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

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!

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 30x24x50. 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.

[tags]eclectus parrot, eclectus bird diet, eclectus parrot info[/tags]

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.

[tags]bird emergency, pet bird health problem, pet bird health, bird health problems, health check for birds, parrot behavior, blood feather[/tags]

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!

[tags]parrot disease, psittacosis, parrot health, bird care[/tags]

On the one side, we have the folks who insist that birds must have grit in order to digest their food. Without it, they will die a quick death! Besides, if grit was bad, then why would all of the pet stores sell boxes of grit in the bird departments?

My response? Most pet stores do not hire knowledgeable people. They are more concerned in selling products like mite protectors and grit, and let the buyer beware if they are safe or not!

WHY GRIT?

In the wild, birds don’t have a tremendous choice in what they eat. Many times they will have to settle on seeds. Most wild birds are soft billed, meaning they eat the seed whole and don’t “shell” the seed first. The hull is non-digestible, so wild birds will also eat a few pieces of grit. This will act as an abrasive. Once the seed and grit enter the gizzard (which is similar to the human stomach), the muscle action combines with the grit, and rubs off the shell and grinds up the food. Eventually the shell gets passed through the system.

Healthy, captive birds are fed a pelleted diet, fruits and vegetables. The seed that they eat is generally shelled, and the birds eat the nut. Only a few types of captive birds, such as finches, canaries and doves, eat the whole seed. These types of birds are soft billed, and are unable to shell the seeds. In these cases only should grit be offered, but only a few grains a week. If the bird is allowed to consume too much grip, it will become impacted in the crop and gizzard, causing severe medical problems.

Another reason birds will eat grit is to supplement their diet. There are several types of “soluble” grit that birds can safely digest. This form of grit is made from ground up cuttlebone, powered oyster shell, gypsum and limestone. Once ingested, the bird dissolves this material with digestive acids as it passes through the digestive system. This is a much safer form of grit than offering stone or sand, which is often sold in pet stores or even mixed in with the bird seed.

SHOULD YOU FEED GRIT?

Very few domesticated birds will require grit. This will include finches, doves, pigeons, and canaries. However, if you do feed grit, only give a few grains per week. Do not offer grit in a separate bowl, as the birds will over consume it, and develop problems. Do not give silica based grit designed for wild birds. Look for soluble brands that contain a high calcium content. Look at the ingredients to make sure it does not contain rock or sand grit.

Do not use gravel paper. Not only is this made from rock, it’s also on the bottom of the cage with the bird droppings! I have never figured out the logic in this.

[tags]parrot diet, bird grit, what do parrots eat[/tags]

We were introduced to mealworms several years ago. A salesman called us up. At that time we were at the biggest stage of running our aviary, and did some advertising. That usually brings the salesmen to us. We were already aware of mealworms, but just barely.

This guy told us that pet birds LOVE mealworms. After all, wild birds eat them all of the time, and captive birds would greatly benefit from the protein they supply to the diet. Well….OK, that sounded reasonable.

He gave us a box of samples, and some literature, and basically was trying to get us to push his product on our customers. Again, this was reasonable request. But since I was the main nutritionist for our aviary, I needed to be more convinced. So I experimented for the next few weeks with feeding mealworms.

My first “test subject” was my breeding pair of African Grays. Since their diet required lots of protein, especially for breeders, they would probably love to try them. They took one look at their food dish, saw that it had a bunch of crawling bugs in it, screamed and ran into their breeding box. It took several hours to get them to return to the food dish again.

The only birds that seemed even a bit interested in mealworms were my finches, and even with those birds we had mixed results.

WHAT ARE MEALWORMS?

Mealworms are the larvae of the darkling, or flour beetles. They are not really “worms”, but the larvae just before turning into beetles (after about 10 weeks). They are an excellent source of protein, which is severely lacking in many fruit and seed diets that wild birds are accustomed to. Therefore, wild birds look to insects to supplement their diet. And mealworms are mighty tasty to them.

They are very easy to grow. Generally, fill up a box with rolled oats, toss in some slices of apple, potato, or carrots, and add some mealworms. They can also be purchased in a freeze-dried state. These are commonly sold in pet stores, and are used mostly for reptile and fish food. But home-grown mealworms are very popular for feeding wild birds. But since captive pet birds were never introduced to them, they are generally fed by their parents, or hand fed a powered formula by their breeders. Foraging for insects never quite got into their education.

Mealworms come in a variety of sizes. Small ones are ½ inch, and will grow to as much as an inch in size. The very large sizes are just common mealworms that are treated with a growth hormone that prevents them from developing into beetles, and grow even larger!

