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 →

By Kalyn
Author, The Parrot Bliss Bond, available on Amazon Books & Kindle
Join Us on FB at https://www.facebook.com/ParrotBliss/
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How To Handle A Macaw’s Blood Feather

Should I pull out my Macaw’s blood feather?

🦜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.

Ahhh, the adventures of having parrots!

How to Tell If a Parrot Is Male or Female

What Gender Is Your Parrot?

Monophonic parrots are parrots that physically look the same, you can’t tell the gender difference by looking at them.

Dimorphic parrots are parrots that display their gender difference in their plumage.

DNA Your Monomorphic Parrot

Finding out what gender your monophonic parrot is can be easy, though I was confused until I did it. In this video you’ll see where to take feather samples from on your parrot and you can see how we have one person hold Milo, our Indian Ringneck (note: Indian Ringnecks are dimorphic, we just had Milo close by and she volunteered to be in the video! An Indian Ringneck who is a year or two old will show their gender in the neck: males have a beautiful ring, female hens have no ring).

Of course, if a sexually dimorphic parrot is young, you may want to DNA the parrot to find out if it is the gender you are after. You may not want to wait until all his/her feathers grow or until he/she matures. Cockatiels, for example, don’t show their gender (in their tail feathers) until they are around 8 months. So, DNA-ing a dimorphic parrot may be to your advantage too.

Pulling Feathers To DNA Test

It is important to note that you must pull the feathers from your parrot; generally samples require 4 to 6 feathers. Pulled feathers have DNA at the follicle, which is what is tested. A feather that has fallen out on its own won’t have the DNA needed. Make sure to pull. It is said that pulling a couple feathers doesn’t hurt your parrot (I don’t know if that’s true or not) and it seems less intrusive. Consider using tweezers to pull the feathers because you want to pull the shaft (the middle ‘trunk’ if that helps). Pulling the barbs doesn’t always work, sometimes it just separates the barbs from the rest of that feather. Tweezers allow you to get a strong hold on the shaft and quickly/easily pull the feather out, minimizing how long and how many times you have to pull.

Another method is to use blood — 🧛 You can also cut a nail high enough to get your parrot to bleed. I’m not a vampire, I don’t seek my parrot’s blood 😉, so…

I prefer pulling feathers because cutting a nail to get the parrot to bleed doesn’t sit right with me. An open wound in a human always opens you up to possible infection. I know it is unlikely to happen to your parrot, but as of now, I think pulling is easier on your bird. I don’t know why, but cutting a nail is common, it is the way most pet shops seems to get a sample. That leads me to believe that cutting can’t be all that bad…

Why Would You Want To Know Your Parrot’s Gender?

Mature female parrots can lay eggs, even when they have no male companion. Without a male, the eggs will be infertile. As you can imagine, laying eggs can be hard on a hen and sometimes they can run into difficulties.

If your parrot is exhibiting signs of illness, it is good to know whether or not you have a hen. Hens can become egg-bound and this can be serious enough to lead to their death. For this reason it is good to know whether being egg-bound is a possible cause of illness.

Another benefit to knowing whether your parrot is male or female is that you’ll know where you cannot pet them. The back of a mature hen should be off limits and the vent area on a male should be as well. These areas are reserved for their mates and can sexually stimulate them. A sexually frustrated and hormonal parrot can be difficult to deal with. To avoid being bitten or having your parrot bliss bond broken do to a drastic change in your parrot’s personality, avoid exacerbating hormonal issues by knowing where not to touch your parrot.

Surgical Sexing

There is a third way of finding out your parrot’s gender which requires a minor surgery. Avian veterinarians can perform surgical sexing, a procedure in which they make a small cut to look in at your parrot’s reproductive organs to document their gender. I understand this is done infrequently since it is a surgery, which always has some risk, and sending a blood or feather sample to be tested is a fraction of the cost.

—

Working To Stop My African Greys From Plucking Using CBD Oil

A Zeus and Hera- Feather Plucking Update: CBD Oil

🙉 Ah, Pluck It!

