Advices before I adopt a parrotlet!

[Gribouille]

Hi!
I fell in love with parrotlets and I'm considering adopting one, as soon as I found a breeder having some young ones ready for adoption. But of course I have a lot of questions in the meantime :handup:

I read that those little guys can be very territorial, especially males. I am a single mother of 2 boys, I have them each second week, which means that the bird will most probably bond stronger with me (that's what we've seen with both our budgies and guinea pigs) so I am a little concerned that the bird would be jealous and attack my kids when they are home... I've seen that happening on the blog of some guy who had a male parrotlet who attacked his girlfriend and she was so scared of him that they considered selling the bird. I really don't wish that and my kids are VERY interested in bonding with our little bird and have a pet to play and cuddle with. I have read that jealous birds can be both boys and girls, although I thought it would mostly be a male's behavior... What do you think? Should I choose a male or a female?

We would like our parrotlet to be tame and feel safe with us, but of course there will be many hours where we are not home, or don't have time for him/her, so I also consider the possibility of having two. But I've had 2 budgies and they could never be tamed, one of them being dominant and scared of people, he didn't allow the other one to come to us so we ended up with 2 wild birds and it was not much fun. Can that happen with parrotlets? How do I avoid it? Is it better with 2 at once (siblings?) or number 2 after the first one is tame? And if I get 2 at once, should I separate them to tame them at the beginning? Same sex or couple?

Wow, that was many questions, I'll stop here for today, I hope someone can answer me!

 

[finchly]

Boy, that is a lot of questions! Welcome to the forum.

I have had both males and females, and I don't see a big differrence. My most loving one was a female BUT she also came to me completely tame, which the others have not.

Yes they definitely can bond to each other and not you. This is possible whether there are 2 males, 2 females or one of each. I have heard that you prevent this by keeping them in separate cages and only letting them be together during playtime. I have not tried it myself so I can't attest to it.

Parrotlets can become wild within as little as 3 weeks of being confined to a cage without interaction, so you'll have to plan to spend time wiht him/them daily.

We are both home all day every day. If we were not, I am not sure that I would have just a single p'let. I would have at least two (more likely a whole flock) to keep them from being lonely.

 

[Gribouille]

Hi, and thank for your answer! I've read that male and female are quite similar in behavior yes, but I've also read that some people say you should have only one, while others say 2 so they wouldn't feel lonely but then they would not bond to you.
We live in Scandinavia and have relatively short days. The kids finish school early in the afternoon, but then they have friends they want to play with and I can not rely on them coming straight home, and if they do they'll probably have a friend with them, they'll say hello to the bird and play with it for 10 or 20 minutes, then go and play some video games. I come home around 17 so from then the bird would have company almost every day for the rest evening and could "help me" with chores until around 21 when it would probably get tired and go for the night. I feel it is quite an OK amount of time even for a lonely bird, isn't it?

 

[finchly]

I honestly don't know. I am hoping someone who works during the day will chime in!

 

[RoxieW]

Hi, I have a male parrotlet that is 5 years old, Figgy Puddin. We work during the day. We do have 2 other birds, a crimson bellied conure, and an Indian ringneck. All 3 have their own cage, but are all in our family room. We don't have small children at home, but we have grandchildren who love to come visit and hold Figgy. He does a little trick where he circles their finger then says "weeee". Figgy has never attacked them when out of his cage. He is however, like most parrotlets, cage aggressive, but once out of his cage he is very sweet. He is bonded to me but will allow others to hold him. He was nippy when he was a baby but he just wanted something to do while out of his cage so I use to wear one of those plastic chain necklaces with the little bird toys attached to keep him busy when he was on my shoulder and that helped. I'm not an expert but I would not suggest getting 2 unless you are prepared to have 2 cages, there are several stories where parrotlets will get aggressive with each other and some have killed mates so you would need to be prepared to keep them separate if needed, and they may not bond to you as strongly if they have a cage mate. Figgy is not out of his cage with our larger birds because he does have small bird syndrome, thinks he can boss our larger two around, hehe. We get them out at separate times. Figgy can talk and says a few phrases which the grandkids love. I have attached a picture of my granddaughter holding him (she is wearing one of my bird shirts). I picked a male as I did not want to deal with egg bound issues that females can have or chronic egg laying, I know that's not true for all females but could be an issue so again that was just my choice. Figgy loves to hid in my bird shirt in the evenings and nap when I'm relaxing. He has been a great addition to our family.

 

[Gribouille]

Thanks for your answer and the cute picture They are awesome! It sounds like one bird is the best option, from yours and others answer, and what I have read otherwise, although some still say they could get lonely and depressed, but then, I'll see what I do if this happens. I saw an older thread where someone said to pick the bird we like most regardless of the color and gender, I think I'll do that,sounds right to me i just need to find someone having babies ready for adoption now, thanks for the help!

 

[Jobot]

They can be willful and demanding. My boy was a mess of hormones for most of his first year and well into his second. In order for us to even be able to handle him we had to really restrict the fat in his diet, get him a sleep cage where he gets at least 12-13 hours of sleep a night, and implement a ton of captive foraging. He used to be a real punk, but he is pretty sweet most of the time now, but definitely has his moments.

The good is that he is smart as whip and learns quickly. He learns new tricks and concepts really fast, and is super treat oriented, so rewarding him is easy. He is super cuddly and loves head scritches!

