Parrot Cages Vary, But Their Perches Are All The Same!
Every cage I have ever gotten (and I’ve gotten several sizes and shapes! always comes with food bowls and a perch. And every perch is always perfectly cylindrical plastic or wood- and it shouldn’t be.
Note: this is originally was a live video on FB at https://www.facebook.com/ParrotBliss/videos/234978487579342/ – join the flock at https://www.facebook.com/groups/pbflock/
Parrot Feet Are Special!
Your parrot, whether a Budgie or a Macaw, should get to flex their feet! Parrots have amazing zygodactyl feet which allow them to use their feet as a hand and hold their food!
Those feet should get to stretch and move around, like they would in nature! The relief of taking your shoes off and rubbing them at the end of your day is what your parrot wants to feel too!
A natural wooden perch will shift and change in diameter, just like a tree branch. As a matter of fact, tree branches are great perches in your parrot’s cage! They are soft, giving and allow your parrot’s foot to naturally move and flex, plus they allow your parrot to bite at wood and bark, which is very natural to them – so much so that when I finished my video, I offered Kami, my Harlequin Macaw, the branch and she started biting away at it, so I snapped a picture for my title slide!
Bark is good for your parrot – it is a natural food that they eat (along with clay or dirt) to bind lectins, or plant poisons, they have eaten, so that they poison doesn’t affect them! Yes, this is what you see when you see the photos of Amazons and Macaws on cliff-sides biting away at the dirt!
CHECK FOR TOXICITY & CLEANLINESS
I’ve heard that some people wash and even bake the branches they give their parrots- probably not a bad idea.
Check to see that the plant type is not toxic to parrots (you can search online); also look at the branch. Check that there is no black mold or anything else that holds plant illness and that could be hazardous to your parrot. I often cut the branches down to fit the diameter of a cage; I either drill a hole into the ends so that I can then place a zip tie through the hole/bars to secure the branch or do something like this so that the perch is as steady as I can get it for my parrot. Some times I just cut the branch at an angle to wedge it between the two sides.
Your parrot should be able to bite and enjoy their perch. Such perches are a type of enrichment and help provide your parrot with a more natural and health-promoting environment for them.
Have a questions about parrots?
As the author of “The Parrot Bliss Bond,” I love and welcome questions about having a parrot and creating one of the best experiences of your life!
Whether you have a parrot or another animal, I believe that this can be one of the most special and loving bonds. However, some people have difficulties with their parrots because they either need:
– to be tamed
– to be trained
– to be taught not to bite
It’s not uncommon to have a combination of these problems – an un-tame parrot is likely to bite out of fear.
I believe you can tame your parrot! And improve your relationship so that you both enjoy each other more so.
Taming a parrot requires getting past the emotional charge of fear that they hold. One of the best ways to do this is to work your way through the fear by spending 4 to 6 hours (or more) with them. It’s not to say that you have to engage with them all of that time. Your parrot should have a perch or play area (not their cage) where they can be comfortable, be in “common space” and have food and water available.
Being with you or being on your shoulder for so many hours day after day for a week or two (depending on their age and history – an older or emotionally damaged parrot will likely require more time) should make a huge difference in the level of comfort you both experience.
Keys to help you tame your parrot include:
1) Diet –
Make sure that your parrot ONLY gets seeds/treats when with you. Seeds in their cage, including a seed mix, means your parrots only eat what they want – the seeds, which are like candy to them, and you end up having to buy more food. This is because they don’t get the nutrition they need so they eat more, getting fat, and costing you more money.
Plus, you aren’t special!
Additionally, seeds impede a parrot’s ability to absorb calcium. If your parrot is calcium deficient, this can make them moody and harder to enjoy or tame.
The healthiest diet is about 70% pellets and 30% veggies. A seed-mix diet or an all-veggie diet is not recommended because it is difficult to provide your parrot all of the vitamins and minerals they need.
Keep seeds for special time with you!
2) Have patterns or habits –
Taming your parrot will be easier when you have a couple of things that you always do the same way. They like patterns or habits. For example, when I was taming Gail, my turquoise Green-cheeked Conure, I would get him in the morning every day, keep him on my shoulder and often take him to the park. I put a harness on him to keep him safe. At the park, we’d sit on a bench and I’d take a seed-mix out for him.
He got to the point to where he soon expected me to get him out of his cage in the morning (so he fought me less to come out) and he started to get himself ready for his seeds once I sat on the bench!
Gail became comfortable with me and even cuddled into to me about a week and a half in!