Sorry about the pun, how could I resist? Besides, I adopted pluckers and — they pluck! Who would have thought?

Ok, yes, I knew 2 things when I adopted Zeus and Hera: 1) Once an African Grey has plucked for a month, it is extremely difficult to get them to stop. 2) Once an African Grey has plucked enough for feathers to come in as red feathers, as in Hera’s case, they are NOT red factors. They have sustained enough damage to their follicles that the color alters. Unfortunately, I was correct, Hera had plucked long enough to have damaged her follicles, my distinguished avian veterinarian agreed.

🌴Nevertheless, I Try!

Am I a glutton for punishment? I did have to consider this possibility… I’m asking the impossible, or close to it. But, life is short and it stirs my soul to think that I am helping heal my parrots. What if I could help Zeus and Hera stop plucking? How amazing would that be? I’d feel like a million feathers!

And, as long as I am a parrot-person, as long as I’m passionate about parrots and I’m writing about them, I’m going to work towards helping them out.

So, I’m Trying CBD Oil 🕶️

We’ve created Tink’s CBD Oil because our Green-cheeked Conure had seizures (caused by nerve damage, which is why she was given to us). You can read about Tink and how the CBD oil has helped minimize her seizures here.

CBD oil is to be good for helping parrots that are hyper or nervous: maybe they have separation anxiety when you go to work the way some cockatoos can. The idea is to give them just a drop or three, depending on the parrot’s size/weight, in order to assist their coming back to balance.

Tony Silva Has Found That CBD Oil Is Helping His Hyacinth

This is a photo of my mentor, Tony Silva, my daughter Xelha and I. Tony is using Tink’s CBD on his Hyacinth Macaw, who he rescued and who had plucked his feathers. Now, if I was as good as Tony then I’d probably have more parrot magic ✨ and my African Greys wouldn’t be plucking – his Hyacinty is doing well! He looks pretty close to ‘normal!’

One of the things that I like about the CBD oil is that African Greys and Macaws require oil in their diet anyway, so using the correct, indicated amounts can compliment their diet. Oil is not beneficial for parrots who are prone to Fatty Liver Disease and should avoid fats or oils. However, if you are having issues with your Cockatoo, Galah, Quaker or Eclectus, you may decide that getting your parrot to stop plucking or reducing their anxiety is, temporarily, more important. In small amounts the effect of the oil should not be huge or too noticeable and you can correct their diet once they are emotionally healthier. In the meantime, an anxious or plucking parrot should be put on a strict diet anyway to help them balance as much as possible.

Need to get some CBD oil for your parrot? Please be sure to follow the directions – CBD oil is not the same as hemp oil, which is beneficial as well but not medicinal, the way CBD is. Message me and let me know that you need to get some and we’ll arrange it for you.

Here’s to happy, healthy parrots!

🦜Cage Review -4 Things To Look For In a Parrot Cage for Caiques & Crimson & Green-Cheeked Conures

What Do You Want To Look 👀 For In Your Parrot’s Cage?

In this video I’m reviewing an A&E cage and a flight cage (no brand); I’ll also tell you a bit about Caiques and Crimson Conures, which are in the two cages I reviewed.

The four –most important– things you want to look for:

1) Cage Size There are some basic rule-of-thumbs to look for in a cage:

A cage needs to be double your parrot’s wingspan in length and triple in width and depth

2) Bar Size

Specifically, you parrot should not be able to put their head through the bars. If they can, they can get stuck and injure themselves. This is why minimum size requirements are given in LxWxH but also in bar spacing distance.

3) Rail & Tray

Easy Removal For all their beauty, intelligence and splendor, parrots are the messiest animals! They get their poop EVERYWHERE! On the side of the cage, the bottom and outside the cage- no exaggeration. In order to keep a healthy parrot, so that you have the best-behaved and most loving parrot possible, you have to keep their home clean. A cage that allows you to slide the rail and bottom tray out makes most of your cleaning a lot easier. If these don’t slide out then you either have to remove your parrot to clean their cage or you have to hope you can work around them.

