How to Make Sure You Get the Accommodation Right for Your New Pet Bird

So you are thinking of getting a new pet bird. Before you do you need to be sure that you have the right home set up for your new bird before you take it home. Here are the basic housing requirements for all small pet birds.

Whether you are going for a budgie, cockatiel, lovebird, parakeet, finch or some other type of small pet bird the accommodation is basically the same and the only difference depends on the size of your new charge.

Cage or aviary. This mainly depends on the space you have available and whether or not you want to keep just one pet bird or a number of them. All small pet birds will be happy in either, however you must be sure that your new friend has enough space to be given relative freedom. You wouldn't want to live your entire life in the closet would you? Neither would your pet bird! Space is required to move about and not be cramped.

If going for a cage you need to go for the biggest one you can comfortably afford, but be sure it's secure so your bird cannot escape, the cage bars need to be close enough together for the same reason. Go for metal, not wood, with a plastic base for easy cleaning.

Furnish your cage with perches of varying thickness and set some at an angle rather than perfectly horizontal, some horizontal, some angled, and even some almost upright would be perfect. The different thicknesses and angles will encourage your bird to exercise and possible save it from a foot cramp. If you can only have one of each of the above that will be fine but a few more is better, don't overdo it though and leave room for your pet bird to move freely. On the subject of perches; natural wood is the best option, but be sure it is hygienically clean, give it a scrub if you need to.

As a general rule finches need company and parrot type species (budgie, cockatiel etc.) need toys, so incorporate this in your cage; keep finches in pairs or more, and parrot type in pairs or alone with plenty of toys.

Parrot type species love to chew so be certain to assure that anything in the cage is safe.

Your bird needs to have a minimum of enough space to fully spread its wings and height is better than width as most cage birds will climb rather than fly.

If however you have enough space for an aviary then this is by far a better choice as it is the closest your pet bird will get to its natural environment. Lots of room to fly, climb, rummage and explore; plus if kept with others then the opportunity to get away from the others when things get too much.

A group of birds, even of different species, can be kept together in an aviary with enough room for all, but be sure to check the compatibility with other species. As an example lovebirds aught to be kept with birds of their own species as they will become territorial and aggressive towards others. Budgies however can live happily with other birds of a similar size (except lovebirds) or finches, as long as they have room to get out of each others way if they choose.

If introducing your new bird to an aviary colony you must first keep it in quarantine for a few weeks before letting it loose in the aviary with the others, this is to ensure that any issues with your new bird can be addressed before release. A decent sized cage as mentioned above will be fine, or a small aviary separate from the others.

Aviaries, like cages come in many shapes and sizes; shop around for the best deal or better still, build your own (the essentials to building your own aviary will be covered in my next article).

Again make sure that the aviary is well furnished with safe branches, perches, shelter, toys (if required) etc. with no escape routes.

Your aviary can be indoors (in a shed or outbuilding, or in the home) or outdoors (on the garden for example), and don't worry about the comfort and warmth of an outdoor aviary as most popular small pet birds are very hardy.

Article By Pete Etheridge 

Lists Of Budgie's Care

Housing

Your budgie should be housed in the biggest cage available, suitable for budgie/s. The cage should be minimal size of 35cm X 30cm X 40cm. The cage needs to have provisions for easy access for food and water. The cage should also have a large opening door (for training purposes) and a small door, for general use.

 

Selecting Your Budgie

Selecting your budgie is going to be the most difficult task.

Select the bird with:

- all tail feathers and wing feathers

- the cleanest bird not dirty feet and or bottom or sticky feathers on wings and/or around face.

- the bird with the best temperament. The bird that don't bite much and the one that wiggles the least out of your hand. Not all baby birds will we suitable for training.

- the biggest bird in size over small runty birds or skinny birds. (skinny birds can suggest a bird that maybe ill or not full weaned).

- after these top suggestions on picking you budgie/s out of the birds you can find select a bird with a colouring that you may prefer

 

Feeding and Watering

SEED - A good quality seed mix should be selected preferable the same seed brad that the bird is eating. All seed mixes are different, cheap commercial feeds are cheap due to fillers used which is not needed or is not eaten by your bird. Most common seeds used as fillers are Milo a round red seed which pigeons eat, not Parrots. The other is wheat and oats a long seed which can cause skin irritations.

Pellets - are a sure way to know that your bird is able to get all the necessary nutrition in their diet. Pellets last longer and creates less mess and is much more healthier for you bird. Using pellets can help you better train you bird.

