Is a Parrot the Right Pet for You?

Not too long ago Kaytee launched a survey to gather more information on the reasons people relinquish parrots. Many readers of this blog and subscribers to the Good Bird Inc mailing list contributed their experiences to the survey. Dr Susan Clubb evaluated the results and produced a very in-depth document that is available on the Kaytee website. The results were quite intriguing and I highly recommend parrot enthusiasts read the report.

I, like many others, have found sharing my life with parrots to be extremely enlightening, fulfilling and enjoyable. In turn I try to make sure their life is equally engaging. I have been fortunate to meet many bird lovers who successfully share their lives with parrots. Their presence can help us learn to appreciate these amazing creatures and also their wild counterparts. I personally believe helping people connect with animals is important to making us better human beings. We can learn to be kind, gentle and nurturing.

However in order for that connection to have the effect I hope for, people need to have the tools for success. This means being prepared for a life with parrots. Knowing what to expect can help prevent families from getting into a situation that might not be the right fit for their household. And sometimes all it takes is a little information to help prevent behavior problems that can lead to parrot relinquishment. To help potential parrot owners be informed Kaytee has created a new resource that is based on the results of the survey. It is a twenty minute video called Bringing Birdie Home.


If you are a new parrot owner or are considering acquiring a parrot, I highly recommend you watch this video. It provides a brief introduction into what to expect. You will learn about diet, veterinary care, household dangers, behavior and training, enrichment and managing the mess. It will get you started on the right path and help you enjoy your life with a parrot. The video is a free resource and is also available as a pdf. All of us involved hope resources such as Bringing Birdie Home will help prevent parrot relinquishment and allow people to experience the joy of sharing your life with a parrot. I do hope you will check it out and share it with others. Here is the direct link to the video. http://youtu.be/zbhhAFVJjE8 Cross posting/sharing is encouraged!

Barbara Heidenreich
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Copyright 2011

Managing Parrot Mess

Once a zookeeper, always a zookeeper. I admit I was trained well. When I started my career in zoos back in 1990 I worked for the best kind of boss a newbie could have….a stickler for cleanliness and exceptional animal care. The standards were high but they were enforced with a gentle hand. I never resented having to keep animal enclosures meticulous. I remember at one zoo where I worked we had to rake a dirt floor to remove animal waste and debris. One of my coworkers commented you are raking the dirt to make a pile of dirt to throw away. He was right …even the dirt had to be clean! I admit that was a bit of overkill, but to this day I take pride in putting my animals first.

This means every morning the first thing I do is prepare parrot diets and clean enclosures. I aim to have a training session and one on one time with my birds every morning. Enrichment is changed out daily. And access to sunshine and fresh air for my parrots is also on my daily check off list. Taking care of the animals comes before checking email, taking a shower or diving into the day’s workload. Sometimes this means it might be 11 AM before emails get answered.

I suppose it could easily become a chore, but in reality I thoroughly enjoy that part of the day. I probably even take a little longer than I should just to allow more time to enjoy the companion parrots in my life.

One of the really great benefits to being a zookeeper is you very quickly learn ways to effectively and efficiently clean parrot enclosures. I have often thought parrot rescues should take a tip from zoos and set up there housing just as a zoo would instead of using cages designed for people’s homes. You can thoroughly clean 30 large parrot enclosures in a jiffy with the right set up. We don’t quite have that luxury in our homes. But there are some things you can do to make the job easier.

Here are a few cleaning tips:

• Spray water on caked on food or droppings and let it sit for 10 minutes. You will find it wipes up easily after a few minutes of soaking.

• Keep a set of cleaning utensils (sponges, paper towels, garbage bags, clean paper) in every bird area. It saves you a lot of walking.

• Invest in an electric carpet sweeper. These are great for picking up big chunks and keeping daily clean up quick and under control.

• Use washable throw rugs under parrot perches. Have plenty of extra on hand to trade out when dirty. I have found inexpensive ones at IKEA.

• Buy rolls or bundles of newsprint at packaging stores. I get mine at Eco-Box. Place layers in the cage. Remove layers as they get soiled.

Have you got a great cleaning tip? Leave it in the comments below. Lots of parrot lovers will thank you.


Barbara Heidenreich
http://www.goodbirdinc.com/
Copyright Good Bird Inc 2011

Petting Your Parrot

People often warn of the dangers of petting your parrot. Usually they are referring to the kind of touching that leads your parrot to believe you two would make lovely children together. This might include stroking under your parrot’s wings or near the base of his tail. This is often accompanied by your parrot affectionately regurgitating some smelly gooey food to share with you. This then often leads to your parrot attacking anyone who dare comes near the two of you…. a literal pair of lovebirds.