4) Your Parrot’s Activity Level & Tail Length

A little parrot, like a Budgie, is active. They are balls of energy and, even though they are small, they need lots of room to jump around or fly around their cage, generally speaking. I have a Yellow-naped Amazon; she is not as active. She spends all day on two perches in our living space (unless she is with me), so giving her a cage that allows her to hop around and fly is pointless. I adopted her as an adult bird, so I don’t know her history, I don’t know why she doesn’t fly.

While it is still best to give your parrot the most space possible, how active they are and how long their tail is should be factored into their cage size. Some parrots have long tails, like my Indian Ringneck in the video. She needs plenty of space so that she can easily move around and turn around without squishing her tail.

Additional Things You Might Want In A Cage:

Being able to place a nesting box on the cage:

Some parrots, like Conures, like to sleep in nesting boxes. Even if you aren’t breeding, boxes can provide a wonderful place to sleep, depending on the species and the number of parrots in your cage (cockatoos can get aggressive over the “territory”).

Easy food/water access:

Some cages require that you ‘enter’ the cage to place food and water inside. Ideally, you want to be able to open a door and easily replace these dishes so that your bird doesn’t escape, if you have a new bird or have issues with this. You also want to not get bitten if you have a parrot who is territorial about ‘their space,’ which can be common with some species.

Raised Rail:

Some cages don’l leave much space between the rail and the bottom tray. Parrots are smart and they will put a foot through the railing to try to reach something below. Offering enough space so that you parrot cannot reach the bottom of the cage where old food and droppings are, which collect bacteria, will help avoid health issues. All parrots can reach, so even small parrots can reach. Make sure the bottom tray is deep enough that they won’t grab anything below.

— 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!

Comment below;

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Feeding 🦜 Parrotlet Babies – How Do You Feed Parrot Babies?

Parrotlet Babies Are The Cutest!

How Do You Learn To Feed Parrot Babies?

Man, that is a hard question! Anyone in the aviculture community will tell you that you should learn to feed parrot babies from someone who knows how to feed them. However, I had no luck at all finding anyone.

The first time I fed a parrot I was worried and scared. My girl was a Cockatiel and was already eating on her own. She also had enough experience being fed; fortunately, she was able to handle MY NOT KNOWING how to feed her! I was patient (with myself) and, truly, she was patient with me too. It would take 15 to 30 minutes to feed her, which is now done in a minute. It was hard, fun, hard, rewarding and frustrating. Oh, and arduous. Ugh!

Start With Human Help Or Parrot Help

Working with my Luna Love, my Cockatiel, was a great first experience because she ‘trained’ me. Actually, the first handful of parrots I hand-fed trained me, they had all been fed already, I’d just taken over the last couple of weeks of feeding.

There’s no substitute for practice and everyone will tell you that you’ll lose a baby, that even the best of them do. However, life means so much to me that I’m not ok with letting any baby in my care pay for my lessons this way.

Instead, I suggest that you let your parrot babies show you how to feed them. The most important thing is to hold them properly and to let them step forward to be fed or to back off when they step back and away.

I also suggest you start with a spoon, and parrot-feeding spoons, which are a funny shape to bring the food down to the middle of the spoon, is perfect. This makes it hard to force food down a parrot’s throat and cause harm. Instead, as you hold your baby parrot and your spoon, they can eat for themselves. Gently hold your parrot’s mouth, a finger supporting them under their head at their neck initially. You can soon back your fingers/hand away or barely hold your hand in place so that the parrot can move around.

Successfully feeding a baby parrot is exhilarating! Your parrot’s happiness at getting a full crop is contagious and adding to the miracle of life in this way is intoxicating!

Should I Feed My Indian Ringneck Parrot Apples?

Tales of The Apple Thief

So…

I made myself a treat, sliced up an apple. I cut small pieces and gave some out to several parrots as a treat-

I come back to my plate and Milo — my Indian Ringneck (Psittacula krameri) has helped herself to a full slice! Geez!

Can parrots eat apples? Yes. Should they? Well, yes and no.

