| |
Caring for your Bird
Here are some basics:
- Housing-
Depending on what size you need, quality cages that will last
the life of the bird can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
- Proper
Nutrition-A bird needs a varied diet, not just pellets or seeds.
Cooking meals especially for a parrot is not as rare as you may
hope.
-
Clean,
Fresh Water- Think of it this way, birds are chefs. They like
to make a soup of their water by mixing in bits of food. Turning
the water bowl into a breeding ground for bacteria. Water will
need to be changed several times throughout the day, every day!
(Or you can train your bird to drink from a water bottle, just
like a rabbit.)
- Toys-In
addition to being master chefs of soup, birds are artists. They
need the materials for their work. Toys can range from five to
$500. And they need new ones to keep them from getting bored.
- Health
Care- Birds need annual health exams to keep them in tip top shape.
It's easy for them to hide illness, so you have to be very observant.
(Vet bills aren't "cheap" either.)
- Direct
Attention-You've heard it before, birds are FLOCK creatures. They
need social interaction. They need direct, one-on-one attention
from you everyday for at least 40 minutes.
- Indirect
Attention-Birds like to see what their flock is doing, even if
they aren't taking part in the action. Your bird will need to
just hang around with you, while reading, or watching TV for a
couple hours everyday.
- Ambient
Attention- Your bird needs an environment that is stimulating,
while allowing for relaxation as well. When their not sleeping,
they need something, like a radio, or TV, or a window even.
Contact the Oregon Humane Society free Behavior Helpline (email, 503-416-2983).
__________________________________________________________
Where
to get bird safe toys:
- Grey
Feather Toy Creations sells a wide variety of stainless steel
toy parts in addition to their wood/leather/plastic/stainless
steel toy lines.
- Perma-Play
Products sells stainless steel quick links and nylon washers
in addition to their bird safe product line.
- Birdsafe.com
sells stainless steel hardware and other parts for making safe
bird toys.
- BirdsJustWannaHaveFun.com
sells a variety of safe toy parts.
- Expandable
Habitats sells a product called HanginRound. This is a stainless
steel rod that attaches to the cage with an acrylic ball that
can be used as a food skewer or to hold toys.
- Virginia
Cage Company (540-350-2284); fredfisher@vacage.com
Virginia Cage Company sells a line of stainless steel
quick links, chain, rings, and perch hardware.
- Featherbutts
Toys sells a line of Coca toys containing only safe parts.
- Parrots
Treasure (636-272-4880) sells a number of toys made using only
natural wood and leather.
- Beek
and Destroy sells a number of bird safe toys. All metal parts
are zinc and lead free, plastics are bird-safe, and only 100 percent
natural cotton and sisal ropes are used.
- Blue
Moon Innovations is best known for its line of "For The
Birds" acrylic bird toys. All of their toys are 100 percent Zinc-Free,
the chain is nickel-plated and the quick links are stainless steel.
- Animal
Environments
- Cage
Avianix
|
|
