

Please give me some tips or whatever your thinking. Because of his age maybe he’ll get quieter with age, if i wait until i move into an apartment and they don’t let me bring him I would keep him at my dads until i find the proper home and I’ll have to drive 20 min to get there to hang with him and so fourth. Not an ideal situation. I just hope if i do have to rehome him I’ll find someone that truly loves him like i do.

 

[Beasley]

Apartment living with parrots is doable, the most important part of bird-proofing an apartment is sound proofing. There are tons of different temporary/semipermanent modifications you can use to retain and deaden the noise coming from your apartment. Just google “how to soundproof apartment” and you’ll have plenty of information to get started. In my experience leases mention only cats and dogs, if there is no exclusion on the lease, you have no reason to ever mention the bird to them at all.

 

[JLcribber]

You never give up on an animal in your charge until there is no choice and every avenue has been exhausted.

If there is no choice then it's up to you to find a home that is equal or better than what you can provide. If you want to do this anyway then you must start looking now for a great forever home because they are rare and take a lot of time to find and vet.

 

[AutumnRain]

I would highly suggest finding an end unit apartment in a one-level building. Also, a townhome would be a good choice as well, if you can find one in your area that's affordable for you. I was living in an apartment when I adopted my tiel, and had neighbors below and beside me with paper thin walls. I knew I would be moving when I adopted Emery because of that. Thankfully no one complained before I got a chance to move. I knew I wanted to move regardless, to avoid dealing with any future neighbors that might not be as okay with my tiel's flock calls and happy calls during flight. I love her vocalizations (Well, minus the flock calls, although I understand why she does it), so I wanted her to be able to express herself. Sometimes she'll even chirp all day, and it's nice not to have to worry about anyone getting upset about it.

I did use a white noise machine at my old place. That's another thing I would strongly recommend. It helps with tuning out noises both inside and outside so your bird can sleep better too. It also helps with neighbors not being able to hear your bird as easily if it's loud enough.

I found a townhome, but knew I needed to wait until an end unit opened up. It took an extra month, but it was well worth the wait. My bedroom is not attached to anyone else this way, which means when I leave the room and Emery can't come, like when I'm cooking on the stove, she can flock call and I don't have to worry about complaints. Trust me on this, it's well worth the peace of mind. At my old apartment, I was always so stressed out whenever Emery got loud because I knew my neighbors could likely hear her.

 

[Beasley]

One thing I would highly suggest, is to find an end unit

100% agree, end unit apartments are the best! We don’t have many single level apartments here, so I always go for top floor. It minimizes noise problems for all parties.

 

[Taylor Zaugg]

not to be negative, but there’s not a whole lot of ends in an apartment so that’s going to be tricky getting one. Plus sound proofing a room is extremely extremely expensive

 

[tka]

I'm renting an apartment at the moment and have a pionus parrot. This is the second apartment I've rented while I've had her.

I've always been upfront with landlords and letting agents about having a "small caged bird" and got it written into the tenancy agreement for both flats. There will be a lot of "no"s - some letting agents and landlords will refuse to let to anyone with any kind of pet, and in one case the landlord was initially fine with a parrot but, on the day I was going to sign the paperwork, backed out. Personally I'd rather be honest and upfront about having a pet than risk being kicked out of a place for breaking the terms of the tenancy agreement.

My current landlords are a couple of animal-lovers - one of them even works at an animal shelter. For them, Leia is a plus!

It can take time, but there are pet-friendly landlords out there. You may have to pay a larger deposit to cover potential damage, or provide a written reference to say that the parrot isn't going to cause problems. Make sure that you do what you can to reduce noise - some basic soundproofing and ensuring your parrot's cage isn't against a wall adjoining your neighbours is a start. Make sure your bird has lots of toys and foraging activities to keep him entertained and quiet. You will also have to think about how to prevent any damage to the apartment, especially if it comes with furniture. I use old curtains to cover the top of a shelving unit and the back of the sifa.

 

[BeanieofJustice]

not to be negative, but there’s not a whole lot of ends in an apartment so that’s going to be tricky getting one. Plus sound proofing a room is extremely extremely expensive

I saw a trick about putting rugs on the walls, look at thrift shops, yard sales, etc. It's sound dampening and not as expensive as foam. You can buy metal racks if you can't put holes in the wall. I used to drive 30 minutes just about every day to care for Sam in the home he was before mine, did it for over a year. If you really want to keep him, you'll find a way.
Rehoming is a shot in the dark. You hear as many horror stories as you do happy ones. Not trying to sway you, it's just the reality.

