Your Experiences Renting With Parrots?

[Astrid660]

When you first go to rent the place, do you thoroughly explain about the birds, or do you just make sure it's okay to have 'parrots' and not really specify how many ? I want to figure out the best way to tackle this challenge.. because it's not easy once I say the number (nine, and one is a Cockatoo).

Also, I had a rental lease a couple years ago, that apparently stated my birds were to be in cages. I guess I did not read it thoroughly enough. They got really peeved and evicted me once I adopted an SPCA bunny and they saw that my two birds were flying around 'loose'. I don't want this to happen again... I really thought they would not care, but they were the kind of landlords that had already had people go behind their back and have a dog tear the place apart before and were obviously not animal lovers..

What do you say when discussing it with the potential landlord to not shoot yourself in the foot, or is it best to be completely honest?

[Angelwing]

When I was first looking at apartments I asked if birds were alright. Most would say no, some said budgies were alright (I have a GCC). Cedric isn't loud so it hasn't been a problem with me. Plus he doesn't make noise at night. Nine birds is alot of noise if you're looking at apartments! Are they really loud? How often are they loud? Do they make noise at night? Are you looking at renting a house or apartment? It also depends a lot on the caretaker. My caretakers are great, thank god. There is a no pet policy in my building, although most tenants have a cat, some have birds. You could also maybe try asking other tenants what the caretakers view on birds would be or if other tenants have pets and it's alright.

[Astrid660]

Am looking to rent a small house, definitely not an apartment. wouldn't want an apartment even if I did not have pets! None of them are extremely loud, but when my cockatoo screams, which is usually a couple minutes a day, it's very loud.
I think most landlords would be more concerned about the mess and destruction. lol but I am good at keeping that under control. usually.

[Allessa]

I can answer this one :D

I have 9 birds and one cockatoo as well. (i would have 13 total..but 2 were stolen)

When i move, i tell them 3-4. But, idk if lying would be the best thing. I tell them about the largest ones i have. Usually, they dont care how many you have. If you just say..do you take birds? Theyll give you a yes or no. My last apartment i was at, said as long as the animal was caged and we kept the place clean, they didnt really care. (of course noise level had to be low..but at the time i only had tiels..so this wasnt an issue)

Im renting a house now, and my landlord knows i have birds, he doesnt really care much. But, i ended up getting a majority of them here when i moved in..didnt move in with them.

Im in the process of moving to a larger townhome that my boss owns to rent. He knows about ALL my birds and has seen how clean my house is so hes okay with it. But, they only take one dog (weird huh? lol)

If its a house, i would just say..do you take "birds" in general. I know if i went around saying i had 10 birds people would freak.

[tvymola]

I agree with Allessa, ask if they allow birds. Do not say 'oh by the way I have 9 birds.' I cross my fingers and hope I never have to move! I used to have a Rottweiler and it was next to impossible to get a landlord to accept this sweet girl. Taz was still a puppy so on my application I put Doberman (white lie :) The place accepted me and Taz grew up to be the largest Doberman I have ever laid eyes on!

[hollyhawkz]

Originally Posted by tvymola

Taz was still a puppy so on my application I put Doberman (white lie :) The place accepted me and Taz grew up to be the largest Doberman I have ever laid eyes on!

Well, dobies are part rotty so kinda a grey lie LOL

So far so good, but the condo we rent is sound proof. I fear the day we have to move!

I remember seeing the "must be caged" clause on a rental agreement I looked at a couple years ago.

[NotEnoughTime]

Sometimes I just don't understand landlords. I rent out a house and *always* say it is pet-friendly (we designed it that way - with hardwood and tile floors). My experience has been that pet-oriented tennants, with only a few exceptions, are much more responsible than many others...

Anyway - I would be honest with any potential landlords (of course I have a self-interest in that), but first approach it with "are birds OK" or "are a few birds OK" and not specify the number... They may ask and I wouldn't hide the number (that's their job if they have a concern)... But I wouldn't volunteer it....

[Shutterbugmom]

I have to say that I disagree that most pet owners are more responsible. Many of those pets we see on Craigslist and all the animals in shelters once belonged to a "pet owner" who didn't care enough to keep the animal. And many of those were given up because the pet owner didn't put enough effort into appropriately house training the dog, or providing a clean litter box for the cat, or didn't supervise the bird and got tired of the poop on the carpet, the destruction on the windowsill, and on and on.

Frankly, if I had rental property, it would be "no pets," unless I personally knew the tenants. Sad, but true.

[Monica]

We used to rent (well, technically speaking we are renting our own house... =\ ) in a place that didn't accept pets (now does - by law). I think the main thing was that cats and dogs were not allowed, but anything beyond that was fine! At least that's all I can assume. The manager didn't seem to care (she had her own "pet birds" - a pond/coop for chickens, ducks, and a goose or two), and when the owner of the place came in, he didn't say a word.

Then again, quite a few of the residents (3 or more) had pet cats (mostly inside/outside) and at least two had dogs (one irish setter[?] and one smaller dog). A couple of the people there even had birds, and at least one had a fish tank. I recall once though going to visit the owner of the place, and I saw a cat in his house. I aknowledged it (not as in "Hey, that's unfair!" but as in "Hey, it's a cat!") and he acted as if the cat didn't even exist. I can only assume the cat was there visiting with relatives...

If I were to actually rent a place, I'd make sure first of all that birds are allowed.

[Kiwi08]

I am renting an apartment and in their rules it specifically states that cats, birds and fish are the only allowed pets. On the application it said to list which pets and I put "birds". Never had a problem. When calling around to different apartments I always just asked if birds were allowed, never gave the exact number (I have 9 too!) Hehe.