Parrot Care Basics
All parrots need food and fresh water daily. The food should preferably consist of quality pellets as well as fresh vegetables (raw Swiss chard, broccoli, and peppers, cooked sweet potatoes, carrots, and beets) and some fruit. Cooked pasta, sprouted seeds, and cooked legumes can also be offered. Fresh foods should be removed from the cage after 3 to 4 hours. A poor diet is the number one reason for poor health.
Never give your bird alcohol, chocolate, caffeine, avocados, guacamole, rhubarb, high sugar or salty foods, or fried food. Do not share food with your bird as people have bacteria in their mouths that are dangerous to birds.
A large enough cage with appropriate bar spacing is also essential to a parrot’s well-being. It becomes the birds place in your home, kind of like its own room. It is very important to keep the cage clean. It’s best to line the bottom with black and white newspaper so you can monitor dropping color and consistency, a change could be indicative of illness.
Parrots, being intelligent, very interactive and sociable, need at least a few hours out of the cage, supervised, with at least a half hour of direct attention every day. The direct attention would best be spent teaching tricks and proper behavior rather than only cuddle time, which should also be provided.
Parrots need safe and appropriate toys to keep them stimulated and healthy. They should have several of different types of parrot toy in their cage at all times. The types are foraging toys in which treats are hidden, destructible (wood, rope, etc.) non-destructible (acrylic, steel, etc.)And sound making toys (bells, “juke box”) it is best to have a variety of toys which are rotated on a weekly basis, some removed from the cage and others added. It’s better to have too many toys than too few.
Parrots should get regular health care, with a vet visit with a bird qualified vet at least once a year. Birds hide their illness so there are things a vet would notice, probably before it’s too late.
Parrots also need to be bathed or showered on a weekly or more basis. This would preferably be done on mornings so the bird has a chance to dry off before going to sleep. If they don’t dry properly they can get a fungus in their feathers.
Parrots need 10 to 12 hours of dark uninterrupted sleep every night, the same time each day.
Birds are sensitive to toxins in the air. Eliminate non-stick frying pans, as well as other Teflon coated appliances from your home. Never clean the oven with birds near by, only when you can properly ventilate the kitchen and have the bird located far away. Other dangers to their respiratory systems are aerosols, scented candles, air fresheners, carpet cleaning, and cigarette smoke (cigar, pipe, etc) as well as Febreeze™.
Never leave a parrot unsupervised with other pets, or young children.
When teaching your bird or interacting with it, use positive re-enforcement, such as treats, praise, and petting. Never punish, it would only serve to damage the trust your bird has in you. If a parrot is screaming in your presence for example, leave the room and return when the bird is quiet. If the bird screams while you are not there, don’t go into the room until its quiet. Unless you are coming home after being out a while, it is then OK to go in and greet the bird, give it a treat, then wait for him to settle down and go and interact with him.
Always be willing to learn more about your bird. Buy some parrot care books. Guide to a Well Behaved Parrot is great, as well as magazines such as Companion Parrot Quarterly. You can also join the Ottawa Parrot Club.
Enjoy your companion. With proper care and behavior management, parrots are fantastic family members.
Submitted by Frank van Boxtel