# little owls



## -matty-b- (Dec 13, 2007)

anybody keep little owls that could give me some advice on keeping, flying etc and possibly where to get one in a few months time

pics would be great:2thumb:

thanks mat


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

-matty-b- said:


> anybody keep little owls that could give me some advice on keeping, flying etc and possibly where to get one in a few months time
> 
> pics would be great:2thumb:
> 
> thanks mat


Would this be your first bird of prey/owl? Earliest you will get one now is febuary next year.
For anybody looking at getting an owl I always suggest buying "Understanding Owls" by JPJ, you can't go wrong with most of the advice in there and it gives you a small insight into keeping owls.


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## ChrisBowman (Jan 1, 2008)

Wont you also need a mentor?


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

ChrisBowman said:


> Wont you also need a mentor?


Before getting any bird of prey you must have a mentor. But, if this is his/her first bird of prey, (no offence the OP) s/he needs to put in MUCH more research as s/he would find that little owls are not beginners birds for various reasons, and the chances of a 'beginner' being able to sucesfully keep and fly a healthy little owl are usually slim without a fair few years of consistent hands-on experience. : victory:


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## -matty-b- (Dec 13, 2007)

LoveForLizards said:


> Before getting any bird of prey you must have a mentor. But, if this is his/her first bird of prey, (no offence the OP) s/he needs to put in MUCH more research as s/he would find that little owls are not beginners birds for various reasons, and the chances of a 'beginner' being able to sucesfully keep and fly a healthy little owl are usually slim without a fair few years of consistent hands-on experience. : victory:


no offence taken, was just talking to somebody and they were saying there an easy bird and good begginer, obviously talking crap

are there many people about that mentor???

he btw: victory:


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

-matty-b- said:


> no offence taken, was just talking to somebody and they were saying there an easy bird and good begginer, obviously talking crap
> 
> are there many people about that mentor???
> 
> he btw: victory:


Not at all. They fly under 10oz in general when flying (though this is just average, it should NOT be taken as a be all and end all, all owls have different weights they will fly at!) so it's a tiny amount of weight for somebody new to handle. If you want to start with an owl, a medium sized bird such as the Bengal Eagle owl or Turkemenian Eagle Owl would be best. Once you have flown/managed these sucessfully, if you want to move down to smaller birds then I definitely recommend the Barn owl. As common as they are, they are fun wee birds to fly and will teach you a hell of a lot, but again not starter birds because of the small amount of weight you have to handle. 
There is plenty of people that will mentor you, you just have to show you are enthusiastic about it and be prepared to ferret, clean, condition furniture etc for them in return for flying their birds and minceing their brains of information. :lol2: Though before you get a mentor I recommend buying a basic book covering the species you want ('Understanding Owls' covers all species and will teach you about housing, feeding, breeding, flying, training and furniture so is well worth it's weight in gold!) so you begin to understand the different terms used with Birds of Prey and learn a bit about what the heck your mentor is on about. :lol2:


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