TheTameParrot.com - Say “BYE” To Your Parrot Problems

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Sapphyre e-mailed me this link few days ago. I thought you guys will enjoy this read -

1. GET TO KNOW ABOUT PARROTS BEFORE YOU BRING ME HOME - I am not a domesticated pet like a dog or cat. I still have the spirit of the jungle in me. I have special needs, which you may find hard to fill. Please don’t learn these too late for my well-being. And please don’t acquire one of my cousins wild from the jungle - it will jeopardize his survival and well-being, and that won’t be a party for you either!

2. GIVE ME THE LARGEST HOME POSSIBLE - I am used to flying through rainforests or savannas. I have given up this great gift for your pleasure. At the very least, give me enough room to flap my wings and exercise. And I need toys for my amusement and wood to chew - otherwise, I might confuse your Home with the forest and its trees.

3. GIVE ME A NUTRITIOUS DIET - I need a wide variety of fresh and nutritious foods, even if they take time to prepare. I cannot survive on seeds alone. Take time to learn what my needs, and preferences are.

4. LET ME HAVE A ‘SOCIAL LIFE’ - I am a gregarious flock animal - but I am not one of you. I need lots of socialization to learn how to act with you, and with my siblings. I also need to have adequate quality time with you every day - no matter what your schedule or other needs are. I am a living, feeling creature. Above all, I need to be able to have complete trust in you, and count on your predictability in looking after me - every day.

5. LET ME BE CLEAN - I may like to drop food or even throw it, but I need meticulous cleanliness to be healthy. My skin itches without frequent showers, the barbs of my feathers won’t seal if they become oily and, worst of all, I may become ill if my food or water is not always sanitary.

6. I NEED MY OWN DOCTOR - You may not understand my physiology and therefore you may not recognize it early on when I get sick. And it may be too late when you do, because I hide my illnesses (remember what I said about my being an animal of the jungle, where there are lots of predators). And I need an avian vet - a specialist (no HMOs for me please). If you can’t afford one, perhaps you shouldn’t have taken me home.

7. PLEASE DON’T PUNISH ME - Just as I don’t always understand your peculiarities, you may not understand mine. I don’t TRY to get in trouble - remember, a house is not the jungle. If I do screw up, don’t yell at me and never hit me. I have sensitive ears and I may never trust you again if you strike me. Hands are sometimes scary things to us (why in the world would you not be zygodactylous like us?). Even more importantly, we don’t learn by punishment. We are gentle creatures who only strike back to protect ourselves; we learn through patience and love.

8. SPEAK MY ‘LANGUAGE’ - I know you get upset with me when I knock over my water bowl, throw food, scream or pluck my feathers. I don’t do these to annoy you - I am probably trying to tell you something (perhaps that I am hurting, lonely, or sad.). Learn to speak MY (body) language. Remember that I, alone of all creatures on this planet, learn to speak yours!

9. SEE ME AS AN INDIVIDUAL - I am a unique and feeling being. No two of us are alike. Please don’t be disappointed in me if I don’t talk like you wanted, or can’t do the tricks that your friend’s parrot can do. But if you pay close attention to me (and I always empathize with you, whether you know it or not), I will show you a unique being who will give you so much more than talking and playing. Give me a chance to show you who I am; I think you’ll find the effort worth it. And remember - I am not an ornament; I do not enhance ANY living room décor. And I am not a status symbol - if you use me as such, I might nip at your up-turned nose!

10. SHARE YOUR LOVE WITH ME - Above all, please remember that you are my Special Person. I put all my trust and faith in you. We parrots are used to being monogamous (no bar-hopping for us!). So please don’t go away for long periods or give me away - that would be a sadness from which I may never recover. If that seems to be asking a lot, remember - you could have learned about my needs before bringing me home. Even having a baby or taking a new job isn’t a fair reason - you made a commitment to me FIRST. And if you think that you must leave me because you might die, provide for me forever after you leave. I may live to a ripe old age but I can’t provide for myself. Remember I’m in a small cage amongst people who are not of my blood.

11. YOUR RIGHTS - You have lots of rights, but I can only assure one. And that is, if you treat me the way I described above, I will reward you with unwavering love, humor, knowledge, beauty, dedication - and a sense of wonder and awe you haven’t felt since you were a child. When you took me home, you became my Flock Leader, indeed, my entire universe - for life. I would hang the moon and stars for you if I could. We are one in Heart and Soul.

