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Tailai's Guidelines to Pet Bird Training Nutrition Dr Marshall has developed a complete range of nutritional supplements for pet birds that provide the additional protein, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and trace elements for superior health. These supplements have been incorporated into an ongoing health programme that will ensure your bird remains perfectly happy and healthy. Within three weeks of starting the programme your bird will become happier and more active. The feathers and beak will increase in colour and shine intensity, reflecting a bird in perfect health.
Seed & additives versus pelleted foods Pellets are available for lorikeet to stop the squirting of their droppings. This practice is not recommended by Dr Marshall because the pellet damages the lorikeet's delicate tongue structure and the bird is then unable to get nectar out of plants. Lorikeets need to be involved with finding nectar from fruit and flowers to remain happy and healthy and a damaged tongue makes this task impossible. It is also thought that excessively fibrous foods such as pellets may damage the gastrointestinal tract of lorikeets.
Pellets do provide the nutritional requirements for parrots in a very convenient form but Dr Marshall believes their use should be reserved for people whose time is limited and they are unable to prepare their foods properly.
Fruits, Vegetables, and other safe foods Additionally, such a feeding option enables owners to best simulate the natural eating cycle in the wild. Fruits and vegetables can be prepared conveniently to coincide with human morning and evening meal times. For birds, in the wild, these times are also the most active and social times of the day. Birds flock to locations where food is plentiful for a shared meal and interaction.
Following a such pattern in the home, teaches your companion bird that it is an important member of your "flock". For this reason pet birds should be encouraged to join with their humans at family meal times and a T stand is necessary for this purpose.
A further advantage of this feeding option is that when the family is ready to leave for daily activities outside the home eg work/ school the fresh food stuff can be removed. This eliminates the potential for contamination throughout the day. It also reinforces to your bird that feeding time is over and it is time to return to the cage for independent play and foraging activity, until the next social period- the evening meal.
It is instinctive for parrots to crack seed, and for this reason we believe that it is essential that seed be offered as part of the diet. Seed provides beak exercise as well as encourages tongue and claw manipulation- mimicking foraging activity in nature.
We recommend seed to be left in the cage through out the day to provide occupation- making it another very important aspect of providing optimal psychological care.
Tips for introducing new food items: New food items and nutritional supplements can be successfully introduced to your pet bird if served the following ways:
Relished fruits and vegetables include:
It is important to remember to remove moist food after a couple of hours. Safe Nuts:
Safe Blossoms:
Worming: Lice and Mites: Bonding with, and socialising your bird: Take things slowly to start with, and let your bird set the pace for touching. Handling should be minimised during the settling in period (up to two weeks) to limit stress, and within a short time your bird will feel secure with you.
Suggested activities for initial bonding include:
Daily Routine: Your companion bird should be encouraged to interact positively with all family members from the outset. This will ensure the new bird socialises with, and accepts handling from a variety of people through out its life. It will also potentially limit future behavioural issues as the parrot matures. Problems such as over bonding to a particular family member, and territorial aggression are most commonly witnessed in companion birds who are inadequately socialised early on.
Other pets: Short sessions with visitors are best initially. Allow your birds' confidence to grow and watch for body language to suggest if your bird is interested in being touched or held.
Confident birds are more able to adapt to the dynamic nature of their everyday environment. When reaching into your bird's cage it is important to keep your hands low to avoid startling your bird.
Safety In the Home Birds are highly intelligent creatures, they have lots of energy, and in the wild fly great distances in search of food and water. Considerable time is also spent socializing, mutually preening and foraging. Birds are similarly inquisitive and active in the home environment – they like to follow their owners from room to room, and they must be provided with regular handling, side by side interaction and supervised play outside the cage to ensure they remain happy and healthy.
It is important to supervise your bird when it is out of its cage because there are so many hazards in the home which can cause serious injury or even death in pet birds.
Some common household hazards include:
Toxic Substances include:
Safe Plants List:
Unsafe Plants List:
Equipment Required Cage: When returning your bird to its cage you should give it a favoured toy to play with or food treat that it can spend time destroying. This will ensure that your bird associates the cage with pleasure too.
Stainless Steel and Powder Coated cages are recommended as they are the most durable.
An ideal cage will have a large door for ease of access, horizontal bars to encourage climbing, swivel feeders and may also include a versatile play centre.
The cage should provide ample room for your bird to move around and hang upside down with out damaging its wings and tail feathers.
Safety features such as the door locking mechanism, bar width and spacing and the distance between the grate and the tray are other important considerations when selecting a cage.
