One or two cockatiels

[Animal lover35]

Can a teen you and later an adult you keep these birds for all their lives? If so then I would think so; long as you're committed, no problem.

ok thanks for the reply. how long do you think daily maintenance is for these birds?

 

[Zara]

Why don´t you foster a bird?

Going out and bringing 4 birds home all at once at such a young age is quite out-there.

Start with one, fostering a bird not only helps out the shelter but will also give you the real feel of what having a bird in your life is like.

 

[Animal lover35]

Why don´t you foster a bird?

Going out and bringing 4 birds home all at once at such a young age is quite out-there.

Start with one, fostering a bird not only helps out the shelter but will also give you the real feel of what having a bird in your life is like.

because I live on a island (still 900,000 people) where there's no bird rescues and the spca's here don't have birds. And if I want birds I have to go to pet stores.

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

ok thanks for the reply. how long do you think daily maintenance is for these birds?

I take care of two budgies, a pair of doves, a single dove, and now a new Tiel. Lemme tell you my whole day is birds (and would be with only one or two as well) - I do other things too of course throughout the day but there's always something "bird" running in the background; it's like having kids. My point being, there is no set time for daily maintenance. If you have a kid you won't be going "well how long is feeding and cleaning up after it gonna take? OK I can fit in three hours of that a day; dope, lets get a kid". It'll have to be a really large part of your life.

Why don´t you foster a bird?

Going out and bringing 4 birds home all at once at such a young age is quite out-there.

Start with one, fostering a bird not only helps out the shelter but will also give you the real feel of what having a bird in your life is like.

This is the best suggestion anyone could make. Nothing can show you exactly what having a bird is like other than actually taking care of one for a while. Plus after fostering you might realize you've found the perfect bird for you and adopt it

Edit: oh I see, that's too bad. No chance of taking a bird home "on trial" or something?

 

[tka]

The issue isn't whether teen you can look after four birds. Trust me, this is probably the period of your life when you have most free time and fewest responsibilities.

The issue is what happens after you leave school. If you're planning to go to university, it will be difficult to find accommodation that will let you keep your birds. University schedules are demanding: you will have lectures, seminars, study groups and, depending on subject, lab hours. You may be offered opportunities to go on study trips, or even to study abroad for a semester or academic year. There are also lots of social activities and student groups that you might want to be involved in.

I have no idea what kind of career you want to have, but many careers involve toughing out a few years of instability before you get more established - perhaps long hours, a commute or changing shifts, including weekends, or a combination of these. Again, you may be offered opportunities like moving to a different location to get a promotion or further training. You may want to try a couple of different fields to see where your talents lie. All this disruption is something that a human can take in their stride, but will make a bird anxious at best and mean that you have to rehome it at worst.

You may want to move around between regions and even countries. Finding accommodation that is pet-friendly can be tough; many leases have a "no pet" clause and finding accommodation with multiple pets is even harder. There are lots of restrictions on travelling between country with a pet, so if you want to spend time in another country then you need to work out who will care for your bird(s).

You may want a relationship. This will mean more time away from your birds so you can spend time with a partner. Your partner may be otherwise perfect but hate birds.

Birds aren't like other pets. They thrive on routines and attention. They are not happy with an hour here and an hour there, at different times of the day. As @Sodapop&Co. says, sometimes they will have relatively low maintenance days and sometimes they will be causing havoc every time your back is turned. They need at least 3-4 hours a day out of their cage. Unless you have an actual aviary, no cage is big enough to allow them to fly and exercise.

When they get ill, it can take hundreds of dollars to even identify what is wrong - let alone treat it. Your parents may balk at $400 for just tests.

 

[Animal lover35]

does anyone have any suggestions how to ask my mum if I can get a bird. I haven't asked my mum yet because I felt like doing research first and preparing myself first would be better. Also my mum thinks "keeping birds in cages is cruel" I agree but I was thinking 5f long 3f wide and 6f tall.

 

[Animal lover35]

The issue isn't whether teen you can look after four birds. Trust me, this is probably the period of your life when you have most free time and fewest responsibilities.

The issue is what happens after you leave school. If you're planning to go to university, it will be difficult to find accommodation that will let you keep your birds. University schedules are demanding: you will have lectures, seminars, study groups and, depending on subject, lab hours. You may be offered opportunities to go on study trips, or even to study abroad for a semester or academic year. There are also lots of social activities and student groups that you might want to be involved in.

I have no idea what kind of career you want to have, but many careers involve toughing out a few years of instability before you get more established - perhaps long hours, a commute or changing shifts, including weekends, or a combination of these. Again, you may be offered opportunities like moving to a different location to get a promotion or further training. You may want to try a couple of different fields to see where your talents lie. All this disruption is something that a human can take in their stride, but will make a bird anxious at best and mean that you have to rehome it at worst.

You may want to move around between regions and even countries. Finding accommodation that is pet-friendly can be tough; many leases have a "no pet" clause and finding accommodation with multiple pets is even harder. There are lots of restrictions on travelling between country with a pet, so if you want to spend time in another country then you need to work out who will care for your bird(s).

You may want a relationship. This will mean more time away from your birds so you can spend time with a partner. Your partner may be otherwise perfect but hate birds.

Birds aren't like other pets. They thrive on routines and attention. They are not happy with an hour here and an hour there, at different times of the day. As @Sodapop&Co. says, sometimes they will have relatively low maintenance days and sometimes they will be causing havoc every time your back is turned. They need at least 3-4 hours a day out of their cage. Unless you have an actual aviary, no cage is big enough to allow them to fly and exercise.

