Bonding With Two Or More Parrots

If You Love Them Parrots, They’ll Love You Even If They Are Two

Parrots are curious and they like to be with, nibble on and explore people – at least, that’s been my experience. The number one ingredient to create a bond with your parrot or parrots is time. You have to spend a fair amount of time with your birds on a daily bases.

Two Parrots Are Better Than One

Parrots are highly social animals. In the wild parrots live in flocks which can be as ‘small’ as 20 birds or as large as a thousand. Yes, they are accustomed to being with their tribe all of the time. They tend to help each other, preen one another and feed their mate. They are intimate with one-another and they find bonding, connection, survival, well-being and safety and security in their flock and their mate.

Yes, you can play the role of mate if you want a close bond with your parrot, but you’ll never fulfill the same zygodactyl feet (that’s what their feet are called because they are the only class of birds who have two toes pointing forward and back)! You may love your parrot and take great care of your parrot, but I don’t imagine you will regurgitate for him or her nor that you’ll preen his or her feathers with your mouth!

And, why would you? You don’t have to be a parrot to fill those toes! Just have two parrots. When you have two parrots, depending on the species, you’ll find that they play together, cuddle and engage with one another almost all of the time – and then they often sleep or nap cuddled up together.

Humans Are More Interesting Than Parrots

I always recommend getting two parrots because there are only benefits to doing so:

If you like spending a lot of time with your parrots, then having two means twice the fun
Your two parrots will be curious about and interested in you. If one likes you more than another then that one will engage with you, showing the other that you’re fun! The second will likely follow and decide you are fun too.
If you have someone else at home, two parrots means that you each get to spend time with a parrot; you each get ‘your own,’ which can be special for the parrot and human which each get to have a special bond.
If you don’t have a lot of time to bond with your parrot, you should have two. They will keep each other company and, while they may not be friendly with you — which would have happened anyway if you don’t have time to dedicate to your parrot– at least your parrot won’t be sad or lonely. Yes, this can lead to health problems like feather plucking (depending on the species, some are more prone to plucking than others) or it can lead to your parrot losing his or her well-being. The need to be social and have a flock or mate is a need. Unfulfilled, it can cause emotional and then physical issues. When people are incarcerated and put into solitary confinement, their ‘flock’ is also removed — and it is considered a harsh punishment.
Sometimes parrots are moody or busy playing or sleeping. Having two parrots means that, if you are in the mood to play or spend time with your parrot, you are likely to have at least one parrot available!

Yes, if you engage with your parrots, they will want to bond with you. I have found that two is a magic number – and it doesn’t matter whether they are male and female or two of the same gender. When you have three or more parrots together, they tend to retain or go back to more of their ‘parrotness,’ and are more likely to lose interest in you. Of course, if you spend a lot of time with three or more, it may not matter, but most people aren’t able to dedicate several hours a day, or more, to their parrots.

What Kind Of Time Is Parrot Time?

Is there a formula for how much time you should spend with your parrot? No, there isn’t. We can generalize and say that smaller parrots require less time than larger parrots. This means that the largest of parrots, like Macaws, need more time and engaging time spent with them. My Macaws want to be held, be played with, spoken to… Whereas our Parrotlets want to be with us, but just being with and around us seems to make them happy.

I think of the time you can spend with parrots as two kinds of time: engaging time and co-existing time.

Engaging Time

Parrots like to be on you, they like doing and learning tricks with you – going for a walk (or ride, they are usually on my shoulder), or being spoken to, petted. When you engage with them, you are relating with them as if they were another person or a young child. At night you could practically read them a bed-time story! This time is the kind of time “mates” would spend together – it creates a more intimate connection.

Depending on your parrot’s personality and their species, most parrots need at least 15 minutes twice a day of good, engaged time spent with them.

Co-existing Time

I also think it is important to spend time with your parrot in the same room just doing what you do. Your parrot likely has a perch or play area with toys or something they do so that you are both doing your own thing and you are near each other. This is more of a ‘flock’ behavior in the sense that the flock is together, but tending to different things.