Source: http://www.cleos-corner.com/Rights.html

I recently got a question about bird diets and what they can/should eat.

This question came from a Macaw owner, who read that you never give your birds “human snacks” suck as potato chips, French fries, or other highly salted foods. They were told that salt is extremely toxic to birds and could kill them. Was that true?

Well, my first thought was no, because if it were true I would have a whole lot of dead birds lying around our aviary. We always share our snacks with them, including salty snacks. I’m not talking about dumping a sack of chips into their food dish…just an occasional chip or two.

I thought about it some more……if salt kills birds how do sea birds that live around oceans survive? Obviously someone is wrong here.

And nearly every animal on earth needs salt! Why would such a vital mineral be highly toxic to birds?

I took a careful look at the formulated food products available for birds, and sure enough, right there in the ingredients is Natural Trace Mineral Salt and Sodium Selenite. Sodium Selenite is added to many poulty foods to promote growth and prevent selenium deficiency disease. But both of these salts are added to Harrison’s food diet, and this (it seems) is the de-facto diet to feed recommended by many bird enthusiasts.

So ok….salt is good, right?

SALT GLANDS

Sea birds have evolved with a digestive system that combines their kidneys, GI tract, and special salt glands to regulate the amount of salt in their body. Their system is designed to maintain a total body fluid homeostasis, which allows them to live off the high sea salt diet native to their environment. Unfortunately, this is not the case with most tropical birds. Their system is dependant on their kidneys to remove any excess salt in their system. Too much salt will also increase the urination, resulting in hydration problems.

Well hey! That’s the same problem humans have, isn’t it? If you eat too much salty foods, your body craves for fluids, and your urination increase dramatically! But salt doesn’t kill humans….?

The problem lies with the birds kidneys, and their inability to produce hypertonic urine (urine with lots of sodium). In other words, they have more difficulty removing high amounts of salt, unlike Sea Birds which accomplish this with their salt glands. Therefore, too much salt will quickly dehydrate a bird.

So OK, am I now saying salt is bad? No!

Any time you eat a diet high in salt or sugar, you are going to have health problems. The same goes for birds! Too much will cause health issues, as I just discussed…..but not enough salt will cause a number of deficiencies also! A diet with little sodium will result in loss of weight, iodine deficiencies, and (for breeders) lower egg production and a higher loss in egg size and growth. There are also a number of skin diseases traced to salt deficiencies.

The problems begin when you start feeding diets with excessive amounts of salt! But what is “excessive”. Unfortunately, the folks sounding the warning bell are using terribly unrealistic diets. They point to work done in Illinois and Maryland, where studies were done on birds being fed diets containing 4% salt! Well Holy Cow! What do you expect from that sort of diet!!!

So the warnings went out…bird lovers heard the sirens and assumed that too much salt means “all salt” and they cut back on loads of food items. Bread? Well of course…we use salt to make bread. So now all bread products are bad. Processed food? Yup, more salt…gotta stop giving my birds that too!

RELAX

You can feed your bird salty items without worrying about them dropping dead in their cage. Just keep in mind that heavily salted items must be given only occasionally.

If you gave your bird 3-4 potato chips, the salt content he is receiving is equivalent to a human eating 2 teaspoons of salt. Obviously any more then that would begin to have some serious dehydration problems. But that small amount isn’t going to hurt your bird.

It’s like I preach over and over…birds have the exact same nutritional requirements as humans do. You obviously are not going to eat 4-5 bags of potato chips or fatty snacks…but a small bowl is just fine. Therefore, 2-3 snack chips or crackers will not cause your bird problems either. And they will enjoy their occasional treat!

Use your common sense! Quit listening to these doomsday scientists who run test designed to find something wrong with any product. Once you look at the actual test results, and get past the doomsday news flashes, you will relax and give your birds their snacks.

I know that if I wanted to start a birdy-riot in my aviary, the sure way to do it would be to stop putting salt on their popcorn!

One of the most unique parrots we have bred was the Eclectus. These are very gentle and quiet birds that are rapidly becoming popular by pet owners. But they are not the easiest birds to breed, making them in low supply, and therefore driving up the cost to well over $1000.

Eclectus are very unique parrots, because they are sexually dimorphic, which means there is a very big difference between male and female, making it extremely easy to identify them. Male Eclectus are green, while females are predominately red and blue.

