Q. What is the difference between Hand reared and Parent reared?
A. Parent reared is a non tame animal that is not used to human contact. Hand reared is a bird taken from its nest usually at two weeks of age, then a person feeds it around the clock up until 12 weeks of age or when the bird is fully weaned i.e. eating on its own and cracking its seeds etc. also the parent birds usually go straight back down on eggs so the breeder gets more young.
Many people have strong opinions on buying hand reared or parent reared you need to look at the facts and make your own decision. Hand reared very often go to one sex or person and can get aggressive towards others. Parent reared- I have tamed up many and they are loving family members. Parrots under the age of 18 months are much easier to tame as they can get set in their ways. But this isn’t always the case!
Q. Should my bird be clipped?
A. I don’t agree with clipping! Few reasons to clip a parrot - Occasionally a bird will fly at and bite a member of family, if it comes to this then rather than the bird being locked away clipping may help as a temporary option.(although a behaviourist can often sort this problem out) another reason is to tame a parent reared bird as it stops it from flying away from you, both never to be relied on for not flying this is how many people loose their birds and clipped more than half reduces their survival or the chance of you getting your bird back, once he is away from you he will keep going up to the highest point, eventually when the wild birds start to attack him and he does decide he wants to come back - he cant because he doesn’t know how to fly, hasn’t got the confidence or the balance. If you have people running in and out then lock your bird in a cage and let it out when it is safe. Micro chipping (using an experienced avian veterinarian) is a way of identifying your bird if he flies away or is stolen a lot of people get their animals back this way. If you don’t want your birds to fly then go and buy a hamster instead, birds are meant to fly.
I regularly get customers saying "but it chews walls/doors...", - Parrots love to chew, they should always be provided with wood and safe toys to chew and play with. Buy safe toys from a pet shop or Apple and Willow branches are safe, (best scrubbed with a safe cleaner, see hygiene and cage maintenance next question) then left to dry out before putting it into your cage. Whatever you give any animal or child they will always want what they are not supposed to have, so if you want a perfect home DONT get a parrot! The answer is NOT to clip it.
Q. Does my finch/budgie/parrot eat fruit and vegetables?
A. Not necessarily but they should be given it daily, organic is best, seed is not enough to provide them with all the nutrition they need. Some birds wont eat it and in this case it can take months to get them to eat it, their are many ways of persuasion – hang it in the cage as a toy/kebab, stick it through the cage bars, chop it up small, grate it, you can mix it with the seed then the seed absorbs the fluid out of it and they will gradually get used to the taste. They will eat it eventually it is down to you to persevere. Fruit and vegetables provide lots of different vitamins and minerals and must be part of the daily diet.
Q. Does my bird need calcium in its diet?
A. YES! Very important, and vitamin D3, you can buy many variations of this but these are both in a liquid vitamin called Zolcal d. One of the biggest health problems in birds and reptiles is calcium and D3, without it the bones are not strong enough and will break very easily along with many other problems and side effects. All birds need it in their diet whether they are as small as a finch or as big as a macaw, this liquid can be used in water, on fruit and vegetables, onto seed or even straight into the mouth as directed by your veterinary surgeon or on the label. Do not guess as overdosing is as bad as the deficiency. We stock it in store at “Swift as a Bird” or Avian veterinarians will have it in. stock
Q. How good is seed?
A. Sunflower seeds are full of fat and peanuts/monkey nuts these actually are not a nut, these grow underground and are best organic or cooked at high temperature in the oven to help kill off any moulds or growths, There are different views on diets as with anything, so you need to listen to all the information available and make your own mind up. I have to pet birds that live in the shop and they are on Harrisons complete food, I put them on this due to one being a feather plucker. They have fruit and vegetables daily without fail, and one palm nut each once or twice a week maximum, they have been on Harrisons for over 12 months now and have whole nuts in shells available. One bird is immaculate and the plucker is still a plucker, he has been checked out by an avian veterinary and we have now put his plucking down to behavioural problems. Most problems with birds are diet related (that is a fact). My two birds at home have fruit and vegetables every morning with sprouted seed and then in the evening get seed (at present I am happiest with Buctons Jungle blend because of the variety, no monkey nuts, few sunflower and it is clean to look at and not far off dust free) with all different nuts in and out of shell and dried fruits i.e. cranberries mixed in (all non salted or sugared) again once to twice a week have one palm nut each and they are both immaculate in condition. They like brown pasta or rice when I cook it. The birds on Harrisons don’t have extra Zolcal d as it is advised not to give extra calcium with this as it is a complete food (see packet for more details or contact Harrisons using the number on the packet). The birds on seed diet do get Zolcal d in their diet. So I have birds on different choices and I am happy with them, for now. My birds don’t get any rubbish i.e. sweets, sugary drinks, coffee, tea etc. See diet sheet for more details.
