I am a parrot owner, and I do not support the breeding of parrots as pets, at least in its current form. I currently have four parrots, and may be adopting a fifth (as its owner is unable to provide the care and companionship it needs and is thinking of giving it up). I think the damage is done (and it's not like they can all be released into the wild) but I don't think these animals should be pets. The best we can do is just adopt the ones left and give them as close as possible in terms of mental stimulation and exercise as the wild. Yes, I know nature is cruel and the wild would have them preyed on, but they still get lots of foraging/exercise in the wild too, that you have to provide them with. I would be in favour of needing a licence for all parrots, including budgerigars, and a short course of ownership/proper care, similar to some reptiles. I would also be in favour of yearly welfare checks by each country's animal welfare society because people just treat these animals who can feel pain and have the intelligence of 3-7 year olds (yes, even budgies) very similar to humans as disposable and give them terrible living conditions with no enrichment and don't do the necessary steps to keep them healthy.
You don't have to do any of that. Just prohibit importation and place a mandatory tax on domestic parrot sales to make the cost so big that only people who are willing to commit to the price can be able to keep one as they will have a vested interest in looking after the parrot properly. It has already worked for a bunch of species and often people can only affordably get something like an African Gray from a rescue which have very strict and extensive vetting policies to the point that you have to be proven to be able to look after previous parrots properly. My mother has parrots and she got a Gray easy because she had already taken on a bunch of lesser species from them and proven she was responsible.
>>5074575That's a great idea. Right now, prices are made based I suppose on arbitrary things like size, colour, clutch size, etc.A budgerigar is little, so they essentially breed them like sardines and make them cheap. My budgerigar was only 45 dollars, which I genuinely would've paid far more for him. I didn't, and don't want to support these asshole pet shops, but I was concerned he would be an inexperienced person's Christmas purchase and die in pain of neglect/exposure, etc. Touch wood, he is five now.
>>5074573I think you should have to study for and pass exams to own exotic pets, and possibly have a volunteer contact hour requirement with them prior to buying one too. The people that would whine its too much hassle would be the low-effort shitters not going the extra mile for that animal's welfare and the truly obsessed enthusiasts would still be able to have their menagerie of lemurs and rainbow macaws and dwarf caimans or whatever the fuck else.
>>5074573Get a tiny horsie. They are smarter, can be house trained, they are chick magnets, fuzzy and cute and mine goes everywhere with me.
>>5074821You're not wrong. Plus it would be an IQ filter, unironically.