If you want to try your birds out on mealworms, what I would suggest is getting a small quantity of them. If your bird shows an interest in them, grow your own. They are a little expensive to buy, but since they are easy to grow yourself you can keep a never ending supply of them on hand.

The main advantage of mealworms is the high protein they supply. Most captive birds do not require such a high amount. The birds that seem to eat them are soft billed birds, such as Finches and Canaries. These types of birds love the small seed diets, like millet. Since these seeds lack a not of nutritional value, you need to supplement their diet with whatever you can find. If they will eat mealworms, that’s great!

But for other birds, I have not found any great advantage of feeding mealworms. They will have an easier time eating other sources of protein. The expense and trouble of feeding mealworms does not justify making this a major portion of their diet. If your bird will eat them, give it a try. But I wouldn’t try changing their diet over.

[tags]mealworms, parrot diet, bird care[/tags]

QUESTION: Is it OK to have packing-peanuts in a parakeet’s cage as a toy? Also, would bubble wrap in the cage be ok?

ANSWER: You enjoy listening to POP-POP-POP all night long?? I don’t give this stuff to my own kids let alone my birds! We do have an African Grey that goes nuts over popping them, but we keep him under close watch to make sure that’s all he does.

I can certainly see how they may be fun to play with, but packing peanuts and bubble wrap are not a good idea.

Bubble wrap is easy to answer. NO WAY! Not because it’s toxic, but because it can’t be digested. That thin plastic is very easy to chew up and swallow. It will get lodged in the digestive system of the bird and cause some very nasty health problems, most likely death.

Packing peanuts? That depends. A lot of companies are beginning to use bio-degradable packing peanuts that dissolve in water, are non-toxic, and are safe for the ecology. They are made from a corn or potato-starch based mixture that breaks down easily in landfills. Other then a very small amount of polymers used as a bonding agent, they are totally safe.

The more common form of packing peanuts are made of polystyrene (better known as styrofome). This product is toxic, can not be digested, does not break down, and will cause all sorts of harm to your bird if swallowed.

But even though the starch based peanuts are considered safe, I would never recommend their use as a bird toy. I think you could find something a lot more safe and fun to play with.

QUESTION: A friend told me that rope toys and perches are bad for my bird. But I see them in all sorts of bird cages at pet stores? Should I remove them from my cage?

ANSWER: The problem with using rope perches and toys is the bird loves to chew them up. After a short time they become frayed, and tiny threads will begin to hang off them. These threads will easily get tangled around those tiny bird toes, trapping the bird. The bird begins to panic, and in many cases will actually chew their toe off to escape.

In other cases, the threads can become entangled around the neck or wing, causing similar panic.

When we first started our aviary, we put all sorts of these toys into the cage. At that time we had over 100 birds. One day we went out to do our evening check and feed and discovered one of our lovebirds hanging from the top of the cage, it’s leg bleeding. It was from one of those “cotton candy” rope toys. That was the day we removed every rope toy from our cages.

What we recommend using is leather lace. Be sure that it’s untreated with any toxic chemicals. There are a number of bird toy suppliers that carry this product, and you can easily make fun bird toys for them to chew on.

If you must use these products, check them daily for loose threads and remove them. Note that they also absorb lots of moisture (and the bacteria that goes with it), and they can be difficult to clean. You don’t want your bird chewing on these, so dispose of them when they become soiled.

[tags]parrot toys, parrot health, bird safety[/tags]

Sounds like a reasonable request. After all, we have constantly stated that getting a young bird is much easier to train than an older one…why not a baby?

Baby birds are also a lot cheaper to purchase! Just recently our daughter told us that a vendor at a flee market in Florida had just-weaned Blue/Gold Macaw babies for $400. Up here in the north these birds would cost at least $900 as babies, and $2500 once weaned and about 6 months old! So naturally the new pet-owner would love to save some huge cash!

The reason they are cheaper is because the bird breeder has not invested their time into raising it. Look at the work required…..you have to feed the birds every 2-3 hours all day long. And all night long! If you have a lot of babies you can’t possibly do it yourself, so you have to hire someone to help feed. Now we have employee costs. This is their business! Investing their time is how they earn their money.

Food can be expensive! With our aviary, the birds are fed a prepared hand feeding formula that looks like brown flour. It’s actually a formulated mixture of grain, vitamins and minerals that are scientifically designed to fit the needs of a baby bird. Unless you purchase it wholesale the price is expensive. After a few weeks we begin to introduce other foods. We gradually work them through the stages of Gerber baby foods and other types of human foods. Those are not cheap either! Ask any mother who just had a baby! The cost of feeding a parrot from birth to weaning at 3-4 months is easily $200-300. The time invested in those feeding is factored in, and you end up with a very expensive pet!

