Have you ever thought of how a lack of physical and mental stimulation can affect your bird’s overall well being?
Not really?
Loneliness and depression may be one thing, but you’ll be surprised to discover that your bird is engaging in destructive behaviors, health problems, and misconduct.
Here are a few tips and alternatives in keeping them happy and healthy, no matter what situation.
Prioritize Their Diet
A healthy parrot is surely a happy one, too.
Like us humans, birds need to sustain a balanced and varied diet too, in order to fulfill their body needs.
You should never keep your bird on a diet of seeds or pellets only as they do not provide enough nutritional value. What you can do is to make the seeds and pellet mix that they’d surely enjoy. Fresh foods like fruits and vegetables will ensure that they receive a sufficient amount of vitamins and nutrients they need.
With this, you’ll also be exposing your pet to try different and new foods that will produce excitement and they may even look forward to their next mealtime.
What To Feed Them
Make them a seed and pellet mix with fun and fresh ingredients such as grapes, bananas, berries, greens, carrots, green beans, and other vegetables.
Some parrots, especially Macaws, love it when they encounter shells of nuts, they’d enjoy opening and eating it. You can provide your parrot with a few nuts a day such as pistachios and macadamias.
Feeding Safety
Before offering your pet any fruit or vegetables, make sure to prepare them as if you’d be giving it to humans. They should be properly rinsed to rid them off of pesticides and some other harmful chemicals such as toxic fertilizers.
If you own a small bird, remember that their sugar intake should not be too much for them. This means that you should watch and lessen their fruit intake since some fruits, especially grapes, contain a huge amount of glucose.
You should also be aware of any food that may harm, agitate, or even just make your parrot sick. Any food that contains caffeine, chocolate, alcohol, grease, or excessive amounts of salt and sugar is a big no-no. Always remember that in any circumstance, you should never offer any bird avocados, these won’t only make them sick but can also cause death.
Make Them Feel Safe
Being safe is very different from feeling safe. It’s crucial to know how to avoid anything that can hurt, scare, and discourage your bird.
If you place your parrot in a small cage or one that is just right for them, your bird will eventually feel cramped, uncomfortable, and bored. Parrots should also never be put in a round cage as they feel unsafe knowing it has no corners.
Try checking out these few tips on setting up the perfect cage for your lovely pet.
Birds usually experience 12 hours of pitch darkness in the wild which is why they find it difficult to sleep when any light is present in their surroundings. And that is the reason why bird cage covers exist, to rid of any unwanted light in your bird’s rest time. You can try one of these products to assure that they get the right amount of sleep they need.
Give Them Enough Bonding Time
Emotional support is one of the most crucial things needed to be happy.
Parrots are social creatures, they’ll be needing all the attention they could get, so if you don’t keep them with a mate, then it is your responsibility to keep them socially active. Birds require to be individually tamed on a daily basis, and non-domesticated animals who are being kept as pets need them three times more.
Take just a few hours a day to play games, stroke, bond, and chat with your pet, this is not only mentally stimulating for them, but for you too.
Exercises
Wild birds usually exercise by flying, hunting for food, and running away from predators.
But now that your bird doesn’t have those opportunities anymore, it’s best that you provide them with the right amount of exercise they require to avoid any health issues. Birds stay mentally stimulated when they exercise, this causes them to be both happy and content, even in captivity.
Provide Them Physically Challenging Toys
You can’t deny that you won’t really be home 24/7, or that you may be home but too busy either. The best way to keep your bird stimulated and away from boredom while you’re away is to fill them with things to enjoy.
Parrots have an eye for vibrantly colored things, not to mention unusual textures and shiny/reflective objects.
Let’s face it…
Toys are not only expensive, but you’ll also be needing to purchase a lot of them since your bird will get sick of them eventually.
On the bright side, supplying your parrot with new toys every once in a while will keep them happy, excited, energized, and fit.
Your parrot’s cage should consist of a bunch of toys, food bowls, a birdbath, perches, and a huge rest area/s. Since it can be pretty expensive to offer your pet new toys every time he gets sick of the old ones. You can try buying them a number of toys and periodically switch them out of the cage.
Play With Them
Birds are surprisingly smart, they’ll even learn better when their owners teach them instead of professionals.
Spending time with your pet can also double as their exercise time. Teaching them tricks and playing games with them will keep them physically fit and mentally stimulated at the same time.
Games To Play
Before all the fun, you need to know what your pet likes, you really can’t assume that they’ll enjoy any game you’ll play with them.
You can identify your bird’s preference even with the smallest details such as what their favorite toy looks like and does. Nearly all birds like chasing things, so you can also try tying their favorite toy to a string and make them chase it around.
Things To Keep In Mind
Playtime is fun time, not a work-out or a hustle time. You should never force or overwork your birds and neither should you expect too much of them.
A better idea to guarantee their fitness is to get them used to a short and fun training session, then after a while, you can begin to introduce more advanced and challenging tasks to them.
Let Them Out Of Their Cages
Since your bird doesn’t have the same amount of freedom it had before domestication, you’ll be needing to adjust for them and give them their out-of-cage time. No matter how big and entertaining your parrot’s cage is, letting them out of it is a better experience that will give off good effects on their well-being.
Remember that as you let your birds out of the cage, they eventually start stretching their wings, walking, and roaming around which requires you to watch over them to assure their safety. And since you’ll be needing to do it for a few hours every day, bird proofing your home may be a great idea so that you can go on with your daily tasks.
Let Them Dance
Dancing is as physically stimulating to birds as it is to humans. With the help of energetic music, your bird will surely be a natural.
Try putting on the radio as you stroke and spend time with your bird to observe what type of music they respond to more actively. Then, you can begin to make a short playlist for them and enjoy watching them dance and look silly while also achieving their much-needed exercise.