Are parrotlets the right bird for me?

[animalobsessed]

Hello! So i really want to add a hookbill bird to my "flock". I will be getting a lot more finches and some more doves, but i want a companion bird that can hang out with me while i watch a movie and stuff(a bird that likes to cuddles) and a bird that won't make my wallet hate me

So i decided between 3 hookbills; budgies, cockatiels, and parrotlets. Budgies have a bad rep in my family. We have all lived with my grandma and she always has those birds in her house (her last pair died, so this time she want a canary ). I really am not interested in budgies, so they are off the "list". I was set a couple weeks back of getting a tiel, but a friend of my mum (her son breeds birds) said she dosen't recommend me a cockatiel as a pet. She said they are dirty and loud :/. My aunt is coming to live with us and she isn't very tolerent. So i think tiels are off the list, unfortunatly.

That leaves parrotlets... I have a few questions..
1. Are they loud? Louder than budgies or zebra finches?
2. Do they like to cuddle and are they fun pets?
3. Are they hard to tame?
4. Do their bites hurt? How often do they bite?

[paul-inAZ]

I had parrotlets a while back.
1. They are pretty quiet. Great as to noise level. Far quieter than budgies or 'tiels.
2&3. When tame they do like to cuddle and can be ideal for a small companion bird. A little 'pocket parrot'. BUT~ if training is not started very early [and preferably a hand fed baby] they can be slow to tame.
4. They are notoriously nippy unless tamed. For their size they have an extremely powerful bite that can draw blood so that 'nippy' is an understatement.

Another option I considered that could meet your requirements would be lineolated parakeets. [Linnies]. I never got around to getting one but they are also said to be good companions and have few bad traits.

[FinchLady]

Have you considered a young English Budgie? Quieter and calmer than American Budgies and less biting power than a parrotlet. Several forum members have English Budgies and recommend them as companion birds with easy care.. They can advise you better than I. I cannot find a breeder in my area, or I would already have one....or two.. From everything I've read they are wonderful interactive pets.
G.

[paul-inAZ]

He mentioned that he didn't want budgies so I didn't think to mention them.
I have a dozen or so English budgies and agree that they could work.

English are not only much larger than the pet store parakeet [AKA Australian, American or wild type] but are much quieter, calmer and less destructive. Mine are untamed aviary birds from exhibition stock but even so they can be handled with minimal to no risk of nipping. Their bite is uncommon and really a non-event that has never hurt me.

I think that even if acquired as an adult an English could be tamed relatively easily. They have been bred for exhibition for a couple hundred years and the calmness and acceptance of handling seems to have been bred into them.

Harder to find but worth the trouble. Best to find an English budgie club in your area that can help one find a breeder. The pet shops don't carry them but around here the cost from a breeder is way less than the other small hook bills.

[Sheather]

I would recommend an English budgie over all the rest of the list.
Parrotlets can shriek louder than budgies and to me, it's a much worse sound. Cockatiels can scream loud enough to hear across the street and males kept alone are VERY prone to vicious hormonal periods where you will bleed... a lot. They get neurotic and possessive and it's not good. It's not usually an issue if the bird is raised with another cockatiel though.

[animalobsessed]

I will have to look into those english budgies! Thanks!

[FinchLady]

animalobsessed: I know you said Budgies were off the 'list' but have heard so many good things about English Budgies, thought I'd suggest you take a look. You have received helpful information from Paul and Sheather. Now I'm going to search again for a local breeder.

[FinchLady]

BTW: Paul, Sheather
Are English Budgies good talkers like the American Budgies? I've had great success with American males talking; little less so with the female I had.

[Sheather]

I have never had a budgie that really talked.
One of mine (American) mumbles if you talk directly to him, but it's very fast and quiet.
Budgies usually must live alone or be hand-raised/imprinted to talk. In those instances either breed does so.

[FinchLady]

My male American Budgie did have a jabbering, tight voice but was easy to understand. He knew several phrases as well as many words. My female American Budgie could say a few words but only talked when she felt like it. That bird had an imperious attitude like she was queen of the world one minute; sweet little darling the next. But where my male sometimes screeched, my female always had a soft twittering tweet.

[paul-inAZ]

I have no direct experience with trying to teach budgies to talk.
From what I've heard there is no difference between English or 'American'. They are the same species, only one is bred for larger size and calmer temperament. Like football players and jockeys as far as size. Kept solo and worked with I suppose either one can say a few things but in general they are not known to be proficient talkers.

And Finch Lady: start your search with a club like the Budgerigar Association of America. They may have an affiliated club in your area that would lead to breeders or to one of their exhibitions. The shows here have several hundred budgies competing for prizes. A great way to see a lot of quality mutations and meet breeders.

[Sheather]

They are supposedly one of the best talkers in the bird kingdom actually, but this is with a hand-raised male bird kept as a single pet, you don't usually see any of that in a flock setting.

[Gracie85]

I had parrotlets, took them in to rescue them from a less-than-favorable situation.
They were the LOUDEST little buggers you could imagine.
While they don't have the long screech of other hookbills, their "chirps" were piercingly loud, and they were "talking" all day long. At full volume. for a long time every day.

There is also no guarantee they will become/remain a hand-tame pet. Mine were already too old (plus however they had been treated) to attempt to train that way, three of the four would flee to the far side of their cages if you got close, in terror of people, the fourth one would come right up all friendly, then attempt to bite you through the bars, you, your clothing, whatever she could reach. If you weren't paying attention and got any part of you near the cage, suddenly you'd feel your shirtsleeve, your back, whatever, being pulled or bitten.

A friend of mine got a baby parrotlet, hand-raised, from a breeder, to be her little buddy. Started out okay. Then the bird decided it liked her husband, and ONLY her husband, even tho she was the one who did all feeding and cage care and spent the day at home with it. Bird started attacking her when out of the cage. Like would come flying across the room from her husband and try to attack her eyes, she said one day if she hadn't had her sunglasses on when she came in, she would have lost an eye, for sure. She gave the bird back to the breeder.

Many people have wonderful little parrotlets. But they don't always turn out that way, they are extremely feisty and if you get the one with a little kink in its little brain, watch out.

Another hookbill to look into might be a Rosy Bourke parakeet. Very quiet and peaceful. Not sure how "cuddly" they are, but have never heard anything but praise for them, plus they are really beautiful.

Another friend of mine got a small conure, I think hers is a pineapple-cheeked conure, and it is her best litttle buddy.

You aren't planning on putting the hookbill in with your finches, are you? Very dangerous idea.

[Dave]

You're getting a lot of advice! All of it good, I think.

Just to put in a word for Cockatiels, who seem to have slipped to the bottom of the breed list in this thread--

Many consider them the ideal pet bird, hardy, affectionate, trainable, easy to care for.

Keep in mind that the ideal pet bird is made of plastic, and doesn't make noise, shed feathers, or need to be fed. Not much fun, either.

[FinchLady]

Paul-inAZ: I've taken your advice searching for English Budgies. There aren't any clubs or Budgie shows in our area (Montgomery, AL). I did check out several breeders but they no longer bred English Budgies- mostly larger hook bills like Cockatoos, Love Birds, and Quakers. The one breeder I did find within 2 hr drive advertises English Budgies for $20-30. Then when you go on his site, they are priced $80-130. The bait-and-switch puts me off.
Tried ordering through two local pet shops (PetSmart, Petland) but neither sources them; only standard American Budgies available.
I've been searching since September of last year. Strange that they are so hard to find.