N.B it is essential to treat galvanised cages with a vinegar and water solution to avoid metal poisoning. An aviary/portable cage for outside is recommended to ensure your bird receives sufficient sunlight and fresh air. Placement of The Cage Stress at this early stage must be kept to a minimum and for this reason the cage is best placed in a quiet location initially, but where the bird can still be in regular contact with its humans.
The cage should be placed up off the floor. Birds instinctively feel safer at height. It is also a good idea to cover the top, sides and back of the cage, only exposing the front during the settling in period. This will provide the new bird with the security of a place to retreat if frightened.
After the settling in period, many birds thrive in a high traffic area of the house.
At least 10 hours of sleep is essential to maintaining health and vitality in juvenile birds. It is recommended to place a dark cover over the cage at bedtime or perhaps move your bird to a quieter area at night.
Setting up the Cage Perches: Your pet bird will choose to roost on the uppermost perch. Braided Rope perches are best placed in this location as they provide comfort for the soft pads of the feet while your bird is at rest.
Pedicure Perches: Food bowls: Cage Floor: T Stands: Play-gyms and Mobile Foraging Areas: Territorial behaviour can be averted by giving birds access to such areas as they are neutral zones away from the cage.
Such areas may be in the form of cane baskets filled with toys, T stands and play centres.
Initially it will take lots of patience and persistence on your part to teach your bird to remain in a designated area, but once your bird learns what is expected and acceptable behaviour these locations are worthwhile. When the bird leaves a designated area it is best to simply pick him up with out making eye contact and place him back in the bird safe area. It is important to use positive reinforcement, praising the bird immensely for good behaviour and occupying himself while there.
Carrier: It is a good idea to get your bird used to the confinement of its carrier while young. This will reduce stress when travelling with your bird, such as routine visits to your avian vet or in an emergency.
Toys: There is a huge range of toys available at pet stores today, but it is important to ensure the toys you purchase are safe for your bird. The size of your bird and its beak capacity must be considered when selecting toys.
Birds often need to be taught to play with their toys, otherwise the toys simply sit in the cage like decorations- pleasing owners more than their birds.
The colour of toys is not really important to birds, although some birds are naturally attracted to particular colours. Generally toys made from fresh branches with bark still attached will be most popular if provided.
Cages do not need to be overloaded, but rather toys should be changed weekly and birds encouraged to play with the few items inside.
Destructable toys: Wooden blocks on cotton rope, claw held items such as wooden pegs and fresh branches are all recommended.
Puzzle Toys: Stainless steel puzzles are recommended for larger parrots such as Cockatoos and Macaws.
Exercise Equipment: Foot Toys: Food toys can also be used to relieve periods of boredom.
Bathing: Regular bathing is essential to lustrous feathers and it reduces dander in the air. Bathing provides positive occupation for pet birds as it stimulates natural preening behaviour and is an ideal activity for using up excess energy.
Suggestions to encourage bathing:
Communication Body Language:
Vocalisations and learning Human language: We believe all parrot species have the ability to talk, but not all pet birds will learn to, or want to talk. Talking should not be an expectation when buying a companion parrot.
Tips for teaching your bird to talk: It is important to talk to your bird often, the more you say to it the more it will be inclined to respond to you in human language.
Early in the morning or in the evening is the best time to teach your pet bird to talk as this is when your bird is most active and social in the wild.
Mimicry can be encouraged by singing to your bird - birds love rhythm and so this often stimulates talking. Birds also love animation and lots of noise. Always be enthusiastic and incorporate interactive play when teaching your bird to talk. Often words which are said with emphasis are learnt most quickly. The use of labels for items, and constantly explaining things to your bird lovingly will foster cognitive understanding. Your bird will very quickly learn word associations. Many people do not realize that their pet bird has the potential to speak in a meaningful fashion, some birds may even learn to request items they desire eg a treat or a toy.
Remember birds are capable of lifelong learning, so the number of phrases you can teach your bird is limitless. In fact, even older birds can learn to talk with a committed owner.
Understanding Height and Dominance: For this reason raising a cage can increase confidence in fearful birds and simply lowering a cage can assist owners to gain better control of their parrots.
A commonly asked question is can I have my bird on my shoulder? Further, shoulder behaviour is difficult to predict Ways to avoid uninvited shoulder perching:
Training Basic Training: If parrots are allowed to do as they please while they are young, unwanted behaviours will persist into adulthood and such birds may easily escalate out of control, meaning they can no longer be managed in a home environment.
A juvenile bird must therefore be taught boundaries of acceptable behaviour and basic training must be continued through out life.
Praise and positive reinforcement daily are the key elements to a well behaved, sociable, companion bird.
Short training sessions of five to ten minutes are recommended and most effective. These sessions are best conducted during the morning or evening when your companion bird is most attentive.