When they get ill, it can take hundreds of dollars to even identify what is wrong - let alone treat it. Your parents may balk at $400 for just tests.

I know I'm only thirteen but I know the university's that I want to get into and most of them allow pets. also as for the vet my family is pretty wealthy.

 

[Zara]

I would think if a bird got sick my parents would help me out.

If you read through some of the threads here, you will be saddened by how many parents don´t help. Instead they leave their kids to helplessly watch their beloved pet suffer and sometimes die. I´m not saying your parents are like that, but it may be worth having a conversation with them about this.

Just 20 minutes ago,

My parents left the door unlocked, no signs of a break in, nothing was stolen. The snails can be replaced easily but not my birds, I hand fed my boy until he was weaned.. (...) Unfortunately I’m 16, I don’t have a license, let alone a permit to drive. It’s up to my parents to bring me and my mom said it’s not important enough to bring them, and that they will be fine. (Apparently she’s a bird expert since she had 1 bird when she was a child who died within two months of having it). She said to get warm water then dip a q-tip in it and wipe their eyes, I said it’s vomit and she rolled her eyes. I don’t know what to do at this point. I NEED to bring them and nobody is listening to me

I am not shaming the other members parents or say yours are the same, I just want to show you that this situation is not uncommon. I´m sure this is quite a heartbreaking and frustrating situation to be in.

does anyone have any suggestions how to ask my mum if I can get a bird. I haven't asked my mum yet because I felt like doing research first and preparing myself first would be better. Also my mum thinks "keeping birds in cages is cruel" I agree but I was thinking 5f long 3f wide and 6f tall.

Be honest, sit down and have a conversation.
It is ideal that she would care for your bird should you go to college and cannot take the bird with you, or get sick etc. So that is something that ideally you can both agree on before bringing home any animal companion.
Remember, the birds don´t ¨live¨ in cages. They just sleep in them and are put inside for their own safety when home alone. It´s worth telling your mum that.

Your parents may balk at $400 for just tests.

My mum came for a visit recently, she couldn´t believe how much money I had spent at the vet.

also as for the vet my family is pretty wealthy.

Your familys wealth is not 100% the picture. Sometimes parents just deem a vet visit unneccessary and refuse to make the journey.

edit; I just want to add. If you bought a baby Tiel, maybe even a lovebird, they could live until you are in your 30´s. It´s worth keeping that in mind

 

[Animal lover35]

Just 20 minutes ago,


I am not shaming the other members parents or say yours are the same, I just want to show you that this situation is not uncommon. I´m sure this is quite a heartbreaking and frustrating situation to be in.


Be honest, sit down and have a conversation.
It is ideal that she would care for your bird should you go to college and cannot take the bird with you, or get sick etc. So that is something that ideally you can both agree on before bringing home any animal companion.
Remember, the birds don´t ¨live¨ in cages. They just sleep in them and are put inside for their own safety when home alone. It´s worth telling your mum that.


My mum came for a visit recently, she couldn´t believe how much money I had spent at the vet.


Your familys wealth is not 100% the picture. Sometimes parents just deem a vet visit unneccessary and refuse to make the journey.

edit; I just want to add. If you bought a baby Tiel, maybe even a lovebird, they could live until you are in your 30´s. It´s worth keeping that in mind

The edit that you just made is the reason why I want a rehomed bird but I cant find any.

 

[scrape]

You sound like you'd make a great home for some lucky birds, as long as you do your research and prepare. Oh, and expect that birds won't be like dogs or even cats so don't say you weren't warned
And I'd say just stick to the pair of cockatiels for now.

 

[Animal lover35]

I've just fell in love with budgies because of how active they are so I was wondering if you guys think a pair of budgies wouldn't add to much more maintenance? and what I mean by maintenance is cleaning feeding and that type of thing. Thanks

 

[Zara]

what I mean by maintenance is cleaning feeding and that type of thing

The amount of time it will take you to prep food, clean cages, and maintain cages will be very similar between the littles (Budgies, Tiels, Lovies)
So if you are saying you would prefer a pair of budgies over a pair of Tiels then they would require similar attention. The only difference I can think of would be if they don´t shred so much, then your toys might last a little bit longer.
Just to be clear, budgies need just as much attention as any other bird - they need, time, love, toys, a large cage and regular vet visits. You may also want to look into which budgie; normal budgies or English budgies.
I don´t have any budgies in my home so head on over to Budgie Boulevard | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum and talk with some members who share their homes with budgies.

 

[Mtyler87]

Word of warning, you WILL be spending all your free time cleaning up poop from off your nice things daily AND cleaning their cage on top of that.
Birds NEED a LOT of social attention, care, so if you're not able to be around for them, for their sake, you should not have them.

When having a pet, you need to make sure you can give them the best possible life, if you can only do that part time, please don't get one.

 

[SmallFeather]

I'm in high school and my single cockatiel takes up an enormous amount of my time, though I enjoy every second with him. Between school, homework, and Barley, I don't have much of a social life. The way I see it is that I committed to having a bird, so my bird will always come before everything else. If you are okay with not going out with friends much, doing lots of cleaning, and lots of socialization time, then consider a bird. I see some kids who get animals forget and get bored with them, resulting in neglect, as they get older, so make sure it is something you are absolutely sure of and not a phase. Also, I would start with one or two birds of the same species and wait until you get out of school to commit to more. You have your whole life ahead of you to dedicate to your birds, so start small now. Also, see if there is any possible way you could rescue... I rescued my boy and it feels amazing to give a bird in need a home.