Talk me down..

[Elysian]

If you've seen any of my posts I'm sure you know how eager I am to add a bigger bird to my family (which is me, my bf, and two little bratty budgie boys).

I've been in contact with a breeder of pionus and blue crown conures who is supposed to tell me next time he has either available..
But I can't help looking at the rescues and bird stores around here too, just in case I find "the one".

Well, I just found out one of the stores has a baby blue front amazon.

I always told myself if I got an amazon it should be a rescue/past puberty (same with a grey or any 'too) but...

Ahh, I'm so tempted! I have the cage now. I have the quarantine room.
And my boyfriend really wants a talker. I mean the bird would be mine, and we've talked about the possibility of possessiveness/aggression.. but he thinks if we're doing it we might as well get the smartest and most interesting bird we can, despite those cons.

A BFA (ok what is with me and blue head birds?) could definitely be what he hopes.

Help me

And for a serious question about it:
I haven't gone back to my office yet, still working from home.. on the phones.. and I work past dusk. I know Amazons can get loud in the morning and evening. Does that start in babyhood?

 

[AussieBird]

NEVER come to AA to be talked down.
But this is something you need to think very carefully about.

 

[Kassiani]

I love your excitement! Have you been to meet this bird yet? Done all your research of possible health issues affecting them? Taken out a second mortgage to pay for toys? Lol! As @Shezbug said to me “if (when) you bring him home...” share a ton of photos!

 

[Feather]

Wait for the right bird. If you've already determined a baby 'zon is not in the cards, if you've already done your research and decided a pionus or blue crown conure would be a better fit, then wait.

 

[ParrotNuts]

@Elysian do you think we will allow you to say no to such a face

You should know we love new bird pics

 

[Feather]

Reminder to others that enabling is not actually helpful or healthy behavior. This is why I personally almost never ask for advice here on decisions within my flock...

 

[Elysian]

NEVER come to AA to be talked down.
But this is something you need to think very carefully about.

I know, this is what tortures me.
I saw a BH pionus and I told myself this bird is awesome but I need to think very seriously about this.. thought and rethought and did extra research for a week, couldn't stop thinking about him, called the store and they had JUST sold him.

There have also been a couple of birds at rescue that I was pretty interested in but they also adopted out just days before I made up my mind and asked about them.

I want to be very very careful but I'm developing a serious fear of missing out!

Also this store is at the limits of my driving distance so it's not a place I can just pop by to visit without being serious

 

[AussieBird]

Reminder to others that enabling is not actually helpful or healthy behavior. This is why I personally almost never ask for advice here on decisions within my flock...

Very wise choice.

 

[Mybluebird]

Just my two cents worth - all baby birds are cute and will win you over in a heartbeat! I like what @Feather said. Wait for the right bird if you've done your research and know what species you want. The right bird will find you!

 

[AussieBird]

I know, this is what tortures me.
I saw a BH pionus and I told myself this bird is awesome but I need to think very seriously about this.. thought and rethought and did extra research for a week, couldn't stop thinking about him, called the store and they had JUST sold him.

There have also been a couple of birds at rescue that I was pretty interested in but they also adopted out just days before I made up my mind and asked about them.

I want to be very very careful but I'm developing a serious fear of missing out!

Also this store is at the limits of my driving distance so it's not a place I can just pop by to visit without being serious

Yes, I missed out a few weeks ago. There was a pigeon being given away, and I thought very seriously about it. When I decided I might at least contact the person it was too late.

 

[Elysian]

Wait for the right bird. If you've already determined a baby 'zon is not in the cards, if you've already done your research and decided a pionus or blue crown conure would be a better fit, then wait.

It's so hard to come up with better fit for sure.

Do I want a quietish bird that could chill with me and watch tv, sit on my shoulder for awhile and just be there? Of course!

But.. do I also want a bird that is a total goofball, TALKS to me, and does a ton of tricks? Um yeah!

Darnit why can I only have one.

 

[Kassiani]

Reminder to others that enabling is not actually helpful or healthy behavior. This is why I personally almost never ask for advice here on decisions within my flock...

I don’t think asking if she had done her research and considered the finances enabling—even when done in a silly way. Perhaps I’m wrong . I received the same ‘enabling’ on a thread in the Macaw Motorway. I’m sure Elysian, as I am, is able to weigh the pros and cons and make a good decision in her own time. Hearing the experiences of others is very helpful when making the decision to add a bird to one’s flock.

 

[Elysian]

Just my two cents worth - all baby birds are cute and will win you over in a heartbeat! I like what @Feather said. Wait for the right bird if you've done your research and know what species you want. The right bird will find you!

Very true.
Except I genuinely can't say for sure what species I want I've researched them all, over and over.
There are about 5 of them that I would be absolutely thrilled with either way. I tried to rule out baby zons because I know their puberty is.. hairy.. and there are so many that turn up in rescues, seeking out babies feels wrong.
But I didn't seek him out, he's just there? And.. and.. ugh. It's the possibility of talking that pushes me to the edge, I admit it.

