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There is nothing morally wrong with getting parrots from a bird rehab center. They don't breed for profit, just rescue and care for birds. By adopting from them, you are supporting them and making more room for other birds. So, as long as you can adequately take care of the birds, it's not a bad thing to do.

My understanding is that lovebirds are pretty similar to parakeets (which I have), so I could probably give you some information. There's no need to file their talons or beaks, as long as you have the appropriate stuff in the cage. Typically, the kinds of perches that come with most cages are rubbish. Birds need perches with varying widths and textures. Stuff like this or this is awesome. These textures and width variations keep the talons worn down properly, so that they do not need to be clipped. It also is good for their muscles, I believe. Give them lots of things to chew on, and that should keep their beaks in line. This way, you won't have to touch the bird to clip their wings, talons, or beaks, which could really scare the bird if it isn't used to you.

Feeding them the food in those bird food bags at the petstore isn't a good idea in the long run. It's not good for their health. Try feeding them fresh vegetables and fruit if you can, as well as the generic bird food. It's likely they won't like the fresh stuff at first, but give it to them fairly consistently and they may give it a try.

A cage is absolutely necessary, simply because you need to have a place to put them where you know they'll be safe. Like if you're cooking or have all the doors open for moving furniture in or out. The birds should not be loose in the house during those events. I'm not saying you should lock them in their cage all day, just at certain times when it's necessary. Also, keeping them there at night gives them a sense of security in that space. Ideally, you would have a room in the house that you know is bird-proof, where you would feel comfortable leaving them out unsupervised, but you should still have a cage in that room, as a safe haven for them, where they know they will always have food and water. When out flying, they typically like to have a few favorite places to perch. One of these should be the top of the cage.

The cage should be large. One thing to remember, though, is that "tall cages are kind of useless. Birds will typically move to the topmost part of the cage and stay at that height. Instinctively, they prefer to be at the highest available location. So, a cage like this is, in all practical use, much smaller than it looks. A wider cage is better than a taller cage, as far as giving them space. A wider cage might mean that they could fly a short distance from one perch to another. A tall cage is basically a small cage. Also, you want the cage to have horizontal bars if possible, on at least two of the sides. Parrots are big on climbing, and horizontal bars, as opposed to vertical bars, are great for that.

I'm procrastinating right now so can't go into much more detail right now, but if you have any questions, just reply :)

Don't discount your problem, it's a big one. We can't survive as vegetarians/vegans if we're unhappy. I can tell you for certain though the longer you are a vegetarian the less you crave meat. I've been vegetarian for 10 years, and have absolutely no interest in meat anymore. Here's my suggestion, don't go cold tofurkey (see what I did there?) Try to cut a different meat out of your diet every two weeks or even every month. As you do that, also try to slowly phase non-meat dishes into your diet. I think you'll find that by taking it step by step it isn't as hard as you'd expect.

Moving onto the cooking part of your question, I recommend just giving it a try. There are few better feelings than eating a meal that you cooked. You savor the flavors that much more because you cooked it. Again, it will be tough at first, but if you can trust me, cooking can quickly become a fulfilling part of your life. You can also transition into this as you transition out of meat. Instead of immediately jumping to cooking every night, you can cook maybe once a week. If you for instance choose to cut chicken out of your diet first, eat with your parents unless they're eating chicken and on that night prepare something yourself. There are a ton of good cookbooks that teach you some basic skills instead of just telling you recipies. Others on here can suggest some, but my personal recommendation is How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

In short, I know it's tough. Don't discredit how tough it will be. However, I have faith that with a bit of time and a bit of work you'll be so very happy you made the leap.

Yeah, you probably ought to go off and actually read some animal rights literature before posting much in this subreddit.

Give Singer's Animal Liberation a read, if you're at all interested in the topic, and what motivates its supporters.

It's really not hard to go veg. A good introductory book on diet & cooking is a good way to get started.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Becoming-Vegetarian-Essential-Healthy/dp/1570671443/

I find it's always hit-or-miss when it comes to toothpaste, especially the coolmint/Peppermint flavors.

Best flavor I ever tried was JASON's Vanilla Mint!

Another one barging in. I'm not going to start arguments right now, I'm just interested in your opinion on Peter Singer's opinion on Midas Dekkers - Dearest Pet:

http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/2001----.htm

Part of how the USA promoted a Cold War consensus was through the conflation of fascism with communism, through a common root of "totalitarianism" that liberal states are ostensibly immune to. The logic isn't very sound to either group internally, but commonalities do exist: common origin of thought in Hegel, similar criticisms of liberalism, centralization of power to a particular bureaucracy, valorization of revolutionary violence, a sort of transcendentalist logic that removes the need for a constitution, etc. The fact that there are about 0 policies that fascism and communism have in common was not considered particularly relevant.

