Why are 🦜parrots so naughty?

Parrot Behavior

If you are religious, it’s because God made them that way.
 
If you are scientific, it’s because they are highly intelligent.
 
If you are a parrot owner, it’s because you are providing a great home/environment and they are having a lot of fun!
 

Happy, healthy birds are creative and curious. They love life and adventure calls to them.
 
Birds that bite too much… that’s a different story, but it does tell you that they feel they have to 

defend themselves more than they should. The question is, how do you increase the feeling of safety and security for them? The answer varies, depending on the bird and what it has experienced- try to give them treats and loving words.

 
These behaviors apply to children as well. And, for both (children and bitty parrots) punishments never work.
 
Rehabilitation in birds or healing in children/people coupled with positive experiences and positive reinforcement will allow parrots or people to come back to their more ‘natural’ happy, playful and fun-loving selves.

An Unweaned Macaw

What Do You Do If Your New Baby Parrot Isn’t Eating?

Last month we got Kailani, a Catalina macaw. She was supposed to be 6 months old and weaned- so I decided to get her – she would be perfect to tame and make a part of our family or make her family-friendly and desirable.
Catalina Macaw

It is a good thing I brought her home – we quickly noticed that she wasn’t eating – she wasn’t weaned. She didn’t seem to know how to eat, how to hold her food or anything! She didn’t even seem all that hungry, a stage that parrots go through when they are getting ready to wean and they lose their ‘baby fat’. In a home that didn’t know what to look for or didn’t have the habit of weighing a new parrot on a gram scale every day, she could have lost too much weight (since they hide it by fluffing their feathers) and she could have gotten in trouble.

 
I posted on my Facebook page (FB/ParrotBliss) and several people replied that macaws take a while to wean, up to another month or so – which helped to hear. The vet had looked at her feet (because one toe is pointed the wrong way, but said the toe is ok) and said that it sounded like I would need to do some hand-feeding, but didn’t mention for how long or anything- so my FB fans gave me a better idea of what to expect!
 
I strongly believe in fulfilling needs – if a baby is hungry, human or animal, it should be fed. Letting any creature go hungry does not teach it to eat, it only teaches it that no one is caring/helping. I do my best not to over-feed. There are guidelines for how much a baby parrot should be fed and when they are weaning, the amount decreases because their crop (where they hold their food- not a stomach, more like an esophagus-pouch) shrinks. So I do my best to just fill their crop.  Incredibly, I am finding that my baby Amazons and Kailani seem to have signals triggered when I feed them because after they get formula, they all go and eat some on their own!
Truth be told, Kailani is still taking formula. However, it is less that in had been and she is feeding herself – and the floor – every day. The floor has gained more weight than she has, but they are both progressing well. We’re on-course now because she has learned to eat, is starting to eat more and more for herself and now it is just a matter or time and providing the loving support that will help her transition well. Patience is important with parrots- and the bigger the pscittacine (scientific name for the parrot family), the longer their development takes. People mistakenly think that developing faster is better. However, the opposite is true: developmental stages that gain as much as possible translate to healthier, more balanced, more intelligent and happier results. It means more work for the keeper…. but the time put in when a parrot -or child- is young is like putting money in the stock market and then earning dividens for ever after.

Tink’s Story: A Green-Cheek Conure with Seizures, and CBD Oil

🦜 Tink-
 
Tink is our especially-sweet GCC (Green-cheek conure) who has seizures 😢 – what do you do for a parrot with seizures?
Once upon a time, although she hatched this winter, Tink seemed to have had nerve damage. A friend owns a bird store and gave her to us (my daughter and I) because the damage makes it so that she can’t fly or walk well, making her ‘un-sellable.’ He guessed she flew into a wall when learning how to fly, but who knows? So she was entrusted to us ☺️
With nerve damage, it was no surprise when she started having seizures. The real surprise were the seizures themselves, because I’d never had a parrot who had seizures before. The second surprise was learning online that it isn’t uncommon for parrots to have seizures. It happens 😧
We started treating Tink with CBD oil and, because of Tink, started making CBD oil available for parrots, which I’m calling ‘Tink’s Oil.’
CBD oil has no psychotropics and may even help if she is in pain at all – poor thing. She’s a sweet girl and we want her to have a comfortable, happy life. This is why she is hanging out with me today.
 