Apples are now genetically modified to be sweeter, as per Tony Silva; this means that giving apples to a parrot is like giving them candy. As it pertains to humans, nutritionist say apples offer the least benefits of just about any fruit, so it only stands to reason that they aren’t the best choice for a parrot either.

But — better than too many seeds!

Well, I guess Milo sneaked a holiday treat. Good thing she doesn’t believe in Santa or she’d be on his naughty list!

What Are Indian Ringnecks Like?

Smart.

There is a reason they are becoming a “pest” and being outlawed in some countries. It could happen here in the US as well. Indian Ringnecks are notorious for consuming significant portions of farmer’s crops in Europe and I understand it is happening in the US too. They are adaptable in their eating and their methods, which makes them great survivors who take over towns like London.

How Typical! Indian Ringneck Characteristics

Milo is a super keen, typical. She is independent and, true to the Asiatic family of psittacines (parrots), she doesn’t like to be touched too much. She’s also in charge! If you missed her crown declaring her right to boss others around, she’ll tell you to look more carefully!

Sexually Dimorphic? Yes, you can see the difference between the males and females because the males have a colorful ring around their neck, a ‘necklace’ that Milo doesn’t have, even though her name is typically for males. Milo is a “Blue Palid” Indian Ringneck – other phenomenal color mutations include greys, lilac/purples and indigo blues, in addition to green (their customary, natural color) and green mutations, like “Dilute Green.”

In Indian Ringnecks the male is said to be a fantastic talker, the females not usually. Milo follows this generalization and, even though I’ve had her since she was 4 weeks and finished her hand-feeding, she doesn’t “speak” English. Of course, Indian Ringnecks speak in a cute “parrot” voice as they are not able to accurately copy sound the way African Grey parrots can.

This family of parrots is your best choice if you don’t have a lot of time to spend with your parrot, because they do their own thing. They’ll come over and let you know when, and if, they want attention or petting. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know this sounds kinda cold and I know you might be wondering if she’s a good pet parrot. She is. Parrots are much more than pets, they are true companions. They talk to you, keep your secrets and truly keep you company. You’ll find that your parrot will come to fit you like a glove, if you spend the time bonding with him or her. Nevertheless, you have other things like work, chores and things to take care of. You can’t spend the time with your parrot that most flock-mates spend together. For this reason, I recommend getting two. They fulfill in one another things that you simply cannot: they preen each other, feed each other and sleep together. If you spend time with your two parrots, they will still want to bond with you too.

For Whom Are Indinan Ringnecks Good Companions?

This means that an Indian Ringneck, which I find to be on the quieter side of the parrot family, makes a great companion. He, she or they (if you get two) will give you plenty of space to do the things you need to do without going without; but they will also be intrigued and interested in you when you have the time and inclination.

Would I recommend an Indian Ringneck? Yes! Whether you work from home or not, as long as you like parrot-free time to sleep, cook, take care of things… then an Indian Ringneck could be the perfect companion(s)!

Kalyn hand-raises Indian Ringnecks in West Palm Beach, Florida — the same birds in these stories. You can meet them on the Indian Ringneck page.

🦜 Kalyn: Author, Parrot Bliss Bond, runs a FB page at https://www.facebook.com/ParrotBliss/ and a parrot-lover!
Send questions about your parrot via FB or buy Kalyn’s book on Kindle today!

🦜 Z&H – AGs That Pluck, Going To Try CBD Oil

The 🦜 Z&H Chronicles will begin!

So, Zeus & Hera — African Grey’s, of course — pluck.

When I got them, they were this way- and I see less missing feathers than there used to be. I believe they have improved – but still, pluck.

Time for CBD!

I gave some of our CBD (we sell CBD for parrots and cats/dogs) to Tony Silva, who is a world-renowned parrot expert. He said it’s helped with his Hyacinth macaw and that when I visit soon I’ll see how good the macaw is looking.

Yay!

We used CBD on Tink, because our sweet Green-cheeked Conure has seizures due to nerve damage (from before we had her). Now I’m going to track use on Zeus and Hera.

