Customer Reviews

Parrotlet Handbook, The (Barron's Pet Handbooks)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Because I keep many birds, I've read many books on the topic by Matthew Vriends. Vriends raises several kinds of tropical birds, visits their natural habitats, is involved in the preservation of wild birds and their habitats, and writes extensively on these topics. He is also a PhD (Dutch born biologist and ornithologist). I bought THE PARROTLET HANDBOOK in spite of the fact one reviewer said there was not much of interest about Parrotlets in this book, mainly because I have read so many of Vriends other books on other birds and found them helpful.

THE PARROTLET BOOK is very interesting, but it is also geared to the breeder of this type of bird. As the owner of two brother Parrotlets, I don't foresee joining the breeder group any time soon, even though Vriends makes a compelling case for becoming a breeder of Parrotlets who are under threat from the deforestation of the Amazon jungle.

In spite of the book's bias - which I truly appreciate, it does include many helpful tips and a good deal of information about the various types of Parrotlets who are companions of people like me. For one thing the book helps one understand the origins the little birds whose ancestors come from South America and who seem be thought of by some as the little brother of the larger Macaw.

My Parrotlet brothers have been hand raised from the egg stage and they are Soooo sweet. However, I am told the Parrotlet can administer a nasty bite should he be "wild" or displeased. My birds perch on my finger (two at a time) and are a lot less messy than my Cockatiels and Love Birds. Maintenance-wise, keeping Parrotlets is a bit like keeping Canaries. However, they are as playful as my Senegal parrot.

I found a really great article on Parrotlets entitled "True Confession-Parrotlet owners bring down the house with tales of pin-sized adventures" in the January 2004 issue of Bird Talk Magazine (if you keep birds or are thinking of doing so, subscribe to this magazine). I recommend both Vriends book and Bird-Talk magazine for the serious bird owner.

I bought this book as a new parrotlet owner. The pictures are vibrant and interesting. However, most of the information provided is more along the lines of general bird care. Therefore, this probably would not be suited for individuals with any previous experience with birds. In addition, the book discusses many other types of small parrots, which, in my opinion, weakens the focus and does not allow for as much in-depth discussion of personality traits and behavior as the title suggests. If you have never owned a bird before and are considering the purchase of a parrotlet, this book may be precisely what you need. However, if you are adding a parrotlet to an existing "flock," it may be more helpful to talk to other owners instead.

Information on Parrotlets is difficult to obtain in general and Vriends does an excellent job focusing on all aspects of Parrotlet keeping. Obviously information on housing and feed is general to other Parrot species but relevant information on subspecies and mutations, aswell as breeding history are very welcome. The book appears to be padded out with information on other small hookbills such as Fig Parrots. The only other Parrotlet book I have come across is by Sandee & Robert Molenda. In terms of content Vriends is more clinical and also has colour photos in order to identify the different species. Overall a good addition to my Parrot Library !

I was enthusiastic about finding a book dedicated to parrotlets; this book contains more information about other small hookbills (parakeets, hanging parrots, and fig parrots.) I had to weed out the information that actually pertains to parrotlets...isn't that supposed to be the book's subject?

The book also fails to discuss the selection of a responsible breeder, nor does it mention questions to ask that breeder.

If you are truly interested in learning about parrotlets themselves--NOT their cousins--, this book is a waste of your time and money. Save your money and find a reputable breeder who will give you in-depth information about THIS species, not a selection of like-sized birds.

I bought this book hoping to find out more about parrotlet care, training and behavior. Instead, it reads like a mini0encyclopedia of all small parrots. Most of the parrots listed in this book are not even seen in pet stores. The author should SERIOUSLY think about revising this book OR changing the title.

I actually went to my local book store that promotes you go through the books before you buy them.I sat down and read the whole thing.Thinking if it was good I'd buy it for future referrence.It had almost no care on parrotlets.A few scientific things for each type of parrotlet.Then the rest of the book was on hanging parrots,ect.The title should not be the parrotlet book.It's very misleading.I feel sorry for the people that got this book to find out it didn't have much info in it.The best bet is if you have access to the web just look up parrotlet care.That's where I found the most info.Hope this was helpful.

This book has great pics of all different species of parrotlets and their mutations. I loved tht part of the book and the info on caring for parrotlets. However, there is a lot of info on breeding. Which is very helpful if you are intrested in breeding but I was looking for more info on the mutations and personality types ,etc. But all in all a good book.

If you are looking for information on the care of pet parrotlets, take a pass on this one. There are few pages devoted to that topic, and lots and lots about the history of the breed, and lots and lots about small parrots that are not parrotlets.

A better title for this book might have been "The Small Parrot Handbook". I thought I was getting an in depth handbook on parrotlet care and breeding, but what I got was a book that deals in generalities of many different birds. Forget buying this book. You will learn much more from surfing the web. A total waste of money. Wait! I have just discovered that if you carefully remove the pages, they will fit perfectly 3 wide by 3 deep in the bottom of my bird cage. Maybe I should give another star...

All in all I found this book to be filled with valuable information concerning the world of parrotlets. Unfortunately, I thought there was too much emphasis placed on species identification and too little placed on breeding, feeding, raising and etc. I must admit, however, that we did follow its somewhat short breeding section to the letter and raised five youngsters from a clutch of five. Regardless I would like to have seen more in depth information on incubation times, parental raising as opposed to hand rearing and etc.