 

[Gribouille]

I don't know what the market looks like where you live, but surely you can rent a room at some private people? Maybe a basement or something other that a flat in a big building with many neighbors? Since you have time ahead, I'd begin to look around, what is possible and what are the rules for the different types of rentals.

 

[Monaco]

A couple of thoughts for you:
From research, you can live in section 8 housing, and an emotional support animal cannot be used as a reason for eviction, and they'll probably want a copy of your form.

Like-minded roommates in a house could be an option. Or a longer commute to find a little house in your budget (seems impossible, but I had to do it in Houston, just takes perseverance.)

Rehoming can be a complete toss up, and terrifying. I have waited (technically still waiting) to have the opportunity to adopt for almost two decades. It's very time consuming to find the right person, but it's possible if you can build that time into whatever you decide to do. (Like the option of him staying at your dad's for a while, or asking that you get at least 8 weeks notice to any changes to your lease.)

Best of luck! Try to keep him with you, and make plans now for the other scenarios.

KH

 

[AutumnRain]

not to be negative, but there’s not a whole lot of ends in an apartment so that’s going to be tricky getting one. Plus sound proofing a room is extremely extremely expensive

Oh trust me, I know. I had to wait for one to open up and thankfully I was able to, and one did somewhat quickly. If you're not able to wait for one to open up, then you have to go with something like soundproofing your apartment to the best of your ability. Just a note, what you use won't be 100% soundproof unless you decide to open up the walls and add soundproofing material there, but it will be a lot better than nothing, and should at least dampen the sound quite a bit if you're using thick enough materials. As far as cost goes, you can hang thick blankets, or even heavy duty moving blankets on your walls.

 

[Ephy]

I live in an apartment. My landlord knows about my birds, but I am still always stressed about how loud they can get.

I play a tv all day for them, to drown out background noises, and try to give them toys or foraging objects to keep them occupied.

If you can afford a 2 bedroom, it might help. You can keep them in their own room and close the door. My birds get louder when they cant see outside of their room so closing the door is not an option for me.

I also keep a camera on them, with the ability to speak to them if needed.

Most importantly, and whats has really helped is, is responding to their loud attention seeking sounds with my own quiet whistle. I found that it seems to encourage Kiwi to respond back to me on the same quiet level. He rarely screams anymore..but he is also getting older, so he may be calming down.

Also, ive heard herbs can help. I have offered weak chamomile tea to Kiwi when he went through the worst of his hormonal mating moments. Increasing dietary needs may also help them with their discomfort. I heard lavender tea helps with overly excited screaming birds but I have not tried it.

Herbs can acts as a helpful aid buy not a cure.
There is always a reason for why birds do bad things. Its more helpful to find out why.

Always be careful and do lots of research before you decide to use herbs so you can make an informed decision on whether or not to use it.

I also tried to discourage these bad behaviors which reduced screaming, by increasing dark time. ( black out curtains, waking him up later, putting him to bed earlier, taking away nest encouraging objects, and reducing protein)

and of course spending real one on one time.not distracted time. So when you are home he/she has all your attention. Introduce new things, talk together, eat together. Dont just have him out and be distracted with phones or tv.

Establish a routine. Wake up and bedtime always the same.

Good luck its a challenge, but they are so worth it

 

[Yoshi&Raphi]

Have you decided to rehome him or keep him?

 

[Monaco]

I'm curious too.

 

[Mizzely]

I've lived with a quaker that screams 8-10 hours a day in several apartments before without only one noise complaint that went no where. I could hear him down the street.

Also have had a green cheek, Hahns, and Jardine's in an apartment.

 

[annoellyn]

I would also like to mention that noise complaints are not as imminent at you think. I have an 80 pound dog that gets suuuuper excited when people knock on the door, barking LOUD and her nails on the hardwood. We live live on top of a basement suite and we've had three different neighbors and none have ever complained. And when we got our dog, she whined like no one's business aaaall night for the first week that we could hear outside. No complaints. I was super convinced our neighbors would Complain but nope! I find that if I'm a little noisy, my neighbors also feel like they don't need to be super quiet either so it's a two way street that works for me.
The only noise complaint I've ever received was a weird one where someone complained I was walking to loudly in my vet first apartment.