But buying them as babies eliminates all of the cost involved in weaning them, making them a bargain. We have lost our share of baby birds. Sometimes it was from bad food. Other times it was from our experimenting with something new. It was an expensive lesson. But we learn from our mistakes, and pass on these lessons to others.

But the average pet owner does not really have a clue how to properly feed babies. When I first started getting involved with birds, I would have given anything to find a breeder to help me out, teach me the proper technique, and mentor me. Such things as why you need a brooder, what is the correct temperature of the food. I lost a lot of babies, and every one of them devastated me! I didn’t have the vast knowledge of the Internet. All I had was a library with old books that didn’t tell me much.

In most cases, we refuse the sell unweaned baby birds. And in ALL cases we will not sell them unless the purchaser can demonstrate that they know how to hand feed them, and can show they understand the dangers and responsibilities of hand raising birds. A very good sign of a bad bird breeder is someone who would sell a baby so someone with no hand feeding experience. You are usually condemning your bird to death!

I remember attending a bird show. My husband was watching the booth while I got to “shop” and socialize with the other vendors. I was shocked to see a vendor trying to teach a prospective buyer how to hand feed a baby macaw using a turkey baster… one of those plastic tubes with a bulb on it! And the food was as thick as peanut butter!

Hand feeding birds is not easy. The younger the baby, the more often you have to feed it. Are you prepared to feed the bird every 2-3 hours….all day long? And all night long?

Therefore, if you are contemplating purchasing an unweaned bird, you must educate yourself on the procedures. Start by visiting a bird breeder and see if they will teach you. You will need to learn how to properly mix the food, test the temperature, and learn how to feed the bird. If you can find one, see if your local avian vet can assist you in training.

Larger birds are obviously much easier to feed. In most cases you can simply use a baby spoon and spoon feed the baby. But this does take more time. With experience and training you could learn how to use a syringe. But note that if not done properly, you will force the food down the esophagus and choke the baby.

Small birds should never be hand-fed by beginners. Even the most experienced breeders will not feed finches or parakeets, as those tiny bodies are next to impossible to work with. I did manage to feed parakeets, but only because the parents had abandoned the birds and I was left with no choice. It’s not something I look forward to.

WHERE TO GET MORE INFO

If you are dead set on trying to hand feed babies, start by gathering some education information. Most of the companies that produce hand feeding formula offer literature and videos on hand feeding. They include Kaytee, Lafeber, Zupreem, and Prettybird. You can go to their home page on the Internet and order this information.

Don’t get me wrong…hand feeding is a very rewarding experience. Watching your baby grow up to be a very tame and playful pet is worth all the effort. Just do it right!

[tags]buying unweaned birds, unweaned bird help, unweaned bird info[/tags]

Buttered microwave popcorn is bad? No way!

A group of doctors have decided that based on one single known patient, and very little research, that the butter flavoring in microwave poses a major health risk. This single patient was known to eat two bags of popcorn per day, and has been doing it for ten years!

The problem, according to Denver’s National Jewish Medical and Research Center is with the food flavoring additive Diacetyl. This ingredient has been around for many years. It is a naturally occurring flavoring found in a wide variety of foods, including butter, milk, cheese, and fruits. It has already been examined and approved by the FDA for use in food manufacturing.

The disease, known as bronchiolitis obliterans, has been researched at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine. Their research indicates that there are numerous infectious agents that can cause this disease. It’s extremely rare, and mostly develops in patients who have gone through lung transplants and are already in high a risk group.

One case of “popcorn lung” is diagnosed….out of how many millions of people who eat buttered popcorn? And now it gets a bad rep. My wife tossed out all my popcorn! What do I eat while watching television now?

So why are my birds making fun of me? It’s payback time because I tried to change their food over to organic pellets!

THE PELLETED FOOD DEBATE

If you have read my book The Easy Parrot System – Feeding and Nutrition, then you know I’m a big believer in pellet diets. They contain all of the vitamins, minerals, and protein that your bird needs. But if it doesn’t taste good, your birds will not eat it. If it doesn’t look appealing, or doesn’t have any flavor, the birds will not want to eat it.

>>My book also goes into great detail about pellet food diets, and gives you a step-by-step method to convert your birds from a seed diet. It’s very easy to do, and you will extend the life of your bird, plus eliminate a lot of health problems. This information and much more is available at The Easy Parrot System – Feeding and Nutrition

Many of the “organic” pellets do not contain artificial coloring or flavoring. That assumes that you use a very liberal definition of what “artificial” means. They taste like cardboard. Go on…taste it! Would you eat that stuff? Does it smell good? Then why would you want your bird eating it?

