Parrot Breeders Start The Care For A Pet Parrot
- Image by Dan_H via Flickr
The life of a parrot is long so the role of the parrot breeder is very important in the way that the parrot will turn out as a pet. During the first few months of a pet parrots life the way that it is treated is very significant to the way it will behave in later life. Do you realize that some parrots live until they are 60 or even 100 years of age? Well they do, so you can see why those first few months, and even years are important to instill good habits.
Parrot breeders.
When looking to purchase a pet parrot make some enquiries about parrot breeders and find one that has a good history and one that demonstrates good behavior towards parrot breeding. If buying from a pet shop see if you can get some information about the breeder and watch to see how the parrot behaves in the shop before you purchase it.
Buying a weaned bird.
The feeding habits of a young parrot is very important so you want to know that the parrot breeder has taken care over the diet of the parrot you intend to buy and that they have started feeding it the diet that it should have. A young parrot should be eating warm soft food, fresh food, pellets and/or seeds before you get it home. Caring for your pet parrot in the long term starts at the beginning with it eating the right diet.
Clipping the wings.
Some breeders will clip the wings on a parrot very early in its life, but if the bird has not had its wings clipped and has been allowed to learn to fly and to land safely on its feet then it is much more likely to be a happier bird. Even in your home the bird will flutter around from one thing to another so it needs to be able to land safely and securely without tumbling over.
Let’s face it, a bird is a bird, no matter whether it has had its wings clipped or not so from an emotional point of view the bird needs to have learnt why it has wings before they are clipped.
Commitment of parrot breeders.
Before purchasing your parrot ask the breeder if you can have a look at the aviary. Some may be hesitant of this, but if they are genuine they should not have a problem. I remember years ago when I bought a boxer dog and the breeders made some excuse so that we could not get a look at the litter. I let it go at the time but within two weeks the pup had broken out with ringworm and I wondered if it was in the litter.
Because of the length of time that a parrot lives it is quite important that you are able to build a good rapport with the parrot breeder. During its lifetime there may be problems that you come up against and it is really handy to be able to approach an experienced person to help you solve your problems.
There are of course, times when owners buy a really exotic parrot and cannot meet the parrot breeders, but in most cases it is possible and I would definitely go down this path when purchasing a pet that I intend to have a keep for such a long time.
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All About The Popular Yellow Headed Amazon Parrots
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Quite amazingly the Yellow Headed Amazon parrots are becoming rare in their natural habitat but in the captive world they rank close to second in the pet parrot scale. The Yellow Headed parrot has excellent vocal abilities and for this reason they are much sought after as a pet parrot. For owners who want to teach a parrot to talk the Yellow Headed parrot is right up there as one of the best.
Originally they come from the coastal regions of Mexico and further south. They love the subtropical forests, savannahs and mangrove swamps but unfortunately due to deforestation their habitat is decreasing and this is causing a terrible problem for this breed of popular parrot.
The coloring of the Yellow Headed Amazon parrot is something that attracts many parrot owners. It has bright green body plumage and a bright yellow head.
Just like many parrot species some Yellow Headed parrots will talk and talk well, whilst others will just never talk. Generally speaking though, the Yellow Headed parrot is a bit of a character. They are extremely intelligent and just loves all the attention it can get. They are funny and very active which really suits them if they are owned by someone who will allow them to fly around the house. In fact, because they are such an active bird it really does the world of good to be able to move around and keep healthy.
What a pet!
The Yellow Headed parrot is easily tamed, will train easily and is easy to teach to talk. Again, because they are active they do respond well to lots of toys and play things in their cage. A variety of branch perches in their cage will occupy them as well as they love chewing on them.
These parrots will grow up to 15 inches, although the female will be a little smaller. Other features are typical parrot features like the solid hooked beak for cracking nuts and seeds and they also have feet with two toes facing forward and two toes facing backwards which gives them strong holding power on branches but also when holding food.
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How To Teach Your Pet Parrot Tricks
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Parrots are very intelligent birds and tests have shown that they do in fact have the intelligence of a small child. The funny part of that proof is that a parrot needs almost the same attention that a small child does. Spending time with a parrot and teaching it several parrot tricks will keep it occupied, will help with its sociability and will give it the interactive communication that it desires. Doesn’t all that sound the same as the needs of a small child?