It may be necessary to conduct training away from the cage initially. A less familiar location can be beneficial to gain the full concentration of your subject.
All family members should practise basic training with the pet bird. This will ensure that the bird behaves positively and consistently with every one who interacts with it.
The bird must be trained to step up on command, and do so with out question. This is called a patterned response. Treats should not be used for basic training.
"Stay there" is a second important command to teach your bird.
Trick Training: Praise from a much loved owner is often the only reward necessary when training tricks with a well socialized pet bird. This is true companionship!!!
A special treat however, may be used as extra encouragement. The chosen treat item is best removed from the bird's usual diet so that the parrot will look forward to receiving it. It is suggested to use a treat that is consumed quickly and is readily available so your bird learns to associate receipt of the item with the action you are training it to perform.
Tricks & Games to teach your Pet Bird:
Wing clipping: Clipping both wings is the safest option as this will ensure your bird has balance for landing.
Clipping the wings will expedite the bonding process because it makes it easier to achieve a loving dominance over your new bird. A bird with clipped wings is more reliant on its owners to take it from place to place around the home and it is easier to ensure the bird remains in a designated area.
While the wings are clipped it is important to show your bird potentially dangerous areas in the home such as mirrors and windows. Allow your bird to actually touch the surface. If your bird comes to understand that it can not pass through these areas then when you allow the wings to grow in your bird will already know where it can fly safely and land.
Notes on Harnesses: Pet owners must weigh up the need for wing clipping for their particular bird. Harnesses are a good idea although there are great difficulties if birds are not exposed to them from a young age.
Benefits of Flight: There are also significant health benefits associated with flying. This is the best way for your bird to improve its fitness and ultimately longevity. Many birds who are not permitted to fly are prone to obesity and become exhausted quickly on exertion. Providing your bird with flight exercise daily can also reduce the potential for behavioural problems associated with boredom and excess energy.
Finally, it is important to ensure that all birds are supervised when out of the cage as there are many hazards in the house environment. The same precautions must be taken when cooking, opening doors and around open sources of water whether your bird has the capacity to fly or not.
Potty Training: Behavioural Problems Pet birds may be as few as just two or three generations from the wild, yet due to their high level of intelligence and very social nature they can adapt successfully to a captive environment when they are provided with optimal physical and psychological care. They can be regarded as "companions" in every sense of the word. They are more than just pets and often become key members of the household. Pet birds require a life long commitment. In order to ensure a healthy and happy bird it is important to provide your bird with intimate interaction time, correct nutritional balance, good hygiene and annual health checks by an avian veterinarian. Unwanted behaviours can quickly become habitual and often prove difficult to reverse. These may include screaming, biting, sexual frustration and feather destruction. It is important to note that the onset of a negative behaviour may be a presenting sign of illness/ disease and so a health check with Dr Marshall is always recommended as a first line of attack for all behavioural problems. Dr Marshall will also discuss aspects of physical care including specific dietary and husbandry requirements. He recommends the Ongoing Pet Bird Health Programme.
Once ill health has been ruled out, it is possible to investigate the cause of behavioural problems. Psychological triggers such as boredom, inadequate socialisation, seasonal changes or stress are the most common causes of behavioural problems. Pet bird owners must also take into consideration the emotional needs of their feathered companions. While it is impossible to compare parrot behaviour with that of humans, it is important to understand the key stages of parrot development. After weaning the baby parrot enters its juvenile period (this is a time for lots of learning and exploring), then comes adolescence (many birds will really test the boundaries at this stage) and finally, sexual maturity as the bird enters adulthood (the hormones kick in). Like in our own children, each phase brings new challenges for both the companion bird and its human carer. It is essential to provide security in a general daily routine, establish boundaries of acceptable behaviour as well as meet the changing cognitive and physical needs of your pet bird to ensure that positive behaviour is patterned through out life. Frustrated owners who repeatedly give in to a screaming parrot, or allow the bird to bite, having missed the body language cue will very often inadvertently reinforce behavioural problems further. Inconsistency concerning what is accepted behaviour by all persons interacting with the bird is another key factor in the development of behavioural problems. The following table outlines common behavioural problems exhibited by pet birds and identifies likely contributing factors. While it is possible to make general recommendations it should be highlighted however, that due to the diverse nature of individual birds, household dynamics and the varying complexity of the issues, it may be necessary to contact a companion bird behaviourist to resolve a behavioural problem. The longer the behavioural problem persists the more difficult it becomes to reduce. When a behavioural problem has been diagnosed, Dr Marshall recommends