A lot of them, my boy included, become pluckers for one reason or another. I never thought I would end up with a plucker, but here I am, lol. Captive foraging and destructibles can keep them busy and prevent overpreening. Know the signs and keep an eye peeled because it doesn't take long for it to become habit. Flynn has his opinions about things, and is not shy in letting you know what he thinks about something. He can also be SUPER noisy when he decides it's time to throw a tantrum or drive away intruders. Also, a lot of them go through a really challenging hormonal period from about 6-8mo to up to two years. They can be loud, nippy and will deliberately challenge you on pretty much everything. Be really consistent, and make sure you continue to handle your bird through this, because they can quickly become feral.

Each bird is an individual, and some handle some things better than others, but you need to ask yourself if you will keep the bird even if it hates your kids or yourself. My bird was raised in a busy house full of children and I got him at about 8 months old. But he HATES children, especially babies. They don't even need to be doing anything or making noise, just their presence is enough to make him mad. He used to fly after them to chase them away, even when his wings were clipped, he'd hop off his cage to try to bite them. We have worked extensively with our boy, but he still only really tolerates babies and kids.

You should be fine if you're prepared!

 

[finchly]

@RoxieW What a darling little girl!!!!!

Parrotlets are very smart. Mine is the first of my fids to perch where I tell him to. He is still afraid of hands so today I was putting away his food, Australian blend, and he flew to my shoulder to fuss. I said well, you can have some- like this. I poured it in my hand and held it up. He would take a bite and say "good bird!"

 

[GracefulWolf]

Hello So I'm not sure if you've already found a parrotlet or not yet. Don't worry about your parrotlet getting lonely. Parrotlets really don't like sharing their space. Even bonded parrotlets who have shared a cage for years, often get into bad fights or kill one another. They're amazing pets but they do NOT like sharing their cage. If you really, really want two, then you have to have two cages. As mentioned, play time together is okay. As long as you have lots of toys and a good cage for him/her to play in, they will be happy. Make sure you spend at the very least 2 hours a day with them. Preferably 4-5 hours a day if possible. They love you so they want to spend all their time with you.

I've had 3 parrotlets. Two currently and one that has passed away. I have a perference for male pets so I don't have experience with females. But all three of my males have been amazing pets. Each has their own vastly different personality so you don't know what you're getting until you meet them. But guaranteed they will have lots of personality! My first was a sassy, little troublemaker constantly running about. Of my current two, one is a gentle sweetheart who happily plays with his toys most of the time and then asks for a cuddle or two. My other male is a velcro bird. He wants to be with me ALL the time. I've slowly been teaching him its okay to do other things than cuddle. He has a hard time understanding why anyone would not want to cuddle for 4 straight hours.

 

[Music1962]

I don't know what to think about my p'let, he/she must still be getting aculmated it has only been 8 days.
Slowly it has been getting more quite, not active at all very little chirping, today I am not going to give it any attention and see if it will open up at all.

 

[RoxieW]

I don't know what to think about my p'let, he/she must still be getting aculmated it has only been 8 days.
Slowly it has been getting more quite, not active at all very little chirping, today I am not going to give it any attention and see if it will open up at all.

It can take a while for them to feel comfortable. Is he eating okay? To help them in the first few weeks they recommend giving them millet and just sit and talk to them, and perhaps try to give them treats. My Figgy Puddin loves oat groats for a treat. Good luck !

 

[Music1962]

Well, well, well, when I got home I did not look at it talk to it I just went about my business. Didn't take long and Luna was at her feed bowl. Still I did not talk to her , I took a nap and could hear her eating and moving around in the cage andddddd tweeting with the birds out side. What's up with that ?
She hates me. So now I know . I will just give her more time. Luna wants to be dominant,,,,,huh.

 

[Music1962]

I think she is playing sick all puffed up and quiet ,could she be that smart? Right now she is all over her food and looks all spunky .

 

[finchly]

Sandy if she is puffed up she might be sick. They are good at hiding illness, so often we doon't know.

She does NOT hate you. She doesn't know you yet.

 

[MiniMacaw]

I don't know what to think about my p'let, he/she must still be getting aculmated it has only been 8 days.
Slowly it has been getting more quite, not active at all very little chirping, today I am not going to give it any attention and see if it will open up at all.

Not giving your bird any attention isn't likely to get him/her to open up. Speaking softly to him/her and just staying near the cage can help your new parrot get used to you. 8 days is nothing to a bird and he/she is still trying to get comfortable.
I brought home a very traumatized macaw and the only thing that helped us bond was me talking or singing softly to him and offering him treats like warm mash from my hand.
I really don't think he/she hates you. It's been only a tad over a week...No time at all. I have had my severe macaw for over a year now and he still won't step up for me. Doesn't hate me, just isn't there yet and that's OK.

 

[Music1962]

I'm gonna have to put Lina in her camping cage, I took her camping last weekend and she did well. My sister has a p'let Im excited for her to meet Luna.

 

[Music1962]

What I different bird, I have been telling her we are going camping I do have a pull behind 29'. So I get her out of her big cage "with out nibbling" I tell her no bite, and I pet her awhile and then put her in her camping cage smaller. She loves her car ride she just sits on her swing and looks around,tweeting too.
She is very different when we are camping, I love it

 

[Familyof12]

I just read your thread. I'm new here. I have two parrotlets and I've been extremely lucky. Both Diablo and Carmen bonded right away and have been inseparable. When we brought Diablo home, he was not trained at all. But once she got him in order, he steps up, eats, does everything she does. If he doesn't, she lets him know by biting! They fight like an old married couple but if I walk into the room, they are glued together. Carmen now dances and sings. She will still step up and kiss but she isn't as close to me as she used to be but she is happier, and that makes me feel super fantastic but a little lonely. : (