When a parrot has all these needs met it will be a happy parrot and will make a wonderful pet. If it does not have these needs met then it will most likely become a ‘naughty parrot’ and before long it will show bad behavioral habits. It will start being aggressive to attract attention and it will start biting. Does that sound familiar?
If you are serious about training your parrot to do some fun things and enjoy each other’s company, then set up your training time with care. Plan the parrot tricks training time so that you are both concentrating on the job at hand, that you are both in a positive mind set and that there are treats for the parrot when he does the right thing.
Another point to remember so that you get the best results is to keep the parrot training time short so as not to frustrate either yourself or the parrot. Short training periods will help maintain a positive attitude for both the owner and the parrot and should produce much better results than longer sessions will. Because the sessions are small, repetition is the key. Teach the same trick 4 or 5 times a day and the parrot will very quickly pick up what it is supposed to do.
Tricks to teach your parrot.
One of the first tricks to teach a parrot is to “step up”. This is simply getting the parrot to step onto your finger (or arm if it is a larger bird). Extend your finger in front of the parrot’s feet and ask it to “step up”. Repeat this several times in a calm, soothing voice so as not to frighten the bird. If necessary, hold some food in front of the bird, out of reach so that it will move forward. When the bird does what it is supposed to do give it a small treat.
“Turning around” is another trick that birds will learn quite quickly. The idea is to get the parrot to do a full turn on the perch. To start this trick, hold a piece of food to the side of the parrot so that it has to turn its head. Ask it to “turn around” and as it reaches for the food move it behind the bird so that it turns completely around on the perch. When it does turn around give it a treat.
Teaching the parrot to talk
One habit that a parrot can have which is a common annoyance is continuous screeching. A very simple way of preventing this is to teach the parrot to talk. When a parrot has developed a vocabulary it is quite happy to chat away rather than do the continual screeching. Also, once a parrot has learnt to talk you will find that family members will tend to interact with it more and this is just what the parrot needs to keep him happy.
Teach it to talk by slowly repeating one word which more often than not is “hello” the first time. When it starts to make a noise even a little bit like the word you are saying give it a treat and this will encourage it to keep trying. As the bird learns how to vocalize words it will extend its vocabulary and be a lot of fun to talk to.
With a lot of care and attention you will find that your pet parrot will really become one of the family and both the family and the parrot will have a very happy association. You will find that the more parrot tricks you teach him the happier he will become and the less behavioral problems there will be.
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African Grey Parrots Make Wonderful Pets
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Parrot lovers will find that an African Grey Parrot is one of the easiest parrots to keep as a pet. Not only that, the African parrot is a very popular pet parrot for many reasons. Their special qualities of exceptional talking and cognitive abilities means that they interact well with their owners and are a joy to have as a favorite pet. Given the time these parrots will develop a large vocabulary and it has been reported that they communicate exceptionally well with their owners if given the incentive.
What does your African Grey parrot look like?
The African Grey is a medium sized parrot which also makes him an ideal pet because he is easy to house and to handle. They grow to between 10 to 14 inches in length, with the male being slightly larger than the female.
Although very similar, there are in fact two different types of African Grey. One is the Congo African Grey which is a light grey body, very light grey to white on the side of the head and with a brilliant red tail. The other is the Timneh African Grey with darker grey feathers on top, light grey chest and with a maroon colored tail. The general body build of both of these parrots is much the same with both sexes, but the female does tend to have a slightly narrower head and a more slender neck than the male.
Similar to most parrots the African Grey has a long life span so it is important that an owner can make a long term commitment to the parrot when they decide to take one on as a pet. They can actually live up to 60 years which is quite amazing when you think of the usual family pet.
Keeping your African Grey happy.
This parrot has a very high intelligence which means that if not kept amused they will become bored and this is not good for his general well being. A bored parrot develops some bad habits, and although they can be reversed these habits will not be good for the parrot or the family as his keeper.
From the pet parrot’s point of view, one of the habits that will cause him harm is that of feather picking. If you ever notice your parrot pulling out feathers get on to this problem straight away because it is not good for him to have bare patches where he has plucked out his feathers.
Another problem is that they can become very grumpy if they are bored and this will make him an unpleasant friend. He will start biting and be quite aggressive towards those around him. If in a really bad state he will even start self-mutilating.