3) Clip their wings –
I’m one of the first people who likes to see the stunning and brilliant colors on a parrot’s wings; I also love watching my Hyacinth Macaw flying, she is majestic. However, when it comes to my parrot’s safety and training, I think that wing clipping is a must. When our parrots are flying into windows and potentially hurting themselves, or going into smaller parrot cages and hurting others, then clipping becomes a matter of safety and security for my flock.
Please be sure to either take your parrot to a groomer who knows what feathers to clip unless you have training yourself, as clipping the wrong feathers can cause your parrot to bleed and, in a worst case, be very seriously injured.
The same is true when I’m training a parrot. An un-tame parrot is unfamiliar with people. They don’t know how people will behave or what they will do, so they feel scared. Even though parrots don’t have their own houses in the wild, they do have territories and a parrot’s cage is his home or her territory. Trying to take an un-tame parrot out of their home is, therefore, a threat to them. A large hand attached to a large animal (the human) is entering their space and trying to take them away. This is why they flee and bite. It is a situation that call for protection, from their perspective, and this gets reinforced when their human tries taking them out of their cage again.
The same is true for us. We mean to be loving with our parrot, but when we try to pick up an un-tame parrot, we are bitten! We may not understand why our good intentions are drawing blood! Now we’re upset, our parrot is upset and when we think about one-another, we immediately feel fearful or attacked. We both have an emotional charge- or a fear-based association to the other.
The way to work past this is to use a glove or a stick to get your parrot out of their cage so that you don’t get bitten. Next, if your parrot’s wings are clipped, it will expedite the process of getting them past the fearful charge because they will have to stay with you or in your proximity. In other words, a parrot’s fear will increase if you get bitten and then don’t try to take them out of their cage again until tomorrow, when the cycle repeats. On the other hand, if you both spend time together and you both experience nothing – meaning that being with you and in your proximity has no negative outcome for your parrot, then your parrot will move past the fear more quickly. In this way, clipping their wings helps move them through their fear more quickly so that you can both start to enjoy each other sooner rather than later.
You can also tame your parrot without clipping their wings, but they tend to fly away and hide. The best place to tame is in a different room than the one their cage is in, but even so, your parrot will have to face her own fear of being with you if she has to stay nearby (or on your shoulder, depending on how comfortable you both are). A perch for her with food, water and a toy will show her that her needs are being met. She will quickly find that you are ‘safe’ to be around.
In addition to this, as you add patterned behaviors, such as feeding her a seed, singing to her and doing a few things that she likes, then she will learn, within a few days, what she can expect and the good things that are coming.
4) 4 To 6 Hours A Day For 2 Weeks
Make sure that you can give your parrot 4 to 6 hours a day for about two weeks. Giving him consistency is a must. You don’t have to engage with your parrot the entire time. On the contrary, it is great for you to both ‘live’ together, meaning that your parrot can play, eat and spend time in his play area while you are spending time doing what you need to do. This is a great way to enjoy his company and let him do his thing, and it allows him to quickly learn that being with you is enjoyable. Be sure to schedule times to engage with him, maybe every hour, so that you are creating positive and fun interactions too.
If you work out of your home, you can spend these hours with your parrot in the evenings. They can participate in your activities: if you take a shower, have them on a perch in the bathroom. If you are making dinner, cut a carrot or another treat and offer it to her, just make sure that you kitchen is parrot-safe. An enclosed kitchen may have smoke and fumes, for example from Teflon pans, that can be harmful or deadly for your parrot. Be sure that your parrot is not in an enclosed space in a kitchen to avoid smoke or other harmful problems. An open-concept kitchen in which the parrot can be away from the oven and closer to a living room is best.
Birds Will Be Birds
Of course, the size, age and history of your parrot will affect how long it takes you to tame your parrot. Parrots each have their own personality, and some are naturally more curious and interested in people than others. A happy parrot who has enrichment (things to stimulate his mind), a clean living space, good food and gets to spend time with you will be a friendly companion that you can bond to.
Have a questions about parrots?
As the author of “The Parrot Bliss Bond,” I love and welcome questions about having a parrot and creating one of the best experiences of your life!
What Do I Do About My New Indian Ringneck Parrot That Bites?
Parrots Are Animals, And Animals Bite
Actually, people do too – but that’s a different psychological world. My good friend was visiting and she was asking about a couple of my parrots and whether or not they bite.
“If It Has A Hookbill, It Bites!”
