Parrot SHAMPOO??

Umbrella cockatoo

I log into Facebook every morning to see what is going on with my bird loving friends. Most days I scroll through the pages quickly only pausing when something catches my eye, but I was stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of what appeared to be a cockatoo wading in soapy dishwater.

Because I know this particular party to be very responsible with birds, I was expecting a humorous story with an explanation for how this bird had gotten himself into this predicament. To my surprise, I learned ...

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Helping A Bird That Won’t Interact With Anyone Or Anything

Morgy checking cracks

Morgy foraging on her zombie playstand.

 

In my last post, I mentioned that my Galah/Rosebreasted Cockatoo had suffered from something I called “learned helplessness”. I said how happy I was that she had taken possession of my new parrot stand because that’s a big deal when you have a bird like Morgy. A few people pounced on that and sent me questions saying that their birds also don’t play and should they be worried about that? How do ...

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Overcoming a Parrot’s Fear of Something New

stand

The new bird stand that my flock got for Christmas

 

So I bought the world’s coolest parrot stand as a Christmas gift for my birds. I’d been looking for something like it for a long time. It’s a one-off find; there will never be another exactly like it again. It’s natural wood, well weathered with lots of nooks and crannies to hide things in. There are several places at different heights for birds to sit and it’s on wheels. There are plenty of bits ...

 

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The Ethics Of Bird Cage Flooring

Merlin & Nemo

My galahs Merlin & Nemo checking out the day's deposit of fresh grass

 

There are many different ways of setting up the lower half of your cages and aviaries. Most people (myself included) have some sort of wire grill at the base of their setups.

There are many advantages to this. The main one is obviously that a bird’s poo and waste will fall through the grill, which let’s face it – is a much healthier alternative to a bird eating ...

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Why Do Cockatoos NEED To Be Cuddled? – A Theory

Umbrella cockatoo

If you are the owner of a cockatoo, especially a white one, you have undoubtedly encountered their constant demand for cuddling. For many people, it is their favorite quality about their cockatoo.

Any time I pick up Linus, my umbrella, he will let all of his weight fall against my shoulders to encourage a good cuddle session. He loves it when I completely envelop him with my arms. I always found it interesting that a prey animal would feel comforted in the arms of a predator – something that ...

 

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