[budgiedada]

I have experience with budgies, cockaties and some what experience of indian ringnecks (not first hand, but friend have it).

I am building a new house, and would have enough space to buy a new parrot or a pair.

I would like to know, which is the most cuddly and playful parrot with some what good talking abilities. I have seen lorries and they are really sweet (the kind i would like), but being in india, i think i cant feed them properly as commercial nectar products are not available here.

I would like a parrot, who is outgoing, playful, loves to cuddle, curious, and can learn to speak few words. Which are the good candidates that you would recommend ?

 

[FaeryBee]

I'd look at the smaller parrots if it were me.
Although they aren't known for the ability to learn to speak, they are fun, playful curious, love to cuddle and bond strongly with a human when you get a young one and work with it.

Do a little bit of research on Lovebirds, Parrotlets and Linnies to see if any of them strike your fancy.

 

[budgiedada]

@FairyBee - you are right, but this time i would like to get a larger parrot then budgies or lover bird. do you have any experience them, any suggestions which may suite the qualities i mentioned in my post.?

 

[FaeryBee]

No, I'm sorry I do not.
Perhaps one of our other members will be able to offer some suggestions.

 

[chirper]

Congratulations for your new house

Enough space to buy new parrot is fine but spending lots of time is required for bonding if you can do that from Budgie to African Grey every parrot will reward your efforts

Intelligence level of African Grey is the best

In my opinion go for Indian ring neck

 

[Kate C]

I have only ever seen a couple of Indian Ringnecks that made good pets and I have hand raised up to 100 of them and they exhibit unwanted characteristics before they have even weaned.

But their big cousin the Alexandrine is a much more gentle and laid back bird. They are smart, can talk (both sexes) and are also not as noisy as many other parrots including the Indian Ringneck. A hand raised Alex makes a great pet bird. They do have some issues when going through sexual maturity, but once that is over they will calm back down again beautifully. Should also be fairly easily obtained in India. They are basic seed eaters with the addition of fruit and vegetables, so diet is not difficult. Personal preference is for the Nepalese which is found in North and Central India and Bhutan to Assam in Northeast India. That is just India but they are also found in Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nepal.

 

[Jonah]

I have no experience but if I were looking for the qualities you are, I would
be giving serious consideration to the quaker parrot....

 

[BudgieSidekick]

Quakers are great! They have everything you wanted but they can be noisy. No matter which type of parrots, I feel it's really how much time you spend bonding with them.

 

[budgiedada]

I have had many people suggest me quaker for my requirements. Have to see how easily can i get a weaned baby here. I may probably get alexandrine this season. (which is in a month)

Can quaker compete with lorries in term of playfullness, activeness and cuddles ?
If somehow i can figureout that i can get lorri food here in india ?

 

[Kate C]

Short of making your own Lory food you would probably have to get it via mail order. It is not possible to collect enough flowers for them to get the amount of pollen and nectar they need. They also eat and need fruit and vegetables.

 

[budgiedada]

Short of making your own Lory food you would probably have to get it via mail order. It is not possible to collect enough flowers for them to get the amount of pollen and nectar they need. They also eat and need fruit and vegetables.

You are right, i just found out, that few lori food brands are available here, which are imported from usa. costs a lot though.

 

[RavensGryf]

Hm, hard to say what to recommend to someone ... . I am not sure what species (beyond native species) are available to you in India. I know the species common to your country and surrounding countries (Psittacula family - Indian Ringneck, Alexandrine, Derbyan, Moustache, Plum Headed etc) are not known to be "cuddly" by nature.

Any bird who is readily handleable takes a lot of socialization, and preferably from an early age. Also, training with positive reinforcement and boundary setting is of utmost importance with any pet bird, but if you're talking about IRN size or larger, it's mandatory if you want a bird who is not a terror once adult hormones hit. It will also be of benefit to educate yourself on learning the body language of your bird. How to know if it's feeling threatened, scared, hormonal, cranky and wants to be left alone, etc. so you can lessen your chances of being bit. Even well adjusted sweet birds will try to bite at times.

Besides my two budgies, I have Pionus and Poicephalus parrots. I LOVE parrots and have kept various birds for 20+ years. They can be a huge handful and responsibility. They're just like little boys lol, but I couldn't even think of being without them.

As Kate mentioned, I wouldn't try to keep Lories who need a very specialized diet, when there are other species to choose from. I'm curious what species are available as pets where you are. Best wishes.

 

[Kate C]

I have found that with larger parrots to get a really tame one they need to be hand raised. Hand tamed birds are never as tractable as a hand raised bird. I have bred and hand raised many Alex's and while maybe not quite so cuddly they are very placid easy going birds. I had little pet type budgies that used to completely bully the Alex's. My 10 year old male (who was unfortunately killed by a Hawk) would let me take his head completely in my cupped hands, even during breeding cycle and never bite. And he was in an aviary with 5 other Alex's. Hand raised they really are gentle giants. Yes they do get a bit nippy at puberty. I didn't handle Big Bird at all between 6 and 11 months. They are also one of the easiest birds to pick their mood as when they are not happy they will pin their eyes and the pupils will completely disappear. When that happens just leave them alone. They are also extremely smart. I taught Big Bird to do a couple of tricks at first using voice and hand commands together and then with just the hand command.

They are very easy to hand raise, we that know them say they are on a par with lory's in ease of hand raising. They have really been overlooked as a pet bird as people are quite intimidated by the large beak and they don't have the colour mutations of the Indian Ringneck, but to my mind they are a much nicer bird with a superior temperament to the Ringneck and many other larger parrots kept as pets. I am biased though. I think they are just a really great bird.

 

[StarlingWings]

I have experience with Amazon parrots, although I'm not sure about how easy they are to obtain, and they can be very cuddly and playful as long as they are bonded to you. My Amazon boy, Buck, (who isn't mine, but he's bonded to me) is very sweet and lets me cuddle, stroke him, etc. He flashes his eyes and nips other people, though, so this may not be something you desire as they tend to be pretty jealous.

From what the others have said I think an Alexandrine parrot would be a good choice! They're gorgeous, and seem so sweet tempered, too!