Oh also this idiotic book exists.

I am downvoting you. Not because I'm a rabid vegetarian who hates meat eating and criticism, but because your statement is inaccurate. I do eat meat, but only that which is confirmed from sources where the animals are treated humanely (which in turns means less chemicals, hormones and antibiotics are in the meat, as less are needed to prevent the animal from dying). This is more expensive. It is a bit of an inconvenience (I can't buy it at the 24-hour Safeway). As a result, I eat less meat than I used to (a few times a week, but not every day).

however, it is so worth it. For my health but even more so, for the animals (and my conscience).

• The standard egg chicken in the US spend its entire life in a space smaller than a piece of paper. It will never have enough space to stand and flap its wings. This causes them to peck each other in an attempt to get space, so in order to prevent that they are "beaked," which means cutting off their beaks with a hot knife. The males never make it that far. As they cannot lay eggs, they are killed while very young. Standard methods including grinding them up while still alive or simply throwing them away, also while still alive.
  
  The standard meat chicken is bred to grow fast and have a large breast. The end result is a chicken that is so top heavy and fast-growing that its weak legs and bones cannot support its weight for very long. Instead, they spend hours sitting. Have you ever been near a chicken farm? You can smell them from far, far away. That smell is the ammonia from their sh*t. They sit in it, getting burns on their legs from their own sh-t, until they are killed. Next time you are in a grocery store, check the cheap chicken - sometimes you can see the burn marks on the plucked ones. The air would suffocate the chickens themselves if powerful fans were not always running. They sometimes get agitated in this environment, so they are kept in near darkness to keep them calm. "Free range" chickens have a small door somewhere where they can theoretically go out. The majority of chickens will never even get close to that door, and there isn't enough room for most of them out there if they could.
  
  The slaughtering process is equally terrible, but others have done a better job than me describing it and I don't want this to become an essay, so please just click that link. Oh, and the same goes for Turkeys, only there they are bred so disproportionately that they cannot breed, so that is all done through a very fast and very rough insemination process.
  
  So what about beef? All beef (except veal, which is raised in boxes) is free range. They are too big too keep in sheds. They are, however, kept in feed lots. A feed lot is a place where the cow sh-t is everywhere. This leads to unhealthy meat and co disease. It is small, with too many cows (sometimes up to 100,000) to keep the group from being anything but covered in it. The cows don't like this, they like to be cleaner, to have some room to move, to graze. The latter doesn't matter though because they are fed corn (and hormones to grow even faster). The cows grow faster that way and have fattier meat. They also have serious gastro-intestinal problems as their systems are made for grass, not corn. They get very serious, painful gas and stomach problems that are treated by forcing tubes down their throats to release gas, all without pain killers of course. The corn diet also removes a lot of the cows' abilities to shed bacteria themselves, making our meat unsafer. If the cows were allowed to eat grass for one week before slaughter, they would lose 85% of the e coli in their systems. but they aren't, its cheaper that way.
  
  Slaughtering cows is also a real problem. By law they must be stunned first, but the rates at which they are killed are so fast, that frequent mistake occur and cows are skinned and butchered alive.
  
  Pork is even worse, if that's possible. Similar issues exist when it comes to slaughtering pigs. They are crowded in very tight conditions, with so much manure that it become a toxic environmental hazard instead of the fertilizer that is would be in lower concentrations. The pigs themselves almost all suffer from respiratory problems from living in their filth, as do 60% of workers who spend only part of their day in the sheds.
  
  As for the breeding sows, its worse again. "Modern breeding sows are treated like piglet making machines. Living a continuous cycle of impregnation and birth, the sows each have more than 20 piglets per year. After being impregnated, the sows are confined in small pens or metal gestation crates which are just 2 feet wide. At the end of their 4 month pregnancy, they are transferred to farrowing crates to give birth. The sows barely have room to stand up and lie down, and many suffer from sores on their shoulders. They are denied straw bedding and forced to stand and lie on hard floors. When asked about this, a pork industry representative wrote, "...straw is very expensive and there certainly would not be a supply of straw in the country to supply all the farrowing pens in the U.S." (source)
  
  In slaughterhouses for all animal types, undercover videos show frequent abuse beyond the process. There are some studies linking daily participation in slaughter to desensitization to pain in others, as well as coverage of the difficult conditions in which workers must operate, but this is an additional problem.
  
  That si a sleepy, hurt hand very abbreviated and oversimplified version. If you're intersted in learning more and makign an educated decision, {Eating Animals](http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Animals-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/product-description/0316069884) is a good place to start. Well written, not too long or too preachy.
  
  It is immoral to knowingly participate in this, not spoiled.