Tink’s adorable! She likes to be with us and does have a roommate who she cuddles with and preens/get preened by. When she’s with me, I rub her neck and she closes her eyes and looks blissful! Then she tries to return the favor by gently nibbling back, preening me! The CBD oil has been a great relief because it freaks me out to see her having seizures. Breaks my heart 💔 to see her body twisting and shaking. Yikes!
It’s not as though I expect her to live forever, but… maybe for a long time? If she’s comfortable, of course. It’s not easy having a special needs GCC, not that it’s a big deal, but it’s one more thing to do. The good news is that she’s super easy to treat: we drop a drop of oil into her beak – she knows she’s ‘special’ and she doesn’t bite at all. I don’t know if others who have parrots who have seizures have a harder time treating them, because I have had several people ask about seizures and ask what we do. In Tink’s case, she learned early on that she was limited; initially she was scared to have us hold her when we first adopted her, but she couldn’t fight us, so she gave in and found that she was loved and treated with care instead. Her’s has been a challenging life, but one filled with love too. Everyone at home thinks she’s one of the sweetest birds, ever!

Parrotlet Babies: Weaning Parrots

🦜 I was looking for a current pic of the parrotlet babies- This pic is 6 days old, so they look different now!
 
They change sooo fast!
 
Parrotlet 🦜 babies start getting their feathers at about 2 weeks, fledge at around 6 weeks, and wean at about the same time (meaning they eat on their own). Ours have weaned earlier, which was why Lizza got to take her babies home already (the green and blue babies in the pic). She’s re-named them: Mr Green Jeans (MGJ) (the green one) and Levi (blue one). She got the two most colorful, handsome boys! She also got some instructions on offering them a little baby food because it’s fun to give them a little and bond, plus MGJ was still hand-feeding some.
 
My experience with hand-feeding is that all of my babies wean. Some say this is a concern, you want to make sure they wean – but I don’t know any adult parrots who still need to be hand-fed. If they are provided with the love, caring, clean environment, social environment and food needed, they all become strong, happy and healthy birds that eat on their own.
 
The trick is to provide the what they need. The correct amount of food/formula, the correct mixture, temperature and frequency for the babies. Then they outgrow the need (humans are like this too – I’ve worked with helping people for nearly 20 years as a spiritual/personal developmental guide and helped them improve their lives or heal from their issues).
 
Extending to another person or animal is very healing and fulfilling. It grows a bond, of course, and creates another vibrant being in the world. I love it! I also love seeing it in my parrots: look at how they all huddle together and keep each other warm. They also feed each other – they may think that there is a bigger bird there to feed them, but they are open and giving. One for all and all for the feathers. 

I hand-feed and wean every one of these babies myself. If you would like one, our available Pacific parrotlets are here.

Little Loves – Parrotlet Parrots

What’s Not To Love

One of my favorite things about parrots is that it is uplifting to look at their beautiful colors and it often raises my mood to watch and interact with them. I’m always amazed at what great communicators parrots are, how clever they are and what big personalities they have, even parrotlets, the second smallest parrot species.

Their beaks don’t move, but they smile; they tell you when they are happy and cozy or when they need something – all without words. They come close to say that they want to engage with you or they back away to let you know they aren’t feeling social. Some parrots sing, some cavech and others snuggle. Sure, some bite and sqwack loudly too!

Parrots always seem happy to be alive, excited to greet the new day and enjoying the world!

Caring For Parrotlets

Parrots can be confusing, please don’t get too perplexed! You have to monitor their environment temperature and conditions; you have to get their diet right and care for their emotional and intellectual needs!

Whew! They are like human children but they can fly and pack a wallop-of a bite!

