How to Keep Parrots? A Full Analysis of Suitable Food and Keeping Hazards

The parrot is a kind of bird. More than three hundred species have been discovered so far. They generally like to live in tropical rainforest areas, and today they can be seen in many parts of the world. Parrots are now a fairly popular kind of domestic pet, but during the keeping process, many people are not very clear about the specific methods for raising them.

How to Keep Parrots

1. Overfeeding out of worry that the young bird is hungry. In nature, the parent birds must take turns going out to forage to feed the chicks, so the chicks cannot be fed until the crop is completely full. Therefore, feeding of chicks should adopt a small-amount, many-meals pattern, and before feeding, you should first confirm that the food from the previous feeding has been completely digested, to avoid old food accumulating and fermenting and causing crop inflammation.

2. Generally speaking, parrots all like to enjoy sunflower seeds, yet most bird keepers use them as their only food, not realizing that this behavior reduces the parrot's pleasure and ability in foraging for food, and that feeding only sunflower seeds easily leads to nutritional imbalance. In addition, sunflower seeds are rich in lipids, which easily lead to obesity-related diseases.

3. Feed that is improperly stored causes the food to spoil or even produce toxins, and bird keepers continue feeding without noticing, so of course the beloved bird will have problems. Therefore, it is recommended to choose feed according to the quantity you keep. Large packages are of course cheaper, but the shelf life of feed is not long, and considering only this point may mean losing more than you save. Besides storing feed in a dry or even refrigerated environment, inviting a few fellow hobbyists to share it is a good method; not only is the cost lower, the risk is also lower, and you can also try many kinds of products.

What Are the Hazards of Keeping Parrots

1. Noise: parrots do not distinguish times when calling, and their calls can sometimes become noise pollution, worsening the condition of patients with mental sensitivity, neurasthenia, or heart disease.

2. Respiratory infection: the fine feathers of parrots drifting in the air may worsen the condition of patients with asthma or cough. In addition, if the owner has allergies, it can cause serious consequences.

3. Skin disease: there are many microorganisms on parrot feathers that may cause itching of human skin. And large numbers of mites parasitic on the bird's body may cause infection.

4. Psittacosis: inhaling the Chlamydia psittaci in the vaporized urine, respiratory secretions, or droppings of an infected parrot may cause infection with psittacosis.

What Food Do Parrots Eat

Most parrots mainly eat plant fruits, seeds, nuts, berries, tender shoots and twigs from trees or on the ground, and also eat a small amount of insects, while lories mainly eat pollen, nectar, and soft, juicy fruits. In the process of taking food, they often complete it with a powerful hooked beak working together with flexible zygodactyl feet. When eating, they often use one foot as a “hand” to hold the food and stuff the food into the mouth.

Disease Prevention and Treatment in Parrots

1. Respiratory disease: the common problem in the respiratory organs is the common cold, with symptoms of a runny nose. After a bird catches a cold, immediately move it indoors for keeping and give it warmth, and it will soon heal on its own. If the condition cannot heal on its own, dissolve borax in warm water to make a 2-4% boric acid solution, use it to rinse around the nostrils, and feed canary grass seed feed to enhance resistance. You can also drip a few drops of wine into the drinking water or feed vitamin preparations to help it recover its health.

2. Digestive tract disease: caused by eating unclean concentrated feed or unhygienic drinking water, it leads to diarrhea. Sick birds generally pass white, slurry-like loose droppings, and the feathers on the lower abdomen become soiled. After a bird contracts this disease, feed only barnyard grass as the staple feed, move it to a warm place for keeping, and isolate one bird per cage to prevent contagion. Drip a few drops of red wine into the drinking water. In severe cases, medication can be used: add furazolidone 0.01% to the drinking water (each tablet crushed and added to 1000 ml of water). Drinking it continuously for 3 days brings recovery.

3. Parasitic disease: budgerigars have many feather lice on their bodies, and attention must be paid to eliminating them. Methods for removing lice include applying veterinary insecticide powder or smearing with a miracle medicine pen. In addition, budgerigars also suffer from the harm of blood-sucking insects. Nest boxes are often the main base where blood-sucking insects are produced. Each time incubation is finished, immediately scald the nest box once with boiling water, then apply inside the box an aqueous solution of the insecticide BGP that is harmless to birds, and keep it clean and dry to prevent parasites.

When keeping parrots, you must pay attention to controlling the amount of food, and remember not to let them eat too much, so as to avoid causing physical discomfort. When keeping parrots, you also need to pay attention to disease prevention and treatment work. In fact, there are many benefits to keeping parrots; it is just that they are rather noisy and may affect others, so this point needs extra attention.