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I’ve a heavy metal water bottle next to me… I’d probably whack the zombie on the head, that should knock it out! I also have a tin of thinking putty, and a horseshoe, I could toss those!

Personally I don't agree with the phrase "beginner pet". Budgies and cockatiels and other similar sized birds are sold off cheaply as 'beginner pets' as if they don't matter and don't have similar needs to more expensive or bigger birds. Same with hamsters and other rodents and even rabbits. I feel like this just leads people to believe these animals have no value and therefore are easy to look after/don't have complex needs. It also sometimes leads to people ignoring when the animal is ill and avoiding taking them to a vet because they're 'beginner pets' and can be easily replaced. My first job was in a pet store that sold small birds, fish and rodents. We sold 'starter' cages and 'starter hutches' for the rodents and although the advise to customers was that they should upgrade to a bigger cage, many didn't bother. So scores of rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rats etc would have just been left in teeny tiny cages/hutches for children to ignore because they were "beginner pets" and didn't matter. I was interested in parrots after meeting an African Grey and an Eclectus that came through the store I was working at. I'd never had birds before that and had never considered birds as a pet until I met the birds in store. I was curious and started reading up about them and decided that an African Grey was for me. I've always liked the idea of having an eclectus as well- but they're more difficult to find over here and have a few diet and care considerations over a grey. Getting a parrot is no different to getting any other pet, be it a dog, cat, hamster, budgie, snake... you need to be absolutely sure you can provide that animal with everything it needs before you bring it home. So do what you're doing now- read, research, watch videos, ask questions. This forum has been an absolute godsend for me and Alfie as there is so much knowledge here and I've learned so much from this place as well as other resources.

I started with a cockatiel (Kodak). If you've never had a parrot before, you can certainly learn about feeding routines, snacks, handling, clean-ups ('tiels are dusty!) etc.. The main thing is, if you adopt a less expensive 'beginner' bird -- you can't later adopt your dream bird and then give less attention and care to your first parrot! An inexpensive so-called 'beginner' parrot like a cockatiel is still a 20+ year obligation - a parrot who deserves all the same care, attention and time investment as the 'dream' parrot. I had Kodak 21 years. I truly see both sides of the issue. I am not recommending for or against a beginner/starter parrot. I certainly can't say I regret my 'beginner' parrot since I loved him so much; but I also can't say I needed to start with a cockatiel. Kodak was an amazing parrot in his own right and I always made sure that he felt he was the real favorite parrot here! Every parrot deserves that!!!