Parrot Care Sheet

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Parrot Care Sheet

Parrots make colourful, interesting and very enjoyable pets and are relatively easy to feed and maintain. You must, however, remember that the larger parrots live a long time and keeping them is therefore a long-term commitment. If you already have parrots it is always advisable to quarantine any new purchase for 14 to 35 days before allowing it into the proximity of your existing birds in case it is carrying any disease. If your new bird shows any sign of illness such as fluffed-up feathers, resting with head in the wing or on both legs instead of one, thin breast bone, loose droppings, heavy breathing or any discharge from the nostrils, keep the bird warm 80º to 90º F or 27º to 32º C in a quiet location, ensure that the food is in easy reach from the perch and contact a veterinarian with avian expertise immediately. The following are the two avian vets in Perth.

Dr Ray Butler BVSc MACVSc
Avian & Pet Practitioner Risley Veterinary Clinic
789 Canning Highway
Applecross WA 6153
Phone [phone]



Dr Tim Oldfield BVSc MACVSc
(Avian Health)
Wattle Grove Vet Clinic
791 Welshpool Road
Wattle Grove WA 6107
Phone [phone]

Veterinarians with this expertise are not common and it would be sensible to locate one even before you buy a bird, as it is often in the very early days of ownership that you may require their services.

Feeding

Parrots relish a varied diet. If you were offered the same few foods every day you would quickly become bored and soon after start to suffer dietary problems. Make an effort to give your bird a wide variety of foods. At all times your parrot must have access to seed (Budgie seed for budgies, small parrot seed from birds the size of cockatiels or bigger and a mixture of parrot and small parrot seed for large cockatoos). If keeping Lorikeets seed should NOT be offered, instead nectar mixture must be provided, such as a dry or wet lorikeet mix. Fruit and veg. should be offered at least every few days in non breeding season and daily in breeding season. The most commonly used fruits for parrots include oranges, apples, grapes, pears, cherries, and bananas. If possible also include occasionally exotic fruits such as papaya, mango and kiwi. Avocado is deadly to birds so on no account include this in your birds diet. Vegetables that should be offered include carrots, celery, spinach, beetroot, peas, beans, chilli, capsicum, boc choy, cauliflower and corn on the cob.

Sprouted seeds and boiled eggs are also popular. Larger parrots should be given nuts in their diet throughout the year. It is important to ensure that all fruit and vegetables are washed thoroughly before use and all dishes used for feeding are always clean. Avoid placing any dishes directly under perches as they will quickly become soiled.
Proprietary foods in pellet form are available, but we do not often feed them to our birds.


Water and Supplements

Fresh water should be provided daily. Multi-vitamin drops can be added to the water, grit and calcium in the form of cuttlefish should also be available. Your bird should be wormed about twice a year, which can be done by adding a wormer to their water. All medicines and supplements should be available from pet shops and vets.

Accommodation

For parrots kept in the home a large parrot cage is acceptable as long as the bird is allowed some liberty each day. Do not leave them unsupervised as they could chew electric cable or otherwise damage furniture and fittings. Some birds however should be kept in large outdoor aviaries or extensive indoor flight cages. All cages and aviaries should be fitted with natural perches (fruit tree or Gum are ideal) as these provide different diameters for the feet to move to, thus flexing the bones in the foot. It is important to change perches regularly. The floor of the cage should be covered with peat, shavings, sand or newspaper and changed regularly.

Aviaries in the garden should have a weather-proof draft-free indoor section to protect birds from extremes of weather. In the heat of summer it is strongly recommended to cool your birds by wetting them with hose or sprinklers at least once daily. Try to provide your parrot with an interesting, stimulating environment as they are very intelligent and inquisitive creatures. They should have plenty of climbing opportunity, which could include cotton rope as well as wooden climbing frames. Suitable toys can be bought from your local pet store. Parrots kept in outside aviaries should also have plenty of perches and also cotton climbing ropes as long as these do not prevent them flying. Parrots that are too bored can suffer serious physiological and physical problems. Green native branches (such as gum) with leafs and nuts should be provided as destroyable toys.

Breeding

The breeding season for the majority of our birds is from July to October, and at the beginning of July each year we introduce nest boxes into the aviaries. We use a mixture of sawdust, garden mulch and scatter dust as bedding in the boxes, which we slightly dampen to provide humidity in the box and to limit dust spread. We use wooden nest boxes and hang them all at the same height so they are easy to interchange if necessary.

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