It was during the late 1880’s that scientist discovered that the green Eclectus were the males and the Red Eclectus were the females and that applied in each of the Eclectus species. This made sexing the chicks easy for breeders since there is no doubt by the color of the pin feathers as to what sex the baby was, so this was a financial savings on DNA testing on all the chicks.

BACKGROUND

There are 16 documented species of the Eclectus, however only 4 are generally available in the United States and Europe. These are the Solomin Island, Red Sided, Vosmaeri, and Grand. The Eclectus is a medium sized parrot. Solomon Island’s are the smallest, being 12”-13” long. Red-Sided Eclectus are the biggest at 16”-17”.

Eclectus are a bird native to New Guinea , the Solomon Islands, and southwards to Australia. In the wild, they are very good fliers, and spend much of their time flying over the jungle canopy.

As pets they are very gentle and playful. While they have a loud scream they are normally very quiet. They are excellent talkers, being rated in the top three of the parrots. From our experience, the males have always been the best talkers, and the most friendly and sociable of the sexes.

They are fairly difficult to breed. Breeders that start out as pets have a difficult time learning to parent and are the most difficult to breed. Wild Eclectus parrots seem to do better.

The female will generally lay 2 eggs and only she will incubate them, coming out of the breeder box twice a day to be fed by the male. When the chicks are a bit older she will come out and feed herself. The chicks are weaned by the age of 16 weeks.

In captivity, Eclectus parrots do not require a large cage, as they tend to not fly much. Many breeders who are offered large cages simply walk around or stay on their perches. The female spends most of her time in her breeding box. As pets, they enjoy spending their time on their cage, or on T-stands. They enjoy being petted and cuddled, but don’t usually get involved in active play with their owners.

Therefore, they will do great in a medium sized parrot case of 30×24x50. They are active chewers, and will quickly destroy their perches. So be sure they have extra wood toys to chew on, or invest in some good Manzanita perches. These are a very hard, dense wood that is difficult for birds to destroy.

DIET

Eclectus have a few unusual dietary needs. They must have a diet with a low fat content (adults only) due to their longer digestive tract. They are also susceptible to having low vitamin deficiencies, such as A, E, and D. Too much cholesterol will quickly develop into liver problems and a host of other blood related issues.

Therefore, they must have a very well balanced diet. It is important for an Eclectus owner to understand these health issues, and be able to identify the signs of potential problems. The very best method is to have your bird checked annually by an experienced avian vet, who will do a CBC blood test. Otherwise, you must learn to watch for feather problems, especially discoloration and blackening of the tops of the feathers. Also monitor them for fatigue and signs of diseases that are brought on from immune system problems.

There are some special pellet diets on the market designed for Eclectus parrots that contain a very low oil and fat content. When we bred them, we used just a standard pellet (such as Zupreem or Kaytee) and monitored their other food intake. They must be given extra vegi’s loaded with Vitamin A and E. Some research indicated they do not handle vitamin mixes, but I am not really convinced by this research to the point of abandoning them. We have taken in Eclectus birds with obvious deficiencies, and the vitamins brought them back just fine.

As a pet, the Eclectus is an excellent choice for a large parrot. They are intelligent, and known to just sit quietly and observe what is happening around the room. They are friendly and affectionate, great talkers, and will generally stay on their cage or stand. If you are planning to get one as a pet, it is recommended that you choose a male over the female, as they tend to be more docile and adjust to their new homes much quicker.

One of the sad facts about bird owners is that they rarely give their birds a careful health examination. This is mainly due to the lack of education on what to look for. What are the signs of a sick bird? How do they act? What should you do if they are showing signs of being sick?

Birds have a built an instinct of hiding signs that they are sick. This goes back to when they lived in the wild. A sick bird became the immediate target of predators. Even in an aviary condition it’s dangerous to show weakness. Many times we have had a sick or injured bird become attacked by the other birds in the cage. So their instinct tells them to hide those signs.

Even with all of our experience, it can be difficult. My wife, fortunately, has an instinct of being able to tell when a bird is sick. Many times while feeding and doing our daily maintenance, my wife will suddenly stop and begin examining a bird. To me it looks fine, but she sensed something. And most of the time she was right.

But for the rest of us, we need to learn what to look for, and identify the signs they are sick.