Touching parrots in a way that encourages courtship and sexual behavior is “just asking for it.” In other words you are setting yourself up for behavior problems that could include aggressive behavior, chronic egg laying, territorial issues and more. Check out Pamela Clark’s article on Hormone Production in parrots in the free sample of our digital publication Good Bird Magazine for more on behavior problems resulting from reproductive behavior.

Humans are super tactile creatures. We just love to touch things. And touching our pets can be a magical experience. My friends who visit my house say they get to be Snow White when they are here. Birds land on their heads. Small furry mammals hop into their lap and snuggle up against them. I love playing Snow White too and I could not imagine it being as much fun if I did not get to touch the animals. Therefore petting the parrots and other animals in my home is a big part of life. However it is done with forethought. Especially when it comes to parrots.

People tend to pet animals from the top of their heads to the tip of their tails. This does work for many mammals. Birds on the other hand…not so much. Parrots can get used to being stroked this way. But I would say it is not their preferred method to be touched. Most parrots prefer to have only the feathers on their head touched. And get this…they want you to stroke towards the beak, not the tail. A parrot who is enjoying having his head scratched will fluff all of his feathers up in response to touch. Check out Delbert, my yellow naped Amazon parrot enjoying a head scratch.

A few favorite spots on most parrots include under the beak, nape of the neck, over the ears and just above the nares. Parrots can’t reach these feathers to preen. Therefore they rely on other parrots or their human companions to take on this task. I believe this is why they are more receptive to touch on their head’s as opposed to other parts of their body.

There are of course parrots who do like having their bodies touched. Blu Lu the blue throated macaw is one such parrot. Even on her body she prefers the feathers are scratched opposite to the way they grow. As mentioned earlier I do have to be careful that touching her body does not lead to sexual or courtship behavior. So this is offered in moderation. I want her to be friendly with many people and encouraging a mate-like relationship with me will make that goal difficult to maintain.

Take a look at how your parrot responds to touch. Is he tolerating it? Or do you have a magic touch and he is getting a tad over stimulated? Hopefully you have found the happy medium, just enough to make it fun for you both.

Barbara Heidenreich
http://www.goodbirdinc.com/
Copyright 2011 Good Bird Inc

Parrot Toy Safety

Apparently whenever a weird sound comes from my yellow naped Amazon parrot’s cage I say “Are you all right?” Because now my bird, Delbert offers an “Are you all right?” whenever he falls off a perch or plays so rough with a toy it drops to the floor of the cage. He has also learned to say “Is that scary?” at what always seems to be the appropriate moment. Gotta love a talking parrot!

However the other day instead of “Are you all right” I heard a very bizarre half growl, half screech. My bird was very distressed. It turned out he had loosened one of the clips that is used to hang toys in his cage. And now he managed to get it stuck on his beak! He was definitely not happy. Fortunately he was able to remove the offensive clip on his own. However it was a good reminder that even the most innocuous, every day item can sometimes be a hazard.

I am very careful about what toys go into my parrot’s cages. I pay attention to the length of exposed chain, loose threads, breakable parts, types of metal, where manufactured, what types of colorings and more go into each toy my parrots might be exposed to. This is all in an effort to allow my birds to have as much fun as possible with minimal risk. But the truth is there is always some risk that goes unforeseen. I never would have thought the typical clip used for parrot toys might get stuck on my bird’s beak. Now I make sure each clip is screwed down tightly daily.

Another risk I did not foresee has to do with foraging toys. Foraging for enrichment is an awesome way to enhance your parrot’s life. I use a variety of foraging toys with my parrots including the foraging green from The Leather Elves seen here with one of my cockatiels. Cockatiels being grass seed eaters love to forage on flat surfaces.

I also make it a point to rotate toys every day. This is to keep going back into the cage a very rewarding experience for my birds. One day I went to put a foraging toy in the cage that had not been used in a while. I opened it up to refill it only to find a plethora of mold! I had inadvertently left some old pellets in the toy. Thanks goodness I checked before putting it in my parrot’s cage.

Does this mean I will no longer use foraging toys or use clips to hang toys? No. Their benefits far outweigh the risks. (The number of parrot behavior problems that can be circumvented with the help of enrichment is enormeous!) It does mean however that I will be more diligent about checking toys for leftover food and screwing down clips. Having a parrot or any pet for that matter comes with risks and responsibility. In trying to give your pets great quality of life you will no doubt come up against situations that will require you to decide if the benefit outweighs the risk and are there things you can do to reduce risk. Some will decide never to use a certain toy, or keep their bird flighted or allow their bird near other parrots. And others will find ways to make those same situations work in their household. It is important to evaluate what works in your home. And what works for you, may not work for someone else.

