Find out more about Responsible Pet Owner’s Month

Did you know February is Responsible Pet Owner’s Month? As a Parrot owner there are lots of ways you can be responsible towards your feathered friend. Let’s take a look…

Diet

Giving your Parrot the right diet is very important. Here at Northern Parrots we recommend your Parrot’s diet is ideally be made up of…

60% pellets / complete foods
30% vegetables, fruits, sprouting seeds and nuts
10% treats (including peanuts and sunflower seeds)

Providing your feathered friend with the right diet helps them maintain good overall wellbeing, maintain shiny feathers and stay happy and healthy.

Seed

Sunflower seeds and peanuts are high in fat and low in calcium, vitamins, minerals and proteins.

The Northern Parrots No Sunflower, No Peanut Mix has been developed to be the best seed mix it can be for your Parrot.

If you are concerned about your Parrot’s weight check on it regularly with Parrot scales. Accurate to within one gram, they’re the perfect way to monitor your bird. Weight increases or decreases could be a sign of illness.

Foot Health

Keeping nails trim and healthy is the responsible thing to do, as it is comfier for your Parrot.

A Parrot’s nails would be worn down naturally in the wild by climbing on trees and branches. But when kept as companion animals, this option is reduced, then sanded nail trimming perches could help.

Sanded nail trimming perches keep nails at a shorter length, so less trips to the vet for nail clipping, which may be stressful for your Parrot.

Every perch, no matter what it’s made from, should offer variations in diameter and thickness.

Manzanita perches have variation in length and diameter to exercise feet and keep them in good condition.

Corner perches offer a different surface and texture for your Parrot to walk on too.

Supplements

Check your Parrot regularly for signs of mites and other parasites. The longer they go untreated, the worse they’ll get. We have a range of wormers and spot-ons for Parrots of all sizes.

All Parrots need calcium in their diet but African Greys have a particular requirement for this mineral. Speak with a vet about which additional supplementation is right for your feathered friend, based on their diet and species.

Cleaning Products

It’s vital to keep your Parrot’s environment clean and hygienic. There are a range of disinfectants and wipes that remove viruses, fungi and other nasties from your Parrot’s cage.

Light and Dark

Parrots need 12 hours of sleep a night. In the wild they would retreat to tree cavities for protection. Draping a cage cover over your bird’s cage gives them the levels of darkness they need for a peaceful night’s sleep.

Conversely, they need UV light during the day to synthesise Vitamin D3 which they can then convert in to calcium. Parrots can see UV, unlike humans. Without it they are effectively colour-blind. There are UV lights you can use for up to 12 hours a day to give your bird the level of UV they need to see their world in full colour as nature intended.

Mental Wellbeing

As well as their physical health, the mental health of your beaky buddy needs to be catered for too. Parrots have the intelligence level of a young school aged child.

Foraging toys help to replicate their natural foraging behaviour. They can spend hours searching for food inside toys, like they would spend long portions of their day searching for their next meal in the wild.

Toys such as cardboard and paper toys occupy your Parrot for hours as they shred them. Plus, there’s acrylic and metal toys, which your bird can enjoy working out how to twist and turn.

Or spend time teaching a Parrot a new skill like identifying colours.

Having toys to occupy their clever mind reduces destructive behaviours.

Vet Checks

If your Parrot is unfortunate enough to go missing, make sure they are microchipped. That way, you can quickly be reunited with your feathered friend if they are found and taken to a vet. Read more about microchipping here.

Even if your Parrot isn’t unwell, when possible, take your Parrot to the vet for a bi-annual health check-up. Find the nearest avian vet to you here.

We hope all this helps you become a responsible pet owner. What other tips do you have? Share in the comments below or post on our social media pages here.