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Taking Care Of a Pet Bird

Birds are extremely social by nature, and thrive on company, nurturing, and frequent interaction. Many species of birds make fun, engaging pets. If you’re considering bird ownership, the care requirements include providing good housing, nutritious food, and keeping an eye on the bird’s health. You’ll also need to provide plenty of enrichment and interaction, to keep your pet bird happy and alert.

Buying a cage for your bird

In order to keep a bird as a pet you need to buy a cage. The cage must be large enough so that the bird can fly short distances within the cage for healthy living. The cage bars should not be too small or too large. It should be just appropriate for the bird to live. You should remember that circle cages are not suitable for the birds. It should be rectangular. If you are keeping different species of birds, you will need to be sure that the animals are compatible when placed together. You must keep some old magazine papers on the bottom of the cage as it will make the cleaning process easier. You must keep a supply of papers, junk mail and old newspapers also work well. The last thing you must keep in mind is that you need to place the cage in a warm and comfortable environment.

Feeding your bird

You must give your birds varied types of food on a daily basis. For birds a heathy diet consists of 75% pellets and 25% human table foods. Since precise dietary requirements are dependent on the species, talk with an avian veterinarian to see what type of food your breed of bird needs. You must ensure that you have correct feed for the species of bird. Bird pellets, crumbles, or nuggets can be a good way of ensuring adequate nutrition for your bird. These tend to combine healthy seeds, vegetables, fruits, and grains, so the bird can eat a nutritionally balanced diet. You can give your bird fresh fruits and vegetables every day or 2. You can even cut up and serve your bird a variety of fruits and veggies, including oranges, berries, spinach, and celery. You can also give your bird nuts and cooked beans for flavor and variety with their meals. You must also provide fresh waters. You must daily change the water and it should be of average temperature. You must provide water in a large and shallow dish as it would be helpful for the bird to drink. Place the water dish at the opposite end of the bird’s cage from the food dish. This will force them to move around and be active to eat and drink. You also need to keep the fooding arrangements sanitary. Water and food cups should be located up high out of the way of any branches above the birds, since birds often drop feces into their food, which isn’t sanitary. If the birds ingest their own fecal matter, they could become very ill. You should also feed the birds regularly at about the same time each day. You must make feeding interesting for the bird.

Providing Your Bird with Toys and Perches

You must start off with something new and interesting toys. You must make sure that they are bird safe and it does not get caught in the beak or toes of the bird. Hanging mirrors or bells are good option for the birds. You must give the bird new types of toys to stimulate it as the birds get bored easily. Birds especially enjoy chewable toys, made out of things like pine cones, rawhide chews, rope, or white pine wood. You can also set up differently shaped and textured perches for the bird’s feet.  You can even place food and enrichment items in multiple places around the cage. This will fulfill the bird’s need to move about in search of food.

Socializing with Your Bird around the House

You must check the safety of the rooms before allowing the bird to fly and explore the house outside of its cage. You must also ensure that the room the bird is contained in is safe. Most birds require to be outside of cage time. This time must always be supervised and the space must always be safe. You can let your bird to explore your house outside of its cage. This will give the bird much more freedom and the bird will enjoy flying around rather than remaining cooped up inside of its cage all day long. You should also regularly hold the bird on your hand. The more you hold the pet, the more it will want to meet and see you as we crave for socializing. Daily exercise is not only recommended to the humans but also recommended to the pet birds. Birds love to interact with their owners and play with toys together. If you can release the bird from its cage regularly, it will be all the happier for this. You should give your pet much more attention. You can either talk or play music together. Good level of attention can reduce shyness in some species of birds. If you want the bird to sit on your shoulder, train it to step off of you and onto your finger as soon as you place your finger next to your shoulder.

Taking Care of Bird Hygiene and Health

Find a vet who is qualified to work with birds. You must first take your bird to the vet before you keep it as your pet and after that your pet bird requires a checkup once in a year. If the bird is sick or facing any problems then immediately take it to the vet. In case of hygiene. You should take a container bigger enough for self-cleansing. The birds will clean itself. Birds bathe to keep cool in warmer weather, so be sure to provide water for washing in when the temperature is on the warmer side. In hot weather, squirt the bird with water from a spray bottle as the birds love the cooling sensation. You must clean the cage regularly, change the bedding and remove dropping from perches and remove the uneaten foods also. You must clean those things with nontoxic cleansing supplies.

Bird Intelligence

Some birds such as Macaws, African Greys etc. can mimic speech and sounds they hear. Some species are better at mimicking than others but remember that each individual bird is different. Some soft-billed birds like the mynah are also good at mimicry.

Hope, certain tips would help you to take care of your pet and would help you to keep it as your pet.