knowing that its an opinion only. How many hours day does a GCC need to be directly interacting with their person to be happy and well adjusted?Hey IzzyThank you for looking for advice before rushing out to get a bird. Well done.
It is always hard getting a bird in school. Schedules change often and normally you also want a social life. In terms of time before the bird feels neglected, it all depends on the bird. GCC are very attached and physical with their friends. It will be difficult for a GCC to be happy for hours on end alone; some develop screaming behaviour calling out to their flock all day long. Each bird also has their own personality, between my two parrotlets they are completely different personality wise. Some birds are more needy of their people.
@tka normally shares a nice post about the time reality of bird keeping and student life.
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Finally Decided
- Thread starter Yoshi&Raphi
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tka
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As requested, here's my standard advice. I'm happy to expand on any of these points or just generally talk about what university is like if you have questions.
I'm guessing that you're in the UK and 16-18. I'm also in the UK: I'm a university lecturer and have a pretty good idea of what my students' lives are like; I would say that very few of them have the time and/or money to look after a bird. Depending on your course, you may be out of the house for long periods of time. You may be scheduled for a certain number of hours of lectures and seminars but you will be expected to be in a lab or in the library outside lectures/seminars. Universities often have lots of extracurricular activities which take place in the evening - these include everything from rock-climbing to theatre groups to playing the steel drums. You will almost certainly make friends, and will want to spend your evenings hanging out with them. You may need to earn money while in university, which will mean having an evening or weekend job so not as to interfere with classes during the day.
Birds are expensive. Appointments and treatment from a specialised avian vet can run into hundreds of pounds which, as a teenager or student, you probably won't have. Birds need a large cage, an appropriate diet and toys which they will take great delight in utterly destroying which again all cost money.
You will probably live in a hall of residence or dorm for at least part of your time at university. These tend to be very strict about not having pets - and especially not noisy, potentially destructive pets like birds. You may live in rented accommodation where your landlord doesn't allow pets, or share accommodation with people who will use teflon, candles, not close windows or be noisy all night. University students tend to be utterly ridiculous and you will almost certainly live with someone who sets whatever they're trying to cook on fire on a regular basis. This isn't a good environment for a bird!
You may be offered opportunities to travel - for example, on a year abroad or on placements. Friends of mine have gone on placements to New Zealand, the Shetland islands, Tanzania, Germany and Ghana to name just a few places. I've taugfht students from all over Europe, the US and Canada who have come to the UK on an exchange programme. What would happen to your bird if you were on a placement for several weeks, several months, or a whole year?
After university, many new graduates don't find secure, permanent work immediately after graduation; some find that they want to have the freedom to move jobs or cities/countries, and some struggle to find work in a not-great economy. Many careers involve toughing out a few years of instability before you get more established - this may involve frequent travel, moving cities (or even countries), living in a houseshare, doing voluntary work or internships to build up your resume, starting at the bottom of the career ladder and not having much money... These are all pretty typical scenarios, and adding a bird with sensitive social needs is likely to make things difficult.
University offers both hard work, many opportunities and many rewards. It would be a shame to miss out on opportunities that could affect the rest of your life, and there's the danger that you'll come to resent your bird because it prevents you from going out with friends, taking up an exciting hobby, meeting the human love of your life, or doing an internship for a career you desperately want. You will be a better human for your bird if you are balanced, fulfilled and aren't worrying about what you're missing out on.
The next ten years will bring a lot of changes, some of which you won't be able to predict. There will still be birds when you're more settled, have a stable income, and have a better idea of what your adult life looks like. In the meantime, consider volunteering at a shelter or rescue to get some hands-on experience.
I'm guessing that you're in the UK and 16-18. I'm also in the UK: I'm a university lecturer and have a pretty good idea of what my students' lives are like; I would say that very few of them have the time and/or money to look after a bird. Depending on your course, you may be out of the house for long periods of time. You may be scheduled for a certain number of hours of lectures and seminars but you will be expected to be in a lab or in the library outside lectures/seminars. Universities often have lots of extracurricular activities which take place in the evening - these include everything from rock-climbing to theatre groups to playing the steel drums. You will almost certainly make friends, and will want to spend your evenings hanging out with them. You may need to earn money while in university, which will mean having an evening or weekend job so not as to interfere with classes during the day.
Birds are expensive. Appointments and treatment from a specialised avian vet can run into hundreds of pounds which, as a teenager or student, you probably won't have. Birds need a large cage, an appropriate diet and toys which they will take great delight in utterly destroying which again all cost money.
You will probably live in a hall of residence or dorm for at least part of your time at university. These tend to be very strict about not having pets - and especially not noisy, potentially destructive pets like birds. You may live in rented accommodation where your landlord doesn't allow pets, or share accommodation with people who will use teflon, candles, not close windows or be noisy all night. University students tend to be utterly ridiculous and you will almost certainly live with someone who sets whatever they're trying to cook on fire on a regular basis. This isn't a good environment for a bird!
You may be offered opportunities to travel - for example, on a year abroad or on placements. Friends of mine have gone on placements to New Zealand, the Shetland islands, Tanzania, Germany and Ghana to name just a few places. I've taugfht students from all over Europe, the US and Canada who have come to the UK on an exchange programme. What would happen to your bird if you were on a placement for several weeks, several months, or a whole year?
After university, many new graduates don't find secure, permanent work immediately after graduation; some find that they want to have the freedom to move jobs or cities/countries, and some struggle to find work in a not-great economy. Many careers involve toughing out a few years of instability before you get more established - this may involve frequent travel, moving cities (or even countries), living in a houseshare, doing voluntary work or internships to build up your resume, starting at the bottom of the career ladder and not having much money... These are all pretty typical scenarios, and adding a bird with sensitive social needs is likely to make things difficult.
University offers both hard work, many opportunities and many rewards. It would be a shame to miss out on opportunities that could affect the rest of your life, and there's the danger that you'll come to resent your bird because it prevents you from going out with friends, taking up an exciting hobby, meeting the human love of your life, or doing an internship for a career you desperately want. You will be a better human for your bird if you are balanced, fulfilled and aren't worrying about what you're missing out on.
The next ten years will bring a lot of changes, some of which you won't be able to predict. There will still be birds when you're more settled, have a stable income, and have a better idea of what your adult life looks like. In the meantime, consider volunteering at a shelter or rescue to get some hands-on experience.
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AstridBird
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- izzy
From my research I would say Ideally you should spend as much time with your GCC as possible , but atleast 2 or 3 hours a day, I know GCC require a lot of attention and toys so they don't get bored or result to things like feather plucking
