So you have finally finished all your research, found the right breeder or rescue group and found the “perfect” bird for your home. Congratulations. This is a short guide to helping you have a happy bird in your home. These are just the suggestions of a person that has owned pet parrots and birds for many years. There are many different ideas and techniques that you can use to helping your bird fit into your home environment.
Placement of the cage: The first thing to do before bringing your bird home is to decide where you want to place their cage. Look at the overall flow patterns in your home. You might not want to place your bird in the TV room where you might be up past their bed time and disturb their sleep needs; these are usually 10-14 hours a day depending on the bird. If your bird doesn’t get enough sleep they can be quite cranky, which they might show as aggression. In the same regard don’t place your bird back in a room where they get no interaction from your family at all. Try to find a location where the bird gets a decent amount of traffic and can interact, but has enough privacy to feel secure in the home. You can always have your bird out with you interacting and then be able to give them solitude in their quiet cage that is just barely off the beaten path.
Interactions: Next try not to over socialize your new bird when you first bring them home. Try to imagine what your normal week is like and give them the amount of time that you will spend with them after they have been in your home for a month. If you know that they can spend 4-5 hours out of their cage interacting with you and the families then by all means start out with that. But if you think you on average will only be able to spend 1 or 2 hours and maybe not every day, and you start out with 4-5 hours, you will certainly create a frustrated bird. I know that you bird is new and exciting, but try to think of them. Hopefully you have done enough research on your bird to know how much patterns and consistency matter to them. If you have a species like an Amazon or an African Grey then patterns and consistency matter a great deal. If they get off the schedule they are used to it can cause them undo stress. Try to avoid this if possible.
Teaching step up: This command will be your best defense against aggressive behaviors and is a tool to instill gentle dominance (please check out the other post on how to train step up).
Getting your bird out of their cage: Always use the step up command to initially get your bird out of their cage. This will help assert gentle dominance and help your bird to see you as the leader of the flock. Being the leader is important in maintaining a healthy, loving relationship with your bird. Once your bird is out of the cage please help them to know that dominance displays will not be allowed. Displays like heavy wing flapping while sitting on your shoulder, climbing onto the top of your head, perching higher than you (for instance if you are lying down on the sofa and your bird climbs to the back of the sofa) A stern matter of fact “No, No” and placing them off your shoulder, head or higher point to a place lower than your shoulder will help them understand that you are in fact the leader. Leaders take higher position, tell the flock when it is time to move, migrate, leaders lead to food. Remember this. Also remember that YELLING at your bird will only cause them to be louder than you. Birds love to be heard and love attention. Also DO NOT ever leave your bird unattended, this is when they are most likely to get hurt. If you can’t give your bird the attention it needs to stay safe then put them in their cage until you can.
Preventing/Stopping a Screamer: The most important thing to realize is that the bigger the bird you have the louder the voice. The other important thing to realize is the difference between your bird chattering away and your bird screaming for attention. In my experience, my birds chatter in the morning and evening hours, they chatter when music plays or when they find something exciting in the home. Like the dogs chasing ball or playing a game of roughhouse. My birds scream when they want something, for instance if I ignore them while watch TV, talking on the telephone or while typing on the computer. There is a distinct difference between the two. If your bird is screaming in their cage, this is attention seeking behavior. Your best defense against this type of behavior is to ignore it. You can ignore them by leaving the room they are in, covering their cage or if they are in a room where you can’t leave then just don’t make eye contact or look their way. Once they are quite talk to your bird. You don’t have to be right there with them all the time to interact. Tell them hello, ask them what they are doing, do they like that new toy your just gave them, did they miss you. ONLY TALK TO THEM ONCE THEY ARE QUIET. NEVER GET YOUR BIRD OUT OF THEIR CAGE WHILE THEY ARE SCREAMING. This will just encourage this behavior to stay! To reiterate what I said above, Yelling at your bird will only cause them to get louder. Trust me on this one, they LOVE to have screaming matches and in the long run they will win.
Proper attention and petting: It has been stated many times that the way we “pet” our companion birds can send mixed signals to them. Remember a pet bird is not the same as a pet dog. Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years and have been bred for temperament and skill set. The bird trade doesn’t do the same. We breed these birds because we adore them and we would rather see breeders sell babies then for wild birds to be taken from their flocks. So remember that your bird is not that far removed from the wild habits and behaviors. Petting or stroking your bird can simulate mating behaviors that would come from another bird. So be aware of this. There is another link on this forum that goes into great detail about these petting behaviors. Also, preening around your birds neck and face is something that mates do for each other. The important thing to remember is to try to be aware of these petting techniques that are appropriate and to discourage as much as possible mating behaviors toward you. Don’t allow your bird to regurgitate for you, or eat things from your mouth (your saliva is toxic anyway).
Bathing your bird: Bathing your bird regularly is important to maintain good feather health. Your bird might bathe several times a week if it were in the wild. So find out what your bird likes, offer them luke warm water, warm water, cold water. Offer the water in a shallow dish, a deep dish, on a perch in the shower with you, or on a perch getting misted. Some birds prefer running water as opposed to shallow water dishes. Make sure that the water is never deep enough that they could drowned, if offering them running water, make sure that any stoppers or catches in the drains of your tub or sink are bird safe. Birds have gotten their feet caught and hurt themselves. I personally mist my birds a few times a week and leave them with a water dish to play in as they see fit. If you are going to mist or bathe your bird for them them make sure to do this in the morning so they have time to dry. If bathing them in the winter, then make sure the room they are drying in is warm. Birds can easily catch colds. Most important note: DO NOT USE SOAP OF ANY KIND ON YOUR BIRD, plain filtered water is fine!
Cleaning your bird’s cage/arranging the cage: Your birds environment is important to keep clean. Remember this is where they spend most of their time. Clean your birds cage weekly with a non-toxic cleaner. Vinegar and water works great, there are also some great products you can get from pet shops that are non-toxic to your bird. Don’t use common household products like Clorox or Ajax. Check out the common household toxins on this forum for a detailed list. My routine is this: daily I clean and change out food and water dishes (I use a water bottle for fresh water) I also change the papers that are on the bottom of the cage underneath the grate. Weekly I do a spot clean and clean up the fecal matter. Every two weeks I take everything out of the cage, clean and scrub let completely dry and then rearrange the contents.
Rearranging the cage regularly will help deter territorial aggression and breeding modes in most birds. Changing out or rotating toys is also important. Your bird will have favorites but will also get
with the same ole toys all the time. How would you feel if your environment was the same every day all day and never ever changes! So make sure to give them things they can have fun with and enjoy. Don’t stuff the cage so full of toys that your bird can’t stretch their wings and flap them if they want to. This is important for keeping up muscle strength even if you clip the wings.
Vet checks: It is important to have regular vet checks for your bird, even if you don’t go through all the trouble to have fecal, blood and shots done. Annual health checks are good just to know that you are keeping your bird healthy. Not all vets are created equal. Make sure that your vet is an exotic species vet. Your regular dog and cat vet that didn’t study avian vet practices doesn’t know JACK when it comes to avian physiology and histology. There are a few certified avian vets throughout the USA but not many. So check around. It is important to establish this relationship before something goes wrong. Because when something goes wrong it is always nice to have a history on your bird before starting treatment.
Remember this is only the opinion of a companion bird keeper. I do have a degree in animal behavior and animal nutrition but this is my hobby not my career. So remember, there are many ways to ensure a happy bird.
Enjoy and ask plenty of questions, none of us can ever know it all!
