How To Tell Your Parrot’s Health By Appearance

one sick parrot in auburn
Image by Chewy Chua via Flickr

A parrot owner might wonder if their parrot is unwell and have absolutely no idea how to judge that or not.   Being in this situation is not good because caring for a parrot does require attention on a daily basis so if the parrot is not well it is not a matter of waiting for a few days or a week to see if that is the case.  Parrots need to feed every day and if they are unwell and stop feeding then they need urgent care.  So what are signs that they may be unwell and stop feeding?

Body language.

Not unlike humans, body language will indicate whether a parrot is unwell or not.  It is a good idea to learn the body language of your parrot as soon as possible and look at what the usual habits are so that if you see something different then you can be alerted.   The thing is, before training a parrot to talk or do tricks an owner needs to understand the body language of the parrot because a parrot will not learn if he is upset or distressed.

Some signs to look for with a sick parrot:

•    If the parrot is standing on both legs, where as they normally rest on one leg, it may mean he cannot keep his balance

•    If he has not been cleaning his feathers and they look messy and not clean he could be unwell

•    If he starts picking at his feathers or at his feet

•    If he huddles at the bottom of the cage and is not getting up on the perch

Keep these signs in mind, but a parrot owner will get to know their own parrot’s behavior and pick up quite quickly when he is not well.

Aggression.

If a parrot shows unusual signs of aggression it could be because he is unwell.  If he is in pain he won’t want to be handled and possibly not even talked to.  If the parrot is fanning his tail feathers he is not happy!

Some parrots will make a sound that is ‘beak clicking’ and if it is being done in quick succession then this can be taken as a sign that something is wrong and at this point the bird should not be handled.

Squawking.

When a parrot is continually squawking it is often because he is experiencing distress.  Sometimes it is just because he is trying to attract your attention, but when the squawking and screaming is constant that is the time to investigate what the problem is.

What makes this task so difficult is that the squawking could be for one of many reasons: loss of a family member, boredom, fear, lack of sleep or even jealousy (which could be over another pet or a family friend).  The one thing that could be a problem though is that the squawking could be because of a nutritional deficiency.

The first thing to do is look at his diet.  Make sure that he is eating and that you are giving him a good cross section of pellets, grains, fruit and vegetables.  If he is eating well at least there is not the nutritional problem to fix.

If it is a social problem then perhaps he needs more one on one attention.

Sour Crop.

Care needs to be taken that the parrot is eating a healthy diet and is only fed twice a day.  A few little nibbles in between won’t hurt but in reality parrots eat morning and night.

Parrots need to empty their crop at least once every 24 hours so that they do not end up with ‘sour crop’.  The crop is a bag of skin that is surrounded by muscles which, when the stomach is empty will push the food up the crop to the opening of the stomach for feeding.  If the crop is not emptied on a daily basis the food at the bottom is spoiled and the bird can become very sick.  This does tend to happen more with hand fed baby parrots but it is something to be aware of even in the larger parrots.

Being an observant parrot owner will mean that parrot care will be kept in balance and any action required be taken for the health of the parrot.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Share on Facebook

Caring for a new parrot pet

Baby Parrot
Image by Bisayan lady via Flickr

It is really exciting to bring a new parrot home and like bringing home any pets a certain amount of planning needs to go into the ‘new home’.  If the new pet parrot is a baby parrot care needs to be taken to ensure that the surroundings are going to be conducive to a new ‘baby’ in the family because initially he will be scared in his new surroundings.  Care should be taken before bringing him home to have everything ready for a safe and cosy transfer to his new lodgings.

Danger in the first few days.

It is the first few days of being in the new home that is the most fraught with the danger of the parrot flying away.  They are scared, they don’t know the new owners and they don’t know their new surroundings.

The whole family needs to behind the arrival of the new pet.  Doors and windows need to be kept closed if the parrot is outside the cage.  It is best that the same person is putting the food, water and toys inside the cage for the first few days so that the parrot is not freaked out with a full range of strangers.

The adjustment period for your pet parrot.

If there are other parrots in the house, a new parrot will need to be readjusted to his surroundings before being introduced slowly to the other parrots.  He will need to feel very comfortable before being introduced to other parrots and even then, care needs to be taken that the birds are watched so that the introduction goes nice and smoothly.

It is ideal if the parrot can be brought home to the house early in the day so that he has some daylight hours to get used to his new surroundings by sight and also by sound.

If there are children in the house it would be best if the noise level near the parrot is kept low and that they don’t go poking things into the cage.

Sleeping the first week.

In the long term the parrot will like to be covered at night and get a good 10 to 12 hours sleep, but with the new family member, he would probably settle in best if there was a subdued light left on for him so that he can still see the surroundings that he has come into.  The parrot will be missing his old surroundings, and especially any other parrots that he has left so he does need reassuring in the first week or two.

Parrots by nature get lonely.

Parrots are flock birds so they do like to be around noise and other activity, but with your new bird make sure you have some toys in the cage so that he can amuse himself.  He may not do that while there are people around, but when he is on his own he may feel inclined to have a play.

In the early days it is tempting to handle the new pet parrot a lot, but in the long term it is best that he is not handled a lot because when he is not handle a lot initially he does become more independent.   If they are handled a lot they will expect continued company and will fret when left on their own.  Not only that, they will start to squawk to attract continued attention.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Share on Facebook