Do you think Parrot owners like us are the *NORM* or common?

[rikkitikki]

I know we're not the norm! When I go to a bird club meeting where the president of the bird club recommends a 24" x 24" cage for a U2 (like he has for his) and warns that getting a cage that's too big will risk the bird getting out of control, I know we're not the norm. Thankfully I found this forum especially for Bean's sake.

 

[SaraR]

I know we're not the norm! When I go to a bird club meeting where the president of the bird club recommends a 24" x 24" cage for a U2 (like he has for his) and warns that getting a cage that's too big will risk the bird getting out of control, I know we're not the norm. Thankfully I found this forum especially for Bean's sake.

are you ••••••• kinding!!?!?!?!?!?! that's HORRIBLE!!

 

[SaraR]

kidding***

 

[Bokkapooh]

I know we're not the norm! When I go to a bird club meeting where the president of the bird club recommends a 24" x 24" cage for a U2 (like he has for his) and warns that getting a cage that's too big will risk the bird getting out of control, I know we're not the norm. Thankfully I found this forum especially for Bean's sake.

I'd get banned from that bird club so quickly....

 

[DebysFids]

my co-workers tell me I'am not norm lol

 

[rikkitikki]

are you ••••••• kinding!!?!?!?!?!?! that's HORRIBLE!!

I'd get banned from that bird club so quickly....

Yeah, I know
I've been in the "parrot/bird community" for such a short time that I'm not really sure what makes the bird club think a certain way, differently from people in this forum. However, I have my suspicions that they're just not as "with the times" as they should be, and they do "what works" for them. I think that as the old school bird owners and breeders trickle out and younger people (read - computer literate - the president admits that he isn't on forums or email groups because he doesn't like computers that much) will take over and I think they'll begin to get more "with the times." As of yet, it's not really my place to try to be an expert around long time bird owners, but perhaps over time as I learn more and get some real experience with owning a bird, maybe I'll be able to bring the knowledge I've learned and pass it on with credible resources and evidence that what I say really makes sense. Anyway, not everyone in the club is like that, but it can make it difficult when the current president has old ways of doing things... What I can gather from going to meetings - they have good intentions and they do love their birds

 

[Leza]

Ps, we have a G2 at the rescue who had 14 homes in 14 years.

that is really sad. Working in a bird store we try to educate as much as possible, and we even can get people to return our own babies to us if need be. It is a sad world now.

I always tell people who see my birds, well you would give a cat a tower, why can't the birds have some?

 

[Anne & Gang]

unfortunately we are not the norm..there are too many rescues et c out there that testify to the fact that we are far f rom t he norm

 

[Annamacaw]

It's sad.... but no I don't think we are the norm..... and I have met so many people with birds who don't have correct information!!

 

[Onyxena]

I agree with everyone that we are the exception. Sad but true. Seriously, look at how few people have advanced their knowledge of dog care over the last 20 years. you would think that with all the info available and low cost spay/neauter clinics, folks would have progressed beyond "letting her have puppies" and feeding alpo. People still keep dogs chained outdoors in many areas. Every week thousands of loving animals, cats and dogs are routinely euthed.

And birds are far more complex than caring for a dog! I do beleive that many people go into buying a bird with the best intentions. I do not beleive that most people handing over $2k or even $200 for bird and cage have any intent on locking the bird in a garage and feeding it crap.

However, they are usually very unprepared for the reality of providing for such a complicted creature. They do not know what to do when it starts attacking their kids. Or when it starts sreaming every second that it is awake. Or when it routinely bites hard enough to cause bleeding and scarring. They get frustrated. They are misinformed. They become resentful over the negative impact this angry screaming creature has over their life. They get tired of the cleaning and noise. this is the stuff the bird stores and breeders try to minimize and tell folks that "you just have to raise them right"

 

[Archiesmom]

I don't think we're the norm. But I think we are the individuals who view our pets as family, not as animals, you know? I appreciate, deeply, the bond and love that all ofmy birdies share with me. It's a gift, not an expectation. I think therein lies the difference in how we view our pets and treat them vs. other pet owners.

Most people think I'm crazy. Most animal lovers think I'm crazy...in a good way.

 

[Daisy's Mom]

Unfortunately we are not the norm at all... Really nobody understands what I've gone thru with Mikey except for you guys... I saw my cousin over the weekend and of course I am gushing about my birdies and then she mentioned about maybe getting a cockatiel... So then I said to her that she should adopt one thru a animal shelter vs buy one thru a pet store being there are so many unwanted birds.. So then when I mentioned that I had a fabulous board certified vet that if she adopted a bird she could go to him and then she basically looked at me like I was crazy and said that she wouldn't be needing a vet...

 

[lzver]

I agree with what everyone else has said. We are not close to the norm at all, as sad as it is to say that.

 

[April]

Nope definatly not,I have known several people that have birds and they dont get them vet checked or lavish them with tons of toys or a big cage.

 

[crystaljam]

I don't think we're the norm - I worked with the public & parrots for several years, and sometimes the light bulb went off while I was training the customers that they would "think about it" instead of giving into the impulse purchase.

A lot of my clients are like us, and not the norm - they rock though. I went to one client's house recently, and when her daughter moved back to Ontario from BC, the daughter left her parents with her dogs and parrots (8 of them). The mother kept claiming she "wasn't all that into birds," but I was WOWed.

For the remaining 6 birds (in the few years they've been with my customer, one went to a breeder, one passed on), I was asked when dropping off her order if I'd like to meet my customers. Sure - I love meeting them! She told me they were in an aviary outside (??? This is Ottawa...snowy & cold) - "it's heated," she said.

They moved from a small house in the city to the outskirts in the country. Not only did they have an attached garage, but a detached garage that had been converted into an aviary for these parrots. When we walked into he double door enclosure, a waft of heat and an "alarm" (the male Eclectus' warning call) were my first impressions. Then WOW. They had a flight which had been brought in from the USA from a company that builds enclosures for Zoos in North America, and a sleep cage inside this for two Indian Ringnecks; separate matching cages for the Eclectus pair and two bronze-winged Pionus (so sweet and they really liked Husband). There was a separate air purifying and heating systems, sliding doors at the front for the summer, and she even had a baby monitor to hear them from inside the house just in case. Her husband didn't want the birds in the house, so this was their compromise for someone who claims she "isn't all that into birds."

Husband was concerned on our drive home as I had a gleam in my eyes afterwards.

I also have a few pionus & poicephalous clients who have beautiful playstands and Boings in their front living rooms, children involved with their birds, and just an awesome lifestyle provided for their birds.

So I do see it in real life - it makes me feel really good inside to know that yes, there are those of us outside the "norm" scale who see their fids as family members, not "just a bird".

 

[suncoast]

My husband alway's tell me that we are in the top 1% of 1% when it comes to taking care of our birds. And our friends and family think were nuts.

Ginger

 

[Chicklette]

I think us on these forums go above and beyond with out birds. We learn so much. To be honest I think we learn more. That's just my personal opinion.

 

[marian]

I think there's nothign normal about us.

 

[Wasabisaurus]

Oh, by no stretch are we normal, sadly.

Referring to the bird bite photos on this site, who but a very special person would take those bites and still keep the bird? Those of us who do keep a bird that bites takes the time to understand why the bird bites and we try to solve that problem -- versus just giving up the bird and labeling it "a biter."

People see my scars and wonder why on earth would I keep a bird that bites, screams and lunges. Nobody has ever ever asked me why he behaves like that. They just see the scars and they are ready to tell me I should "get rid of him."