Tips and Guidelines for bird pet owners
Birds generally will do a good job of taking care of themselves if provided with some basic needs. However if one is to truly keep his pet in top shape he needs to follow some routine procedures and live to his responsibilities.
First of all one should provide his bird with proper food. There are basically two types of bird categories: seed eaters or hard-bills, like finches and canaries, and hookbills like parakeets and cockatiels. Seed eaters eat seeds of different grasses and plants when in their native environments. Providing these birds with commercial seed mixes and leafy greens such as chicory or dandelions, and slice of apple or orange will nourish them very well. On the other hand, hookbills consume leaves, fruit and berries so preferably they should be supplied with large seeds like safflower and sunflower together with an assortment of fruit and vegetables. They can consume these items very efficiently thanks to their strong, bigger beaks.
Bird cages should have a minimum of one food bowl, one water bowl for drinking and another for bating. These should be cleaned daily as when they eat, birds leave seeds and seed hulls in the feed dish and drinking bowl. Water and food must be replenished daily as what could appear as a full cup of seed might be all hulls. One should make sure bowls are made of a durable material and they allow thorough cleaning and disinfections. Bird cages should also have perches of an appropriate size and placed as such as to encourage the bird to move from one to the other by flying or hopping. In case of larger birds, like parrots, one should avoid placing more than two perches in their parrot cages as they could limit the space available for movement. Food and drinking bowls should not be placed beneath perches, as bird droppings would foul their contents.
Although finches and canaries usually do not use bird toys, parrots enjoy objects that they can manipulate or climb on, or chew up or hide in. Therefore bird toys are critical for parakeets, lovebirds, and cockatiels and should be placed in all parrot cages. There is a wide variety of wooden and plastic bird toys available. Some birds also enjoy their reflection from small mirrors.
Birds tend to keep themselves quite clean, but may need a bit of help. All birds enjoy and require a bath. Most birds self-bathe pretty vigorously in a shallow water bowl within their Bird cages. The bathing bowl should be kept separate from the bird's drinking water. Another form of hygiene that birds maintain is preening. Self-preening is form of caring and grooming its feathers. Preening will ensure that their feathers are neat and nice. It is very important to trim a bird's nails periodically when they start to curl or curve around, as they could have problems sitting on their perch. If properly taken care of, birds live for quite a long time and all members of the family can enjoy their presence.
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