EARLY PREVENTION FIRST

Birds also have another ability…to get sick on weekends, holidays, or when the vet is on vacation. I haven’t figured this out yet either. So you need to be ready in the event this happens. Remember that once a bird begins to show obvious signs of illness, it may be too late to do anything to save him. Early identification of problems is very important.

Have your normal avian vet give you a list of competent vets in your area that know how to treat birds. Note that many vets do not have a clue about avian medicine, and the last thing you want to do is begin searching when an emergency hits. Get the names of after hour vets and clinics. Your vet may even be able to supply you with an experienced bird breeder who you can contact. My wife is available to do emergency “triage” to stabilize a bird until we can get to a vet. This has saved many birds lives.

>> There is a very good article on how to put together an avian first aid kit at The Tame Parrot Blog – First Aid Kit. This article covers all the important items you need, and why you should have them available in case of an emergency. Read this article, put together your own emergency kit, and keep it handy!

Also, begin to practice a good cleaning ritual. If the bird is forced to live in a dirty cage, you are just asking for problems. You need to clean and disinfect the cage every week, examine the cage for any dangers, and fix them immediately.

WATCH FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGES

Hopefully, you have been watching your bird for a while. By now you know it’s routine, how it acts, what it does during the day, and all of its habits. By monitoring these habits for any changes, you can detect the early warning signs of a bird.

Has it changed its eating habits? Does it seem to spend more time on the bottom of the cage and not on the perch? Have you noticed he doesn’t make much noise in the morning, when before he would wake the dead with his loud screams?

When you stand next to his cage, he may look active and not show any problem signs. Walk away from his cage and observe him for a few minutes. If possible, peak around the corner so he doesn’t know you are watching. Now that he knows you are not watching, he may begin to show signs of a problem.

BIRD PHYSICALS

It’s also important to do some up close inspections. Here is what to look for

Blood Feathers – These are feathers where the blood has not retracted back into the skin after development. They become irritating and the bird will begin to chew on them. If they rupture, your bird will bleed to death. Learn how to identify and remove them.

Fluffed Feathers – Most common indicator of a sick bird. They do this to stay warm. If you see this frequently, or for long periods of time, start looking for the cause. It could be something as simple as a draft, or something more serious. Look further….

Vent – This area should be clean and try. Dirty vents are signs of diarrhea. This could be caused by over consumption of certain foods, stress, parasites or internal organ problems. Immediate attention is needed to prevent dehydration.

Droppings – Keep clean newspaper on the floor of the cage and you can easily examine the birds stools on a daily basis. You should see the urates opaque fluid) with a dry white dropping in the middle. If it looks green, yellow, or any other color, you could have a problem. If it is runny you have a diarrhea problem. Also pay attention for undigested seed or food, foamy stools, or changes in the volume of the droppings.

Bird is quiet and not singing – Sick birds do not want to attract attention to themselves. They will remain quiet.

Eyes – Are they open and alert, or are they half-closed, and watery/glassy? That is another sign of a sick bird.

Nostrils – Draining, runny nose, or clogged, can be signs bad signs.

Respiratory Problems – Is the bird showing signs of heavy breathing? Coughing, sneezing, and excessive nasal discharge are all potential problems.

Change in eating habits – especially if they reject their favorite treats.

Lethargy – They are not active at all, and may sleep a lot more then normal.

There is also an excellent website where you can go and look up a number of symptoms, and get a diagnosis of what could be wrong with your bird. This is no replacement for a trained avian vet, but in an emergency it could save your birds life. Check out The Bird Channel for more information.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU NOTICE SOMETHING

If you have other birds, you MUST put your bird into quarantine. Better yet, place it into a brooder, or any type of container that can be monitored and heated. Sick birds need to be kept in a warm, dark area.

>>There is an article that will show you how to build a simple brooder using easy-to-find parts. For a small investment you can save the life of your bird in case of a medical emergency. Check out The Tame Parrot Blog – Brooder for instructions.

Seek immediate attention from your vet. Remember that once a bird begins to show signs of sickness, it may be too late…but immediate emergency attention can save it.

If you can not get your bird to a vet immediately, supply the bird with pedialyte (this should always be in your emergency first aid kit) to prevent dehydration. Birds with severe diarrhea can be given a drop of Pepto-Bismo. Your kit should also contain some soft baby food or powered rice cereal (make sure it does not contain zinc), and powered hand feeding formula, so you can feed your bird by hand if necessary.