The Most Important Time Aspect: Love

I have several parrots and I don’t have enough time in a day to give each parrot ten minutes of engaged time! However, most of my parrots like to engage with me. They want to step up, touch me with their beak (they experience life though their beak since they don’t have hands) and see what I’m doing, see if I have something interesting they can destroy (like my nice pens – ah!) or if I have something that they might want to eat.

I attribute this to their having parrots around them and, most all of them, having a cage mate. Our Catalina Macaw, Kailani, was about 10 months old when I started to see that she was bonding too much to me. Although I love her and (having hand-fed her) I’m comfortable with her (and her large beak) and I love cuddling with her, I felt that she needed a Macaw of her own! So we got a second Macaw! Sure enough, they seek each other out — and enjoy each other almost as much as they seek us out and enjoy being with us.

So, my parrots have their needs fulfilled. They have clean cages, clean water and food (including pellets and fresh vegetables) every day. They are allowed to be birds, which means sometimes they squawk loudly, bite or get territorial about a perch or a person, and we are understanding — though not tolerant of anyone being injured. We do everything we can to make sure they have good lives and they seem to know this and appreciate it. Maybe they even think we’re great flock members for it!

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!

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Clip Or Fly?

Clip and No Clip

I have two gorgeous Macaws- We got them both as babies, one was clipped one wasn’t.

Kailani, our Catalina Macaw, was about six months and was heavily clipped when we brought her home. She never tried to fly-

This year we got Kami to be Kailani’s sister. Kami, our Harlequin Macaw, wasn’t clipped. She’s a year younger and she glides around the house and the back, enclosed lanai with the greatest grace and ease. We never taught Kami to fly, it was a part of her natural development. Even with her flight feathers now grown out, Kailani wasn’t trying to fly. I’ve had to work with her to help her develop her ability to fly, which she’s just starting to realize.

One of the things that cleanly happens to a bird is that they forget that they know how to fly. May seem impossible, but it becomes the conditioned way they think or process themselves and their lives. Kailani just wasn’t considering the fact that she could try flying, even though she watched Kami longingly as Kami flew off the perch to where ever she wanted to go. I have a Yellow-naped Amazon who has never tried flying, she barely stretches her wings. I adopted my Amazon as an adult and I don’t know her history. Shortly after bringing her home, the avian vet said that Lorenza, (Amazon), had elevated bile – which indicated liver issues, Fatty Liver Disease. This is, likely, due to many years of having been fed poorly (a seed-based diet) and probably having been in a cage. Lorenza is unlikely to fly. I don’t think she realizes that she can; she rarely stretches her wings and never flaps them. She has forgotten and her body, likely hurts her. Her bones aren’t in great shape (calcium deficiency which is also due to a seed-based diet), illustrated by her X-ray and there is fat in her veins, even though I’ve corrected her diet so that her bile levels are no longer elevated.

I understand why parrots get clipped: they are expensive and no one can afford to have a parrot fly out the door! Shops would never make money or a breeder’s efforts would fly off too early.

When To Clip

However, timing is important. We like letting our parrots learn to fly before clipping wings is even considered. Flight is who they are as birds, as we see it. It doesn’t mean we won’t clip, it means that it’s not our first choice. A parrot who gets clipped often sulks and isn’t as happy afterwards. We tend to clip for a parrot’s well-being or another’s safety. Otherwise, we love seeing their colorful feathers as much as they love showing them!

Flight is great exercise for parrots and some experts say that without the exercise, parrots can’t be as healthy and that it could affect their life span.

Each parrot-keeper must decide what’s best for their parrot given the household circumstances. For us, flight is a burden – because it means that our parrots can fly to undesirable places and break things when we blink! We are very fortunate to have an outdoor area where they can perch, pick at a palm and fly safely in the screened area. We wish Kailani’s wings hadn’t been clipped as a young baby; but she is young enough that she is starting to take to the idea of flying.

If you have the time to spend with your parrot, be sure to let them fly in safe spaces or give them practice on your arm, the way I do in the video, so that even your clipped parrot can stretch their feathered wings!

