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Parrots in apartments?

expressmailtome

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Some areas have local bird clubs that meet every few weeks. You could try joining one if there are any that are close enough.
 

HawkEagle

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Hello and welcome! I am glad that you are willling to look after a bird.
First of all, macaws seldom make good apartment pets- because of the noise and space required. Greys are another thing- they are not quite as vocal and a joy to have, although they would require a large cage. As some members noted, conures are great for apartments and close to macaws. I would also like to recommend the Hahn's Macaws, which is a type of mini-macaw. If you DO end up getting a macaw, a Hahn's is the quietest type out there.
Cockatiels are also amazing and fearfully loyal pets.:tieln:

So, if you dismiss the fact that you would like a larger bird, good apartment pets are these:

finches
canaries
budgies
parrotlets
lovebirds
Green-cheek conures (not Suns or Jendays!)
Cockatiels.

However, lets return to conures. Conures are, as a family, loud. Sorry- that is true. :ystgcc: But I recommend the Green-cheek conure, which is- relatively, of course- quiet! Although all birds are messy and you'll have a lot of cleaning up to do! :sweep:

Possibly even major rebuilding! They are sweet but awfully disruptive. :hammer:

Nevertheless, if you are ready- you will be rewarded with a forever friend!

My good wishes,
Paulina!

I hope I helped.
 

HawkEagle

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intresting, ive homestly never even considered conures, I will do some research on them.

so no offense to you or anyone here, but is like the only way to be able to have a bird, to be in a situation where i dont have to leave my home to work? be say retired? becuase yes one day i do want to get married. kids are optional in my mind, and that would be a horrible situation to put a bird into, hopefully i can find someone who is bird friendly.

i know they can be destructive little guys, and maby im just niave, but we kept a young golden lab in a house once, it was very destructive,(ruined a good sofa) but we evetually figured out how to keep it without it tearing things up too badly, through training and spending time with it to get its energy burned off, and if i can do that, i honestly think i could bird proof a home

I obviously cant read the future, but i would hope i dont have to do a 10 hour day to be successful in my career, but you guys are absolutely right, in it being something to keep in mind.

So heres my current battleplan. graduate, get a job, get a pet friendly apartment, do legitimate soul searching to see if i do have the time required for a bird.I know im commiting a sin both in practicality and perhaps in animal welfare, buy i am just in love with maccaws, there so pretty and theyre friendly and silly, i feel like i could play with one all day.

If you are set on a macaw, get a Hahn's. They are the quietest!
 

amy burke

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I agree with keeping your mind open, spending some time with a bunch of birds and seeing if a bird picks you.. I went two times to a breeder looking for a Jardine's (since they are rarely in rescue). Was picked by A blue headed pionus, and a blue front amazon. There is nothing like it when they choose you! Keep in mind though that your life will change dramatically with the addition of a significant other or kids. Maybe a dream job or whatever. I had those parrots when I was a veterinary student. Before I had kids. Before my spouse. My amazon died in a tragic cage accident. My pionus started self-mutilating after that happened. My new spouse hated the bird. My babies stressed the bird. I found someone retired without kids to take her and she is in full feather again. That being said, I have waited 15 years until I knew the time was right again to have a bird. Different spouse, my kids are teenagers. I am working from home. Take it seriously enough and think of what is best for a bird. AS a sidenote, and to second what others have said, unless you dedicate a room to your bird, and are prepared to renovate the room when you move out, cage the bird while you are gone. I have worked with many birds through my vet career, and they are not domesticated. I wouldn't trust the most trained bird not to have their way with things they shouldn't. Just my experience, and my advice.
 

TWR

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If you are set on a macaw, get a Hahn's. They are the quietest!
It's probably true that the Hahns is the quietest of the macaws, however I still find my Hahns Macaw to be equal to or louder than my Sun Conure. It's a different pitch though. I am lucky that neither my Sun nor my Hahns sound off all that often - only when they hear someone at the front door, so they are pretty good really. But I still wouldn't recommend them as apartment birds. You might be lucky and get an exceptionally quiet one, but too risky really and if someone complains, the bird potentially loses its home.
 