  • 🍃 Temperature & Climate – They are delicate little guys, so they need to be kept somewhere that’s not too hot, not too cold and not drafty. Think of them in the wild, they would go somewhere warmer or cooler as needed. Most parrots are tropical, so they want a comfortable temperature, like you do. They have fuzzy down feathers to keep warm, but they can’t take a sweater off or put one on to adjust, so don’t let their space drop so that you’d need warm clothes or get so hot that you’d want to jump in a pool! 👙
    Generally speaking, the temperature is fine in your temperature-moderated house, just make sure they aren’t in front of an air vent or in a drafty space.
  • 🥗 They need to be fed correctly –
    You’ll read that parrots need to be fed primarily pellets and given fresh foods – However, there are over 400 species of parrots! Specifically, a parrotlet does not do as well on pellets! Experts will tell you to give them plenty of fresh foods, seeds and use pellets as a back-up. This is not the case with other, larger parrots like Green-cheek conures. It is important to research a proper diet for your species of parrot, because they are all different – which can make your head spin!
    Fresh foods are (in order of what should be given most): lot’s of fresh Greens (leaves like spinach, kale, chard), Veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, peas), whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, oats) – then, as treats (meaning in limited amounts) fruits- you can also give them cheese – but it’s not ‘natural.’ Parrots don’t hang out with cows and they are lactose-intolerant. Some protein is needed, most say once a week or so, and for this I give eggs.
    Seeds: we offer our parrotlets a variety of seeds – budgie seeds, cockatiel seeds (since they like and can open sunflower seeds, which are in the cockatiel mixes), millet (green millet is supposed to be good for them too) and sometimes canary seeds. Variety is the way of life!
  • 🏠 Their home, their space –
    Is there anything better than having a pocket in the world that is all your own? Yes, having someone to share it with!
    Online there are a lot of guidelines as to what size cage a parrot should have according to their size. That should be considered, but the level of their activity and energy should be a larger measure. Some parrots, mostly larger ones, don’t move around much. Parrotlets are like little energizer bunnies, they bounce around! The more room for them to fly from one side of the cage to a branch to their food and then to the other side, the better!
  • 🏕️A Tent to sleep in –
    A place to hide, a place to sleep and a place to cozy up, your parrotlet may not use his or her ‘cozy,’ as they are called, to sleep in, but they will often bite at it, climb on it or sit on it. As long as it doesn’t get too scraggly, they are loving it! Be careful, loose strings will tie themselves around feet or will get stuck on your bird. Rope perches can be the same. If you suspect that your parrot is eating her cozy or biting away at his rope perch, remove these! They can be ingesting them, which will result in an emergency visit to the vet, perhaps a surgery and can cause their death. If you prefer natural fiber – hay, wood – use these. Parrots are accustomed to and have no known issues with natural fibers.

 

Teach Your Parrotlet to speak

What Should You Feed a Parrot in the Cockatoo Family?


 

Bummer!

I was watching a Birdtricks video – (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co2qp26m1Ww)

🦜 And I learned that you can give your parrot, especially the cockatoo family (cockatoos, Galahs, Cockatiels) too much fruit and cause fatty liver disease.

Blah!

I also learned that a vitamin A deficiency can cause kidney failure in parrots, and African Greys are prone to vit A deficiencies.

Double blah and ugh!

A dog 🐕 can eat ANYTHING off your table. They can probably digest it better than us!!!! A parrot🦜, on the other hand, they are a pain in the 🍑 when it comes to feeding them!

You MUST know what you are feeding your parrot!

🥗 Salads made with veggies, yes.
Sweet potato 🥔, yes.

SEEDS seem dangerous! All I hear and see is ONLY use them as treats! Be super careful and DO NOT feed your parrot an all seed or all fruit diet!

Better still, hire a private nutrition investigator! It seems like the only way to make sure your parrot is eating right! Oh? You can’t afford it either? I hear ya….

Ahhhhh! Time for more research and then, soon I’ll be starting a series you can subscribe to on parrot “basics.”
– Translation: basics = Advanced nutrition knowledge for psittacines 🦜! – Plus other real basics on cages, handling parrots, dealing with bites, screams…….

For now, the cockatoo family is prone to getting fat. Feed them A LOT of FRESH FOODs:
-Greens (green leaves like spinach, chard, kale…)
-Veggies (they love sweet potatoes, squash)
-Sprouts and beans
-Limited fruits and seeds – just as treats!

Parrots can get Fatty Liver Disease (FLD) – it will eventually kill them, so keep a healthy, fit parrot by feeding them fresh foods and letting them exercise as much as possible.

That’s Not Your Iced-Tea, Caique!


Caique parrots, man, they are so unique!

They are whimsical, determined and, in this video, thirsty.

Yes, Jack figured out how to drink some iced-tea with Quetzi. They are smart, after all!

While caiques aren’t talkers (or they pick up very little English), they are a wonderful, stout and entertaining parrot. I consider them to be large-medium sized parrots.

They are cuddly, they love to hop and they play on their backs. If you are looking for a parrot to spend a lot of time with, to bond with and to share your tea, your life and your fun with, then a caique may be your new best-friend.

As with all parrots, be sure to give them lots of fresh foods (greens, veggies, whole grains and a few fruits- seeds just as treats). They can live 30 to 40 years when they are provided with a happy, healthy and clean life. Love them and they will love you back ten times over!