Vegetables - daily vegetables are needed in your birds diet. Not only are vegetable healthy for you bird eating food is the best part of a birds day. If your bird wont try or eat vegetables try sprouting your seed as it is more familiar and is more like to try and enjoy.

Fresh Water - Need to be given everyday in a clean container. Poor water quality is a large reason for deaths in birds and the spread of disease. Using product like aviclen or sweat water in the water bowl is recommended to ensure that the water quality is at is highest.

Supplements

Multi Vitamins should be used once a week with the following diet above. If the diet above is not give like above the vitamins should be give in their water everyday.

Cuttle Bone should be available all the time even if the bird dose not eat it. It should be placed in the cage where the bird doesn't soil it. If it dose become soiled it needs to be removed immediately.

Shell Grit a natural source easily found in their habitat in the wild helps to brake down food in the gizzard/stomach. Should be place into an individual dish so the bird can help itself anytime.

Charcoal a natural source easily found in their habitat in the wild, help put oxygen back into the blood creating a more active bird.

Clay Block a natural source easily found in their habitat in the wild, clean commercial blocks recommended

Mineral Salt Block a natural source easily found in their habitat in the wild. Australian parrots are the only birds that should have salt added in their diet.

Iodine Block to prevent lumps and growths

The above is needed to be on offer at all times. All these items can be found at any specialty retailing avian/pet shops and supper stores.

Article By backyard-birds.net

Knowing Your Cockatoo

People tend to get a false idea of cockatoos because of their tidy look and fluffy plumage. Alba cockatoos are relatively calmer than their smaller congeners such as Goffin. They are birds who like to show off and get the utmost attention and to do so, they will dance, sing, tumble, sometimes cry excessively. They also have their moments of relaxation during which they want to be cuddled and rocked. cockatoos like alba birds are very demanding although good education involving life skills and training do help, but this does not lessen the fact that the cockatoo wants human attention several hours a day. One should be absolutely aware that cockatoos that are poorly educated (mostly male) may become a dangerous animal by its size, strength, and his combative attitude.Cockatoo is very nice but generally not a good speaker. It is very intelligent and can learn lots of stuff. These birds are noisy and tend to make the pecking chronic when left alone and unattended.

Cockatoos like to destroy everything that falls under their beaks. Just like macaws, they have a very powerful beak which has added a remarkable dexterity. These parrots are highly accurate to search out what is inside of an object. They particularly appreciate the removable of buttons, pegs, and growths of all kinds. As Cockatoos gets bored very quickly, you need a wide range of toys for these parrots. They like to undo the knots, loosen objects or open the doors of their cages especially hooks, insert objects into another, screw and unscrew. Often, cockatoos work on two toys at the same time. Their beak is as sharp as a knife and they can totally destroy an apartment in less time than it takes to say the word devastation! These parrots do not like games that are complicated or require time and reflection. They have a philosophy of immediacy.

Cockatoos want their playgrounds to be very clearly selected. If the parrot does not have its own facilities for play it can destroy the apartment. Ideally, the cockatoo should have more facilities in the house because it wants to follow its favorite human around. Bringing it to forage is a good way to prevent depression and to the pecking, hence the importance of foraging toys like acrylic puzzle toys to encourage it to work for its treats.

To hold all the toys, and to deploy such beautiful and large wings, it is obvious that a very large cage is required.

Article By Lanita Benge

There Are Many Types of Finches Which Make Good Pets

There are many types of finches which make good pets so everyone should be able to find some of these birds that they find suitable for them. The birds come in a wide array of colors, of patterns, and of characteristics. You need to research the different finch types to find the ones that have the qualities you want in your pet.

Many people like to keep Zebra finches as pets. The Zebra finch has a stripe pattern that resembles the pattern found on a zebra. They are relatively mild-mannered birds, they prefer the company of other birds to humans, but that is a common finch trait, and they sometimes are singers. Mostly the males are vocal. These little birds can be from three to five inches long, and they are fairly easy to breed in captivity.

The Strawberry finch is often chosen by pet owners because it can live comfortably in either an indoor cage, or in an outdoor aviary. These little birds have a bright red patch on their chest that looks very much like a strawberry.

