Keeping a bird as a pet can be interesting and rewarding, especially if your bird is from the parrot family that can live for many years. These birds can be easily tamed and trained to perform tricks or to talk and sing with amazing clarity. A tamed pet parrot can be your life-long companion and keep you company. Many pet parrot owners find joy training their birds to talk, and unlike your dog or cat, it can be very satisfying when your bird wishes you 'good morning'.
But before you try to train your bird to talk, it is necessary to win its confidence first. This would be having your bird to get used to your presence and the presence of the all the people living with you in the house. It would be easier to tame a bird if it is two to six months old. Anything older than that would require a lot of patience on your part. Full-grown parrots can bite hard and injure you if you are not careful. Try not to make sudden moves that surprises your bird or it will defend itself through natural instincts.
Pet your bird by gently scratching its head for it to get used to you. Offer food from the other hand, such as nuts, celery, corn, raisin, and grapes. You should also offer your bird milk or fruit juice from a small cup. Don't give your bird leftovers from your lunch or dinner, or junk food like burger meat, hotdog or high calorie cakes.
Use hunger as leverage when taming your bird. This method is widely used in bird parks around the world. When your bird has not been fed for a couple of hours, place the food on a dish near you and led the bird come to you for feeding. The bird would feel nervous at first, but once it gets used to this, it would be natural for the bird to come to you with confidence
If your bird is quite wild when you first purchased it, you could place the cage next to you when you go about doing your personal things such as reading, watching tv or writing. It would just be a matter of time before your bird get used to having your presence around. If your bird is big, you might want to rough around with it such as scratching its head and back. Protect yourself with gloves or a towel at first until it eventually recognizes you as its master. Soon your bird will expect this kind of attention from people it is familiar with.
You would need to do a complete examination of your bird at least once a month and look out for abnormalities such as ingrown feather or toenails or a beak that needs trimming. Look out also for possible liver trouble in the form of swollen or dark abdomen. Wash the legs with warm water to get rid of encrusted droppings and apply vaseline to soften the scales and kill scale lice.
With patience, you will have a great companion that keeps you company for years to come.
How To Pet A Bird
Sometimes, however you can get your bird to the veterinarian right away so here are some steps you can take to help care for your sick bird.
first off, you want make sure that you sick bird stays warm. Keep his cage out of many drafts and you might want to try using a grow light ( the same kind you use to grow plants) aimed at the cage but placed in such a way so that your bird can get out of the direct light if he gets too hot.
If you find that your bird is just sitting on the bottom of the cage and is to sick to even sit on his perch, then you might want to move into a hospital cage for better safety. A glass aquarium can make a great hospital cage. Put a towel or some newspaper on the bottom of the cage and put shallow bowls of food and water where your bird can get to it. Newspaper can be kind of slippery so you want to put something that has a little more grit like paper towels on the bottom so that your bird isn't sliding around.
If you can get a freestanding low perch in the aquarium this is perfect in case you bird wants to perch. Position the light so that It shines and to only one side so that the bird can get out of it if he gets too hot.
if you don't have an anti-aquarium readily available than you can make a few changes to your bird's regular cage. Cover most of it with a towel to keep in the heat input the birds food and water dishes on the bottom of the cage where he can get to them. Also, if you have a freestanding parts put this on the bottom two.
You've got to make sure that your bird keeps up his strength as he can easily become weakened by lack of food and water. electrolytes can give your sick bird some quick energy and if he is a hand fed bird then you might see if he'll try taking a few drops of a sports drink from a spoon or eyedropper. If you have a hand feeding formula ready mix that up with some of the sport strength instead of water and see If you'll take that. if you bird is eating on his own make sure that he's getting enough and maybe offer him a tree like a spray millet so that he can get some quick energy. Make sure he also gets enough water.
If you bird is bleeding you need to provide emergency care before you can get them to the vet. Look him over to see where the blood is coming from. While most others do not bleed new feathers that are still growing can bleed. These occult blood feathers and if you do find that the blood is coming from one you'll need to pull the feather out completely. It's a good idea to cover your birds head with a towel while you are doing this. If it's not a feather that's bleeding check his nails and toes and if it's coming from they are applied to styptic powder to the cut. If you don't have styptic powder handy you can use flour In a pinch.
The key to successfully treating your sick bird is getting him to the vet at the first sign of illness. Be sure that you're always watching your bird in checking him for signs of illness. If you notice that your bird Is acting a little different or even look sick it's best to call your bet and get them in right away. It may be that nothing is really wrong with your bird but it's better to be safe than sorry.
Both Azmi Adnan & Lee Dobbins are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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