It is my firm belief that providing a proper diet is our #1 responsibility to our birds.  As long as we keep wild creatures in a cage, and at our mercy, it is imperative that we at least give them that which they need to maintain their health, both mental and physical.
Many of us have parrots who have come to us with serious diet issues whether they have been re-homed or have come from a pet store. In this age of information there are still many, many parrots living on an all seed ...

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Congo african grey

Obesity in parrots is one of the most common health concerns we owners face, maybe second to certain vitamin deficiencies. It is a serious concern and one that will affect the health and well-being of your parrot in the years to come.
I have found that many parrot owners really don’t have any idea what their bird’s healthy weight should be. There are lists out there that will give you the approximation for your bird’s species, but few of them take into account that each bird is an ...

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Blue throated macaw

There was a question following one of my recent posts that I thought would make an interesting topic for a new blog post.  I had made a reference to adding crushed egg shells to an omelet I was preparing for my birds.  I do this often because of the added calcium provided by the shells of the eggs, which are made mostly of calcium.  This is particularly a good idea for parrots producing eggs during breeding season.

It was asked if the shells weren’t harmful to the bird’s throat ...

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Camelot Macaws, Blue Throated Macaw

I woke up really early this morning and decided to make a nice breakfast for myself and the birds. I was in the mood for an omelet and I was plotting how to make the perfect meal to accommodate everyone as I came down the stairs.

Once in the kitchen, I steamed some veggies and warmed up some left over brown rice.  I grated some cheddar cheese, which is something I only offer to my birds on occasion. I beat the eggs while the pan was heating ...

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Blue throated macaws

This question seems to be coming up a lot recently on the birdtricks facebook page and other places I visit regularly. I appreciate that people have the good sense to ask, but it’s a very difficult question to answer without knowing the person asking it, without getting a sense of the person or what their lifestyle is. I normally spend more effort trying to talk people out of getting birds than recommending a species to them.

Owning a bird takes a lot of time and work:
Are ...

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My severe macaw won’t touch fresh fruit.  Can I give him dried fruit? -Lonia G.,   Boston, MA

Dried fruits have a lot of advantages.  It lasts a long time, it is an easy snack if you are traveling and because there are no bacteria harboring juices, it works great in foraging toys and stays fresh in the cage all day. There are, however, some things you should be aware of.

When fruits are dehydrated, the process shrinks them to a fraction of their original size.  The concentration of sugar becomes very high and because they ...

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