Gently_Rough_ t1_j6o11fj wrote
Reply to comment by Rabid_Kiwi in Walking parrots by FrankieGS
They shouldn’t be alone. My parrot was a rescue whose previous owner had died. What we did was to introduce him to another female as well as ensure he had companionship to more than one bond.
Believe me I know a lot about the impact depression has on birds, and that bond with a human is just showing what sensitive and loving animals they are. Would it not be true for dogs to be completely broken when their owner dies? They might not die from heartbreak - but how does that answer my question? The flame was that physiological damage is an ESSENTIAL part of having a bird as a pet, and I wasn’t clear on what that meant. This isn’t what you answered.
Rabid_Kiwi t1_j6o7vix wrote
The stress and anxiety from being away from the flock. The restrictions on movement and stunted social development. You need multiple birds not just two we are talking a flock. They need their community, and more room and freedom then a house or a yard. Just the same as if you took a two newborns to be raised by gorillas. Those children would have severe developmental and mental issues. That is what you are doing to them when you keep them as pets. When breeding in captivity the traits most needed for reintroduction are not passed on. They are less intelligent, and more prone to mental disorders than their wild counter parts. Because again they evolved with a flock, their very existence is the flock. They need it for social reinforcement, to show off how good they look, to feel safe from perdition, because they evolved that way.
I was trying to sugarcoat it but it’s like this. You can feed a kid all candy and never make them go to school for 18 years. Yeah the kid is happy, for now, but it’s not what the kid needs. Think of all the issues that kid is going to have. They never learned self discipline, how to act around others, that there are others their age, limited communication, no chance at finding a mate, not even able to be accepted in society.
Ok so understanding what they need, and realizing that not giving them what they need stunts their development. Makes them more prone to mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, separation anxiety, PTSD, aggression, and probably many more. Probably (imho) to serve as a incentive in the wild to move on and search for a new flock, if ever isolated. But that last one is just my crack pot speculation, so grain of salt.
The research showing this is so prevalent you can just google it to find it. I don’t think you all realize how incredibly intelligent and conscious these birds really are. They have very good problem solving, very good memory, and very good rationality. They learn our language fam, this tells us they have their own language. They understand language fam, as in the concept. They understand that they need to communicate with us, they recognize we use language, they teach themselves our language. I’m not talking about them speaking to us, I’m talking mainly about us speaking to them. You need to understand they deliberately do this. It is a choice they make, and they can do it wicked fast.
Ok you take that type of intelligence, that evolved to be communal, and take it from its societal grounds and it environment. You are going to cause developmental issues and mental illness if born in captivity, or mental illness if captured. Same as us fam, only their social instincts are turned up to 11.
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