 

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Where to Purchase A Companion Parrot

The three places you can get a parrot are:
1) An exotic bird store
2) A breeder
3) Someone re-homing/ a rescue

Today I went in search of a new parrot store that showed up on Google. I checked out the website – where the prices seemed too inexpensive to be real. I tried using their chat and calling with no response, but someone called back. Said that they were remodeling, but would open again tomorrow. He also said that they did have Hahns macaws and I’m considering getting Emerald a mate.

We drove 20 minutes to the address that maps took us to from their website. No go. It was a house. I tried calling to check the address, thinking that maybe it was a private residence that bred and sold parrots, since this area has big lots with lots of room for aviaries and breeders. Of course, no one answered the phone.

Then my husband looked at their address on Google Places – the address given was a couple of miles away, so we went. Again, the residence clearly had no parrots, no aviaries –

My husband then looked at the reviews on Places – one person in Denmark said that they had ordered a parrot, but it never came. No doubt, the prices were unreal because the parrots were too.

Watch out for scams. Be willing to travel – I would not purchase or put money down for a parrot unless I was already familiar with the seller or new that it was coming from a reputable store. Ask around, look online and check to see that they a seller/breeder or rescue has social media and a following. Nothing will provide a 100% guarantee, but at least you are far more likely to get the parrot companion of your dreams if you look for some key indicators. You can also look for an online group that is all about parrots or specific parrots. There are forums for Indian Ringnecks and Facebook pages for conures, amazons and more – people here have parrots and may be able to refer you to a real parrot seller!

I do the same on my FB page, sometimes I post parrots that are for sale by a breeder or exotic bird store that I know and trust- I like helping parrots and people find each other.

Parrots are expensive and they are expensive to keep! Be willing to travel to meet your parrot to make sure that he or she is the right bird for you and to make sure that you are paying for a real, healthy and sweet companion.

How To Handle A Parrot That Bites

What Do You Do With A Biter?

 

My 🦜Teddy-bird Has A Beak-side 🧛!

 
This spring I hand-fed Teddy, a Green-cheek conure that was hatched to us! I just loved Teddy, which is so easy to do, because as babies parrots sleep, love to be coddled and bond sweetly with you.
 
Because I was feeding Teddy every couple hours, I took Teddy to my mom’s house where she slept in a blanket, ate and was doted on! I loved having her with me and close to me.
 
Baby parrots can be very hard to feed. The first thing you have to do is learn how to teach them to learn to eat from you! They are accustomed to their parents (but their parents had been feeding them less, so I was concerned) and it’s an adjustment to take food from a person. They have to be fed the correct way too, because if their food goes down the wrong ‘pipe,’ they can aspirate. Their food also has to be the correct temperature, the correct mixture…. no pressure!
 
It’s a tricky thing with some parrots, and Teddy had originally done really well with me but then we started having a tough time. I was uncomfortable, last week Teddy was eating plenty and then she was hardly taking anything, I had felt. She was too young to be eating on her own, so she had to take formula.
 
How we got through is a bit of a blur… I can probably chalk it up to my being available to feed her when she was willing. You may already know, I’m a strong believer in healthy foods being key to health. She is only 4 days younger than her older brother, the only 2 eggs that made it from the clutch, but she behaved a lot younger. I’d also hand fed him, Edgar, because his crop was looking more and more empty! Ah! These parrots were trying to give me a heart-attack!
 
Once Edgar was eating well, I was able to put him with Markle, who is only a little older. She was thrilled to have the company, but I didn’t feel like Teddy could join them yet. It took a couple of weeks before I let her join them, she just seemed to grow up a little more slowly.
 
Now after all of the bonding and anxiety-producing experiences we shared, I was really surprised when Teddy started biting a couple of days ago!
 

Biting Beaks

Some birds just bite. Ugh!
This doesn’t mean training can’t help shift their behavior. My daughter literally let Markle bite her a couple of times without reacting so that Markle would realize that biting doesn’t produce a result. With her new Crimson, she has been spending time with him, letting him get comfortable (he used to be hand-tame but has been ignored, which is why he was re-homed). By spending time and letting him know that he’s ok, he’s safe and loved, he has started to step up without biting her.
 