Chopper

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A year ago I was looking for an apartment and was told that I had to get rid of some of my birds, my dog, and a couple of cats before I could move in anywhere. I kept looking but in the meantime I rehomed my dog, and rehomed some of my birds, and after careful discussion with my vet and the humane society made a difficult decision regarding two of my cats.
The apartment complex that I am in has welcomed my birds - all of them - and it turns out that I could have kept some of the animals I made rehoming decisions on.

I have loud birds and I have a hearing loss. I have dedicated an entire room to my birds because they are that important to me. PLEASE do not base your decision on anything until you have moved to where you are going to live and have at least interacted with the large macaws. The smaller macaws (Severe) are louder than my large macaws (B&G).

Don't think for one minute that what one apartment complex tells you the rest are the same. They aren't the same. It depends on the apartment.
 

Jonatron5

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i might wind up renting a house.

that might be better for both me and my neighbors, not to mention the bird!

my life is kind of up in the air right now(pun intended) so im just doing my reasearch.

do you guys have opinions on adopting vs purchasing?
 

alcmene

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I have 2 macaws. I will tell you what I tell everyone who asks about macaws and noise.

I live on acreage in the woods. My mailbox is a 1/2 mile from my house. If Tulip is honking at full volume, I can hear her- easily and clearly- from my mailbox through closed windows. I am not exaggerating even a little. Attempting to put THAT in an apartment is inconceivable.
 

Chopper

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I do hear my birds outside but its not between the levels. Again, it depends on the apartment and the bird and the tenants. There is just so much to consider. I looked at a lot of apartments and talked to a lot of people. some days they are even loud for me. But today...they were eerily quiet.
 

Jenphilly

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intresting, ive homestly never even considered conures, I will do some research on them.

so no offense to you or anyone here, but is like the only way to be able to have a bird, to be in a situation where i dont have to leave my home to work? be say retired? becuase yes one day i do want to get married. kids are optional in my mind, and that would be a horrible situation to put a bird into, hopefully i can find someone who is bird friendly.

i know they can be destructive little guys, and maby im just niave, but we kept a young golden lab in a house once, it was very destructive,(ruined a good sofa) but we evetually figured out how to keep it without it tearing things up too badly, through training and spending time with it to get its energy burned off, and if i can do that, i honestly think i could bird proof a home

I obviously cant read the future, but i would hope i dont have to do a 10 hour day to be successful in my career, but you guys are absolutely right, in it being something to keep in mind.

So heres my current battleplan. graduate, get a job, get a pet friendly apartment, do legitimate soul searching to see if i do have the time required for a bird.I know im commiting a sin both in practicality and perhaps in animal welfare, buy i am just in love with maccaws, there so pretty and theyre friendly and silly, i feel like i could play with one all day.



I am so sorry, I missed this until this morning! Not sure how, but my apologies being so late!!

First no your question is not rude at all :) We adopt to families or individuals where the person works. While my macaw has what might be the best case scenario for having a macaw, but the reason I'm home all the time is not the best reason (I live with health issues that prevent me from working a 'regular' job, but then A Helping Wing has the benefit that I need to stay busy, so I volunteer and am very involved with the shelter). But, anyway, back to point, babbling (I do that, apologies!!!).... We have adopted many macaws to singles, couples and even families where the bird spends 4-8 hours alone in the home. But, we do focus on matching them with macaws that have become adapted to spending longer hours in their cage. So, no you do not need to wait until you are retired, its just about finding the right macaw that matches your lifestyle, they are often more independent and not nearly as snuggle bugs, but that does not mean they are not bonded to their person, just not as dependent on you. So, that might mean tho they enjoy playing and interacting, they might not seek you out as much when you are home. Hope that makes sense!!

