Advice required on 'Valkparkiet'

[Vedanth]

Hello:
I introduce myself as Vignesh Subramanian from Hilversum.

Sorry that I post in English. Having lived here for a few years I do speak a bit of Dutch, but not good enough to compose a full-fledged email and hence a post in English.

Me and my 8 year old son Vedanth are looking to have a pet. One of the choices we are considering is a Valkparkiet. The biggest concern for us is:

1. How much of attention does a valkparkiet would need throughout a day ?  Because, both me + my wife are working and my son is in school. So at least 3 days a week, the pet will be alone between 9 AM - 5 PM. The rest of the days we are at home.  Can a valkparkiet handle staying alone like this?

2. Also, when we go on vacation, is there an option for taking care of it? (We usually go on yearly trip for 3 - 4 weeks to our home country and it will be difficult to carry the pet with us)

Please advise us. (Your answers can also be in Dutch).

Thank you in advance.

Yours,
Vignesh and Vedanth

[animallovertje]

omdat je schrijft dat het antwoord ook in nederlands kan, doe ik dat liever, omdat mijn engels niet geweldig is :)

Voor een valkparkiet alleen zijn jullie denk ik wel veel weg. ik vind zelf eigenlijk ook dat valkparkieten beter met zn tweeen of met meer kunnen zitten.
ik zou jullie dus aanraden om voor 2 valkparkieten te gaan, en dan is het ook geen probleem dat jullie af en toe van 9 tot 5 uur weg zijn.

en zijn een aantal mensen die voor valkparkieten willen zorgen voor mensen die op vakantie gaan.. een aantal vind je op deze site.. aan de linkerkant in het menu staat: vakantie oppas.

If you don't understand a part I have road.. you can say it.. and I will translate it for you, but my english isn't very good :) so I first want to try it in dutch :)

Good luck with finding a nice pet!

[Vedanth]

Hello Peter:
First of all, thanks a lot for a prompt response. I fully understand your Dutch reply.

I read in the internet that, if you have two valkparkiet then they don't bond with you. Instead they will bond with each other. I do not have any knowledge of valkparkiet and I don't know if this is true. My son likes to have a pet that can react back to him.

Is having two valkparkiet instead of one mean that they will ignore the person raising it ..?

Thank you once again.

Best Regards
Vignesh S

[Sanna]

Hello Vignesh,

People often say that 2 of more birds only bond to eachother, and not to the owner. But that doesn't have to be true at all. For instance, I have 4 cockatiels, who all like to be with me. 2 of them are more interested in eachother, because they form a couple. But both like to sit on my shoulder and like my attention. The other 2 love to be petted by me. If you want to see some foto-material, visit my website (click on the banner at the bottom of my post).

It all depends on how you handle the matter. Best, you could first buy 1 young and tamed cockatiel. There are on this forum a lot of breeders who tame their young. It is wise to take a few days off when the bird arrives, so you can bond with it. If you don't do that, there is a decent chance that the bird will become less tame.

Once you have a good bond with the cockatiel (that shouldn't take more than a few weeks) you can buy a second tame bird. Put effort in bonding with the new arrival, but don't forget to keep on interacting with the first one. The second one will soon take over the behavior of the first bird. Than you will have 2 great pet-friends, who will have eachother's company during the day.

If you find a good address to bring your birds to for vacation, it's no problem at all to go abroad for 3 or 4 weeks. I go for 4 weeks every year.

Good luck on your quest!

Kind regards,
Sanna

[Vedanth]

Hello Sanna:

Thanks for a practical and informative reply. I suspect I will have more questions. But look around in the forums first to see if they are probably answered. I will also do a bit more reading on Cockatiels from your website as well as this forum.  Thank you once again  :)

Best Regards
Vignesh S

[Sanna]

Hello Vignesh,

No trouble at all. It's wise to do a great deal of reading first. Also reading about problems others encountered had will help you to be prepared once you will have your birds. It is half the preparations ;). Good luck!

Kind regards,
Sanna