I respond. Like every other creature, parrots bite in self-defense, because they are angry or because it’s their way of saying, “I said, ‘No!”
What Do You Do With A Parrot That Bites?
In the video I’m addressing a question I received: a person had an Indian Ringneck (IRN) and got a second one. The second one is an un-tame two-year old that is meant, in part, to keep the first company. However, the new IRN bites and doesn’t stop! She’s made the time that the person spends with her IRNs painful.
What to do?
In the video I talk about a couple of options and things to consider:
1 – Is this your parrot’s parrot and, if so, do you want to tame it?
2- Are you ready to spend several hours a day with your parrot? Just being with them makes a big difference.
Parrots Should Be Blissful!
Yes, being with your parrot should be like being with the best of your best friends. Your parrot is like a confidant that is always on your side, always happy to be with you and that talk to you! If you are having problems with your parrot biting, turn that around! Spend time with your parrot and join my Parrot Bliss Flock Group on FB today and learn more about how to tame your parrot: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pbflock/
Your parrot is social and wants to be your best feathered friend! If you have the time and inclination, then you can turn those bites into kisses!
—
Have a questions about parrots?
As the author of “The Parrot Bliss Bond,” I love and welcome questions about having a parrot and creating one of the best experiences of your life!
Kalyn hand-raises Indian Ringnecks in West Palm Beach, Florida, handled daily from the start — which is a very different beginning from most biting birds. See the Indian Ringneck page.
A question on giving fruit to your parrot came up.
We do NOT make fruit a part of our parrot’s regular diet because we don’t have access to unripe fruit. When we get green bananas at the grocery store, we do offer these. I also fry plantains in coconut oil for African Greys and Macaws, but no one else.
Re-posting my comment:
The purpose of my page is to share the love of parrots and to help people take the best care possible so that their parrots are healthy and happy.
In the Wild, What Do Parrots Eat To Stay Healthy?
Field work means, to me, going to parrot’s habitats and observing their natural behaviors to understand how to best meet their needs. I haven’t done this, I look to the research that has.
In the wild, parrots are found eating green fruit. This is because larger animals, like monkeys, don’t allow them to eat the beautiful, ripe and sweet fruits.
I don’t believe that fruit will damage your parrot, but a heavy-fruit diet gives them far too much natural sugar, which they aren’t accustomed to.
We DO give these as treats occasionally and sparingly.
What Do Parrot Experts Give Their Parrots?
BirdTricks (on YouTube) talks about having given their Gala a fruit-heavy diet, which made their parrot sick.
Parrot cookbooks focus on vegetables, grains and pellets –
There is a lot of information available and a key is knowing what information to believe and what information is going to lead you astray. Your parrot’s health is probably super-important, so research and make the best choices you can.
For whatever you take my word for, my weighted research clearly shows that ripe fruit has more natural sugar. Like a seed-based diet, too much sweet fruit will create issues in your parrot’s health, especially certain species that are prone to fatty liver disease.
Again, research for yourself, please. Do not take my word or anyone else’s because you have to make the choice and the decision for your parrot and they you get to enjoy a healthy, happy parrot or you have to deal with a grumpy, sick parrot. It is your responsibility. I do the best I know for my parrots and share this.
Are You Holding Your Parrot Through The Corono Pandemic?
Can Your Parrot Get The Corona Virus?
Ok, so you are ‘social distancing,’ which means you are staying home with your parrot. The last pandemic was, as I understand, about 100 years ago with the Spanish flu, but they didn’t have microscopes, hand sanitize or the awareness of how disease is spread the way we do.
Still, what about your parrot? I’ve seen a lot of people online say that they are also parrot-distancing!
But, To Hold Or Not To Hold Your Parrot, That Is The Question!
The official word from medicine: Dr Clubb (my avian veterinarian) says no, “Mammals like us (and bats, civets and camels) get mostly alpha and beta coronaviruses. SARS, MERS and COVID-19 are beta coronaviruses. ” (source: https://www.facebook.com/pg/rainforestclinic/posts/?ref=page_internal)
This means that is highly unlikely that you have to worry about you and your parrot infecting each other. Instead, your parrot may provide the social hole that has been created! It is a well-known fact that petting a pet and spending time with them has positive affects on your health, your well being and even your longevity. If anything, you should spend more time with your parrot because that is likely to make you both healthier and happier in these Corona times-
Be Sure You Have What You Need For Your Parrot
In case things get crazier, you may want to make sure you have plenty of supplies for your parrots. I’ve been trying to make sure I have pellets, parakeet mix and paper for their cages. I’m also thinking about getting toys for them – which mostly come from China and aren’t being shipped now (I don’t think). If you don’t have toys and if they get in short supply, it may be time to start to do training and create some DIY toys!