In any case I am happy to report that today every parrot in this house is safely and happily enjoying their toys.

Barbara Heidenreich
http://www.goodbirdinc.com/
Copyright 2011 Good Bird Inc

Training Your Parrot to Like a Towel

Does your parrot high tail it out of town when a towel is in sight? More than likely it means at some point in his life something scary happened with a towel. Perhaps your bird had to be captured and restrained for a medical emergency. In a moment like that your veterinarian may have to take action right away.

However if your bird is healthy and not in need of immediate medical attention consider taking some time to train your parrot to LOVE towels. I say love because my birds have become obsessed with them thanks to some positive reinforcement training.

Delbert my yellow naped Amazon parrot will fly across the room to land on one. And as you can see in this clip of Blu Lu the blue throated macaw I hardly get to sit down before she lands on the towel in my lap. That is because she knows it means she gets to roll around on her back and get showered with head scratches. (I think it is adorable that she rolls over on her back all by herself.)

I also take advantage of this time to do things a veterinarian might need to do. These include wrapping her in the towel and moving her. It also means feeling her chest, looking at her vent and stretching out her wings. I also trim her toe nails when she is comfortably resting on her back on the towel.

To her it is all fun. I sometimes incorporate foot toys for her to juggle with her feet and beak. To me this is what it means to play with your bird in a towel.

An important part of this is that she is empowered to leave if she wants to. You’ll notice she sticks around for more. That is a good sign. A skilled flyer like her will just leave if the activity is not to her liking.

If you can’t get a towel even in the same room with your bird I do have a DVD that shows you how to train the behavior step by step. It is called Train Your Parrot for the Veterinary Exam. The birds in the video are mostly rescued birds with some bad experiences in their past. You will see even a bird with a questionable past can learn that towels now result in good consequences. There is also information on how to train your parrot to step on a scale, step onto strangers, enter a transport cage and more. (All of these are behaviors that can make life a little less stressful when it is time to visit your avian veterinarian.)

Having Blu Lu trained for toweling gives me peace of mind. I feel confident we have a good chance of keeping her next vet visit super positive.

To help you get inspired to train your parrot for a medical behavior I have a very special gift for readers of this blog. Just click on "free parrot training resource" and enter the code PARROTRX when you check out. It should let you get a free eBook on how to train your parrot to take oral medication.

Every parrot owner should train their birds for this behavior before illness strikes. It is an easy behavior to train and will avoid you having to grab and restrain your bird to give medication, which can cause your bird to lose trust in you. Train this behavior ASAP…you will be glad you did.

Barbara Heidenreich
Copyright Good Bird Inc 2011
For quality information on parrot training visit www.GoodBirdInc.com

This Parrot Talks on Cue!

I recently received a link to a video that made me grin ear to ear. I absolutely love it when people watch one of my DVDs, read one of my books or an article I wrote and apply the information at home. A teacher’s greatest reward is a successful student. And the students of the day are Einstein the Texan Talking Parrot and her caregiver Marcia!

You may know them from my latest DVD Train Your Parrot to Talk. Marcia, Jeff and Einstein the African Grey Parrot all graciously agreed to appear in the DVD. In the DVD Marcia and Jeff shared their experience of living with a very gifted talking parrot. Einstein also lends her vocalizations to the accompanying CD ROM of talking parrot recordings. I have known Marcia and Jeff for a few years now. One thing they had not yet spent too much time on was putting Einstein’s many vocalizations on cue.

After receiving their copies of the Train Your Parrot to Talk DVD they went for it. And I am over the top excited for them. Check out this clip of Marcia demonstrating all the things she has already put on cue. This was all within a few weeks of the DVD coming out. You go girl! I love the "where's the mouse" behavior. Awesome cue!

If you have had success using the Good Bird Inc resources to train your parrot, drop me a line and tell me about your experience. I really do love hearing what you are doing with your parrots at home. Take some video and a few pictures too. Your story could end up in Good Bird Magazine and you and your parrot can be an inspiration to others. Just like Einstein.

Barbara Heidenreich
Copyright 2011 Good Bird Inc
For quality information on parrot training visit www.GoodBirdInc.com

Fun Video Clips of My Amazon Parrot Singing

My yellow naped amazon parrot Delbert was in the mood to sing this morning. He pretty much is every morning, but today I quickly set up a video camera to capture a few of his songs. Here they are. Enjoy!




To learn more about training your parrot to talk and to see more of Delbert check out the DVD Train Your Parrot to Talk

Barbara Heidenreich
Copyright 2011 Good Bird Inc
For quality information on parrot training visit www.GoodBirdInc.com