A wise person once told me that if you wanted to know how to get out of debt, don’t talk to a credit counselor. They have never gone through it, so how could they help you? Instead, talk to someone who has filed bankruptcy, and find out how they recovered from it.

If you want to know how to prevent, or clean up, a Psittacosis outbreak, who would you go to? A veterinarian or someone who had it happen to them? That would be me! But the good part of this story is it we were very lucky… it was an incorrect test result. But at the time we did not know that, and had one of the worst three months of our lives!

“CHLOE IS DEAD!”

Our nightmare began several years ago. Our aviary was in full production, and we had over 100 birds. Sapphyre, went out to check on our birds and discovered one of our best African Grays dead on the bottom of her cage.

Now understand, it’s terrible to lose any bird. But it’s totally unacceptable to lose a bird without learning something from the loss. Why did Chloe die? Sapphyre has an incredible habit of being able to sense when a bird is sick, but Chloe never showed a sign. So she was thinking it was a nutritional problem. Since I have specialized in feeding and nutrition, I was anxious to understand what I had done wrong. So we sent the body to Michigan State University’s Small Animal Clinic for a necropsy.

PSITTACOSIS

A few days later we got the results. There was a positive test for Psittacosis. This is also know as “Parrot Disease”. It is extremely contagious, not only to birds but to humans. It can be transmitted to other animals, including chickens, turkeys and ducks. That makes this not only an agriculture concern, but also a public health concern. Once word got out that we were “infected” the nightmare began!

We were immediately ordered to place our birds into quarantine. Anyone going in or out needed to practice extreme good hygiene practices, and we started wearing lab coats over our clothes. Everyone in the family was put on antibiotics.

Cages had to be 100% cleaned and disinfected every day. Walls, floors, you name it! All birds needed to be treated with the antibiotic tetracycline. We were extremely lucky that one of the few companies in the country that manufactures food with this drug already added is just an hour’s drive away! It was expensive, and many of our birds wouldn’t eat it. We were therefore forced to hand feed tetracycline to those birds.

Every few days we had to collect stool samples to be sent to the lab for testing. Unless we got a clean bill of health for three straight weeks, our birds would remain in quarantine. If not cured, we could end up having all our birds confiscated.

FALSE POSITIVE

Not one single test that we sent in contained Psittacosis! We found out after this nightmare was over that the current tests for this disease result in a lot of false readings. Recent advances in blood testing have drastically improved these results, but several years ago they were not yet approved. So, in an effort to err on the side of caution, the government would declare any positive test as the truth, and take aggressive action to prevent an outbreak.

And if that means the breeder must endure the expense of their error…in our case several thousand dollars of medications and testing… so be it! Is there any wonder why bird breeders are so careful about ordering such testing? A positive test will put them totally out of business. The government does not replace confiscated birds. This is poor prevention, and the government needs to change their policies.

CONCLUSION…

In the end, we never did find out what killed Chloe. But we learned an awful lot about Psittacosis. This disease is spread through the air. Generally, it’s passed through bird droppings and nasal discharges. When the droppings dry, they turn to power and blow around into the air, eventually finding their way to other birds (and humans) who inhale it.

In humans, the cure is easily controlled with antibiotics. This disease is still prevalent, and since many birds are “carriers” and don’t show any signs of the disease, it can be difficult to control. There are no vaccinations for this disease at this time. So the only real practical prevention is to make sure you practice good avian hygiene, and be aware that if you visit a pet store or bird aviary you may walk away with this disease on your clothes, and end up carrying it back to your own birds. New birds should always go through a 30 day quarantine before placing them near your other birds.

Learn the warning signs! If the bird shows trouble breathing, poor appetite, lethargy, discharges from the eye or excessive nasal discharge, or diarrhea, these are the early signs. Yellow or lime-green droppings is another sign. This is one of the disadvantage of feeding colored pellets to birds…it can make it difficult to monitor the birds droppings. In later stages, the bird may show weakness, tremors, shaking for convulsions. At this point immediate action needs to be taken to save the bird.

Hopefully this problem will never happen to you. It’s sad to lose a bird, but to see your entire aviary die is devastating! Not only emotionally, but by seeing a business you have attempted to build be instantly destroyed!