An ideal bird for the first time bird owner is the Society finch. This type of finch cannot be found living in the wild, they are an utterly domesticated species. These little creatures are never more than five inches in length, and they are relatively inexpensive. You can find them in most pet stores, and they are very easy to get to breed. They have a mottled coloring of brown and white, except some are more grey and white.

The Gouldian finch is also known as the Lady Gouldian, and they are very popular as house pets. They cost a little more than the Society finch does but their bright color combinations makes up for the additional cost. These birds are a little larger than most other species of finch. They are usually five to six inches long at maturity. The males are very colorful with black heads, their bodies are green, their breasts are purple, and their bellows are yellow. The females of this species have much duller colorings, and they are usually smaller than the males. This type of finch likes to move around a lot, so if you want to raise them you will need a larger cage for them to enjoy.

The Spice Finch comes from Asia and is a very easy to keep little bird. They are sometimes called the Nutmeg finch, and even though they are less than five inches when mature they require a larger cage for their activities. They are aptly named because they are cinnamon colored little creatures.

You will find many species of these birds to keep as pets, the Orange finch is quite popular for its' coloring. There is a vampire finch but they are rarely kept as pets, you will have to look at the birds available in your area, because there are many types of finches which make good pets.

Article By Ralph Siskin

Small Pet Birds - How to Make Good Use of Everyday Things to Give Your Pet Birds Variety

To give your pet birds variety to enhance their lives you can make good use of everyday stuff that you find in your own environment. Some household items and human foods can help your birds to live a more interesting life. What's more, watching your pet birds when their curiosity gets the better of them and they decide to investigate the new intrusion into their environment can be a rather entertaining experience. Many everyday things can help your pet birds to live a more natural existence.

They are very curious individuals by nature so anything you give them will undoubtedly be investigated thoroughly once your pet birds are aware of its existence. With this in mind you must be certain that anything you give to them will not cause any harm.

Also you will find that many so-called 'human' foods can be eaten by your birds as long as you determine beforehand what is good or bad for them. This coupled with everyday stuff you find lying around in your home or your local area can be incorporated into their lives to add variety for them and sometimes entertainment for yourself.

For example my birds love toast, so if I am having toast for breakfast (or any other meal for that matter) I often also do a slice especially for my aviary birds. However I do have a lot of them in my aviary so one slice of toast soon gets eaten up quickly, but if you have just one pet bird or just a few then a little bit of toast from your own meal or snack would be more suitable. Of course it will do no harm as it is mainly composed of wheat flour and little else.

Of course this is not the only 'human' food they can eat; your birds can eat many everyday foods as long as the food will be suitable for their digestive systems and general health. Try them with carrots, my parrot type birds (budgerigars and cockatiels) love them, however the finches are not that interested but do love almost any type of seed or fruit (sesame seed and melon for example).

However you should not give them coffee, chocolate, meat or any food with a high fat content. Common sense should play a big part in deciding what to give them, if it's not very good for you it certainly will not be good for your pet birds. If you are unsure what foods they can or cannot eat then it is advisable to consult the internet or an avian professional beforehand.

On the other matter I would advise you not to go out and pay a lot of money for toys for your birds as this can considerably increase the cost of their upkeep. However many things in your everyday life can and will be used to keep your birds entertained and encourage them to be more active.

For example a basic swing made up from a piece of scrap timber and a bit of rope will be an adequate alternative to a shop bought swing. Your pet birds will not know the difference and as long as you give the materials a good scrub down (no detergents please) first and they contain no paints or varnishes they will be fine.

Any old bits of twigs, broken plastic children's toys (as long as they're safe, no small bits to fall off etc.), and just about anything else you can think of will be suitable for your birds to play with as long as they are cleaned thoroughly first and are safe. Pet birds, especially parrot type species, love to chew so be sure that anything they do chew will cause them no harm, and could save a fortune in the long run.

As always, if you are unsure then the advice of an avian professional should be sought.

In summary you should feed your birds a wide variety of different foods which will help their health, and offer a variety of other stimulants to enhance their lifestyles.



Article By Pete Etheridge

Small Pet Birds - How to Maintain a Clean and Healthy Environment for Your Nest Boxes and Fledglings

Maintaining a clean and healthy environment when trying to breed your pet birds is very important to assure your young birds grow and fledge successfully. Your young birds will live out the weeks of their first development entirely within their nest boxes and so an effective cleaning regime is a must to ensure good development.

Over the course of time until they fledge and leave the confines and security of their nest box nursery your young pet birds will obviously do everything within that nest box, including going to the toilet. This itself is the main cause of contamination within the nest box confines.

