How long does it take to get a parrot? Not nearly as long as you might think. You might think that you need to think about it for a long time and do a lot of planning and read books on bird training and parrot behavior and discuss the decision with the family (and possibly the neighbors) and make several shopping trips and set up the cage and find a good parrot breeder and get on a waiting list and wait and wait and wait and start yoiur own blog and then get a call and then wait for the parrot to be ready and then finally, after several months, go get him - that is a good way to go about it.
Or, you might think you go down to the pet store, pick a bird that looks cute, grab a bag of supplies and finally, after about 30 minutes, take him home - that is a bad way to go about it. When I was a kid, they sold parrots at Thrifty's along with ice cream cones and, believe it or not: monkeys! If you get a parrot that way, there is a about 75% chance (or higher) that someday soon, I will get a new, pre-owned parrot. If you are not really prepared for a parrot, you may end up thinking it doesn't like you and it may develop bad habits (like plucking out all of its feathers until it looks like a skinny plucked chicken) and you will just want a quick way to get rid of the thing.
Hopefully, there will be someone around who values parrots and will rehabilitate your damaged but glorious bird. It may not be me...it may be someone else like me. I started down the first road: nice and cautious; lot's of research; know what you are getting into - but actually, because of the need, it took me two weeks to get my first parrot...and just 30 minutes for the second.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to yell at you. You are probably just the kind of person who should have a parrot - otherwise you would not be reading this. But, abandoned birds happen much more often than you might imagine.
Here are some stories from just this weekend in just my town:
- A woman in town finds that her Jenday Conure is just too loud and she can't take it. Luckily she cares for the bird and brings it in to the parrot supply store (where the owner, Karen, works to rescue neglected or abused birds and re-home unwanted birds). The woman isn't bad to her birds in any way, she just can't take the noise and she doesn't know how to train him to be quieter. He is a beautiful little guy, but he isn't really hand trained either. He is going to need a nuturing trainer to turn him around. Jenday Conure estimated retail: $500.
- Karen and Nicole go out to a really nice home where the man has 4 parrots - all in cages with no toys, no food, and scummy water dishes. All of them have plucked there feathers out and looked pretty worn. They should be beautiful birds - but right now you have to look past their physical appearance to see it. They bring 3 of them back with them - the man doesn't want them anymore. He keeps one of the birds even though they beg him to let them take it and care for it for a while at no charge and give it back whenever he wants (though it is very unlikely that once it is out of the house that he would ever want it back), but he refuses - for now. Estimated retail of the 3 birds removed: $2,900.
- A woman in a small town up the road gets another call from her neighbor the policeman. He has gotten another call from the local Humane Society. They have another very large Cockatoo in a very small hamster cage and have no idea what to do with it. The woman adds it to her large 30'x10' enclosed porch aviary. Cockatoo estimated retail: $1000.
And this is just Saturday! At one little parrot lovers community! And it doesn't tell about who knows how many others that I didn't hear about. This scene is repeated every week.
There are two ways to get a parrot fast: 1) buy one at a pet store with no planning on a whim, or 2) be known as someone who will take in an unwanted bird and give them a loving home. Of course, in order to do the second option, you have to have put in the long hard work to become that person. I am still learning - but there was major success in my own parrot flock this weekend! Stay tuned for our next exciting episode of "The Bird Man of Stonegate", comming soon.
