The basic care and environment that you provide for your pet bird play an important role in its total health. There are many good books on the market, today, to assist you in this area. I especially like Dr. Joel Murphy's book entitled, How to Care for Your Pet Bird.
All in all, choosing your feathered pet is just the beginning. From there you are faced with many additional considerations, including:
A healthy bird will tend to the majority of its own grooming needs and will thereby require little intervention from its owner. Some of the more common things that you may need to assist your bird with are:
Wing on over to my Nutrition page for additional information on this topic.
Simply speaking, this is a very broad category, involving almost every aspect of your bird surroundings. Anything and everything in your birds view and senses affects its psyche. Things as simple as ticking clocks, reflective objects and overhead fans can drive your bird absolutely neurotic! Here, we will cover just a few of the most basic (but important) environmental influences:
Your bird's home is just as important to it as your own home is to you. There are many aspects to consider when setting up house for your pet:
Most birds LOVE toys!! Toys are useful as mental diversions and tend to encourage physical exercise. They also provide for neccessary beak wear and act as outlets for aggression. Toys fill your bird's time when you can't be there! Check out your local pet shops, bird magazines and bird supply retailers on the web for ideas and prices.
When filling your birdie toy chest, keep in mind the four types of toys your bird needs -- Talon Toys, Chew Toys, Cuddle Toys and Preening Toys -- and be sure to select all toys with your bird's safety in mind. Avoid balsa wood, small link chain, metal skewers, lead weights and the like.
You can never have too many toys for a bird that loves them. Keep a wide variety on hand and rotate them, regularly. This keeps your bird from getting bored, and eventually, it will look forward to the new surprises (even if they are toys it has already had at another earlier point in its life)!!
Time to migrate, again:
This has been a Top Bird Production!
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