a consultation be arranged with Tailai O'brien for an individual case assessment. After assessing your bird's problem she can then initiate an action plan to address its behavioural issue. Causes of Behavioural Problems and their Treatment Feather loss as a result of feather picking can be a difficult problem to cure when the picking behaviour is already established. In order to best help a feather picking problem, birds should be presented to Dr. Marshall at the first signs of picking. Feather picking that has persisted for a prolonged period of time may become a habit and difficult to cure. In this article feather picking may be either plucking, chewing of the feathers or both. There are many possible causes of feather picking and special diagnostic tests are recommended by Dr Marshall as a starting point for unravelling the cause of feather picking in your bird. The cause of feather picking may be behavioural, an underlying disease or a combination of both. Dr Marshall believes poor nutrition and contaminated food to be the single most common initiating cause of feather picking. Behaviour induced feather picking is a close second. Diagnostic tests are used to reveal possible disease causes of feather picking. Wet smears and gram stains are used to check for internal parasites and the presence of thrush and disease forming bacteria. Cultures from the throat and dropping are recommended in order to identify fungal or bacterial infections that may be the cause or result of feather picking. Feather picking is a sign of an unhappy or unwell pet bird. Diseases may occur as a result of the agitation produced by feather picking irrespective of whether the underlying cause is a behavioural problem or a disease. Sudden onset of agitated feather picking is most commonly associated with a disease process. Psittacosis, fungal, thrush, staph infections and heavy metal poisons are the most common causes. Behavioural disturbances cause feather picking that starts as an over-grooming activity. Psittacosis is a common disease involved with feather picking and a Psittacosis test is always recommended. This disease may be the cause of feather picking or occur as a result of it. Recovery from feather picking is unlikely if Psittacosis is present and left untreated. Similarly if a fungal, thrush or bacterial infection is present then these must also be treated before it is possible to cure feather picking. X-rays are often recommended when pain is associated with feather picking and when the distribution of feather picking is over the back, neck or chest. The X-ray may reveal problems such as blocked gizzard, a gas extended proventriculus or cloaca, heavy metal poisoning, foreign bodies, enlarged spleen and airsac disease. These are all possible causes of feather picking that need to be identified in order to cure the problem. Behavioural disturbances are often the trigger to a disease-based feather picking problem. In fact, in many cases both a behavioural problem and disease may cause feather picking. A behavioural cause of feather picking is diagnosed when the diagnostic tests return as normal. The distribution of feather picking with behavioural problems starts on the feet and neck regions. Tail pulling may also be seen when a behavioural problem is the cause of feather picking. Dr Marshall will recommend a consultation with a bird behaviouralist when the cause of feather plucking has been identified as purely behavioural in nature. Recovery from feather picking requires that both the underlying disease be treated and that the abnormal behaviour be altered. It is always a challenge to diagnose and treat pet birds that have been feather picking for a prolonged time. The best outcomes occur when your bird is presented to Dr Marshall at the onset of feather picking activity. The following table outlines common causes of feather picking exhibited by pet birds and identifies likely contributing factors. Causes of Feather Picking and their Treatment Dr. Marshall's Treatment Options for Feather Picking Night Fright and the Captive Bird Sudden activity, noise or flashes of light in and around the cage or aviary after dark may startle a prey animal such as a bird. This is commonly referred to as a Night Fright, which causes a captive parrot to instinctively take flight in response to the perceived threat. When night frights occur in the house environment pet birds can be heard thrashing about in their cages, crashing against toys, feed bowls and the cage bars. In the aviary situation, the panicked vocalizations and the frantic flapping of a single bird quickly alerts others housed in the same aviary or in cages nearby, causing all flock members to react similarly until the apparent danger has passed. Some common causes of Night Frights include:
Companion parrots and aviary birds of all sizes and ages may experience the terror of a night fright, with some individuals appearing to be more prone to these scares than others. Owners of pet cockatiels and other smaller parrot species such as the budgerigar most frequently witness and report this phenomenon. Night Fright episodes are highly stressful and can result in serious injury or even sudden death. Head injuries, damaged blood feathers and broken limbs are all commonly observed in pet and aviary birds alike as the result of a night time scare. It is important for owners not to further escalate the danger of a night fright by rushing to their birds, flashing torches and making excessive noise. Birds in the aviary situation need to be provided with sufficient non-threatening light to return to their usual sleeping perches, and it is imperative for breeding birds to go back to their abandoned nests as quickly as possible. In the home, companion parrots recover and settle most quickly when in the embrace of a loved owner and with the use of soothing words. Preventative measures can be implemented to eliminate and reduce the potential for night frights to occur. Copyright © 2005 Rob Marshall, All Rights Reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
