[nvnvgirl]

I had 2 Moluccan cockatoos for over 20 yrs. They both died (not of natural causes) this last year and I am extremely upset over it. That said, I will probably never get another parrot. They need a LOT of attention to be good companions (and they think they're people, no joke...they're incredibly intelligent, so they need a lot of interaction and a lot of out of the cage time). Both of my cockatoos chewed, but the male was amazingly destructive and incredibly noisy (and extremely spoiled). He could chew his way out of a room if you forgot to lock (and I mean PADLOCK) his cage or feeding doors. I can't begin to tell you the amount of sheetrock (walls), doors, carpeting, windowsills, tables, chairs, draperies, etc etc, he destroyed over the years. He threw temper tantrums, and screamed just for fun. But I loved him more than anything. You just need to know that they are very very time consuming and are no different than having a 2 yr old who is very precocious...except that they can live for up to almost 100 yrs. It takes a very understanding and devoted owner to really give a parrot a good home. Most end up being ignored or abused and sold and resold b/c they develop so much dependency on their owner and then all of a sudden, they're in a new home. They're also extremely sensitive. You need to make sure you have a nearby avian vet, b/c if anything happens to it (and there's soooo many things that can happen to a bird), very few other vets know how to care for birds and it's always a matter of timing with avian illesses or injury, along with the proper knowledge. And be ready for huge vet bills if anything DOES happen to them, b/c they're very fragile to care for. Do lots of research (I read everything I could about parrots for over two years before I got my first one, and even then, I had so much to learn), think about the time you can devote to a parrot and also, I would never let one of my parrots and my yorkie be left even close to each other...the parrot could easily kill or severely injure the dog so quickly if it was jealous or mad at it. Just give it a lot of thought and read everything you can. BirdTalk magazine is a good place to start. Good luck!