Train Good Behavior In You Both
This is a great time to start or increase your training. You and your parrot will benefit from adding structured training activities to the day. It will keep your parrot or parrots happier and more in-tune with you and it will entertain them. If you have a yard with parrot-safe flowers or branches, this will be a good time to garden and bring these in for your parrot. Natural foliage helps maintain their beaks and it de-stresses larger parrots – I suspect smaller ones too. Keeps them balanced physically and emotionally.
The huge advantage to increasing your training at this time is that it will benefit you both. When people have a routine, they tend to do better. If you are suddenly working from home it may be lonely; you may miss the social interaction. Creating a daily plan and schedule can shift this for you. Parrot-training sessions should only be 5 to 7 minutes (roughly speaking). this means you can schedule breaks for yourself during the day that provide you with a ‘social’ time (with your parrot) and provide your parrot with engagement.
What is A Stress Bar On A Parrot Feather?
A Parrot’s Feather Can Tell A Tale-
When we first adopted Kami, our Harlequin Macaw baby, I noticed that she had stress bars. These are ‘incomplete’ parts of the feather than run across the feather, perpendicular to the feather’s quill. These undeveloped parts of the feather show stress that caused the parrot’s body to use it’s energy not develop the feather, but to deal with the stressor.
Tree’s Rings Reveal Their History
The same happens to trees and humans: if a tree suffers an injury or has a season of drought, then the ring of growth for that year will be affected, often smaller. On the contrary, when a tree has a prosperous year, the rings tend to be larger, showing more health and growth.
Parrot Feathers Indicate Health Or A Lack Of
Parrot’s feathers are similar. They are a good indicator of a parrot’s health. A luminescent, full feather shows health and normal growth. A weathered feather can show different problems – for example, Tink, our Green-cheeked Conure has nerve damage (which is why she was given to us – it was assumed that she was learning to fly and flew into a window, injuring herself). The nerve damage impedes her from being able to fly or control her feet well. Fortunately, she can eat for herself, but unfortunately she used to get seizures. To deal with her seizures we created Tink’s CBD oil, which minimized her seizures (she hasn’t had them for several months in a row now, we are fortunate and grateful for her results thus far). Parrots are not accustomed to having very much fat in their diet. In nature they would only have fat in their diet during -what I call- the ‘fat’ season, or the time of year (generally winter) when plants release seeds. In late spring and summer there is rarely a lot of fat available for most parrots. These are more lean times so that parrots mate and have their clutches (babies) in early winter and spring when their is more promise of nutrition and food available for them and for them to feed their babies.
Giving Tink, Green-cheeked Conure, CBD Oil Affects Her Feathers
This means that giving CBD to Tink increased unnatural fat in her diet – and I believe it affected her feathers. Her beautiful green feathers turned dark and her body has not molted these in a year. She is due for a molting, but my veterinarian, Dr Clubb, said that a parrot’s body can put off molting if needed. In Tink’s case, I believe her body expends a lot of energy just having her move around her cage some and eating. I don’t think she has enough energy to molt her feathers.
Stress Bars Indicate A Stressor
When we took Kami to Dr Clubb, she instantly noticed the stress bars too. She said that it looked like either something scared her or, more likely, she was sick. Based on the stress bars, Dr Clubb counted several days worth of stress, which suggests illness.
Stress Bars Tell You Everything And Nothing
When I saw the stress bars on Kami I was left feeling helpless. I knew something caused them, but I have no way of knowing what and there is nothing I can do about them. It helped Dr Clubb look closely at Kami to make sure nothing was wrong with her, and she did prescribe a broad-spectrum antibiotic because Kami’s white blood cell count was elevated some, which means her body was or had been fighting something. This was just to be sure and safe.
Sure enough, we had noticed that Kami had seemed a little off. Not enough to sound an alarm with me, but enough that I do think she’d had something because she is doing better now. The rest of her feathers have come in beautifully and we are doing everything we can to support her baby growth!
Tony Silva Presents Diets For Parrots in Captivity
What Are The Right Foods For Your Parrot?
A Common Question: Can I Feed My Parrot Apples?