🦜 Z&H

In the photo: Zeus and Hera are now in “smaller” cages, each has there own because Zeus was pulling Hera’s feathers out! Poor girl was going to be bald soon – agh!

I put there cages outside in the morning to let them relax in the chill breeze, light rain today and so that they can enjoy the fresh air, as they watch the sky and pond. Their cage doors are opened; sometimes they come out or not. Eventually they usually do. Hera walks around outside or comes in the sliding glass door and looks for a box, or a book, to shred. All in a day’s shredin’

They have each had their own space for about a month and the time apart must be making their hearts grow fonder because they started feeding each other last night (but then went back to their own cages to turn in) and today Hera went over to Zeus’!

Ah, young, feathered love!

Why Are My Parrot’s Feathers Dark At The Ends?

Feather-Mystery

The Trials & Tribulations of Lorenza (My Yellow-naped Amazon With FLD)

I’m trying to research this, but not finding the answer so far…

On our visit to the vet about a month ago, our vet said that last year Lorenza’s feathers were worse, that they are growing out without the feather fungus.

I’m like, “Say what?” because she never mentioned this before. I had thought her feathers didn’t look ‘right’ but she had not addressed it on the last visit. So, I’m going ‘I think I missed 3/4ths of this conversation!’ Ugh!

Alright! I think I just solved the mystery! Diet/too much fat.

It looks to me like Lorenza’s feathers also indicated FLD (Fatty liver disease). — You can read my blog on Lorenza’s FLD HERE, where I talk about the symptoms and what we’ve done for her) I don’t know if she’s molted all her feathers, but it’s been a year (so I would have thought that they would have all molted by now). Maybe she did, maybe her body is still “catching up” and unable to produce good feathers. I guess we’ll see.

The vet said that her numbers are now normal (the FLD indicators), so I know her diet is fine. Confessions: She’s a monster when it comes to eating. She wants sweet fruits, meat and eggs. Not good! I give her limited fruit – I’d feel comfortable giving her more if she ate anything green! Meat she steals: someone left a rib on the counter, then it had several beak-sized bites taken out of it. Fortunately, meat on the counter or in my house is uncommon. She also gets eggs, which are the ‘perfect food,’ but only a couple of beak-fulls. Fortunately, she’s really good at eating her pellets. I think that’s her saving grace!

She’s as bad as you and me around our favorite treat… but, she’s my buddy and I love her. So here’s to her outliving me!

A Seedless Diet

Most commercial parrot mixes have seeds. Ugh. I don’t think vets would approve…

Here’s a few facts you should know about feeding your parrot seeds:

Seeds are like french fries – they are fatty, don’t satisfy your need for nutrition and can get expensive.
Seeds with vitamins are a great marketing idea, but a poor nutritional provider for your parrot because the vitamins are on the shell, which your parrot doesn’t eat.
Small parrots needs seeds as part of their diet, about half seeds, half pellets and 30% to 40% fresh foods. Check with your avian vet as to what your species of parrot should be eating.
Seed mixes let your parrot eat the seeds, ignore the pellets, and, in this way, waste your money.
If you have an Amazon, like me, or a cockatoo or eclectus, then seeds shouldn’t be a part of your parrot’s diet. Try using nuts for treats or dry fruit, like papaya, which provides beta-caratine (which they need a lot of).

To Drive The Seedless Point Home:

My parrotlets, the 2nd smallest parrot species, were burning through their seeds and then begging for more food. I asked my vet about this. Her first suggestion was that something might be wrong and that I should do a gram stain (a test for bacteria the vet runs). I said it was a recent development and they didn’t seem sick – then we figured out that the cockatiel mix I was feeding them had sunflower seeds. The vet told me to use a parakeet mix instead because the cockatiel mix includes sunflower seeds. Parrots get addicted and then that’s all they want to eat — and they basically go without nutrition while getting fat.

And So Lorenza’s FLD Saga Continues

All in all, I’m thrilled. My Lorenza acts like a parrot now, which she did not do when we first got her. She gets down from her perch and looks to see what trouble she can cause. She climbs the parrotlet’s cage to see if she can go up to it- I always stop her. She walks around the kitchen looking for wood on my cabinets that need to be stripped. I stop her before she does real damage. She walks around on the couch looking for our Chihuahua’s but to bite, just because!