Q. What is the safest disinfectant for me to use?
A. F10sc is a safe disinfectant, although more expensive than some other cleaning agents initially to buy it is more cost effective in the long run. F10 has dilution table on packaging. It is affective against many diseases including Micro-organism. Gram Positive bacteria-Staphylococcus aureus, Gram negative bacteria-Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Fungi, Yeasts, Moulds; Candida albicans. Fungal spores - Aspergillus Niger. Viruses; e.g. Newcastle’s Disease, Bursals, Rabies, Parvovirus, Bacterial Spores and many more, used and stocked by most vets and “Swift as a Bird” pet shop.
Q. Is my cage too big?
A. A bird cage is never too big! Birds should at a very minimum be able to open their wings out and turn around without touching the sides of the cage. They were put on the earth to fly; hence they should have as much time as possible each day to free fly around the room. (They cannot survive for a long time out free in our country).
Q. Do I need a cage?
A. Yes! Your bird needs a ‘safe place’ somewhere it can go to get away from the goings on in life, also it is not safe for them to be left out while you are not there. Many people are sure their bird stays in one place while they are out but what if something frightens it or it gets curious and it ends up down the back of your television. It wont take most birds long to chew through your wires and you have a dead bird, or chew something else and end up very sick with lead or zinc poisoning (VERY COMMON) then if you don’t watch your bird suffer and die then you have a very large veterinary bill and still a possibility you loose it. It is really not worth the chance.
Q. How often should I bath my bird?
A. Daily. In the wild your bird would get wet naturally, many people say their bird doesn’t like being bathed, they don’t get the choice in the wild and if they don’t get bathed then their coat will get very dusty and be of poor condition. Ways to bath – spray bottle (marked up so children don’t make mistake with disinfectant). Take your bird in the shower with you – warm water (no soaps of any kind!) or some birds enjoy a bowl of water but this isn’t enough on its own. Your bird should be done on a warm day and you can put it out to dry, supervised in a secure cage with a blanket over half the cage for protection from the sun. Sunlight is really good for birds and reptiles as they get vitamin D3 from it which is essential, or bath early evening when he has time to dry out thoroughly before going to bed, when the house is warm.
Q How often should I clean my cage?
A. That is down to you entirely, but if you leave it too long then old food will start to rot and can cause many health problems one of which is aspergilliosis, which you and your bird can catch from the spores in the air from rotten food. I would advise minimum cleaning once a week and in warm weather every other day. In the summer fruit flies can get a problem, keep all fruit and veg in fridge and cage clean, mite spray is safe to use around the bird and kills fruit flies (not in excess). (household sprays are dangerous and can kill your bird)
Q. What should I use on the floor of my cage?
A. Newspaper is cheap and easy, but most people like it to look nice, in that case wood chippings (dried, clean and treated from a pet shop are safe when chewed), sand, grit and sand sheets. Wood shavings are too dusty and are bad for the respiratory system and also make a mess.
Q. Do all veterinarians know enough to treat birds?
A. It is best to find an experienced avian veterinarian as soon as possible when you get your bird in case you ever have an emergency. (unfortunately we all have them) Look under useful numbers for more details local.
PLEASE NOTE
This information is based on my own (extensive) experience of dealing with birds therefore is both fact AND opinion based. You should always seek professional advice before making any changes to your birds treatment or environment.