Did you know that there are over 350 species of parrots? Each species has different dietary needs. There is some commonality in diets between parrot families, like Amazons, Macaws and Cockatoos. However, there are significant differences that are important when it comes to giving your parrot the right fats or few fats, seeds, nuts fruits…
In this presentation World-Renowned Expert Tony Silva talks about parrots in the wild and applies this to your parrot. He also talks about fruit and will change your mind about giving your parrot an apple or a sunflower seed.
Learn About
The key role parrots play in their environment
Seeds that parrots are meant to eat
How parrots avoid competition for food
What some of the foods parrots eat taste like (because Tony has tried them and tells you!)
See amazing photos of parrots in the wild from Tony’s presentation
Papaya, apples, green bananas…
Milestone! 9 Week Old Harlequin Macaw Is Perching!
The Story of Kami’s First Perching
Cage Size Matters
At what age do you begin to put a baby parrot in a cage?
It just so happened that I decided to get a cage ready for Kamuela (Harlequin Macaw who we call Kami for short) to sleep in. So, I had dragged one of our 6 foot-tall parrot cages from the garage- A parrot’s cage should be twice their wingspan in width and three times in length and height. Frankly, Kami’s cage won’t meet those requirements, but they don’t pre-make indoor cages larger and his cage is already eating the room up, it’s so big! However, Kami will only be in the cage to sleep in at night or when we are gone during the day, which is not often, since we work from home.
Why Is Kami’s Cage Larger Than Our Catalina Macaw’s?
because Kami is already looking bigger than Kailani, our 1 year-old Catalina Macaw. Kami’s tail isn’t as long as Kailani’s yet, but when you put the two close together to see them side-by-side, wow! Kami’s head is larger and his beak is catching up!
What? At 2 and 1/2 months Kami is already bigger than Kailani, a fully-grown Macaw? Yes! And, yes, I’m daunted! How big will Kami be?
Hybrid Macaws
Harlequin Macaws are a cross between a Green-wing Macaw and a Blue & Gold Macaw; Catalina Macaws are a cross between a Scarlet Macaw and a Blue & Gold Macaw.
Because Green-winged Macaws are the second largest parrot (Hyacinth Macaws are the largest), Harlequin Macaws tend to be BIG.
So, yes, I pulled out the big cage. When a parrot is still small, you need to provide a flat surface. Their feet are not ready for the wires at the bottom of a cage nor are they ready to hold onto a wooden stick/branch to perch for extended periods, the way young and adult parrots do. Kamis been living in a white bin, but he’s outgrowing it. He has room to move and all, but his tail was starting to hit the sides when he turns. He wants to be out and wants to walk around! So Out Comes The Monster Cage! And, it turns out, just in time! As I was cleaning and preparing the cage, I turned to check on Kami and there he was, perching on the side of the bin! OMG! How did he manage to get up there!?! I guess I’m preparing the cage just in time!
Harlequins and Catalinas are both hybrids, and the only macaw I breed is the Hahn’s — the smallest true macaw, with a lot of that same big-macaw personality in a bird that fits a normal home. I hand-raise them here in Florida. See the Hahn’s babies I have available →
Once upon a time, my daughter wanted a Budgie, so we got Key Lime. Also known as a parakeet, Budgies weigh around 33 grams and are a couple inches tall. The thing about parrots is that they are addictive, like potato chips. It’s really hard to just have one, two, three…
And You Want A Bigger Potato Chip Too
Last summer we got bought Kailani, our Catlina Macaw; we went BIG. She is beautiful, loving and a part of the family, but she needs a companion. (Darn! We need to buy another parrot!) She needs someone she can bond with, eat with and enjoy her life with, because parrots are parrots. We’re her family, but she needs a companion. So we set out to get a Harlequin Macaw- Kamuela, or Kami for short.
Join us in this video as we drive down to our big event at The Aviary at Cauley Square and meet 🥰 Kami for the first time.
The Aviary At Cauley Square
The Aviary was awesome! My daughter and I like going to exotic bird stores for fun. We like seeing the birds, seeing if there are any new species we’ve never seen and I like getting perches or anything else I need for our feathered-flock. Well, The Aviary has to be the biggest and best exotic bird store we’ve been to.
They had a huge room with cages – yeah, I could upgrade a cage or three…
They had a nursery with available babies, so, so cute!
And a third room filled with toys and food. I wanted to shop, but Kami, at 6 or 7 weeks was the main event and focus.
We loved the vibe. Their birds were healthy and happy; the store was clean, inviting and fun. Oh, best part? Their prices were very reasonable too.