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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!

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No mess feeder:
https://www.amazon.com/Tidy-Seed-No-Mess-Feeder-Small/dp/B0037UKP9G/ref=sr_1_4?crid=PE58V6O8N5UJ&keywords=no+mess+parrot+feeder+for+cage&qid=1581625954&sprefix=no+mess+parrot+fee%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-4

What Vegetables Am I Feeding My Parrots Today?

What Is For (Parrot) Breakfast Today?

Greens are important for parrots – just like they are for you and me.

Today my parrots are getting broccoli, kale, green collards, squash and carrots. Frankly, they don’t eat a ton (although they always eat the carrots and squash), so I don’t put a lot in their dish. Parrots are naturally wasteful – It is enough for me to feel good about having offered them fresh foods.

In humans, probiotics are important, especially know that scientists and nutritionists know that our gut is made up of bacteria. There is bacteria that aids us and keeps us healthy and bacteria that is detrimental. That good bacteria is a probiotic. Keeping that good bacteria’s numbers up and thriving can be done by making sure they have prebiotics, which humans primarily get in greens. Parrots must too.

Keep your parrot happy and healthy – if he or she isn’t a good veggie eater, be persistent. It can take over a year to convince a stubborn, adult parrot to try a little something – but it’s worth the many benefits of better health!

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!

BOOK Get my book Parrot Bliss Bond at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0998010065?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image

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YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/parrotbliss No mess feeder: https://www.amazon.com/

Tidy-Seed-No-Mess-Feeder-Small/dp/B0037UKP9G/ref=sr_1_4?crid=PE58V6O8N5UJ&keywords=no+mess+parrot+feeder+for+cage&qid=1581625954&sprefix=no+mess+parrot+fee%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-4

How Do You Keep Your Parrot Cool During The Summer?

It’s Hot! Is My Parrot?

Whether your parrot is hot or not depends more on what he or she is used to. If you parrot lives outside, then they have adjusted with the gradual change in temperature that season change bring. On the other hand, if you parrot is accustomed to being inside your air conditioned home, then putting him outside in the summer heat is ill-advised.

Parrots are very adaptable, if they are allowed to acclimate. Most species of parrot can be outside during the summer when they have been given the chance to get used to the temperature, if they are given drinking water, a ‘pool’ to bathe in and plenty of shade.

NOTE: They Need Sunshine, Parrotlets Get Too Hot

PLEASE NOTE: The only exception I am aware of are Parrotlets – they can’t take temperatures 🦜 Their temperature must be between 65 and 85 degrees F – as I understand. In other words, they are more challenging to offer some golden rays to. Parrots require some sunshine in order to produce vitamin D, which in turn allows them to absorb calcium (used for their beak, feathers, bones -and every system in their body!)

This means that putting your parrot outside for a couple hours every day would be super-dooper fantastic for them- if they are acclimated. I compensate by putting them out for a couple hours in the early morning when it’s not too hot. However, my Parrotlets don’t go out this time of year because it’s too hot – and they can’t be out in winter when it’s too cold. I have carefully watch the temperature and I also provide a Full-spectrum UV light to satisfy some of the need.

The Un-Romantic Popcicle

Unfortunately, as humans, we really like to spoil our parrots and give them treats that we think they will like, like seeds or fruit. I’ve seen videos on YouTube in which people talk about making your parrot romantic (as in neat, fun and special) treats like fruit popcicles or honey-sticks with seeds on them.

As you can imagine, there are no such things in nature. In the wild, parrots tend to eat a lot of what they find growing on trees, but not sweet fruits or honey. We like these, so we think our parrots will too. Unfortunately, honey and ripe fruits provide too much natural sweet – fructose – which parrots are not accustomed to.

So, the best ‘treat’ you can give your parrot is seemingly boring, not fun and not special. It’s clean drinking water, shade and, perhaps this could be special, a parrot-pool to splash around it.

Kami, our Harlequin Macaw, requires extra nut-fat in her diet. I could freeze her peanut butter fork-pop!

