what now?

[jgonier]

Originally posted by greenbananas87
thanks all for the opinions, im realy wanting a bird or chinchilla (maybe a sugar glider they are cool) but my mom said i have to prove to her that i can keep my room clean if i want anything else
a couple of questions, hmm how do i put this,
I have heard that when birds poop it shoots all over, is this true? and could i build a custom cage using plastic on three sides and then just the cage stuff on the front to try and prevent this?
What is the cost of:
*chinchillas
*sugar gliders
*canaries
*parakeets
*love birds
*any other common easy to care for birds

Chinchillas = About $125.00 at LPS and can be messy (they bath in silica sand, not water). Can be tempermental.
Sugar gliders = Not really sure. Do know they need special care though. Not a beginer pet.
Canaries = Small bird. Does not "Spray" poop (never heard of that anyhow) and can sing nice songs.
Parakeets = Noise, noise, and more noise. The birds never stay quiet (maybe at night). Owned two of them and got rid of them three weeks later.
Love birds = Quite birds. Best kept in pairs. Avarage cost between $40.00 and $125.00 each depending on what kind you get.
Other birds = I would have to recomend cockatiels. They are mostly quite birds. Handlable and friendly. Can also learn to sing tunes and can also learn to talk (in some cases).
Note on birds: Any bird can be dusty. Cockatiels more than others. They shed thier skin like dandruff. When they shake their feathers you can see a dust storm come off them. Again all birds are dusty, some more than others. You may find you are dusting your house more often. As with any bird, you must also make sure you keep their food fresh and cages clean, otherwise you will end up with moths flying around your house. The moths come from the bird food, if the food sits for too long, you get moths.
As you can see from my post above, I have owned may different pets. If you have any questions, just ask. All I can really say to you is do as much research on what ever you have in mind. Some of the pets talked about here can require alot of special care. If you are ready to commit to that then go ahead, if not, find something in you care level.
Sorry for the long post again and for my spelling. I just worked 8AM Fri. to 2AM Sat. so I am a little fuzzy in the head,

 

[jgonier]

One more note on birds. Start training them the way you want them to be right from the start. A bad habit is very hard to break with birds. Example: If you start out letting you bird eat off you dinner plate because you think it's cute, you better be ready to do that all the time because your bird will now expect it. Bad bird habits are one of the most hardest things to break, so if you don't want you bird doing something later on, don't teach him (even if it is cute at that moment).
When birds poop, they hang their butts over the edge of whatever they are standing on. They don't "spray it" as far as I have ever seen (and I own 6 birds). What they do get all over is their food. You can buy cage skirts that go around the bottom of their cages to help prevent this.
Hope I helped.

 

[kittykitty]

The Umbrella CockaTOO (not cockaTIEL) is my absolute favorite bird. Every single one that I have ever come across is so incredibly friendly. They are pricey, but they are definitely long-term companions. They love cuddling and LOVE attention.
Probably out of your price range though. They run aroun 1500-1800 dollars.

 

[pumpie]

:thinking: anyone ever have a hedgehog?? I've wanted one forever, they are sooo adorable!

 

[greenbananas87]

i was thinking of going with parakeets to start as they are easier to care for and i have read they are friendly with good personalities, unless anyone has a better choice, and also i have seen this thing to make a rodent cage from a ten gallon aquarium would that work for a bird too (depending on the bar spacing) b/c i have an extra 10g and that would also reduce the seed spill (or am i just kidding my self?)