we have been talking alot and decided on getting a parrot with large cage either a baby so we can hand rear or a tame young parrot preferably talking,either macaw,grey african etc,can anyone advice on best place to buy is it best to buy from a breeder or a pet shop/private sale (can they be happy alone or do they like company)

is anyone selling one

Your post did make me giggle "we have been talking a lot and decided to get parrot":hihi:

Anyway ignore me...:rolleyes:

Have you thought about a rescue parrot? try this fella Mark 07963 530678.

lol,we have been discussing for months what type of pet to get i don't like anything ratty so little furry creatures are out ,don't like cats and had bad experience with a dog and my son so they are out,i used to have a cockatiel and hubby had a minor bird so we decided on a parrot,and yes i have been directed to a site for rescue parrots but all quite old and set in there ways lol

I would ring anyway as not all rescues have old parrots some people give up young ones too.:thumbsup:

Alternatively there is a chap at Northern garden centre at Oldcotes, which is not far from Dinnington. He breeds parrots and other tropical birds and he is very knowledgable.

Has anyone got any links for rehoming?

perhaps these people can help just done a search

http://www.ukparrotrescue.co.uk/

Thanks, does anyone have any localish sites they know of?

parrots are more complex than people think, even a hand tame baby will bite you at sometime when its older, if you own parrots be prepared to get bit. right dont get a macaw as your first parrot, greys can be phobic and nervous and not all parrots talk so dont get one for that reason please, amazons and cockatoos scream which will pierce your eardrums , believe me i would get 2 baby handreared small parrots like caquies or hahns macaws from the same clutch that have been spoon fed not tube fed , and give them both equal attention and time and you will have 2 wellbalanced birds, parrots live in flocks in the wild and like company of there own kind , for your first bird go for one of the smaller ones, people just rush out and get parrots not thinking about the impact they have on there life they have the itelligence of a 5yr old child with the emotions of a 2yrold for life, they will probably outlive you and you will be its slave, on average parrots have 7 homes before they reach there lifelong home i have 2 25yr old amazons that have lived together for that time but one has now decided it wants to pair up with the grey, and it has leaving the amazon parrots dont suffer from guilt,if you do get a grey remember they need calicum supplements and amazons are deficent in vitamin a , dont get any parrot from a garden centre go to a breeder that socialises there birds with household noises and there family , and please dont wing clip a young bird they need to fly there wings forthere heart and muscles, and this can cause feather plucking when the bird is older .

great advice from sheff290 there, i have a caique and he is a superb pet, they are known as the clowns of the parrot world and they certainly dont disappoint, have a look on youtube at some videos. dont buy a cockatoo unless you are able to stay at home cuddling gluedd to the bird 24 hours a day - check out the screaming cockatoo videos on youtube too! macaws are beautiful but they are very big birds that are also very loud and require alot of care, have you seen one of these in even a large living room cage, they look so squashed in them, its kinda sad.
Best thing is to go to the parrot link forum and have a look on there at advice and info from breeders, owners ets for advice and stories. I got my caique from a breeder on there he still sells on there and lives in nottingham, its a very good forum and worth spending a bit of time looking around on the topics.

good luck im sure you'll find the right baby for you x

i agree parrotforum is great i know this lady has now took my advise and is getting 2 handreared babies greys together, it makes my blood boil when people just get parrots on a whim and sell them on, do they realise how intelligent parrots are they are very upset by this, and dont like change,i tryed to help someone with a grey on here all he was interested in was not losing money on it, thinking i wanted something for nothing well greys are 10 a penny, there are so many everyday coming into rescue passed around from home to home, its the quality of life for a parrot not the money that 500 pound will be well spent and that bird could live for another 50yrs in misery so please if you cant keep your bird hand it over to rescue where it will get the proper care contact me if anyone cant keep there birds, i work for one rescue doing there sponsorships, and a know a lady that has devoted her life to them at another jedbirds on parrotforum, parrots are quiet complexed to live with and most big ones are noisey

hi sheryl yes i took your advice and now the owner of 2 gorgeous congo african greys they are not home yet as only 10 weeks old,there cage is on order we have called them pacso and kizzie,thank you for the advice

hi sheryl yes i took your advice and now the owner of 2 gorgeous congo african greys they are not home yet as only 10 weeks old,there cage is on order we have called them pacso and kizzie,thank you for the advice
arrh i bet you cant wait to get them home, greys are so funny good luck with your birds i hope they bring you many years of joy like mine, do let me know how you get on you will love them, and you have thought this out and not bought them on a whim

yes we thought about it long and hard cant be gone into lightly as is very expensive and they need looking after like children its cost us £1500 so far and thats without insurance,vet fees etc

i know people dont realise how expensive parrots are, hence the order of toys calicvet, palm oil from northern parrots yesterday haha

i know i have just spent £110 on a play stand,£70 worth of toys,£30 for food then the calcium (whats palm oil for)

i know i have just spent £110 on a play stand,£70 worth of toys,£30 for food then the calcium (whats palm oil for)
palm oil is the natural food of the grey in the wild of which they source from the fruit of the african oil palm they like it spread on there food or toast, scrambled egg is another good food for greys mine love it, try nothern parrots they stock palm fruit extract do a google search, try and give them a variety of different foods so they dont become fussy as it so harder to give adult birds change in there diet, pets at home also do skewers that you can stack with fruit, parrots love foraging for food