Just like any intelligent animal a pet parrot needs interaction with its owner on a regular basis and needs stimulation to keep it happy. This does not mean that you need to be playing with it for hours a day, but it does like to have a certain amount of freedom and play with its owner. They train beautifully so enjoy the process and teach him some tricks that he will love doing and people will love doing with him.
Be ‘one of the flock’ to your parrot.
Naturally the African Grey would fly in a flock so they do tend to treat their owner as one of the flock. Because of this the parrot will enjoy a head rub and a scratch around the head, but they do not like their body handled. You will often notice with a group of parrots that they tend to smooch around each other’s head. It is an idioscincracy of parrots.
If you have your pet parrot around your face do be careful not to let it ‘kiss’ you around the mouth (and they love to do this) because humans can transfer bacteria from their mouth to the bird which is not healthy.
If being kept by a family, children need to understand the personality of a parrot because if they do get bitten they do hurt as their beaks are very hard and are designed for cracking seeds and nuts. If a child aggravates a parrot they could get bitten, even by a placid parrot.
African Grey parrots are a ton of fun, but only if their dietary needs, their social needs and their housing needs are given the due care by their loving owners.
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Developing A Good Parrot Diet For A Healthy Parrot
- Image by Charles P. via Flickr
Parrots, by nature, forage for the food that they like and that is good for them so it makes sense that when we are responsible for a pet parrot we need to keep in mind that they need to be given a healthy diet so that we have a healthy parrot. A parrot diet is really not too difficult to attend to, it is just a matter of taking the time to write down all the things that you need to keep on hand so that you can give your pet parrot a range of foods that will keep it healthy.
There is no hard evidence to show that a seed diet is the perfect diet for a parrot. Seeds are deficient in many nutrients needed for good health like Vitamin A and calcium. Because of this those who have been studying parrots and parrot diets agree that only about 10% of a parrot’s diet should be seed. In saying that, the smaller seed eaters like budgies and cockatiels seem to be able to have about 25% of their diet as seed without any undue affect on their health.
Feeding your parrot
Parrots do like and need stimulation so to cut some food like a carrot and hang it in the cage is a good idea. This activates the parrot and he will play with it and eat it at the same time. They will most likely be happy to try cucumber, sweet potato, corn, green beans, green peas, cauliflower and sweet peppers etc. They especially like the tropical fruits as they are a hot climate bird and will love fruits like melons, pineapple, mango, papaya and kiwi fruit. Do keep in mind that chemical sprays on leafy vegetables are harmful to these birds.
A parrot diet should be varied so that they do not get bored with the same food all the time. As they are happy to eat fruit and vegetables there is a wide range to choose from. Like us, they will have their favorites, but do be careful not to spoil them too much or they will become selective and that will not be good for their overall health.
Pellets should make up about 30-40% of the parrot diet as pellets have been constructed in such a way that they consist of vegetables, fruits, grains, seeds plus vitamins and minerals. Giving your pet parrot pellets will ensure that they are getting all the required nutrients needs in caring for a pet parrot.
If at all possible go for organic with your parrot’s diet. It is possible to get organic pellets and it is better for your bird if you can feed it organic fruit and vegetables as well.
Foods toxic to parrots
Some foods are toxic to parrots and they are:
• Chocolate
• Cocoa
• Eggplant
• Avocado
• Guacamole
• Caffeine
• Mushrooms
• Foods with salt, sugar, grease, preservatives, food coloring and other additives
• Bread as this has most of the above and parrots can contact a fungal stomach disease from eating commercial bread
It is also possible to give your parrot dehydrated fruits and vegetables. With their strong beaks a parrot is quite happy to crunch through these tasty morsels and dried items are fantastic if you are travelling or to keep on hand in case of emergency. You can place dried food in the cage and leave them without them being spoilt and this is an advantage as well.
Water for your bird
Parrots love to flop around in water so leave some water in the cage for a couple of hours to let it have a wash but remove it so that the bird does not drink it all day and end up with diseases. A water bottle is a much better way of providing drinking water for your parrot.
There is such a huge range of food that parrots can eat and the amazing thing is that most parrot problems stem from malnutrition. As suggested, make a list and keep it somewhere so that you can quickly find something from the home to feed the parrot and always make sure you have a supply of pellets.
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