But, at this point in your life with so many changes ahead and living in an apartment, a macaw may just not be the right fit. But that does not mean 5 years from now if you are settled into your career, have purchased your first home, possibly met the person you want to marry and they are committed to having a macaw too, and you adopt together, then you have a much great chance of being successful even if children are added the scenario. But, still if you think about any friends with kids and what their schedules are like, usually they don't have an hour to themselves a day, so kids should still be a consideration. When we have families apply to adopt that have kids, we do usually avoid families with very young children only because of the liability of how dangerous and how much damage a large macaw can do to little fingers. But, even if you marry and have kids, when your kids are 8 or so, they are often old enough to actively be involved with the hands on learning experiences and a kid that is connected to animals, learn exceptionally well the body language, hand position, proper interactions and such.

So all my babble..... do you need to wait til you are retired, no... but depending on where you want to be in the next 10 years, putting a macaw on the list of things you want to have in your life down the road may be best. But, again, there are so very many awesome birds outside of a macaw that are as rewarding and amazing family members that I would never want you to not consider having a feathered friend because it can't be a macaw, you would be robbing yourself of some amazing years until your situation might be better to add a macaw into that flock family :)

In my home, we have birds from budgies to my blue and gold macaw... and outside of my macaw, the favorite bird in the house with such a huge personality is a sun conure. We had many wonderful years before a macaw made the decision for us that he should come home (I did not go looking for one, he decided for me that I was gonna be a macaw mom!).

Anyway, I am babbling on. And I apologize for missing your post for so long, I try to log on and check alerts, but missed that one. Hopefully I'm not too late responding :)
 

BirdieGirlCA

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I have quite a lot of birds, including a large macaw and a mini macaw. They are extremely loud and messy. I live in an apartment but I'm the only one in my building of 4 units. Otherwise, I would never be able to have my macaws in an apartment. They are expensive in that they destroy a lot of toys very quickly.

If you want a parrot in an apartment, I would suggest a Meyers Parrot, Jardines or a Pionus. I am a sucker for conures but they too can be noisy (particularly noisy are the sun conures, jendays and gold caps).

If you want something larger in an apartment than those I've suggested above, I'd recommend an Alexandrine Parakeet or Cape Parrot. I have both and they are both sweet and affectionate and not particularly noisy.

I'd wanted an aviary my whole life, but knew it wasn't the right time because I was not settled in my life. I am 44 years old now and besides my full time job, I am home nights and weekends with my birds. I find that as long as I keep them fully supplied with new toys and nice large cages, they do very well for the 8 hours a day I am at work. They get 5-6 hours of out of cage time every night. They are very used to our daily routine. I have had to sacrifice a lot for them (cleaning their cages 3 hours every single night and quite a bit of money for their care) but they are worth it. I'm just glad I waited until I was older because I know I would have been overwhelmed with their care at your age. Of course, you are only talking about getting one parrot, but still. They are definitely a big responsibility and unfortunately I see very many birds returned to stores and shelters by people who started out with good intentions and then ultimately had to give them up. Just go into it with the mindset that you are adopting a child for life. And when you can honestly say you are ready for that type of commitment, then go for it! Good luck :)
 
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Denice

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I would never propose to tell another person what they should or shouldn't do. I will share with you though that I had a conure and a parakeet in an apartment for several years. I taught them both to talk, and the conure was VERY affectionate. The parakeet was sweet but didn't like to be scratched or cuddled much, just near by and would step up. I actually bought the parakeet to keep the conure company when I was at work. That said every day when I got home from work they were out and it only gave me about 4 hours to interact, because they needed to go to bed at 9pm to get ample sleep time they need 9-12 hours of dark quiet time to sleep. I was fortunate they got along great and constantly preened each other and interacted, birds do not always get along. I will say that in the morning the conure was very vocal, not to the point any neighbors ever complained though. One of my favorite memories was putting them to bed at night and covering the cages, they would walk on the bottom of the cage near the edge of the cover and say peek-a-boo for a few minutes before perching to sleep. Birds are creatures of habit and schedule and can get testy if it is changed too much, I know this from experience. That meant on weekends I let them out only an hour earlier than a work day to keep them on the same schedule. That was many years ago, now I am lucky enough to live on a farm so neighbors are not an issue.
 
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