Most Parrots Love Baths

Life offers us pleasures: the pleasure of eating or taking a nice dip in the pool on a hot summer’s day.

Parrots are the same! It delights me to watch my parrots bathe. They open their wings wide, put their heads back and deeply enjoy the water splashing all around them. They look blissed out!

Also not terribly romantic, but you can always add ice to their drinking water or pool during the hot summer – or have a misted area they can choose to go into. Like us, parrots need to be able to choose to seek shelter, refresh themselves with water or get wet. This can be challenging – your back yard is probably not set up to offer shade (which is easy to do with plants like palms that are non-toxic to parrots and that they will enjoy biting) a misting section or a parrot pool. I know, I’m challenged too. Parrots are not easy exotic pets, right?

But they are worth the effort. The same basics apply even if your parrot is indoors: fresh, clean drinking water and a bowl large enough to dunk their head and body into are essential for healthy bliss!

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!

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Do Parrots Like To Bathe?

Who Doesn’t Like To Get Clean?

Yes, parrots like to be misted or jump into a tropical kitchen sink-shower!

Parrots need to get clean, just like any other creature. It is important in order to maintain healthy feathers and to keep their skin clean of their dust (parrot dander) – clean skin also helps abate mites.

Giving your parrot a shower is easy. You can either use bottled or boiled water in a mister to spray them with a fine mist. You can also invite them into your shower by offering them a shower perch. Parrots don’t always jump into the water stream, but that’s ok. Keep your bathroom door closed and let your parrot relax and enjoy the moisture in the air.

You may also find your parrot jumping into your kitchen sink to compete with the dishes for the faucet’s water! In this video, Kami, our Harlequin Macaw, jumped right in and drenched herself in the kitchen sink, which she’s really too big for!

What If My Parrot Doesn’t Want To Bathe?

When parrots are enjoying a shower they look blissful, open their wings and close their eyes, soaking in their shower. On the other hand, a parrot that steps away and doesn’t open her wings, doesn’t want a shower!

If your parrot is not accustomed to a shower once or twice a week (you can take your parrot into your bathroom’s moisture daily with no worries), you may have to accustom her to bathing.

Start slowly just by misting her feet and work your way up her body over the next week or two. Your parrot will re-learn to love a natural behavior that helps keep her healthy.

How Does A Parrot Dry Off After A Shower?

Make sure that your parrot isn’t cold or in a draft afterwards.

Frankly, I’ve seen videos of people blow-drying their parrots – and I can’t speak to this.

If you don’t force your parrot to get drenched, then your parrot should be able to monitor how wet and cold they can get. In nature they often bath and ‘air’ dry with no problems because they control when they shower and how wet they get and where they dry off. A parrot shouldn’t need to get drenched weekly; let your parrot show you how much water they want. For example, if you take your parrot into your bathroom to enjoy your shower’s mist a couple times a week, you are doing well. Be sure to mist your parrot too.

My parrots go into my shower’s humidity all of the time. It is relaxing (they always close their eyes) and comfortable to receive the sounds and moisture of the shower. When it comes to misting them, sometimes they walk into the mist and keep their wings open, even after I think they are done. So, I keep going. Other times they step away from the mist, making it clear that it is not a shower day.

As long as you offer a misting several times a week and take them into your humid bathroom a couple times a week, you should be fine. Monitor their feathers and the shine, the pearlescent glow their feathers have. When you see your avian vet for your parrot’s yearly appointment, ask your vet how your parrot’s skin and feathers are doing and if you are giving enough showers based on their condition.

Parrots Share Your Life With You

This is why I say that parrots are companions, not pets. You can share your life and your life activities with your parrot from eating healthy foods to watching TV and sharing your shower with your parrot. No other pet will hold their food and eat by your side as they speak to you, sometimes using English words!

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!

BOOK
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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!

BOOK
Get my book Parrot Bliss Bond at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0998010065?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image

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Fruit: Evil Or Parrot-Safe?

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.

—

By Kalyn
Author, The Parrot Bliss Bond, available on Amazon Books & Kindle
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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…