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There Are A Few Things I've Learned Over The Years That I Would Like to Share With Pet Owners And Breeders.
Rats are even more troublesome as they will do the same pee-poo thing and more, much more! I have lost countless birds over the years to wild animals but just recently I've discovered that Rats are the most dangerous preditors. I have had birds litterally eaten through the wires of their cages over the years and have always chalked it up to raccoons or opposums. When rats get to a certain point in numbers they become very deadly! What they will do is completely cover a cage from all sides exposed and eat at the feet of frantic birds. Once the bird has lost enough blood or has managed to loose an entire leg it will slowly bleed to death or weaken to the point where the rats can completely consume the entire bird through the wires. The worst part is once they get one
Do Not use water bottles to give water to your birds. I have personally lost birds and have heard many stories of others loosing birds to water bottles that get clogged with food. Both the roller ball despensor and the pin dispensor can and eventually will get clogged with seed, pellets, fruit, ect.. as parrots love to stuff them for some reason. Wether its play or trying to "dunk" their food it doesn't matter once your bird is dead... very sad.
Do Not leave leg bands on pet birds unless you absolutely have to. Unfortunately breeders are forced to keep them on for record keeping purposes. I have personally lost birds to leg band accidents when the band gets caught on a loose wire, a branch, a toy, a latch, ect..leaving them "hanging" ... very sad. Another option for Identification available to pet owners is to microchip them.
Do Not feed seed only diets. Even the seed mixes with dried fruit additives peppers ect...parrots need fresh vegetable and fruit matter in there diets. There are some soak and cook type diets available that can help you feed your bird in a quick and healthy manner. Many times some formulated "pellets" can be added to the soak mix to include needed vitamins and minerals. Pelleted diets alone are not complete either. Carrot bits and brocolli can be added to any diet to give necessary vitamin A. Try chopping them up into tiny bits as parrots are more apt to eating them this way. You can also skewer them on hanging rods or clip them to the side of the cage to make them more enticing. Yes birds can survive and even breed on unhealthy diets but this will bring many undesireable con sequiences in the long run, one of which is smaller babies with weaker immune systems. Many breeders are noticing that captive babies are getting smaller and smaller than those older wild caught birds. Some softbill breeders have the luxury of bringing in "new blood" to strengthin their bloodlines but hookbill breeders don't and won't have this luxury.
Yes Do feed plenty of fruits and vegetables to your birds. As I listed above, there are many ways to
offer these foods to picky eaters, especially those on a seed diet only. Here are a few things to try: The old skewer works sometimes... you know, it looks like a Kabob of fruit hanging from the top of the cage. Another idea is to try different sizes from tiny chopped up bits to large chunks. One of the tricks I use for my cockatiels is to clip it (like broccoli flower) to the cage wire. This is the only way I can get them to eat anything besides seed and pellet crumble. My greencheeks love a whole half apple. They will eat away at it untill its gone. I like to coat the white cut side of the apple with spirulina to raise the nutritional value of that apple way up. My new and favorite way to offer fruit or vegies is to do what I call "Waffle" it against the side of the cage. My birds can't resist tearing into it. See photo below.
THE CHOP WIZARD. It now takes me minutes to do what used to take a half hour or more.
Be careful of Rats: Bird breeders and birdkeepers alike need to be on the constant lookout for rats and mice. The general rule is: if you have seen one or more you have a problem already. For breeders it is impossible to keep them out completely unless your birds are in a fort knox type building. The key is to keep the numbers as low as possible. They seem to be most troublesome during the hottest and coldest months. Mice are terribly annoying and seem to get through the tiniest holes. I have some cages that are 1/2" by 1/2" squares and mice can still get in! The only wire that is mouse proof is mesh wire like your screen doors. The biggest problem with mice is they get in the food bowls, eat the food, and then proceed to pee and poo in the same bowls. Yuck!
bird they start to get more and more birds every night if something is not done immediately. The smaller the cage the easier they fall. Birds that sleep in their nestboxes at night are much more safe. Now I double wire all of my aviaries to protect my birds and lay out the traps and poison at the first sighting of a rat.