Most hand-raised parrots don’t bite. I’m letting my Teddy bird be with her flock, so she’s forgetting me 😢- but spending a little time with her helps.
Parrots with a past 🧳 carry baggage that we don’t know about. They could easily be insecure, at best, because they would naturally be hatched to their parents and then they’d stay with them while they learned how to be a ‘parrot.’ In captivity, they hatch, are hand-fed and then adopted out and re-homed sometimes.
We have a biter who pushed us in the past because he just liked to scream and bite, even when he was doing well and was being given seeds as treats!
As with people, I find that healing a parrot requires giving them the time and space to realize that all is well and that – even when they scream and bite – they will be given the love and caring – of clean food and cage – that they need. Biting parrots are defensive for a reason. We may be threatening them because that is all they perceive based on their past, or they just may not be ready or comfortable. For example, Green-cheek conures tend to be very affectionate and love to be pet but Indian Ringnecks do not like to be pet. So if you are insisting on petting your Ringneck, you are probably getting bitten. Your Green-cheek, on the other hand, is misunderstood for one reason or another.
Talk to your parrot without touching a biter. Give her the time and space. Provide him with other things to bite (toys) and provide understanding. While parrots do not understand all of what we say, they do get a sense of it. Explain that you are going to work with her and let her be however she is.
Be patient. Not every parrot is cuddly, but they come around and even express their happiness with cute sounds and deep looks of appreciation in their eyes, when given the time and space to come out of their shell.

The Wonders of an Orange-winged Amazon

This is Julien – He is an 🦜 Orange-winged amazon and he is LOUD! In case you were wondering if an amazon is the right bird for you. You ought to know that it should be expected that they call to the jungle twice a day, in the morning and evening, no doubt calling to their flock! The fact that their flock is right before their eyes does not deter these announcers!
 
We adopted Julien from an exotic bird store. He literally spoke to my husband – saying “Hello” and answering my husband’s question, ‘How are you?,’ by responding “Fine, how are you?” He also extended his foot to be picked up! I now recognize this spark of connectivity as a bird choosing his owner. He was really asking my husband to take him home.
 
So, we brought him home. I hoped that he and Lorenza, my Yellow-naped amazon, would hit it off and be friends-
 
Unfortunately, he wasn’t handled too much because he talks and signs, when he chooses to, but otherwise spends his time alone. My husband is usually the only one who is allowed to approach and pet him, though sometimes he lets me too. When my husband tries to get him to step up, which he wanted to do in the bird store, Julien always answer a clear no! Beak’s up and open – that’s a warning. No means no!
 
Julien’s timid, cowering every time we come near him. Unless, of course, we have dry papaya (which we get from one of our local exotic bird store), a walnut (vet said these help break down fat) or some scrambled egg! Then he cautiously approaches!
 
He’s also a terrible eater! We’re working on getting him to eat more… at first, it didn’t look like we was transitioning well off of seeds and onto pellets. Is he eating? Did you see if any of the pellets have disappeared out of his bowl? It’s been a couple days…
Whew! He made it! Didn’t want him to starve. We watched carefully. We always try to weigh our birds so that we can note significant weight changes, that we otherwise can’t see or feel. We also monitor their droppings and look for other signs to know what issues may need addressing. We suspect that Julien may have been fed a seed diet, certainly this is what birds are fed in bird shops 😞, so we suspect that he may be in danger of having FLD (Fatty Liver Disease) and that he may have low levels of calcium. Eating a seed-only diet, or a pellet and seed mix means that parrots often only eat the seeds. Ironic, the bird store is trying to save money, but they end up wasting a lot of uneaten food…
A seed-only diet certainly does not offer any kind of balanced diet. In the wild, parrots would eat what they can find and what is in season. A natural mix of foods comes easy this way. In captivity they should be provided with a variety of fresh foods, which I define as greens, veggies, (limited) fruits, nuts and some protein (like eggs). Being lactose intolerant, they should have little to no dairy. Unfortunately, that means that you shouldn’t share your pizza with your parrot! 🍕
 
Even though he’s a bit grouchy and cranky, Julien has a very sweet side. He’ll talk and sometimes sing in a sweet, melodious voice – as though he’s whispering a poem or singing us a love song. The look in his eyes is soulful, as though he is happy to be with us and wants more. He’s longing to enjoy his life, if only he could come out of his shell. At other times he starts repeating the word Tiko or Kiko – could be Rico… and I can’t help but wonder if Tiko used to be his name… Sometimes I call him Julien-Tiko.
 
🥕 Then he screams in the evening – Ahhh! We try not to react, as our ears start to ring. Reacting, yelling at him or banging on his cage would only scar him further. This is actually the best time to occupy his beak with anything healthy that he may like.
 
He wants to be loved, like so many emotionally scared parrots, but he is afraid and doesn’t know how. Little by little, we’ll get him eating well and feeling more comfortable. Takes time and patience! In the meantime, we try to make him comfortable, give him the space to begin to understand that he is safe and well taken care of.