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Archive for September 15th, 2007

The Two Minute Guide To Owning a Bird

Sep 15

Posted by Sapphyre & Jerry in Bird Care, Parrot Diet | No Comments

When people call me looking for a new bird, I ask them if this is their first bird. If it is, then I will try to educate them on the importance of proper bird care and the long term commitment that they require. Since some birds can live past 56 years, you will need to make sure that it is the kind of pet you are really looking for. Here are some pointers you should check out before investing in a new bird.

Get a young bird. It is best to get a very young bird. Training will be easier on both of you. I really believe it is better to purchase your bird from a breeder. There are good and bad breeders, so you need to do some research. Ask local vets if they know any reputable breeders. Visit them and see how well they care for the birds. If the place the birds are raised is an unhealthy mess, that’s a good clue to walk away.

>>In my e-book “The Easy Parrot System”, I talk about the questions you should ask your breeder and what precautions you should take. Get hold of the e-book from: http://www.TheTameParrot.com/The-Easy-Parrot-System/

Let the bird pick you! No joke! If you pick out a bird that you like, it doesn’t mean it will like you. There is nothing worse then getting a bird that dislikes you. Birds have personalities! They pick out people they like and they may be aggressive or shy away from someone they don’t like.

Always have your bird vet-checked at least once a year. It’s amazing how folks have their car checked out regularly, but totally ignore their bird! Since birds are very good at hiding when they are sick, you may not notice it until it’s too late. Learn how to identify the signs that they are not feeling well.

Be sure you get the proper size cage. It should be large enough for your bird to get some exercise their wings. It must have enough perch space. Watch the bar spacing and door openings. Birds will get their heads caught between the bars if too wide.

Birds love to play with toys! Load up on lots of them. Stay away from rope and cloths toys that will easily become frayed and get tangled around feet and toes.

Large birds like to chew. Unless you want to replace wooden perches every other week, get some wooden blocks. Hang them on chains and the birds will love them! If your birds are allowed out of the cage, they must be closely supervised. Wooden windowsills, furniture, and cabinets are their favorite treats!

Keep your bird’s wings clipped. If you are going to have it for a pet you don’t want him finding out what a ceiling fan feels like. It’s not uncommon for a bird to get out of its cage and fly out an open door or window. If a bird gets loose out side you may never get it back. (We have had it happen to us before.) Other dangers are flying into windows or into the kitchen where you are cooking on hot stoves. We have had some close calls there too. There are pros and cons about wing clipping, but our birds have to be clipped. I am not taking any chances on loosing one again.

Pay attention to your bird’s eating habits and behavior. Watch for changes. When a bird gets sick, they have a tendency to hide their illnesses. But the time the bird shows that it is sick, it may be too late to get it medical help.

It is important that you carry info on you that would tell an emergency official that you have a bird or birds at home that needs some one to check on them. It would be terrible to be in a bad accident and no one knows you have pets at home depending on you.

You should always have arrangements made for someone to take are care for your bird should you die. It isn’t a pleasant thought but remember that bigger birds have a long life span, and you want to make sure that you do have someone who will.

>>Check out my ebook at http://www.TheTameParrot.com/cb/ – I believe every parrot owner should have a copy of this. Learn more about getting the perfect bird to fit into your home in “The Easy Parrot System”- What Every Bird Owner Must Know

[tags]owning a bird, owning a parrot, parrot guide, online parrot help, parrot toys, keeping a parrot, parrot information, parrots as pets, parrot signs of illness, parrot diet[/tags]

Screaming Parrot – Put An End To Your Bird’s Screaming

Sep 15

Posted by admin in Parrot Training And Taming | 7 Comments

***QUESTION***

“How do I stop my blue fronted Amazon parrot from screaming? Whenever we leave the room, she screams. We’ve tryed spraying her with water, clapping our hands loudly, etc. We are about to look for a new home for her if we can’t get this behavior under control.”

Barbara F.

***MY COMMENTS***

From that one paragraph you wrote, I can already see two big mistakes that you are making. I’ll get to those later…

Firstly, let me differentiate between constant ear-piercing, nerve-racking, blatant screaming (that needs to be tackled) and a parrot’s “call to the flock” (which you should not attempt to stop)

It is important to understand that most parrots “call to the flock” several times per day, usually in the morning, around noon, at dusk, which is a completely natural behavior since birds are social animals.

You cannot, and SHOULD NOT, attempt to stop this natural process. This flock calling is a parrot’s way of determining which flock members are present or not present and it’s just checking up on you because YOU are part of the parrot’s flock!

Now, onto the annoying, ear-piercing screaming that drives you crazy…

Before attempting to resolve any screaming problem, you must ensure there’s NO medical reason involved by seeking medical evaluation by a certified avian veterinarian.

Now, there are LOTS of different reasons why birds may scream – just like a human child. If you hear your kid screaming upstairs, you can’t just pinpoint exactly what’s wrong with the child, right? You have to investigate…

In this article, I’m going to tackle one of them -

Something to consider is whether YOU have taught the bird to scream. Barbara, you mentioned that you clap your hands loudly in order to hush her up. What you’re actually doing is encouraging this screaming behavior…

“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, DANNY??”

You see, when a parrot screams and the owner reacts by screaming back at the bird, the bird learns that screaming is an ACCEPTABLE form of communication.

The bird owners react by screaming back, throwing items at the bird, dousing the bird with water, etc. This human reaction is negative, but reaction none the less, which is exactly what the parrot wanted to begin with! As a result, some parrots become confused and don’t know how to behave, but since they’ve learned to scream, this is how they react!

You need to understand that some parrots scream as a way to get ATTENTION!

By the way… don’t use water as a punishment… And then you wonder why the parrot doesn’t want to take a bath.

Basically, if there is a lot of screaming or noise in the home, a parrot may feel it is acceptable for it to scream in order to be heard or that screaming is a natural part of life.

Interesting little creatures, aren’t they?

A VICIOUS CYCLE IS CREATED

The cycle must be broken in order to change the negative behavior. Reward your bird when s/he doesn’t scream and never reward your bird when it does.

A reward can be as simple as a look from you.

You must…

COMPLETELY IGNORE THE SCREAMING BEHAVIOR!

Go outside, use ear plugs, lock yourself in a room or go out of ear range if you must, but do NOT reward screaming behavior by showing your bird any reaction to it.

However, shower your bird with attention and love once the screaming stops.

Try the techniques I’ve shared and let me know how you get on with your parrot.

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