Don’t get me wrong! I am not against the “natural” or “organic” brands of pellet or formulated diets on the market. If your bird will eat them, that’s all that counts. My problem is that there are a lot of uneducated bird enthusiasts who are dead set against many brands of pellets. When you ask them why, they give you the same set of responses. So let me give you my opinion on these “facts”.

“PRESERVATIVES ARE BAD FOR YOUR BIRD”

This one is easy. Without preventives the food will go stale, become rancid, and very unpalatable. Your bird will refuse to eat it. Like it or not, you have to put preservatives into the food.

Many of the ingredients that are used in pellets (organic or not) use ingredients that already come with preservatives in them. They seem to forget this fact when talking about their products. As long as “they” don’t add more preservatives, it is ok, and they can still call it “organic”.

These are grain and protein products, and they only have a certain amount of shelf life. Unless you send them directly from the factory to the store, and they are sold within a couple of weeks, they will go bad. But bird pellets are manufactured and shipped to distributors, where they will sit in a warehouse for several weeks. Then they are shipped out to stores where they are again shelved for weeks or months! Ask your pet store how often they rotate their products? Even with preservatives, the shelf life of most pellet diets is only 1 year.

Therefore preservatives are added. The problem is which one to use. Many manufactures, such as Kaytee, Zupreem, and Prettybird use an antioxidant called Ethoxyquin, along with other natural antioxidants like Vitamin E and C extracts. This makes people nervous because they can’t pronounce it and do not know what it is. Used in small quantities these preservatives are perfectly safe. This is an FDA approved additive.

However, due to a narrow group of organic food enthusiasts, panic set in when they began to spread rumors about this product. Their concern was based on lab studies where rats were fed huge amounts of ethoxyquin in their diet caused transient depression and organ damage. But upon reading the study, it clearly goes on to report that “chronic toxicity in animals is reported as ‘apparently low’”. Isn’t it funny how this statement never got out in their warnings? This original study was done many years ago, and proven to be flawed and poorly developed. Numerous studies since then have proven this preservative to be very safe.

Some manufactures (such as Roudybush and others) caved in to the pressure (and lost a lot of sales) and changed over to a vitamin E derivative called D-Tocopherol. While this is a more natural preservative, it is not as effective or long lasting. It also has not been tested for safety in birds. They may be one reason it’s not readily available at pet stores, due to the short shelf life.

I guess that fact never gets mentioned in the anti-organic literature either.

ARTIFICIAL FLAVORINGS OR COLORINGS

In nearly every article I’ve read about the evils of these in pellet diets, they rarely ever target any particular chemical. But when they do, they go after them in vague accusations. Try this one:

“Artificial colors are derived from coal tar dyes or petroleum.”

The fact is that in the US, there is only a small handful of approved food colorings used in human and pet food production. And with these colorings, they are made of a huge variety of ingredients. Some are derived from tar/petroleum products, but to label the entire coloring as such is extremely deceptive. You will note in these articles that they never mention natural coloring or flavoring…..many of which are used in pellets, and are completely safe.

“Norway banned all products containing coal tar and coal tar derivatives in 1978”

True. But they lifted the ban in 2001 when the claims of their danger were proven false.

“Erythrosine is linked to thyroid tumors in rats”

Yeah, you remember this one I’m sure….the Red Dye #3 scare. Feed a lab rat 1000 times the normal consumption and it certainly did cause problems. So if you intend to drink 40 gallons of red soda a day, you need to be very concerned about this. The rest of us can relax.

My point is that even though many of these chemicals have been researched and approved by the FDA for human consumption, they should also be safe for your pets. And if it makes the food more palatable and appealing for the bird, without causing an unreasonable health risk, why all the fuss?

I am more concerned that birds are not getting a proper diet. I do not need tons of lab research to tell me that an all seed diet will cut the lifespan of a domesticated bird in half! I’ve seen too many cases of this myself, and my eyes do not lie to me.

So in conclusion, it is my “educated” opinion that the vast majority of pellet diets are safe, and I will continue to encourage them. If your bird will eat the “natural and organic” brands, so much the better. But my experience is that they will be more likely to eat the colored and flavored pellets such as Kaytee, Zupreem, Pretty Bird, and the rest. This does not make them better! But birds are like kids, and they can be very picky. They want their food to taste good, and not taste like cardboard.

Now, if you will excuse me…I need to run to the store and replace the buttered microwave popcorn my wife tossed out yesterday!

[tags]parrot diet, parrot food, pellet diet[/tags]