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African parrots

African parrots. Part 2.

Care and Maintenance

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Sassicat Aviary
Home made, quilted pet carrier covers
Hand raised and tame baby Parrots


 

Care and Maintenance


We make sure they have plenty 24 hours a day.  Our Blue & Gold gets the Food Sticks which is a large size so the birds can hold it in their claw.  All of our other birds get the Parrot size.  They are all on water bottles so they don't make "soup".

In the evenings they come downstairs to eat dinner and watch TV with us.   We will share almost anything that we have on our plates.  We do not ever let them have - Chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, or avocados.  Yes we do also share our junk food but in very small quantities.  No its not good for them but it's not good for us either.  They particularly like corn, chicken, beef, venison, and sweet potatoes.

Every day we give them fresh foods in their cages also.  I make up a big batch about every two weeks and freeze it in zip-lock containers for easy preparation each morning.  I make something different every time.  Some items I use are:

  • beans - fifteen bean soup bag - just boil for 1.5 hrs.  do not use the seasoning
  • veggies - corn, green beans, peas, carrots, broccoli
  • sweet potatoes
  • pasta
  • rice
  • oats (uncooked oatmeal)
  • bran
  • frozen fruit - raspberries, strawberries, mixed melon
  • squash - shredded
  • greens - collard, mustard, kale.

Favorite fruits are:

  • Apple, Pear, Peach, Nectarine, Grapes, (NO SEEDS)
  • Orange, Tangerine (once in a while - not too much)
  • Pineapple, Mango, Kiwi,  Bannanna
  • Strawberry, Raspberry, Blueberry, Blackberry (only at dinner with us so no stains in bird room).

Then daily we give them a variety of treats.  Mondays - Nuts, Tuesdays - Seed, Wednesdays - Millet, Thursdays - Parrot Cookies, Friday - birdie bread.

Sprinkled on their soft foods three days a week I give them Prime Vitamin.  No matter what variety of foods we try to give them it is not possible to give them every nutrient they need so my vet recommended Prime.  We do not put it in the water because as soon as you add something to water bacteria starts growing and it doubles every hour.  Prime is safe for a time on soft foods.  It has a bit of a fruit smell so it does not scare off the birds.  We also feed the birds fresh fruits daily.  Each day veries according to what is in season or what we have bought recently.

Once a week we also sprinkle some Bene-Bac on their food to provide some of the natural bacteria that is necessary for good health.

Every Saturday we take the birds in the shower with us so they keep clean and healthy.  This is especially important for the cockatoo, and red-bellies since they are powder based birds.  It helps keep the dust level down in the house.   Of course now while they are breeding, no showers, I just give them a dish in their cage.  The two larger birds love the shower, all of the smaller ones don't but they tolerate it just fine.  I do not use any thing on them except plain old water.  Anything else could be very harmful to them. 

The most important ingredient is Love.  We give all of our birds lots of love and attention.  They all know how to ask (Cubbie actually says "Step Up?" and even has the right inflection in his voice so it sounds like a question not a command) or come to us from their playgyms when they want petting.   Even our breeders get a head or beak scratch when ever we go check on them and we talk to them for several minutes.  In between breeding they come downstairs with the rest of the flock for normal interaction and petting. 

In the bird room we have Natural Lights and a radio on timers.  The natural light really has helped their health and well being, and we believe they enjoy the music while we are not there to entertain them.

Our goal is to ensure that our babies are adopted into a safe and healthy environment; therefore, we reserve the right to not sell a bird to anyone for any reason.

 

Progression of Babies Growth

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1 Day Old 3 Days Old 9 Days Old
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21 Days Old 31 Days Old 40 Days Old