How to care for your bird

Introduction

Birds are beautiful and intelligent animals that make wonderful companions. To ensure your bird is healthy and happy, love, care and attention is needed. 


Feeding Your Bird

Vital to your bird’s growth, health and adult development is the right food. Choose a feed designed by a nutritionist to provide all the nutrients and vitamins required for healthy development and to assist in preventing disease. Having cuttlefish or mineral stones available at all times for your bird provides a great source of calcium and helps with beak health and shape. Grit is essential as it helps to break down seeds in your bird’s gut, and also helps with egg formation when breeding.

Safe foods for your bird (in moderation) include pears, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, broccoli, celery, capsicum, cauliflower, carrot, cuttlefish, spinach, zucchini and pumpkin. Avoid feeding your bird avocados, fruit seeds, rhubarb, chocolate, onions, raw or dried beans, eggplants, cherries, beetroot, cabbage and oxalis.

Always keep fresh water available, and be sure to change it daily.


Aviaries and Perches

Birds can be housed in aviaries or cages, but aviaries are preferred as they provide a lot more room for your bird to exercise. Have a read of our Blog: Choosing the Right Sized cage for hints. (need to wait until blog is uploaded for hyperlink)

Cover the flooring of your bird’s aviary with grit or newspaper, changing it once a week when you clean the whole aviary. Place the aviary or cage in a well ventilated area, away from direct sunlight and drafts. 

Most aviaries come with perches that are too smooth for your bird. A perch should be fairly rough to help nails from over-growing and lesions forming on the skin. A branch from a tree is a great, free eco friendly option, or perch covers and mineral perches are available for purchase. 


Handling

Birds can get stressed very easily, so it is important that you and your family allow the bird to become accustomed to its new surroundings for a few days, before trying to hold it. Instead of trying to grab your bird, place your hand in the open doorway, palm side up. You can sprinkle a small amount of food in your palm to entice your bird to start off with, but eventually your bird will step onto your finger without any treats or incentives. 


Toys and Exercise

It is important to provide your bird with toys and puzzles inside and/or on top of their cage. Birds are very intelligent animals, and so need stimulation to keep them from being bored. For tame birds, it is vital to let your bird out of its enclosure regularly to help maintain fitness and keep your bird from becoming overweight. 


Health

Birds that are caged should be wormed every three months, and birds kept inside but uncaged should be wormed at least twice a year. To prevent mites and lice, treat your bird every six weeks with a mites and lice spray. Spray your bird, the cage and any toys according to the instructions on the bottle. Just be sure to remove any water and food before spraying. 

Vet visits are required whenever your bird looks ill. Keep a close eye on your bird for the following symptoms:

  • Not eating
  • Puffed up feathers
  • Sleeping excessively
  • Vomiting
  • Abnormal droppings 
  • Sitting low or on the bottom of the aviary
  • Discharge from the nostrils, eyes or beak

Common illnesses or diseases associated with birds include:

  • Malignant tumours, Lymphomas and Fatty tumours (may be caused by seed only diets, and can be benign or cancerous)
  • Scaly Face (little organisms that live on your bird and weaken its health; common in Budgies)
  • Goiter (lack of iodine in the diet causing the thyroid gland to enlarge)
  • Megabacteria (large organism causing the bird to lose its strength, energy and appetite very quickly.
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