IndianRingNeck.com

Hey all,

I am looking to share my life with a companion, but want to make the right choice in terms of a parrot (if at all, maybe it's not suited for anything).

My situation:

I live in a small apartment, about 40 square meters, one large room. I live in the city.
I can't handle screams (I'm OK with chirping and talk etc, but I heard some large parrot screams like cockatoo or eclectus, and it will be horrible inside my little apartment).
I work around 10 hours a day.

What I can give - about 2 hours of love and affection mid week, fun on weekends, and sometimes take him with me to work (don't know if IRNs are cool with travels). Toys, great cage.

I don't have any other pets, no children.

What do you think?

All parrots are vocal, if you want a quiet pet maybe a hamster or goldfish would suit you better. Ten hours a day?, your bird would need a Liberta Raleigh cage, because it's the only one big enough to fly and flit around in. It wouldn't be fair to leave your bird shut in a small cage for that length of time. The same applies to taking it to work, a travel.cage for ten hours would be bordering on cruel. Pets are a huge commitment and responsibility, so please choose very carefully.

I would say that unless you choose a pet that is a loner in regular life, you're looking at getting a duo (or more) of whatever animal and just being the 3rd wheel (so to speak) when you are home. I can clearly hear my birds outside on the other side of the house with the windows shut, so even though some say apartment living is OK for IRNs; I don't think it would be. Hamster was a good idea. Hamster Club website says they are solitary animals. www.hamster-club.com/article.asp?ID=317

I think the ladies here said it perfect. These birds can be loud and it can be irritating. I have seven parrots and let me tell you it's a lot of noise.

My neighbors are thankfully very cool about the noise, but even then I try to be as careful as possible. You can expect vocal calling morning, noon, and before sunset. You have to remember these birds were designed to be loud and this is something that's very difficult to change.

I love that you're doing your research before jumping into such a commitment. But, if you want to still do more research, then browse through the site and forum as it has a great deal of information.

Good luck on your search my friend!

IMRAN-C