Animal Hoarders

What would you do? I was watching Animal Hoarders on Animal Planet last night. The new episode looked at a woman who kept buying birds, mostly hookbills, and keeping them in her home in large cages. When she was asked to surrender some of the birds, she surrendered the only set of finches she had, which I thought that sure was dumb of her!! I'd have kept the finches! Get rid of the damn parrots! I have nothing personal against parrots, as long as they live with someone else, and I don't have to touch them. They are indeed pretty birds, and I am not saying there aren't some friendly hookbills out there, but I don't trust them! I mean, this woman's house was FULL of big hookbills! If she would have kept the finches and got rid of the big hookbills, she would have served the purpose of the therapy she was receiving.

Parrots bite, and bite HARD!! Their bills are designed to break open very hard nut shells with ease. So if they can crush a nut shell, there is no doubt that they can crush your finger bones as well. This woman, according to her daughter, has already been hospitalized four times due to parrot bites. The first time would have been enough to tell me that keeping parrots is not for me! I'd have stuck with finches. They are smaller, don't need much room, don't need a heck of a lot of attention, eat less, dump less, are much easier to clean up after, and if they do bite you, they don't bite hard enough to break the skin. The hardest biting finch I ever had was an orange bishop weaver. It bit like a small wrench pinching me. They hold on tighter than other finches, but they still don't break the skin. Large parrots do break the skin, and can break your bones too. That's why I don't trust them. Smaller parrots, like budgies, grass keets, and lorikeets, are fine. I wouldn't mind them so much, but those big hookbills, like cockatoos, macaws and conures, I don't trust them at all! They may be pretty to look at, but I always hesitate to touch one. Even if I know the bird. I have a friend who has an African gray parrot, and it is a beautiful bird, and he plays with it, it takes crackers and brazil nuts from his mouth, and is a generally friendly bird. He would let me pet the bird, but I never want to. Looking at it is one thing. Touching it is something I would never do!

I thought it was stupid of that woman to give her finches up! Those were the ones I would have kept. I would have got rid of the large hookbills! They are a bear to clean up after! She had crap caked on the bottoms of those parrot cages. Parrots attract rats to your house too, because of the food they eat, pretty much the same things rats like eating. Parrots are noisy, require a lot of attention, generally are expensive to care for. They are basically like monkeys as pets. Why they are still legal to keep and monkeys are not, I will never understand! Parrots do have a plus side. They can become affectionate. But the way I don't trust them, they would go insane at my home. I might talk to them, but I would never make any physical contact with them. That's why I don't have any large hookbills, and I have no plans to get one in the near to forseeable future. Possibly never ever will get one. They need contact with humans. I like finches. Maybe you cannot really handle them, though I have heard of some people who have held them, like others held parakeets. But finches are beautiful, make cute little sounds, and are fun to watch flying around in their cages. I still have plans to get some finches. I love them!

I have never been in a hoarding situation before myself. The closest I ever came was I once had 9 dogs at one time. But I was able to care for them easily. I was younger then though. Now, I know my limits. I only have 3 dogs. While I would like to have more, I know I can't. 3 is my absolute limit with dogs now. Though I would not mind having other pets too. I plan on getting some small birds. mostly finches and smaller softbills. I'd also like to have a fish tank again. And I'd also like to have more snakes, lizards and other herps. It'd be cool! Someday I would also like to have some small exotic animals. I'd like to get some spiny mice again, like I had before. But I would never get myself in a situation where I am hoarding animals. Because I am totally aware of where my limit in animals stands.