All because she no longer has a poor, seed-based diet.

Can Taking Seeds Out Of Your Parrot’s Diet Make Them Happier?

Keeping A Happy, Healthy Parrot

On my list to research:

Berries

Herbs

Senegal diet

I’m always researching…

A LOT of people say seeds are ok for a parrot to eat- some same ‘fancy’ seed mixes are ok, but I put a lot of weight on my vet’s word, which matches my expert’s (Vet is Dr Susan Clubb, her contributions to avian medicine and her recognition is vast; expert is Tony Silva and he’s literally ‘written the book’ on parrots)

For example, I read online that dairy is part of a parrot’s diet, which didn’t sound right to me. Dr Clubb shook her head… “I figured,” I said, “but I read it so I wanted to confirm with you that parrots don’t hang out with cows and consume dairy products!’

What Would My Parrot Find To Eat In Nature?

A lot of ‘what to feed your parrot’ can be logical. Just ask yourself, what would my parrot find to eat in nature? I think that 9 out of 10 times (or more) the answer would be leaves, greens or veggies. They may find seeds every now and then, but not endless sunflower seeds – this just leads to fatty liver disease. My ‘pet’ parrot, Lorenza (YeIlow-naped amazon) I adopted a year ago. She was already about 10 years old. Within a couple weeks my daughter and I saw several signs that told us that something was wrong with her. She was lethargic compared to our other birds and didn’t move around much; her droppings seemed ‘wrong’ or ‘off’ in color and in the couple of weeks that I had had her, her feathers seemed to get brighter and it felt like she lost weight. Sure enough, Dr. Clubb diagnosed her with FLD, fatty liver disease.

Just like people, a sick parrot gets cranky, moody and isn’t happy and fun. Sure, Lorenza used to cause no problems at all and now she chases other parrots off, but I’d rather have a spunky parrot than a lumpy, feeble one.

Parrot Seed Mixes Are Less Advantageous

Pet stores everywhere sell “parrot mix” with seeds, but don’t be fooled. The seed’s shells take up a lot of space so that you go tough a bag of mix with seeds faster than a bag of pellets. Also, with less nutrition to offer, seeds don’t satisfy a parrot’s hunger. Small parrots, like my parrotlets, require seeds (same as budgies and cockatiels – Dr. Clubb says to feed them about half seeds and half pellets – PLUS fresh foods/veggies). I had been feeding my parrotlet seeds, but i was having to refill their food bowls half way through the day. Twice the work! It was unreal. They were eating twice as much! I asked Dr. Clubb about it and she asked what I was feeding them. Cockatiel mix, I answered. “Feed them parakeet mix,” she said. It doesn’t have the fatty sunflower seeds. So I switched.

I’m always looking to improve what I offer my parrots and to make sure that they are doing well, are healthy and happy as best I can. Switching the small guys to a budgie seed mix, pellets and fresh foods seems pretty good. I love watching them bolt to their dish when we put the veggies in for them in the morning.

Lorenza, My Yellow-Naped Amazon Who Has Fatty Liver Disease

I also love seeing my parrot (Lorenza) turn more and more into a healthy bird. I’m not sure whether or not FLD can be cured, it seems to be a condition that she will always be prone too, but it lights me up to see her feeling better. I’ve never seen her dunk her head and get so wet like she did when she took a bath today; last year I’d never seen her open her wings when I first took her to the vet – today she opened her wings to let me spray her, adding to her bath.

Health and vitality are beautiful on any beastie, human or parrot. Diet is easier to do right than having to pay a veterinarian later on or having to pay emotionally for an unhappy parrot, so research and talk to your vet about a proper diet for your parrot. You may not think anything is wrong, but you won’t know until it’s too late. Many parrots, for example, are vitamin A deficient, but by the time you know something is wrong, it’s very wrong. So feed them well so that you can enjoy your companion for years to come.