Picking up our new Harlequin Macaw was the best day ever! After we left The Aviary, we went into Cauley Square and sat outside at a 🫖 Tea Garden for lunch. We enjoyed the fabulous 🌴 Miami winter weather, our new baby and a fantastic meal.
Harlequin Macaws: The Best Companions 😗
Harlequin Macaws are said to be the best companions. They are a cross between a Greenwing Macaw and a Blue & Gold Macaw. Greenwings are the second largest parrots, next to Hyacinth Macaws. The cross between them and the Blue & Gold Macaw gives Harlequins the best of both personalities and characteristics.
The breeder said that the Harlequin babies his parrots make tend to be big, like a Hyacinth Macaw (and he pointed to a small Hyacinth in the shop). So far, Kamuela is very sweet and affectionate. He likes being pet and cuddled with. Oh, and he weighs as much as our 1 year-old Catalina.
We are, of course, in love already 💕.
His Character
Well, I don’t know that he’s a he. My fingers are crossed because Kailani is a she and we would like for them to be companions who could also breed.
So, ‘he’ is calm and even-tempered. He is affectionate and recognizes us already. Every day he is more alert and is beginning to engage with the world around him. We got him an all-cloth rubber duckie🦆, which he loves to beak. He and Kailani hear each other and listen more acutely; they ignore the other bird’s sounds. They have also seen each other (they are too young to get to interact) and they really look at one-another 👀. Kami is smart. He quickly recognizes his feeding syringe and has started walking towards it, which is great for training him to come to me.
Our newest flock/family member is off to a great start!
🦜This morning I noticed some blood in my parrot’s wing. It’s a blood feather! I was looking forward to her new flight feathers developing because when I got Kailani, my Catalina Macaw, her feathers had already been trimmed. Bummer! One of the new feathers broke!
My gymnast with feathers likes to monkey around her perch and hang from her toy. I figure it’s great exercise, but she feel!
Always Have Flour On Hand & Tweezers
Fortunately her feather didn’t bleed profusely. Her perch is new and this was her second fall, probably on the same feather. She loves her perch, but I think she’s getting used to it. Plus, she has a toe that points the wrong way and probably makes her unstable.
Stop The Bleeding
We looked at her wing and immediately got flour to stop the bleeding, which worked wonderfully. All seems well. I’ve kept my eye on her wing and it
has continued to clot, not bleed. Online I read that blood feathers should be pulled out because they are like a ‘faucet’ that can continue to bleed later. I’ve asked and am waiting to hear back from my mentor as to whether I should pull it, which is said to be painful for parrots, or let it be, since no one would be around to pull it out in a natural setting.
I suspect that Kailani’s feather didn’t bleed much because it had already clotted part of itself. Had it been bleeding more or had it not stopped, I would have pulled the feather out and made sure the skin/wing stopped bleeding.
All’s Well That No Longer Bleeds
Whew! Dogs and cats don’t have issues like this, do they?
So far, so good. You can see from my afternoon-monkey pictures, Kailani is doing fine, is having fun and her feather has clotted. She is still being her ‘normal’ self, wanting to come and cuddle with me, happily taking a piece of an unripe banana (yuck! I didn’t like it, but she gobbled it up), so all is well.
In case you didn’t know, with parrots we look to see that their behavior hasn’t changed. That, and a change from their ‘normal’ 💩 are the first indicators that something is off. I’ll also watch tonight, check her wing again and see that she doesn’t fluff up and ‘hide’ at the bottom of her cage, which are also indicators that she’s not up to par.
2) Have patterns or habits –
4) 4 To 6 Hours A Day For 2 Weeks
A question on giving fruit to your parrot came up.
BirdTricks (on YouTube) talks about having given their Gala a fruit-heavy diet, which made their parrot sick.
It just so happened that I decided to get a cage ready for Kamuela (Harlequin Macaw who we call Kami for short) to sleep in. So, I had dragged one of our 6 foot-tall parrot cages from the garage- A parrot’s cage should be twice their wingspan in width and three times in length and height. Frankly, Kami’s cage won’t meet those requirements, but they don’t pre-make indoor cages larger and his cage is already eating the room up, it’s so big! However, Kami will only be in the cage to sleep in at night or when we are gone during the day, which is not often, since we work from home.
What? At 2 and 1/2 months Kami is already bigger than Kailani, a fully-grown Macaw? Yes! And, yes, I’m daunted! How big will Kami be?
Always Have Flour On Hand & Tweezers