Bird faeces will, if not cleaned up, dry out to form a hard crust that is very difficult to remove with any degree of success. This can and undoubtedly will cause health issues with regards to your pet birds offspring, so it is imperative that you keep up a good cleaning regime within this environment.

You must check your nest boxes regularly and inspect them accordingly. How often you do this is down to you but I feel that a check once every two days is a good ratio, this will make sure that disturbance is kept down to a minimum whilst still maintaining a high degree of maintenance.

Firstly you should check any young birds and satisfy yourself that they are growing well and building their strength. Most popular pet birds require minimal maintenance to keep them fit and healthy. However a big problem with young birds in nest boxes is the amount of faeces that gets stuck in their claws and feet, and dries up into a crust on the internal surfaces of the box.

To clean the interior of the nest box you should if possible remove it from its normal position (I suggest when first putting out your nest boxes you fit them in a way that allows easy removal for inspection and cleaning purposes), remove the young from within and place them somewhere safe (I use a cardboard box) so you can get in and clean.

If your box has a removable concave insert (recommended) then remove this and scrape off any dried faeces with a suitable DIY scraper (a wallpaper scraper is ideal), then put it to soak in warm water (no detergents please) for a few minutes to loosen what's left. In the meantime scrape any dried faeces of the interior surfaces and then give them a good scrub with warm water (again no detergents) and a scrubbing brush or scourer, then shake off any excess water and dry with absorbent kitchen towel.

Now remove the concave insert from soak and scrub that also, and again shake off any excess and dry with absorbent kitchen roll then return it to the nest box when dry. I use absorbent kitchen towel as I think it is the most effective way to soak up any dampness.

Now it's the chicks turn; to remove any dried faeces from their feet and claws you should try to soak each foot and claw individually in luke warm or tepid clean and detergent free water. Hold the chick in your hand with one foot inserted into the water, try not to get any other part of the chick wet, only its foot; soak for a minute or two - soaking in water will help to dampen and loosen any faeces that has become attached to the foot - then carefully ease the now moistened faeces from the foot and claw.

Be very careful and gentle when doing this so as not to harm or injure the young pet bird; although they are generally tough and resilient applying too much force or pressure will injure them.

Pat the now clean foot and claws with absorbent kitchen towel to dry.

Next you need to repeat the process with the other foot and then with any other chicks until all of them are done and then return them to the nest box before returning it to its normal place.

Be sure to do only one clutch and one nest box at a time so as not to get your young birds mixed up.

Article By Pete Etheridge

Bird Feeders: The Secret In Attracting Birds

Bird feeders, bird tables, tray feeders, whatever you wish to call these devices, are the very secret in attracting birds. If you are fond of birds and you are being pampered every time you hear them singing then why don't you allow them to live in your own space or in your backyard. It is not difficult to convert your own patio into a dazzling bird sanctuary because it only needs a little planning and preparation. You can start by simply completing all the bird supplies needed. Aside from the feeders, you also need to add bird houses and baths. These are also needed when you are after attracting birds.

As mentioned, start attracting birds by simply completing the items needed. If you are already through with these, then you can already decide where to place those things. Start placing the houses since they are the ones which will be consuming most of your time. But, before you place anything, take all the mess first, clean the area and eliminate unnecessary things. Bird houses can be placed on tree branches or you can make poles for them. Next, work on placing bird baths and make sure that they are placed conveniently so birds can easily locate them. Now, after the two are placed, you can already start placing the bird feeders. Are you sure that those feeders fit to those birds that you are trying to attract? Birds can be easily attracted if bird trays suit their interests and needs.

After placing the bird feeders, do not forget to provide the right choice of food. The main reason that you are having those food trays is to offer your feathered friends some food to eat. This is why proper placement is a crucial factor that you need to consider. Different birds are attracted differently so study how you can improve your luring strategies. And, believe that as long as you have the right tray feeders and the right food inside, wild birds will simply be fall on your trap. The common bird seeds are Millet, Sunflower, Nigger Seed, Safflower, and Canola seed. These are often used as bird seeds to lure birds to stay.

Stores for bird feeders are all over and you can even go for made to order feeders as long as you know how to make your own designs. With this, you can expect to own a distinctive bird sanctuary in the end far way different from the usual norm. And, attracting feathered friends can be easily done.

Article By Liza Mackinze