Making Your Bird Feel at Home Some birds have special caging requirements. My parrot, for example, lived for many years in a rectangular rabbit cage because it had smaller mesh that she could hook her beak into easily. With her physical limitations, this helped her get around more quickly. However, the galvanized finish made her ill over time, so she was moved into a cockatiel cage with a bright brass finish. The bar spacing was not as convenient for her, but the health benefits were greater. A parakeet I know named Calvin was handicapped as a chick. (I think his mother sat on him too tightly in the nest and squashed his developing skeleton a bit.) As a result of injuries he suffered early in life, Calvin didn’t perch too well and had trouble getting around in and living in a conventional wire birdcage. His owner searched through pet stores to find the best cage for her physically challenged pet, and her solution was a wire hamster cage with climbing ramps and resting platforms, rather than traditional perches. Because the platforms and ramps were wide and had both horizontal and vertical bars on them, Calvin could maneuver around his cage pretty well. You’ll probably notice that your bird spends a lot of time moving around his cage. This mimics the movements of flocks in the wild.During these movements, he often uses his beak as much as his feet. Parrots are very good at using their beaks to climb, reach, hold, bite, hang, eat, preen, or play, depending on what their current activities call for. In your home, your parrot probably won’t spend much time foraging for his food.To provide an outlet for those foraging tendencies, consider offering food in different forms from time to time. Offer whole green beans or peas in the pod to encourage your bird to work for his food a little bit. You can also give your bird nuts in the shell to challenge his mind as well as nourish his body.
(You may want to crack the nuts slightly the first time you offer them, especially if your bird is young, so he knows what’s inside the nutshell.) To further help your bird expend the energy he would use to forage and feed in the wild, give him ample opportunities to play. Busy, occupied birds are less likely to misbehave, and they become well-adjusted, content companions. Birds who might otherwise scream, pull their feathers, or become aggressive can channel their energies into play if provided with the chance. Parrots need suitable toys to play with. If you try one type of toy—for example, a chain with a bell on it—and your bird doesn’t like it, don’t give up! You may have to try several different types of toys before you find one that your bird likes. When selecting toys for your bird, be sure they are of an appropriate size for your pet. Small birds, such as parakeets or cockatiels, can become frightened if they are presented with toys that are too large for them, and toys that are too large can even injure them. By the same token, large parrots such as macaws or cockatoos, with their powerful beaks, can easily splinter toys made for smaller birds and the splinters can injure them. Most bird toys are sold with bird-size recommendations printed on their price tag, or you can ask the staff of your bird supply store for recommendations. In addition to selecting correctly sized toys, make sure the toys you choose for your bird are safe. Avoid toys that attach to cages with split-ring fasteners because some birds can open these rings enough to catch their beaks, tongues or toes in them. Choose toys that attach with C-clips instead. Select toys that are made from vegetable-tanned leather and that use foodsafe dyes. These are important ingredients in a bird-safe toy because your pet will spend a lot of time chewing on his toys, and you don’t want him to become ill from chemically treated leather or dyes that are not food-safe. Some birds do not react well to brightly colored toys, while others love them. A friend who has a flock of three birds reports that her pets seem to favor toys that have colors similar to those of the birds’ plumage. Perhaps these birds perceive items of a similar color as less threatening than those that are brightly colored and foreign to them. In addition to playing with toys, your parrot needs a chance to flap his wings, climb, hang off of a perch or play gym, or chase a ball. All these activities will help your pet burn off energy. Again, each parrot will have activities that he prefers, so you will have to see which type of exercise appeals to your parrot. Remember to take time to play with your bird, too. Parrots are flock animals, so your bird would naturally expect to have some company while he’s playing. You can roll your bird over and pet his “tickle spots,” you can play tug-of-war with him, you can introduce him to a new toy, or you can hold him on your hand or arm while he flaps.
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