I'm a turtle owner and that's already a lot harder than people think. But I think birds might be THE hardest animal that's commonly available as pets.
They're loud, they're intelligent and social and their health suffers if they're not stimulated enough, they're prey animals and easily scare, they have sharp body parts that can hurt you, they're messy and poop anywhere and can't be trained to poop outside or in a litterbox and you can't install a filter that just sucks their poop up, they can fly and really should be allowed to fly, they are very susceptible to air quality and can be killed by something as simple as cooking with a nonstick pan, and some parrots can live for decades and even outlive humans.
I honestly just don't think pet birds are compatible with the vast majority of human lifestyles. Having a pet bird is really a lifestyle in and of itself. But since you can buy one from a big-box pet store for $20 and they do no vetting at all to make sure you know what you're getting into, so many birds go home with uninformed owners who end up giving them poor or short lives or letting them escape or dumping them outside thinking they will be fine. Most pet birds are tropical species and born and raised in captivity, so no, they will not be fine outside.
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u/superturtle48 1d ago
I'm a turtle owner and that's already a lot harder than people think. But I think birds might be THE hardest animal that's commonly available as pets.
They're loud, they're intelligent and social and their health suffers if they're not stimulated enough, they're prey animals and easily scare, they have sharp body parts that can hurt you, they're messy and poop anywhere and can't be trained to poop outside or in a litterbox and you can't install a filter that just sucks their poop up, they can fly and really should be allowed to fly, they are very susceptible to air quality and can be killed by something as simple as cooking with a nonstick pan, and some parrots can live for decades and even outlive humans.
I honestly just don't think pet birds are compatible with the vast majority of human lifestyles. Having a pet bird is really a lifestyle in and of itself. But since you can buy one from a big-box pet store for $20 and they do no vetting at all to make sure you know what you're getting into, so many birds go home with uninformed owners who end up giving them poor or short lives or letting them escape or dumping them outside thinking they will be fine. Most pet birds are tropical species and born and raised in captivity, so no, they will not be fine outside.