Blue throated macaw

Most of us view bird chores with a sense of dread. It’s reasonable that one wouldn’t necessarily enjoy the unpleasantries left at the bottom of cages. It can be a lot of work to keep up on the cleaning that bird ownership requires.

But there is a very big advantage to doing those chores: you get an intimate look at your bird’s health and its activities. Birds are such masters of disguise when it comes to illness that we have to actively investigate to get to the truth.

Wild birds ...

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Yellow Budgie

Alright, so this isn’t prettiest topic, but it is one you should know your way around as a parrot owner.  Since birds so completely mask their illnesses, there are really only two ways we have to monitor their health at home.  One is by weighing them frequently, and the other is by watching the quality of their poop. Your parrot’s poop will remain fairly consistent as long as it is healthy.  It only takes me a couple seconds, several times a day to take a look at the ...

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Blue throated macaw

I went to a bird club meeting today where the speaker, a long time vet technician, spoke about emergency critical care.  I wanted to hone my skills. She offered ideas in splinting and portable heat sources that I was not aware of. This topic differs from basic first aid care in that these are instances where it is not a question of if you need to bring your bird to the vet, but how soon can you get there.

Prevention is, of course, the best practice ...

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