 

[Feather]

I don’t think asking if she had done her research and considered the finances enabling—even when done in a silly way. Perhaps I’m wrong . I received the same ‘enabling’ on a thread in the Macaw Motorway. I’m sure Elysian, as I am, is able to weigh the pros and cons and make a good decision in her own time. Hearing the experiences of others is very helpful when making the decision to add a bird to one’s flock.

It wasn't directed at you. Not anyone, really. Just a general reminder of the direction so many of these threads tend to take. Elysian did ask to be talked down, after all.

Very true.
Except I genuinely can't say for sure what species I want
There are about 5 of them that I would be absolutely thrilled with either way. I tried to rule out baby zons because I know their puberty is.. hairy.. and there are so many that turn up in rescues, seeking out babies feels wrong.
But I didn't seek him out, he's just there? And.. and.. ugh. It's the possibility of talking that pushes me to the edge, I admit it.

The only guarantee of a bird who talks is getting one who already talks. You're not "missing out." There will always be another bird to tug at your heartstrings, and a baby zon is a baby zon whether sought out or not. If you don't know what species you want, then it's doubly my opinion that you really need to wait this one out - you're gonna have decades ahead of you with whatever bird you choose. Don't rush a decision like that.

 

[Elysian]

I love your excitement! Have you been to meet this bird yet? Done all your research of possible health issues affecting them? Taken out a second mortgage to pay for toys? Lol! As @Shezbug said to me “if (when) you bring him home...” share a ton of photos!

It would be a million times easier if I could just pop over and meet the bird. This is the store at the outer limits of my driving range.. bf is willing to go on sunday but it'd be an all day affair to get there and back.
I hate to drag him out there just for me to cuddle a baby and hem and haw and say maybe we should think some more

But everytime I decide "nah, we're not going"
The other half of my brain is like "but.. can you imagine.."

 

[Elysian]

Thanks guys both sides.

I just want a "baby" of my own
Waiting is so hard.

All three species keep circling around in my head, and have been for a long time.
I want a bird as smart as an amazon, as chill as a pionus, as friendly as a conure..
That bird doesn't exist, so I'll love what I can get, but I still can't definitively pick one over the other. Love em all.

And then sometimes a grey or a 'too sneaks into my brain swirl but that's gotta wait till I'm in a different job and able to foster

Also, yes my budgies are my babies already but.. they're actually more like my tiny grumpy old men

 

[AussieBird]

Waiting is definitely hard, but sometimes it's for the best. I hope you find the right bird for you.

 

[Elysian]

I won't go there. I told myself no amazon babies and I should stick to that. Especially one of the "hot three".

..unless I see one at the store much closer to me and it seems to "pick" me. I don't know how well I can hold out then.

And if the rescue changes their "virtual visits" back to real ones.. I'd love to meet their amazon, but I'm not confident enough in bird language to commit to one through the window.

 

[tka]

I want a bird as smart as an amazon, as chill as a pionus, as friendly as a conure..

I've posted on another thread, but please be very, VERY careful about making generalisations like these. Pionus are parrots. They are still going to be noisy, inquisitive, messy, playful and so on. They tend to be observant and like to watch what's going on, but you are NOT guaranteed a "chill" bird who will enjoy just hanging out. Leia's favourite game is to do the things she not she's not meant to do (like fly to the floor and stomp around (discouraged because I'm scared she'll be stepped on), chew on the window blinds or toggles etc), wait for me to retrieve her and put her somewhere where she can chew her toys, then immediately fly back to do the thing again. She gets something in her head and is totally determined to do it.

It's basically this, on repeat, for a couple of hours:

My partner calls Leia a "flying bad idea machine". She does like to hang out on my shoulder for about 30 minutes before bed to wind down, but this is after an evening of flying around and getting into stuff.

@Feather also has a Pionus who is a fellow devotee of chaos.

Here's the other thread: What Pionus parrot should I choose?

 

[Elysian]

Oh thank you tka. You guys are very good about promoting the right idea about birds

For myself, I know ANY bird is perfectly liable to be a "monster" in various ways. That's exactly why I don't have a specific species I HAVE to have.
I have the ones I know I would prefer as far as size, general intelligence, general looks, dietary needs, and feather type (avoiding the powders unless one absolutely steals me over).
The rest is gravy. The bird is going to be a bird. It might sit on my shoulder, it might hate being touched. It might sit nicely on a playstand, it might chew up my walls. It might love my bf more than me. It might attack my bf in the face.
It's all so unpredictable (whatever bird you bring home is not even necessarily what you will have a few years later) that I just hope for the best and plan for the possible worst.

That's just too long to type in every thread


I need a way to condense all that into a siggy.